Strategic Analysis of M&S: Issues, Changes, and Recommendations

This report provides a detailed analysis of the strategic issues facing Marks & Spencer (M&S). The introduction outlines the background, purpose, aim, and objectives of the report, which focuses on analyzing management issues and proposing strategic changes. Part 1 includes a consultancy report identifying the organization, key strategic and cultural issues like low profitability and lack of motivation, and the rationale behind the need for change. It also explores challenges that can derail the change process. Part 2 delves into situational analysis using Lewin's, McKinsey's, and Kotter's change management models, along with business canvas, stakeholder analysis, SWOT analysis, balanced scorecard analysis, and force model analysis. The report concludes with reflective writing in Part 3, offering recommendations for the implementation of changes. The report aims to provide M&S with insights and strategies to improve its management and overall performance.

Strategy into Action

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Background of the project......................................................................................................1
Purpose of the report..............................................................................................................1
Aim.........................................................................................................................................1
Objectives...............................................................................................................................1
Part 1................................................................................................................................................1
Consultancy report..................................................................................................................1
Identifying the organization.............................................................................................................1
Company profile.....................................................................................................................1
Key strategic/ cultural issues in M&S....................................................................................2
Rationale behind the change process......................................................................................4
Key stages involved in the change process......................................................................................5
Challenges that can derail the change process.......................................................................8
Part 2..............................................................................................................................................10
Situational analysis........................................................................................................................10
Overview..............................................................................................................................10
Lewin's change management model.....................................................................................11
Overview of Lewin's change management model................................................................11
Application of Lewin's change management model.............................................................11
The McKinsey 7-s model.....................................................................................................12
Overview of The McKinsey 7-s model................................................................................12
Application of The McKinsey 7-s model.............................................................................12
Kotter’s 8 step change model...............................................................................................13
Overview of Kotter’s 8 step change model..........................................................................13
Application of Kotter’s 8 step change model.......................................................................14
Business canvas....................................................................................................................16
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS......................................................................................................16
SWOT ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................................16
Overview of SWOT..............................................................................................................16

BALANCED SCORE CARD ANALYSIS...................................................................................17
Overview of balanced score card analysis............................................................................17
FORCE MODEL ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................17
Overview of Force model analysis.......................................................................................17
Part three........................................................................................................................................18
Reflective writing.................................................................................................................18
Implementation of changes and Recommendations......................................................................19
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21

INTRODUCTION
Background of the project
Strategy is considered as a way that an organization can implement in between to the
operations and processes of the company in order to achieve a higher rate of productivity (Smith,
2016). For maintaining the popularity and productivity of the business for a longer time,
developing and implementing strategies is a basic step which involves methods, ways, tactics
etc.
Purpose of the report
The report is about discussing the strategies and the techniques that can prove helpful
enough in making modifications in the management issues that are being faced by M&S. So, it
involves the whole process of strategy change that can be involved by M&S in order to make
effective changes, thus helping the company to achieve its position back again in the market.
Aim
To analyse the techniques that can help M&S in an improvised set of strategies for the
management issues.
Objectives
 To determine the strategies for management issues.
 To analyse the implementation of the strategies in processing of operations of M&S.
 To recommend ways of analysing the impact of strategies on management issues of
M&S.
Part 1
Consultancy report
Identifying the organization
Company profile
M&S is one of the leading retailers that deal with a wide variety of the product range that
can be used in the daily routine of an individual. As there are some issues in every organization,
there are some management issues in M&S as well. Although there can be various issues that can
be classified by the major one that plays a very important role is the issue of management. It is
because due to lack of management, there are various smaller factors that are acting as a barrier
for the operations and productivity of the company. There can be various reasons that may act
responsible for the low profitability of M&S and some well known and common examples of
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this can be concluded as less motivation, improper leadership skills etc. It is because these
factors play an important role for maintaining the balance between all the functions and
operations so that M&S can be able to achieve all the targets and goals in an efficient and
appropriate way. So, the strategies that are currently implementing by the organisation can be
analysed effectively and on the basis of outputs achieved, new strategies and techniques can be
included in order to make the whole processing better enough so that the operations and the
functioning of M&S can effectively be able to achieve the goals and targets.
