Comprehensive Strategic Evaluation of Marks & Spencer's Strategies

This report provides a strategic evaluation of Marks & Spencer (M&S), assessing the processes used to determine their strategies and critically evaluating the tools and models applied. It includes a PESTEL analysis, examining the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors impacting M&S, and a VRIO analysis, evaluating the value, rarity, imitability, and organization of M&S's resources. The report also touches upon the importance of change management in the context of complex transformation processes, considering the costs, risks, and sustainability aspects. Furthermore, it discusses Porter's Five Forces model to analyze the competitive landscape of M&S. The overall aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of M&S's strategic positioning and potential for future growth.

Strategic Management -
Strategy evaluation

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
Assessment of the process used by M&S to determine their strategy........................................3
Critical evaluation of tools and models and application used by M&S to determine their
strategy........................................................................................................................................4
PESTEL analysis of Marks and Spencer ...................................................................................4
VRIO analysis of Marks and Spencer ........................................................................................6
Importance of change management based on the complexity of transformation process, its
cost, risk and sustainability.......................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
REFERNCES:................................................................................................................................12
Books and Journals:..................................................................................................................12

Introduction
Strategies are essential part of any business because it helps to analyse the path to achieve
organisational aims and objectives. It is essential that organisational strategies are made after
analysing internal and external environment of the business (Dzwigol, 2020). It is also
compulsory that those strategies will made for a business which provide benefits to organisation
as well as for employees. Marks and Spencer (M&S) is a retailing company which is based in
London, UK. It is founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. They are famous for
their clothing brand. The following file covers assessment of the process used by M&S to
determine their strategy, critical evaluation of tools and models used by M&S to determine their
strategy, application of tools and models within an organisation and at the end this file covers
importance of change management based on the complexity of transformation process, its cost,
risk and sustainability.
Main Body
Assessment of the process used by M&S to determine their strategy
It is essential that organisation will focus on their vision, mission and objective
formulation in a better ways because these can help to develop the idea and opportunities to
formulate good strategies which is beneficial for the company. In context of Marks and Spencer,
their managers and senior authority focuses to reach their purpose, mission and vision on time.
Purpose of Marks and Spencer- Their main purpose is to maintain the sustainability of
their business in profit earning and increasing their productivity. This purpose will help them to
make strategies that how their workforce and their available resources will gain more
productivity and profitability for the company. With the help of their purpose they focus to hire
skilled employees and they manage their resources by distributing to those employees who know
well to utilize them perfectly for organisational benefit.
Mission- The mission of M&S is to provide quality products to their customers and gain
good reputation in the market. This mission of Marks and Spencer helps them to determine their
strategies by focusing on quality check and customer perception value for their products in the
market. They make strategies on their quality check that they have to test quality of their
manufactured product on daily basis. For analysing their customer perception they formulate

strategies to conduct research and surveys on regular basis by sending feedback forms to their
customers (Mittal and Sridhar, 2021).
Vision- Vision of Marks and Spencer is to gain that value and standard where other business will
measure their performance with them. In short they mainly target to lead the market. According
to their vision, they made strategies for analysing the ways by which they can increase their
profit earning ratio and gain competitive advantage. For this they focuses to serve good services
to their customers and they charge lower prices for their products as compared to their
competitors.
Objectives- Objectives plays an essential role in strategic management (Honda and et. al.,
2019). Their objectives are divided into four parts and they are explained below-
 To maintain the quality of products.
 To provide good services to customers to achieve competitive advantage and good brand
image.
 To adopt innovative strategies for growth.
 To gain the trust of customers by their products and services and build a good customer
relation.
The above mentioned objectives helps to determine strategies for Marks and Spencer like
to maintain good quality of products they make strategies to test the quality for particular amount
of products on daily basis. For providing good services to their customers they train their
employees and promote their performance for their motivation. To gain trust of customers they
make strategies to solve the issues of customers as soon as possible regarding their brand and
make sure that they will provide after services to their customers which takes place after
purchasing the product.
Hence, it is critically evaluated from the above mentioned information that mission,
vision, purpose and objectives provide a clear direction to the company and their employees that
how they have to work to achieve their organisation aim on time and gain more profit.
Critical evaluation of tools and models and application used by M&S to determine their strategy
PESTEL analysis of Marks and Spencer
 Political Factors: Brexit has changed the retail industry of UK. One significant impact of
Brexit is that it makes acquisition and retention of European talents more difficult who

