Managing Innovation: Analysis of M&S Company Strategies Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Marks & Spencer's (M&S) innovation strategies. It begins with an overview of the company and its product lines, followed by an examination of the strategic management processes employed to foster innovation. The report identifies key areas of innovation, including product development, marketing, and digital platform enhancements, and assesses their impact on revenue generation, customer satisfaction, and market position. Furthermore, it includes SWOT and PESTLE analyses to evaluate the internal and external environments influencing M&S's innovation capabilities. The report also details the types of innovation employed, such as open innovation and technological integration, along with implementation planning, risk management frameworks, and change management processes. The report concludes with an examination of M&S's approach to employee training, resource allocation, and stakeholder involvement to ensure successful innovation outcomes. The report analyzes the case study of M&S, a UK-based publicly listed company, focusing on its strategies to address challenges such as overpriced food products, misaligned apparel, and a weak digital presence, emphasizing customer-oriented product lines, competitive pricing, and digital platform enhancements.

Innovation
in M&S

About the company
 Publicly listed company.
 Based in the UK
 Products- lifestyle, food products etc.

Determination and justification of the
identified

Choice of innovation
Innovation in marketing to
meet the following issues:
 Overpriced food products.
 Apparel and lifestyle
products are not aligned to
customers
 Poor digital presence
Target innovation:
 More customer oriented
product line
 Legitimately priced food
products
 More highly advanced
digital platform
Overpriced food
products
Premium apparel wears are not aligned to tastes
of customers
M&S has poor digital
presence
Customers dissatisfied
Outcomes
Falling revenue generation
(Revenue risks)
Losing customers to
competitors (competitive risks)
Weakening financial base Weakening global positions

Identification of innovation
 Collaboration with True to provide market data and support innovation.
 Collaboration with TCS to strengthen its technological platform
(Tcs.com, 2019.

Where can we find innovation
 The company has
entered into open
information with
different market
research firms
like True to
provide it with in
depth market
knowledge.
 M&S has entered
into contracts
with IT
companies like
TCS to strengthen
its internet
presence.
Collaboration with
marketing firms
Collaboration with
IT firms
M&S
Gains marketing
data Marketing of goods aligned
to customers’ needs
Stronger digital
platforms
Generation of higher revenue and
customer satisfaction

Innovation dimension
 Product/services,
 Platform,
 Solution,
 Customer needs
 Customer experience
 Communication
 Process
 Revenue generation
 Management
 Supply chain
 Channel, partnership
 Business model.

Diffusion of innovation
 Five diffusion factors of innovation:
 The innovation over here refers to the
innovation in the product marketing which
M&S has embraced in collaboration with
companies like True. The innovation would
also refer to the technological innovation
which M&S has embraced in collaboration
with global IT companies like TCS.
 Channels of communication consists of
both internal and external channels of
communication ((Utterback, Pistorius &
Yilmaz, 2018))
 Adopter here refers to the stakeholders
which the innovation target
 Time consists of tenure which adopters
take to accept the innovation
 Social systems refer to the factors which
influence the diffusion of the innovations
among the adopters

Competitive justification

Drivers of innovation
 Individual
 Processes
 Financial strengths
 External market environment

Market leadership strategies
 Diverse product lines of
products
 Listed company status
 Marketing mix

Ansoff matrix
New
markets
Market development(Introduce new
products)
Diversification
Existing
markets
Market penetration(Introduce more
customer oriented products)
Product development
Existing markets New markets