Consultancy Report on Organisational Strategy: BSS058-6 Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Marks & Spencer's strategic options within the global competitive environment. It begins with an introduction highlighting the importance of strategic planning in a competitive market and provides a brief overview of Marks & Spencer. The main body of the report delves into various strategic frameworks, including the Ansoff Matrix, Porter's Generic Model, and the Value Proposition Canvas, to assess Marks & Spencer's current position and potential growth strategies. It also examines the company's information technology strategy framework, SWOT analysis, and PESTLE analysis to identify internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, and the broader macro-environmental factors affecting the business. The report offers strategic recommendations for Marks & Spencer to enhance its competitive advantage and adapt to the evolving market landscape, emphasizing the adoption of new technologies such as AI and virtual reality. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations, referencing relevant academic literature throughout.

Strategy and the Global
Competitive Environment
BSS058-6

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Ansoff Matrix..............................................................................................................................3
Porter’s Generic Model................................................................................................................5
Value Proposition........................................................................................................................6
Information technology strategy framework...............................................................................9
SWOT..........................................................................................................................................9
PESTLE.....................................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Global competitiveness is increasing which is making a lot of business adapt new
technologies and other aspect to be able to operate effectively in the market. To be able to
operate effective the organization need to have a strategic planning which would help the
company be able to function effectively. Marks & Spencer is operating in the company since
1884 and is having its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. The company is having a net
income generation of 254.8 million which is falling because of the lack of management. The
report is going to discuss the strategic options and recommendations for the company to be able
to operate effectively which is going to be a great factor for the overall development. Customers
have to be entertained and development related to technology has to be implemented from time
to time so that there are higher outcomes which the company is going to have.
MAIN BODY
Ansoff Matrix
This is also known as Product or Market Expansion Grid which is basically a tool used by
the companies and the organisations for analysing and planning the growth strategies. This
matrix presents four strategies which helps a firm to grow and also helps in analysing the risks
associated with every strategy (Akash, 2020). Marks and Spencer, being one of the greatest
retailers in the global market makes use of the expansion strategies of Ansoff Matrix in its
business. The company is shaping its strategies by adopting the exponential technology like
virtual reality and artificial intelligence.
Market Penetration
This is basically the growth strategy dedicated to the existing products in the existing
market. Marks and Spencer can modernise its business by accelerating change so that the
company can cater better for customers who prefers shopping online (Wanjohi, Gathenya and
Kihoro, 2019). Also, Marks and Spencer can make efforts to use AI so that the British home
ware, clothing and the food retailer can implement the Microsoft technology including the
computer vision and machine learning across the touch-points behind the scenes and also in the
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stores. This is how the same products can be promoted in the existing markets just by adapting
the innovative technology.
Product Development
This deals in raising the strategies for the new product in the existing market. Marks and
Spencer can develop the services and products and can release them in the current market for
capturing the market show. Marks and Spencer can innovate its products and services by making
use of advanced technology like the Microsoft AI technologies for improving the customer
experience both offline and online and optimizing its operations and also can use the 3D CAD
technology in product testing (Donnelly, Gee and Silva, 2020). The company can also make use
of various advanced technologies like social networking sites to take the feedbacks from the
customers to bring changes in the products offered by the company in the existing market.
Market Development
It is basically a growth strategy for offering the existing products and services in the new
markets. Its main purpose is finding new markets international or domestic for the existing
products of the business. Marks and Spencer can adopt the innovative marketing strategies like
creating animated infographics, creating animated explainers, email marketing for targeting the
selected customers and many more so that maximum number of people can be aware of the
goods and services offered by the company (Rapley, 2017). This will help the company in
developing the economies.
Diversification
This strategy deals in launching new products in new markets for extending the business
in different markets. Marks and Spencer make use of various exponential technologies and bring
global digital transformation market in the retail industry. Marks and Spencer can use the mix of
linguistics and the machine translation which is AI-powered. This will not only help in providing
new ideas for launching new products but also helps in expanding the new products in the new
markets (Gilligan and Lowe, 2018). The company can also partnership with the Microsoft for
making use of the Artificial intelligence so that new ways of selling can be developed. This is
considered as one of the most important growth strategy because the company needs to analyse
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the taste of the new customers and design the products for capturing the market share of the
market in which product needs to be expanded.