are an important part of retail industry (Thompson and McLarney, 2017). In addition to
this, it has positive impact on long-term UK economy.
Positive Impact: The positive impact of Brexit on M&S is that can improve economic
conditions of UK in long-term.
Negative Impact: The lack of European talents in UK has negative impact on talent acquisition
of M&S.
 Economical Factor: UK economy is one of the worst affected economies by COVID-19
in developed world (Coronavirus: UK economy could be among worst hit of leading
nations, says OECD, 2020). COVID-19 has also contributed to development of E-
commerce in UK as consumers shift towards digital shopping.
Positive Impact: Rise in e-commerce because of COVIUD-19 can drive online sales of M&S.
Negative Impact: Damage caused by COVID-19 on UK economy can negatively impact future
growth of M&S.
 Social Factor: The social trend towards consuming food items which improve health and
fitness and negative outlook towards food items which cause obesity and increase weight
impacts sale of retail products with high fat, salt or sugar content.
Positive Impact: M&S has the opportunity to exploit this trend by offering healthy an tasty food
products.
Negative Impact: The growing fitness conscious mindset of consumer negatively affects sale of
M&S products with high fat or sugar content.
 Technological Factor: M&S has announced implementation of technology transformation
programme. This programme aims to make M&S digital first business. The firm has
partnered with TCS, leading technology firm and has adopted industry agile method to
exploit opportunities provided by technological advancement in retail (MARKS &
SPENCER ANNOUNCES TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMME, 2018).
Positive Impact: This will help the company capture digital retail market and offer better
consumer experience.
Negative Impact: Digital transformation requires high financial investment and employee
resistance can affect success of this transformation.

 Environmental Factor: The rise in consumer concern towards sustainability and
environmental friendly consumption affects brand perception and profitability of retail
firms (Marín-García, Gil-Saura and Ruíz-Molina, 2019).
Positive Impact: M&S can gain competitive advantage in their industry by considering
sustainable in their business strategy.
Negative Impact: Developing sustainability requires continuous financial investment which can
lower profit margin of the company. It is important for M&S to implement feasible sustainability
initiatives so that brand identity of the company is improved while also maintaining profits,
 Legal Factor: The data protection Act, 2018 has updated laws regarding data protection
act in UK. This act has introduced new offences related to the usage of personal data of
individuals by businesses, government and organizations in UK (Yuan and et. al., 2020).
It is import for retail firms to use data fairly and transparently after implementation of
this act.
Positive Impact: Compliance with this act will improve consumer trust in M&S as they will feel
safe using digital services of M&S. The firm will be able to lawfully gain consumer data by
following this act.
Negative Impact: The negative impact of this act is that it reduces ability of business firms to
collect large amount of precise data from consumers. M&S will not be able to gain accurate
precise data insight because of Data Protection Act.
VRIO analysis of Marks and Spencer
Resources Valuable Reliable Imitable Organized
Financial
Resources
Yes No No No
Distribution
Network
Yes Yes No No
Brand image Yes Yes Yes
Human
resources
Yes Yes Yes Yes

