Strategic Review: Global Strategy Management at Marks and Spencer

This report provides an analysis of Marks and Spencer's global strategy management. It identifies the company's existing strategy, explains the impact of current internal and external factors using PESTEL and SWOT analyses, and applies the Ansoff Matrix to suggest strategic changes. The report justifies these changes, discusses potential pitfalls, and covers Marks and Spencer's vision, mission, and values. The analysis includes market penetration strategies, innovation through self-checkout systems, and expansion into new food segments. The report also addresses the effects of political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors on Marks and Spencer's business.

Global Strategy
Management

Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Identification of the existing strategy of the company................................................................1
Explanation of the effects of the current internal and external factors have on its existing
business........................................................................................................................................2
Application of either the VRIO or the ANSOFF Matrix to highlight some changes the
company can apply to its existing strategy..................................................................................5
Provide justifications to the changes made and explain if there are any pitfalls in the new
strategic changes have recommended..........................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Global strategy can be described as strategies to be adopted by the company for purpose of
expansion of business into the global marketplace. It is one of the strategies which is developed
by the company for purpose of increasing sales. It is a strategy that considers standardisation,
multinational and international strategies (Alfonso and Paolo, 2021). It is a strategy that provides
economies of scale to the business and also enables them to get global recognition. It helps
businesses in order to improve the satisfaction of customers and utilisation of resources in an
effective manner to reduce wastage.
This project report includes analysation of Marks and Spencer which is a multinational
organisation. It is a British retailing company that is offering different types of clothes to its
customers including beauty, home, food and clothing products. It is a company that was
introduced in the year 1884 in the UK by Michael Marks and Thomas Spence. There are
different brands of this organisation including Per Una, Rosie, M&S Collection, M&S Energy,
Boutique, Blue Harbour, Jaeger, Autograph, Goodmove. This project report includes the
identification of the existing strategy of the company. It also includes an explanation of current
internal and external factors that create an impact on the existing business. It applies the Ansoff
matrix which highlights the changes a company can implement to the existing strategy.
Moreover, it includes the justification of the changes a business has made.
MAIN BODY
Identification of the existing strategy of the company
Business strategy can be described as a business document that explains the course of action
which provides assistance to the leaders of the company for the attainment of objectives of the
organisation. It is a plan which defines the needs of the business in order to provide guidance to
the hiring process and also inform the allocation of different resources of the company (Ateba
and Prinsloo, 2019). It offers direction for the team in order to pool of talented employees for
purpose of attaining of goals of the company. Marks and Spencer is one of the organisation
which is operating in the marketplace for many years. It is one of the large and existing
organisation which is getting success.
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 The vision of Marks and Spencer: The vision of Marks and Spencer is to offer
standards on basis of which competition is measured from customers experience, to the
working environment of employees, to taking care of the community and environment.
 The mission of Marks and Spencer: Mission of Marks and spencer is to offer a higher
quality of products to its customers and inspire the customers in order to offer the best
quality of products which is creating value for money.
 Values: Marks and Spencer is focusing mainly on the four values in their business
including innovation, quality, trust and service (Chang and Matsumoto, 2022).
In order to attain all these missions, visions and values in the organisation, Marks and Spencer is
one of the organisations which is focusing on different types of strategies in their organisation.
Some of these strategies applied by the business in their organisation are mentioned below:
 Marks and Spencer is focusing on Innovation as they have introduced the self-checkout
system in their organisation which is a new concept and also enhances the experience of
customers. It is important for the business as it allows them the purpose of competing in
the marketplace.
 Marks and Spencer is also entering into a new food segment like food products which is
providing a huge profit in the year. It is one of the wise decisions of the company which
is providing them success in the marketplace and allowing them to compete with the
other large firms (Fonseca, Abreu and Silvestre, 2021).
Explanation of the effects of the current internal and external factors have on its existing
business
PESTEL analysis
PESTEL analysis is used for purpose of analysation of external environment of the
business in which the business is operating It is a strategic framework that consists of different
factors like laws and legislation, social and cultural influence, environmental rules and
regulations, and economic development, development of technology and political influence. All
these components create influence over the business in both directions as well as indirect manner
(Skrypnyk and et. al., 2019). It is essential for business managers of Marks and Spencer to carry
out PESTEL analysis in their organisation for purpose of identifying threats on a timely basis
which enables the business to develop strategies to overcome of these threats. An explanation of
this PESTEL analysis in the context of Marks and Spencer is mentioned below:
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Political Factors: In the UK, there are free trade policies that create opportunities for the
business of Marks and Spencer. It is a company that has 1500 stores in all over the world and
free trade policies of the UK government is providing opportunities for the business. In order to
help the companies to overcome of the impact of Covid-19, the government of the UK also
provides different subsidies and other tax benefits to the business (Hietala and et. al., 2019). But
Brexit is one of the components that create a continuous threat for the business of Marks and
Spencer as it creates Changes in the rules and regulations of the UK Government.