Marks and Spencer have various strategic options to adapt by making use of the exponential
technologies like AI and virtual reality. The company can either make use of one of the above
mentioned strategic options such as Market Penetration in which the company can launch the
new products in the existing market.
Porter’s Generic Model
Porter’s generic strategies framework helps in describing the ways in which companies
can gain competitive advantage by selecting and implementing the right strategies. There are five
major strategies in this framework such as cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Marks can
Spencer being the largest retailer can make use of the strategies of Porter’s Generic model in
order to gain more profitability and productivity. This will help the company to enhance the
customer base as well as becoming the leader among all its competitors. The generic strategies
which can be used by considering the scenario of adaption of the exponential technology by
Marks and Spencer are as follows:
Cost Leadership
This deals in lowering the cost to gain the competitive advantage. This can be used in
various consumer markets by the M&S. The main aim behind using this strategy is preserving
the market leadership position through the efficient value chain management. The cost can be
lowered by making use of advanced technologies for digital marketing so that the company do
not need to spend on the campaigns and reaching to the customers physically (Souza-Monteiro
and Hooker, 2017). The production cost can also be reduced by making use of online
technologies which can help in maximizing the efficiency of the supply chain. Also, the
company can make use of the digital cards which are based on the exponential technologies
which can help in reducing the costs as well as increasing the brand popularity and encouraging
the consumption.
Differentiation strategy
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This strategy is the most commonly used generic strategy for building the competitive
advantage. This helps in expanding the customer base to emphasize the unique product features.
The company can use this for differentiating by embedding the innovation and addressing the
health concerns of the health. The company can also position the product offerings to remain
different from the available alternatives (Firoz Suleman, Rashidirad and Firoz Suleman, 2019).
M&S can make use of differentiation strategy by using Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality
so that it remains the leader among its competitors. Furthermore, the company can also offer the
wide variety of flavours for matching the unique taste needs of the customers. It can use the
innovation as the tool for offering the differentiated the augmented services.
Focus strategy
This is considered as the third generic competitive strategy which helps in encouraging
the companies for concentrating on the resources to expand the narrowly targeted segments.
Under this strategy, the companies need to serve the particular market segments and the
competitive advantage can be increased on the niche marketing (O’Hare, Stewart and McColl,
2018). This can be adapted by the Marks and Spencer on the basis of lowering the cost and
offering the best value. The advanced and the exponential technologies can be used for focussing
on the low cost focus strategy which can help in matching with the needs and requirements of the
customers. These branding strategies can be revised and the continuous changes can be brought
in the designing and the packaging of the products so that the psychological expectations can be
satisfied and the value of money can be maximized. The packaging and the designing can be
made innovative by making use of exponential technologies which can attract the large base of
customers.
Value Proposition
This is basically the tool which can help in ensuring that the service or the product is
positioned around according to the needs and the values of the customers. It was developed by
Dr. Alexander Osterwalder and is considered as the framework for ensuring the fit between the
market and product. This framework can be used especially when there is a requirement for
refining the existing service or product offering or where there is a need to develop a new
offering from scratch (Britton and et.al., 2019). Marks and Spencer can make use of the two
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building blocks of the Value Proposition Canvas which include the customer profile as well as
value proposition of the company.
Figure 1: Value Proposition Canvas
Source: What is the Value Proposition Canvas, 2021
Customer Profile
Gains: These are the benefits which are expected and needed by the customers. The Marks and
Spencer must analyse the things which can delight the customers which helps in increasing the
likelihood to adopt the value proposition. The Marks and Spencer must realize that majority of
the population of UK rely on technology to purchase anything and do the shopping. This will
help the company to bring innovation in the company by making use of technologies. This will
help in satisfying the customers and their needs and wants.