 Valuable: This element of the VRIO analysis looks at valuable resources of the firm
(Ferch and Roe, 2019). The financial resources of M&S have helped the company
expand to new international markets, deliver high quality products and services to the
consumers and attain strategic objectives. The global distribution network of company
consisting of technologically advanced distribution centres are highly valuable to M&S
as they play an important role in timely delivery of goods and increase responsiveness of
the company. M&S has created positive brand image centred around quality value and
trust which has survived from recessions and attract consumer all over the globe. Positive
brand identity is highly valuable for global success of retail firms. The highly killed
global workforce of the company consisting of 78,000 employees plays crucial role in
success of the firm. This is because employees participate in production and delivery of
goods and services which exceed consumer expectations. Rare: The distribution network of M&S is rare because construction and maintenance of
sustainable and ethical global distribution network involves high expenditure and
continuous monitoring to maintain supply chain sustainability and build strong
relationships with credible suppliers. This makes the international distribution network of
M&S rare resources. The brand identity of M&S is built upon the long history of the
company in United Kingdom which makes this valuable resource. The reason behind this
is that are as history of success and positive consumer relationships from long time are
uncommon resources which can not be created through financial are labour investment.
The history of M&S since 1863 is a trusted retail brand is part of the brand identity of the
firm which makes it rare. The workforce of the firm is rare resource as construction of
skilled workforce in different intentional markets is time consuming and financially
taxing task. Retail firms are not able to build global talented workforce which makes the
human resource of the M&S rare. Imitable: The resources which cannot be imitated by other firms to gain competitive
advantage are described in this part of the analysis (Emeagwali, 2017). The brand image
of the M&S is not imitable because it requires long standing history in UK which creates
positive consumer perception of the firm and contributes to high brand recognition.
Human resources of M&S are not easily imitable because creation of talented workforce
in different international markets is one of the main challenges of internationalization.

Business firms face various barriers during international talent acquisition because of
cultural barriers. Retaining and developing global talent is difficult task because of
various challenges which makes skilled workforce in different markets a highly valuable
resource which cannot be imitated easily or successfully.
 Organized: This element of the VRIO analysis looks at resources which is supported by
existing arrangements of the firm to gain permanent competitive advantage (Haleem,
Jehangir and Ullah, 2019). The human resources of the M&S are organized to gain
competitive advantage in their industry. The firm has been successful in acquiring
talented employees in foreign markets which has helped the company gain equal success
in foreign markets as domestic markets. In addition to this effective communication
between employees all over the globe has helped the company attain strategic objectives
and face various challenges in international business.
Competitors are consider as biggest threat for any company. Hence, it is essential to
analyse about competitors and their strategies. Porter five forces is the model to analyse the
competitive situation of a company in their industry (Grebenshchikova and Yakushev, 2017).
This model will help in determining that how a competitor impact upon another company by
their strategies and power. Porter five forces of Marks and Spencer are given below-
Threat of new entrance- It is possible that new companies which enter the industry
impacts upon existing companies by their new and innovative products and services. Most of the
new companies are mainly focusing to provide those innovative products which will gain more
attention of customers. In context of Retailing sector, the newly entered company require higher
investment to gain competitive advantage. This industry is one of the toughest competitive
providing industry in UK. In context of Marks and Spencer, it is recommended that they will
maintain their position by providing good quality of products in lower prices. Secondly, it is also
effective that they will change their strategies on timely basis because competitive markets are in
dynamic nature which consist of changing customers preferences, trends, technologies and many
others very quickly. Hence, it is good to adopt adaptation strategies instead of standardization
strategies.
Threat of substitute goods- Substitute goods are those goods which are used in place of
each other because of their features and characteristics which are similar to original product
(Dasari and et. al., 2020). In context of Marks and Spencer, they are providing cloths and