Economic Factors: In the UK, there are different types of economic factors that create
opportunities as well as a threat for the business of Marks and Spencer. There is an increasing
demand for local retail store in the UK that create a threat for the business of Marks and Spencer
as it decreases the demand of premium products. This demand also creates opportunities for the
business of Marks and Spencer as it allows the company to maintain its premium status. It also
enables the company to attract customers with high-income levels.
Social Factors: Marks and Spencer is an existing store in the UK and not new for the
people of the UK. It results in the long-standing image of the company that creates a threat for
the business as they are unable to appeal to its customers. Marks and Spencer do not have a new
and trendy image which makes them fail to compete with trendy companies like H&M, Zara and
others. Marks and Spencer have also opened the food sector for their business where they serve
ready meals to its customers that providing opportunities for business as they increase in the
consumption of people of ready meals in the past years.
Technological Factors: the UK is a developed country that has proper resources and
technological advancement. Marks and Spencer have adopted a self-checkout system in their
stores which will help the retailers in different ways. It allows the company to save the cost of
the company as they do not need to hire an employee for the check-out purpose (Ignatiev and et.
al., 2018). It will enhance the experience of customers and also allow them to make the checkout
process faster. It is an organisation that is also using e-commerce for purpose of sales of their
products that create opportunities for the business.
Legal Factors: It is one of the important factors for the business that includes different
types of laws and legislation in their organisation. These legal factors cause delays in business in
the different decision-making processes that create a negative impact on the business due to this
firm is unable to take advantage of opportunities that occur in the business environment. Marks
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and Spencer is one of the large organizations due to which they need to consider laws and
legislation of UK as well as foreign countries in which they are operating that will result in a
positive image of the company in minds of its customers.
Environmental Factors: There is increasing environmental awareness among the people of the
UK and due to this most of businesses are shifting towards sustainable production. It creates a
threat for the business of Marks and Spencer as they are not offering sustainable products in their
marketplace and need to shift to sustainability in the marketplace (Kim, Qian and Zhang, 2020).
In order to get opportunities in the marketplace, the business of Marks and Spencer needs to
focus on adopting fair trade policies that do not create a negative impact on the image of the
company.
SWOT analysis
It is an internal analysis that provides opportunities for the business by allowing them to
analyse the internal environment of the business. There are different components available in the
internal environment of the business which creates threats and opportunities for the business. In
order to get success, managers of Marks and Spencer needs to make efforts in order to overcome
of threats that occur in their organisation. Explanation of different factors of Marks and spencer
are mentioned below:
Strength Weakness
 Marks and Spencer has a clear image in
the marge which is selling high-end
value products for the premium
segments.
 It is a retailer which is selling other
brands along with their own label
products in the marketplace (Marques,
2018).
 It is an organization that is focusing on
Innovation as it is adopting self-
checkout systems in their organization.
 Marks and Spencer I failed to expand
its operation in some foreign countries
like Asia and the middle east.
 Marks and Spencer are also facing
issues in business for ensuring
satisfaction among customers which is
a result of issues in the return policy of
the company.
Opportunities Threats
 Marks and Spencer can have  Competition in the market is creating
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opportunities to enter into a new market
like the Asian market where they can
get the advantage of the huge demand
in the marketplace.
 Marks and Spencer can also enter into
new market segments which is
providing opportunities for the business
of Marks and Spencer (Nik Abdullah,
2018).
one of the biggest threats for the
business of Marks and Spencer. In
order to overcome of it, business needs
to adopt different types of strategies in
their organisation.
 There are various changes that occur in
the government policies of the retail
stores in the UK that creates a negative
impact on the business.
Application of either the VRIO or the ANSOFF Matrix to highlight some changes the company
can apply to its existing strategy
Ansoff Matrix is one of product expansion grids that is used by the management of the
company as well as the analyst community in order to provide help to plan as well as for
evaluation of growth initiatives. Marks and Spencer are using these tools for purpose of ensuring
changes in their organisation required due to covid-19 and other factors. There are different types
of changes to be adopted by the business of Marks and Spencer and explanations of these are
mentioned below:
Market penetration: It is a concept of Ansoff Matrix in which business needs to increase
the sales of the company in the existing market with the existing products. Adoption of this
strategy allow the business to expand its operation as it is less risky. In this strategy, business
managers of the company need to sell more of its products into the market with which they are
familiar. It is a strategy in which a business has an existing relationship with its customers. For
the adoption of this strategy, Marks and Spencer needs to make more efforts for marketing and
can also streamline the distribution process (Ristovska, 2022). Marks and Spencer can also
decrease the prices of the products in order to attract new customers. Marks and Spencer can also
make changes in their stores design and outlet is one of the examples of this type of strategy for
the business.