Performance analysis
Key strategic/ cultural issues in M&S
Strategic issues can be considered as some factors that act as a barrier for M&S that they
can keep away the operations of M&S to reach their goals and targets. There are various
strategic issues that are being faced by M&S and some of the well known factors are discussed
as under :
 The major problem that the company is facing is of low profitability and there is a
possibility that it can be because of various factors such as lack of motivation to the
employees etc. So, the company is facing a wide range of pressure because these factors
were acting as a challenge or barrier for the M&S in order to achieve their targets and
goals. There are two ways of strategic issues, external and the internal. The external
factor can be considered as the ones that makes involvement of external factors to stop
the productivity of the company whereas the internal factors are the ones that M&S may
have to face challenges because of the internal factors only (Haegdorens, Monsieurs and
Van Bogaert, 2018). There can be various factors associated with the issue of low
profitability and some common factors that can be termed responsible for it involves less
motivation to the employees, lack of leadership skills etc. It is because when the
employees are working hard enough so that the organisation can be able to achieve the
outcomes, it is obvious that they will expect some sort of benefits from the company's
side. Therefore, some benefits such as increments, incentives etc. play a major and
important role so that the employees can also stay focused, thus it can help the company
to achieve all the outcomes and targets at a faster rate.
 Another strategic issues that M&S is going through is lack of motivation to the
employees. It is because encouraging and motivating employees from time to time is very
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important to keep them happy. As customers are an important part of the organization,
employees are also important enough. So, it is very important to keep them happy so that
they can be able to maintain their focus on the operations and functions of the company,
thus leading to achieve better objectives and thus, further higher rate of popularity and
productivity as well. Encouraging employees can actually help M&S to stay happy and
thus, focused towards the operations of the company so that they can be able to achieve
all the targets and goals at a much faster rate.
 Another strategic issue that M&S is going through is the lack of customer management. It
is because somewhere M&S is no able to cope with the requirements and needs of the
customers. There is a wide communication gap that can be considered as a result of the
same. It is because for an organization, it is very important to know what he customer
actually wants because customers play a very important role in maintaining the
productivity of the organization. So, somewhere M&S lacks in the fact that what the
customer's requirement is. As here is a very less amount of interaction between the
management and the customers, so there may be the possibility that it acts as an equal
reason for the low profitability of M&S. Therefore, M&S can ensure about involving
proper preventive measures so that they can have a direct interaction with the customers
without any sort of mediator etc. As a very well known example of this can be considered
as the action of taking feedbacks from the customers. It is because when M&S will
ensure taking feedbacks from the customers after ever deliver or purchase, they can tell
them ha what are the factors that are no liked by them, so proper effective changes can be
involved in order to replace and modify what is required, so that the customers can stay
happy (Thompson and Newsome, 2016). Also, by this way, the customers will also
consider the fact that they are an essential part of the company, which helps in
maintaining their focus on the operations of the company at a better rate. So, an efficient
amount of relationship between the customers and management is very important.
 Another strategy issue that can be considered as a well known factor tending to the low
profitability of M&S is less innovation to the products and services. It is important to
classify because it is obvious enough that the customers also need some change in their
lives. So, if M&S will continue the processing of the same products and services for a
large time, this will surely bore the customers. It is because customers also want
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something new and innovative. So, innovation can be considered here is an important
tool to keep the interest of the customers maintained. So, M&S can ensure involving
some sort of innovation in their products and services so that he can be able to provide
customers something different. This will help in maintaining the interest of the customers
as well and that too at a higher rate.
Rationale behind the change process
As there have been enormous number of factors that are acting as barriers and
challenges , which are also responsible for causing a negative impact on the productivity of the
company. So, some well known examples of this can be considered as improper leadership skills,
lack of management, less motivation to the employees etc. So, because of the impact that these
factors throws on the overall productivity of the company, there is a need to change the
strategy. As it is obvious enough that when customers will not be encouraged and motivated
about their performance, they will surely get disappointed and this will affect their focus and
concentration on the achievements. So, it is very important to motivate the employees at a higher
level. Therefore, M&S can ensure involving was so that they can be able to provide some sort of
motivation and encouragement to the employees. It can be done b providing them some sort of
increments, incentives etc. To the employees so that they can also consider the fact that they are
important for the company. This helps in maintaining their focus on the operations of the
company so that it can be able to achieve all the targets and goals. Also, along with providing
increments and incentives to the employees on a regular basis, the management of M&S ca also
provide them extra week off’s because this can also be considered as an efficient want to make
the employees happy. So, by these means, M&S can be able to involve an efficient range of
operations that can prove helpful enough in providing an appropriate range of motivation to the
employees. Also, another factor that can be considered as important enough for the reasoning of
why the strategies have to be changed is lack of customer relationship. It is because for any
organization, it is very important to maintain effective relationships with the customers. It is
because they play a very important role for continuing the operations of the company.