retailing products to their customers which is easily copied by any other local brands. Hence,
there is a high risk of substitute goods to Marks and Spencer. They are recommended to focus on
their promotional strategies to aware their customers about the benefits of using their product and
drawbacks of using then substitute of their product. They are providing good quality of products.
Hence, they can include this factor under their promotional message. They are also require to
involve them self under research and survey to analyse how their substitute products impacts
their business so that they will make strategies accordingly.
Bargaining power of customers- This part of competitive analysis helps to find the
impact which is caused by customers upon a company (Marić, 2020). In context of Marks and
Spencer, they are gaining high brand image and their customers are satisfied with their products.
Hence, they are having low risk with this factor but then also they are required to maintain good
relationship with their customers by providing them discounts and good quality of products on
regular basis. It is also recommended to Marks and Spencer that they must provide some
additional benefit to their loyal customers so that it will motivate other customers also to become
loyal customers of company.
Bargaining power of suppliers- Suppliers of a company impacted much upon the
companies strategic management (CENGİZ, AYDINLI and Emel, 2019). Suppliers provide raw
material to the company and they are also the source of information for new kind of raw material
for company. In context of Marks and Spencer, they are having many suppliers. Hence, the
existence of few suppliers did not impact upon their company. It is recommended that they will
maintain good relations with their suppliers by providing them good amount of money for their
raw material and it is also beneficial for company if they provide additional benefit like heavy
discount on the purchase of any product from the same company by their suppliers.
Competitive rivalry- It consist of total number of competitors and their strategies which
will impact upon a company (Diaz Vargas and Gonzales Torres, 2021). In context of Marks and
Spencer, their competitors are Next plc, Debenhams, John Lewis partnership and many others.
These companies are also having high brand image and a good market development strategies.
They capture a huge marketing share in UK market. Their competitive strategies are too effective
that they can terminate new entered companies and even a well established company from their
industry by their strategies which contain to attract more customers. Hence, it is recommended
for Marks and Spencer to analyse their competitors strategies on regular basis and make their

defending strategies accordingly so that their company will be impacted less. Prices of products
plays a important part in achieving competitive advantage within a industry. Hence, it is effective
that Marks and Spencer will keep their product's prices lower than their competitors to attract
more customers.
Importance of change management based on the complexity of transformation process, its cost,
risk and sustainability
Change management is the concept where company adopt some new changes in their
process, structure, management team and many others with the main aim of organisational
benefit. Change management is adopted in organisation because at some point of view it is
analysed by senior authority that their way of working and their policies are not as much as
appropriate which is expected to achieve organisational goal (Dzwigol and et. al., 2019).
Transformation process is that process which cover all steps of changes taking place within a
company.
In context of Marks and Spencer, they adopt many changes in their organisation but one
of the most effective and beneficial change for their company is technological change where they
adopt some new technologies in their stores which further help them to achieve their task
quickly. They adopt some of the manufacturing machines which cover less wastage of raw
material and another resources for the company. They also change their payment system and
adopt high tech payment method where customers can pay through online mode with easy way
and it also take less time. Hence, all these changes help Marks and Spencer to improve their
productivity and profitability.
Transformational process-
For adopting new technology Marks and Spencer adopt following stages-
Internal environment scanning- The first step of transformational change is to scan
existing environment (Zhang and et. al., 2019). Marks and Spencer analyse the requirement of
change by scanning their environment and record all the factors which need to change for their
organisational benefit.
Analyse the error and plan for new change- After scanning current environment Mark
and Spencer recognize that they are lacking behind to adopt high tech technology in their
organisation. Hence, they plan the types of machines and tools which is required to change in
their organisation.

Adopt changes- After making the plan for change and analysing their advantages and
disadvantages, M&S adopt those machines and tools which has more advantage then
disadvantage to adopt.
Cost and risk of new change- M&S is require to invest more because adopting high tech
technology consist a good amount of money. Purchasing the machines, installing them and
provide training to employees to work with new machines is costly as well as time consuming.
The only risk of new change is that it cover huge investment and it might be possible that
employees are able to understand new change or not.
Conclusion
It is concluded that strategic management consist of formulating and managing strategies
in such a way which will provide a clear direction to employees for achieving organisational
goal. Mission, vision, purpose and aim helps in determining the strategies of a company. There
are various model which are used to determine strategic management within an organisation.
Internal and external business environment impacts upon formulation of effective strategies. It id
also considered as essential to analyse competitive analysis because one of the main aim of every
company is to gain competitive advantage and leading the market covers some effective
competitive strategies.

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