Market Development: It is another strategy in the Ansoff Matrix that is less risky in
business. It does not require research and development for developing new products as it allows
businesses to enter into a new market with the existing offering of the business. It is a strategy
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that can be adopted in the organisation of Marks and Spencer by entering into new customer
segments or demographics. It is also important for the business to enter into a domestic market.
Marks and Spencer is one of the organisation which is ensuring market development by entering
into Asian market where they can get more opportunities.
Product development: It is a strategy in which businesses can introduce new products in
the existing market. It provides opportunities to the business to expand its share by increasing its
customer base. Marks and Spencer is adopting this strategy in their business by investing in
different research and development activities (Rodpai and Hong-ngam, 2020). They can also
acquire the right products in their business and can also sell them to their customers. Marks and
Spencer for this can also add a new segment in business.
Market Penetration: It is a marketing strategy in the Ansoff matrix that consists of
diversification and is also one of the high-risk strategies it is a strategy in which both the product
and the market are new for the company. It also consists of an opportunity for the company to
get a huge profit in the marketplace. It includes two types of diversification for business related
to diversification and unrelated diversification. Related diversification is one that takes place
among existing companies and the new product whereas unrelated diversification is a strategy in
which there is no possibility to occur among the existing businesses as well as the new products.
From above mentioned strategies, Marks and Spencer is one of the organisation which should
adopt market development as it is a less risky strategy and allow the firm to have great potential
for purpose of increasing the customer base (Rossidis, Belias and Vasiliadis, 2021). Marks and
spencer can get a huge profit by entering into the Asian market especially in China and India as
these countries are among the most populated countries and provide great benefits to the business
as there is huge demand.
Provide justifications to the changes made and explain if there are any pitfalls in the new
strategic changes have recommended
There are different types of changes recommended to the business of Marks and Spencer. All
these changes provide opportunities for the business. It is essential for the business managers of
the company to consider these changes while operating in the marketplace. These changes are
mentioned below:
 Expansion of business in the Asian Market: It is one of the changes that is
recommended to the business of Marks and spencer. Marks and Spencer due to their
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western version have failed in the Asian Marketplace that creating a threat for the
business. In order to overcome of it, businesses can enter into the Asian market with a
new strategy that provides them success and growth.
 Opening of discount stores: Marks and Spencer is one of the organisation that can also
get the growth by opening different types of discount stores. Discount stores allow
businesses to target new market segments (Sawhney, 2018). It is important for businesses
to get new opportunities to expand their market base of the business. It also helps
businesses to also compete with the stores which are offering their products in the fewer
prices.
 Adoption of marketing trends: Marketing trends reflect changes in the needs and
requirements of the customers. It is important for the business to access to different types
of opportunities occur in the marketplace. Marks and Spencer need to focus on trending
things that allow them to increase the demand of their products and services.
 Developing new marketing campaign: It is also a change introduced by Marks and
Spencer which is important for the business. It is a campaign that will assist the company
to build new positioning for the business that allow customers to connect with the
products of the company (Shams and Belyaeva, 2018). It is also important for the
company in order to enhance its experience of customers and also to increase the demand
of the products in the market.
All these changes are according to the requirement of customers which will help the company to
get the growth opportunities in the marketplace and also helps them for purpose of attainment of
growth. It is important for Marks and Spencer to consider these changes as it also helps the
company to overcome of changes that occur in the marketplace.
CONCLUSION
From above mentioned project report, it can be concluded that global strategies are developed by
the company for purpose of managing business at the international level. It is important for the
business as it allow a person for purpose of analysing the existing strategy of the business. In
order to manage strategy at an international level, business also needs to identify different factors
present in the external and internal environment in which they operate. Internal factors of
business includes different of resources the company has and strategies developed by the
company whereas external factors are present outside the company. It is also important for the
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business to consider these factors in their organisation in order to operate in business in a
successful manner. It allows businesses to identify different types of issues and challenges to
occur in business. In order to overcome of these challenges and issues that occur in business, it is
important for managers of the company to adopt the strategy. It is also important for the business
to adopt these strategies as it allows the business to overcome of challenges and also get different
types of opportunities that occur in business. It is also important for the business to adopt
different changes in their organisation related to the ways in which they are operating and
targeting business. it assists them to make changes in the positioning of the business in minds of
its target customers.
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REFERENCES
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accounting practices and its effect on value creation in Government Linked Companies.
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Markets, 13(1), pp.126-133.
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