So, M&S can ensure by various ways that what the customer actually wants. It is
important to understand because understanding the needs and requirements of the customers is
very important as it helps in making the structure in that way only. So, M&S can ensure
understanding the requirements of the customers so that they can be able to make proper
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modifications on that basis only (Thompson and Newsome, 2016). Therefore, after ever
purchase of the customer etc., M&S can ensure taking proper feedbacks from the customer so
that they can be able to know what they want and can make modifications and improvements
accordingly. This can help in making the whole processing better. So, here is a need of initiating
and implementing change process. It is because there are various factors involved because of
which M&S has to go through low profitability and its consequences. It has been observed hat
from a few times, M&S has lost its competitive advantage and there is a possibility that it can be
because of these factors only.
It is because in every organization, some factors that play a major and important
role involves proper communication between employees, with customers, an efficient customer
relationship management etc. therefore, M&S can ensure involving the changes in strategies as
providing motivation to the employees by means of incentives, increments etc. so that he can be
able to say happy and encouraged etc. are important. It is because these modified changes and
was can be used for achieving a better rate of popularity and productivity. Lack of
encouragement and motivation can actually act as a barrier for the employee to stay happy and
focused towards the operations, therefore, these can be considered as effective reasons behind
the change process. It is because with these changes, here is a possibility that M&S can be able
to regain its position in the market, thus will make higher rate of profits and benefits. Therefore,
it can be considered as the fact that when some factors are acting as a barrier or challenge to the
overall rate of the productivity of M&S, there are probably fewer chances of the business to
achieve is goals and targets. Therefore, at the time of requirements etc. It is very important to
make involvement of all he effective changes so that the processing of M&S can be performed at
an efficient rate and they can be able to achieve a higher rate of popularity as well as
productivity.
Key stages involved in the change process
Before the proper implementation of the changes, it is very important to analyse that what
are the factors that actually needs to be changed. The whole process of the change is classified in
a variety of phases and every single phase plays a very important role in the whole management
of the change process, thus making every single phase clear enough that the processing of these
can result in a better outcome rate. Actually, there are five basic steps that are involved in the
change process. Every single process has its own significance, thus the combination of these can
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result in achieving all the outcomes, thus gaining a satisfied rate of customers, which can help in
a better rate of productivity as well as popularity.
The change process can be classified in a few stages and these can be classified as
below :
 Acknowledging the need for change is considered as the first stage. It is because M&S
should ensure that what are the factors that are actually required to be modified or
improvised. It is because the organization should be clear enough for the reasons for
making change because It is important enough (Schwartz, Bassett and Van Rie, 2017).
Before bringing or implementing the changes in the operations and functions of the
company, he should be clear enough ha actually what are the reasons that there is a
requirement of change. If the company would be clear about the factors that they need to
change, then it can result in better outputs. Otherwise, this can turn the situation more
complex. Therefore, it is very important that M&S should stay clear about the factors that
needs to be changed and also there should be proper reasons about that. It will help them
to achieve better outputs, thus a more effective range of the functions and operations.
 Another sage is that as M&S is one of the leading retailer, so there will be enormous
number of employees as well. Therefore, It is very important that the management of
M&S can make ever single employee clear about the reasons for developing the change
so that he can also make their minds before only. Otherwise, It can be termed as a sudden
implementation of the change for them and that will be hard to implement for them. Also,
along with this, there is a possibility ha a sudden change or modification may not be able
enough to satisfy the employees and can cause mis understandings as well. Therefore, It
is very important to convey any changes or modifications that the management has
decided to implement because by his way, they can also stay aware of the changes and
his will help them to cope with them even faster (Thompson and Newsome, 2016).
 The third stage is to develop a proper plan that is structured enough and must be
involving ever single activity and action. Ii is because when the strategies and techniques
have been decided that are about to implement in the organization, making a proper
structure of the same is very important because It helps in making the vision clear enough
(Wilson, 2015). So, it is very important to plan properly because there must be various
other factors that will be associated with the making of the plan. Therefore, at that time,
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making a well structured plan is very important because detailing It is considered as an
essential step and It is essential because at the time of implementation of the plan, if here
has already been structure made, then there are fewer chances of and discrepancy or
issue. For a better implementation process, it is very important to have a structured plan
because hat can help in going the process of the implementation smooth enough.
 Implementing the changes itself is another factor that is considered as one of the essential
one. It is because after understanding and making the changes that needs to be involved b
M&S in order to have a better processing rate, it is very important to implement the same.
Without making an implementation, there is no advantage of making the change and then
developing a plan etc. therefore, implementation of all the changes is considered as one
of the essential factors that needs to be developed. Also, this is considered as one of the
important steps that needs to be take place for a better processing rate of operations and
functions. The fact that is to be ensured here is that the management at it should involve
a better decision making of all he employees in which they can inform all he employees
about the changes and modifications that are to be done and about the development and
implementation of the plan as well (Campino, Santesteban and Lopez-de-Heredia, 2016).