Pains: These are the negative experiences, risks and emotions which are faced by the customers
to get the job done. Marks and Spencer must strive hard to minimize these negative experiences
and also limiting the risks faced by the consumers (Nyame-Asiamah and Ghulam, 2019). The
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exponential technology like Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence can be used by the
company so that the customer can face good experiences at the stores also instead of facing the
negative experiences. The company must also try to resolve the cyber-security related issues.
Customer Jobs: These are the emotional, functional and social tasks which are performed by the
customers along with the tasks to be solved and the needs to be satisfied. The customers may
face many problems such as interacting with the company through online platforms, delayed in
getting the responses from the company and many more. Marks and Spencer can make use of its
app which can help in interacting with the customers and their problems can be solved.
Value Map
Gain creators: These are the products and services which helps in creating the customer gains
and the ways in which added value can be offered to the customer. Marks and Spencer can adapt
the rapid e-commerce which can help in developing economies (Yrjölä, Saarijärvi and Nummela,
2018). This can be done by making use of mobile app development and cloud computing
initiative.
Pain relievers: This deals in alleviating the customer pains. This will help in describing the pain
relievers which can eliminate the pains faced by the customers. Marks and Spencer can make use
of advanced technologies for repairing or troubleshooting the IT problems, deploying, installing
and integrating the IT systems etc. These can also help in resolving the telecom and
communication related issues which also help in relieving the pains.
Products and Services: These are the things which help in creating gains and also help in
relieving the pain. This can be used by the Marks and Spencer for underpinning the value
creation for the customer. Marks and Spencer can use the Market Penetration strategy for
launching new products and services in the existing markets.
After this, the feedback of the customers are collected which can help in refining the proposition.
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Information technology strategy framework
Information technology strategy framework are the core elements of the IT department
which have to be valued so that there is going to be continuous growth of the company. The
company has to be focused on their strategies in order to be able to function effectively and
efficiently. Marks & Spencer is having a high standard for themselves in the market which have
to be achieved in order to be able to function effectively and efficiently which is going to make
the standards of the company be higher (Phan, Pham and Nguyen, 2020). Good defined budgets
and strategies must be present so that there is going to be effective planning and designing which
the business would be able to operate effectively which is going to be good for the overall
functioning. There have to be good documentation of the measures so that they would be easier
to be implemented which is going to make the standards of the company be higher.
SWOT
SWOT framework helps in understanding the internal working of the company which the
organization need to analyse and evaluate in order to be able to operate effectively and
efficiently in the market for a long run. The competition for M&S is increasing which has to be
well analysed and improved upon so that there are right actions and measures which the
company can decide. The risk factors are supposed to be analysed and improved upon so that
there are right functioning which the company can have for a long run.
 Strengths
M&S is having a good experience which the organization is having in the market since
the company has overcome a lot of issues in the past as well which is going to be good for the
reputation in the market for a long run (Haseeb and et.al., 2019). Recognition of M&S is high in
the market as well because of the quality of the products and the trends which the company
adapts to very easily on time which is fulfilling the needs of the clients. Variety in the products
and services is present and also the company has been able to successfully expand themselves in
the international markets as well and be able to gain the trust and loyalty of the clients from time
to time. The company is also having a strong portfolio for themselves in the market because they
are able to have a famous designers in the brand which attracts more customers.
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 Weaknesses
There is a decline in the company which is observed since the company is focusing on the
food sector and also not be able to fulfil the needs of the clients in 2019 which has made the
company have a very bad image in the market. There is a perception of adults that M&S is
serving products and services only for the youth and teenagers which needs to be changed
because there is a segmentation which the company is having and limitation on the sales is
present (Ugalde Hernandez, 2020). Major drawback of M&S is that they are still have a lot of
labour producing their products and services which is why the company has to price their
products also accordingly. Adapting the right technology is going to be helpful for having high
productivity and operations which is going to be good for the reputation and brand value of the
organization among the competition.
 Opportunities
The company is focusing on e-commerce factor which is online stores to be able to get in
more customers and make the right sales as well. The company would merge with a lot of
organizations like Amazon, eBay and other to be able to reach out and make the perceptive of the
customers change which is going to be a great factor for the overall development. Opening mega
stores is going to be helpful and make the policies also be improved accordingly (Wu, 2017).