It is because the employees are also considered as a very essential part of the
organization, so It is their rights to make all of them aware of he changes and also about
the reasons that why the company is bringing these changes. I will help them to
understand the changes better so that they might not feel any sort of complexity or issue
while dealing with them. Also, it is the right of the employee to know about ever
important process or function that is going under in the company. This will help them in
gaining a better are of sour from the employees side, thus he can be able to work together
and achieve all the objectives and goals a much faster rate.
 The last stage of the change process is considered as the evaluation of programs because
it is he final step after a proper implementation of the changes that are to be made within
M&S. The company can make an evaluation of the process that have been made and can
review that whether he changes have been implemented successfully or not. Reviewing
the changes and is impact is considered as a very important step because this helps in
checking the status whether the factors have been successful drawn out or not. This
means that there can be the possibility that some of the factors may throw a negative
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impact. In this, the organization can evaluate that whether the processing is effective
enough or no. if there is found that there are ill some factors that are no going well
enough and here is a possibility that in the future, it may act as a challenge or barrier, in
that case, the changes can be replaced or modified as soon as possible. Therefore, It can
be considered that reviewing the changes is very essential step because it helps in
analysing the fact that every process is going efficient or not.
Challenges that can derail the change process
There are enormous number of factors that might act as a challenge or barrier while the
implementation of the change process and these factors are considered as below :
Employee involvement
It is very important that the employees along with the staff members at M&S can be able
enough to resist the changes that they have implemented. It is because it is not about only
involving the changes but resisting to it is important. If after implementing the new and modified
factors, the employees feel less capable of implementing the changes, then it can cause major
complications for the whole operations and functioning of M&S. So, the involvement of
employees is very important. If in case, the employees seem less interested, then there is a
possibility that it may cause some loss to the management of the organisation. One of the most
well known and common barriers and challenges to the same is known as the issue of lacking
involvement of the employees. That is the reason it is considered that while deciding about the
change development and implementation, it is very important to make involvement of the
employees as well. This helps in reducing the risk rate of the involvement of employees in
M&S. Therefore, it is very important that M&S may make involvement of employees in the
decision making process of the whole process of change. This can further assure them that the
risk of employee motivation can reduce to a huge extent, thus they can be able to focus on the
operations better.
Lacking communication
A lack in the communication can also be considered as one of the major factors that may
act as a challenge in the change process. In many organisations, it has been observed that the
management makes changes in order to the fact that the employees will adjust. Without
communicating with them, implementing changes may cause some issues (Thompson and
Newsome, 2016). As in this case, the employees may resist performing the operations or also
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they may consume a huge amount of time and that can actually throw an impact on the
operations of M&S. Therefore, implementation of a well interaction rate can actually help in
making the process better and efficient enough.
Managing complications
It is obvious that when the new change process will be implemented, it will throw an
impact on various associated factors. With those factors, there will be some issues as well such
as managing with the new changes, understanding them etc. So, at that time, getting worried can
cause complications because in that case, it can throw a negative impact on the change process.
Therefore, M&S can ensure to have some techniques and strategies that they can use at the time
of conflicts etc. So, if at that time, the management is not able to cope with these conflicts, it can
act as a challenge or barrier affecting the operations of the company. Therefore, it is very
important to have some techniques and ways already as a backup so that if in case, there occurs
some conflicts, M&S can be able to make use of it.
Lack of encouragement
Lack of motivation or encouragement to the employees can act as a barrier while the
implementation of the change process. It is because when M&S will be developing and
implementing changes, it is obvious that some factors will be new for the employees as well. So,
there may be the possibility that the employees will take some time to get aware of the specific
ones, so at that time, lack of support and encouragement to the employees can act as a challenge
or barrier. It is obvious because as the new processes will be new for employees as well, so they
might take some time to get aware of it. So, less or no rate of motivation can act as a challenge
for M&S. Therefore, M&S should ensure to provide the employees appropriate set of
encouragement. It can be in the form of incentives, increments etc. so that they can be able
enough to cope with the new and modified processes of the change.
Planning
This being a foremost consideration of change process requires an intact planning of
resources as well as other related aspects to effectively manage the implementation of a changed
process. Although, it is impossible to begin with a successful change without any strategic
planning that is necessary to deal in today’s contending business world. Planning is basically to
know the exact changes required in the organisation and the way in which, they will successfully
take place in the organisation (Wilson, 2015). This is for instance M&S is looking to bring some
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