Needs of the customers have to be fulfilled and make sure that there is good segmentation but if
the company is going to adapt to good technology then the organization would be able to have a
higher stability.
 Threats
The competition in the market is very high for M&S which needs to be evaluated so that
there are going to be effective decisions which are going to be taken. The global branding has to
be higher which is going to make sure that the company is being able to expand themselves in
developing countries which is going to be a great factor for the overall development and growth.
The company has to shut down a lot of stores in UK, China and France which is a great threat for
the company because of the competition. The organization will have to use the right measures
and strategies in order to be able to gain higher placing for themselves in the market (Vaníčková
and Szczepańska-Woszczyna, 2020).
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PESTLE
To understand the external factors which may impact the working of the business the
company has to make sure that they are taking the right actions and measures to be able to work
accordingly therefore PESTLE framework is used. The further report is going to discuss the
PESTLE factors of M&S in detail.
 Political Factors
Due to Brexit there are a lot of changes and loss of employees which took place in M&S
which the company underwent. There are a lot of legislatures as well which the company has to
adapt and made the company loss a lot of clients because of this factor (Singh, 2018). Tariff and
Taxes factor has changed in the company which the organization has to be make sure that they
are working accordingly so that the portfolio of the company can be well maintained. Protecting
the standards, value and brand image in the market the company took these decisions.
 Economic Factors
Transportation factors in the country also changed which is fuel rates, which needs to be
monitored effectively so that there are right actions. Residential property factor is making M&S
not be able to expand themselves further in UK and a lot of stores have also shut down in the
country as well. The economic factor is not stable in the organization which is why
implementing to technological changes is going to be difficult for the overall working of the
organization for a long run. Customers have to be attracted through online factors to be able to
develop and monitor the working and make the company be able to work effectively again.
 Social Factors
The buying habit of the clients is changing which needs to be analysed and improved
upon so that the company can have higher operations and working. Groceries by the customers is
also bought online therefore M&S will have to use modern methods and not tradition which they
have been using from a long run (Frisk and Johansson, 2018). CSR is also influencing the
processing and brand value in the market which the company has to analyse and monitor in order
to be able to operate effectively in the market.
 Technological Factors
With time the retail industry is developing and making the industry have the right
technology to be able to develop effectively which is going to be a great factor for the overall
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working. Loyalty of the clients has to be gained because of the competition and what happened
in 2019 is not good for the brand image therefore adapting to modern technology is going to be
more acceptable in the organization for a long run. Innovations can also take place in the
company effectively so that there would be higher outcomes and improvement which the
company is going to have and make the clients be able to have higher satisfaction.
 Legal Factors
There are a lot of risks which are present while working in international market which
needs to be present to be able to work for a long run. Current laws and regulations have to be
implemented and worked upon so that the organization will be able to gain the right competitive
advantage. The support from the government and expansion is going to be easier as well. Safety
and security actions for employees and customers have to be taken as well so that the company
would be able to gain value in bazaar.
 Environmental Factors
Currently there are a lot of green policies which are being adapted in the market in order
to be able to operate effectively so that the company will be able to have a positive impact on the
market. There are zero carbon footprint actions which the company is taking so that there are
going to be higher working factor (Ilnytskyy, Bezrukova and Svichkar, 2018). Climate
conditions are also changing which has to be improved and worked upon effectively so that there
is going to be higher value and branding which the organization will have.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that the organization need to have an effective
plan in order to be able to operate effectively in the market so that there are going to be higher
consequences which the company can have. The competition in the market is growing rapidly
which needs to be analysed and adapted to which make the organization would make sure that
they have taken the appropriate measures according which is going to be a great factor.
Technological changes are coming in the market which must be implemented and adapted to
quickly so that the organization would make a huge difference and make sure that there are right
actions. Competition is increasing which needs to be developed and make sure that the
organization is being able to work accordingly which is good for the overall working.
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