MSC Management with Streams Strategy

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Mark and Spencer's business strategies, including PESTLE and SWOT analyses. It evaluates the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and offers strategic recommendations for enhancing competitive advantage. The report emphasizes the importance of adapting to market changes and stakeholder needs to achieve organizational goals.

MSC management with streams
strategy

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Critical analysis of Mark and Spencer........................................................................................1
Critical analysis of competences and resources..........................................................................4
Evaluation of the outcomes.........................................................................................................6
Strategic Recommendations........................................................................................................7
Implications for stakeholders......................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
In this competitive scenario, an organization can attain its objectives only if it has
appropriate plans and strategies. In order to survive in this competitive era, a firm needs to
analyse the market and its competitors so that it can plan formulate a strategy. Whereas, stream
strategy can be defined as the formulation of plans in a way that it has a major focus on the
consumer needs and demands. Adoption of this strategies will assist the organization to achieve
the customer requirements effectively. In order to gain better understanding of the subject, M&S
is taken into consideration. This stated organization is one of the leading firm in clothing and
fashion products. However, the present report is prepared with a purpose to identify the micro
and macro environment of this organization. In addition to this, the document will also explain
the requisite recommendations for M&S (Battistella, Biotto and De Toni, 2012).
Critical analysis of Mark and Spencer
In order to make a critical analysis of mark and Spencer, PESTLE analysis and SWOT
analysis can be implemented. The mentioned firm operates in different countries and markets for
which PESTLE analysis will remain useful in order to evaluate the macro factors. Following
factors are stated below.
Political factors: In an economy, the government plays an essential role in the formulation of
rules and regulations. If these laws are not adopted or followed by the companies while trading
then they will be liable for certain penalties. However, M&S operates in different countries
where it needs to analyse the political factors of the traded economies. For an instance, there was
a person lived in Glasgow suffered form the allergy after wearing the clothes of M&S. As per the
regulations the firm is liable for the repairs and compensation to the injured person. As a result,
the organization has compensate that person and apologized for the queries (Bellucci and et.al.,
2013).
Economical factor: This is the another factor which can affect the productivity and profitability
of M&S. The organization deals in several economies where the economic condition of the
countries are not same. If the economic condition is not good then it will result in lowering down
the production of this firm. For an instance, in 2009 UK was facing recessions which has resulted
in decreasing the disposable income of the consumers. In this situation, customers do not save
spare amount for clothing and luxury items. They can switch over to the brands who offers
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clothing at low rates. This will affect the productivity of this company so the firm is needed to
lower down the prices in order to remain its business stable.
Social factors: With the changing time, the society is also getting changed in terms of fashion
and clothing. However, the management of M&S needs to identify the market trends and
customer demands in order to trace the changing needs of them. However, in this section M&S is
more updated about the changing fashion trends and tries to provide as per customer needs. It is
seen that, the purchasing of customers are mainly affected by different factors such as
demographic, social, personal and so on (Driouchi and Bennett, 2012).
Technological factors: In retail industry technology plays an essential role in order to prop\mote
and deliver the products to the end customers. It is the duty of this firm to manage its brand
carefully. However, the organization must communicate the brand position so that it will make
them aware about the company products. The organization also needs to focused on the latest
technology with the help of research and development process. This will provide an assistance to
this company to keep update its technology and provide innovation to the customers. In terms of
innovation, the organization can adopt different methods such as online promotion and
marketing. This will help the organization to gain the attention of the customers in an effective
manner (Papadakis and Barwise, 2012).
Legal factors: Mark and Spencer has a major focus on the changing laws and policies. The
organization keep themselves updated with the polices and regulations in order to provide
protection in terms of laws and policies. They keeps on implementing the business changes in
order to follow the legal factors. In addition to this, the organization keeps on improving their
operations so that the company operations can be effectively developed. For an instance, the
legislation of fair packaging and labelling of the goods. However, M&S make sure of the proper
labelling and packaging of the products. It helps the customers to get detailed information of the
products (Cerdin and Brewster, 2014).
Environmental factors: Environmental factors are required to be focused by an organization in
order to protect environment. Each and every firm has certain responsibilities towards
environmental factors. In order to attain these factors, the company has established Green
policies in which they focus on ethical trading and neutralise the carbon effect. In addition to
this, the major focus of this organization is on the reduced the emission of gases form the
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production of clothes and food items. For the same, the organization has a major focus on green
production which helps the company to reduce the effect on environment.
In context to above, the organization can also use Porters 5 forces of mode through which
the appropriate analysis of this organization can be done. This model is based on 5 elements
through which the competitive areas can be analysed. The following elements are stated below.
Supplier power: The organization has different suppliers which provides quality raw material to
them. The image of this company is positive because of its maintenance of quality. It is
important for this organization to take care of the nee and demands of the suppliers. Here, the
power of suppliers are greater because if they are not paid properly then they can offer low
quality raw material. This will result in affecting the end quality of the products of M&S (Niza
and et.al., 2014).
Buyer power: Here, the buyer power is higher because the company charges high prices for its
products. If the consumers are not satisfied and happy with the company then they can switch
over to the different competitors of this brand. There are different options available for the
customers to purchase clothes and food items. However, the company needs to adapt the
strategies in a way that it can make its customers attracted to their products.
Competitors Rivalry: Mark and Spencer has major competitors such as ASDA, Sainsbury,
Tesco and Safe way. The productivity of this organization may get affected due to its
competitors. All these rivalries of M&S offers fine quality goods with some additional values.
This gains customer attention because customers are price and quality oriented. If they finds it in
other brands then they can switch over to the competitors. In order to maintain the customers of
M&S, it is crucial to analyse the product and marketing strategies adopted by the rivalries
(Papadakis and Barwise, 2012).
Threat substitution: M&S operates in retail industry where the customers can easily get the
substitutes of the products offered by this company. Here, only those customers will stick to the
brand who are loyal with the brand. That is why there is high number of chances of the
customers to switch over the substitutes. In this situation, the organization can lower down the
prices of its products so that it will keep those customers who are price oriented.
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Threat of new entry: In this situation, the power of firm is higher as compare to the new entries.
In retail industry, it is hard to make positive image in front of the customers specially in the
presence of organization like M&S, TESCO and ASDA. If the new organization comes to this
industry then it will not affect the productivity in a negative manner. This organization has strong
brand image which helps the company to keep their customers (Priem, Butler and Li, 2013).
Critical analysis of competences and resources
Mark and Spencer is one of the leading company in retail industry. The firm operates in
different parts of the world with a motive to render quality services and products to the
customers. However, the vision of Mark and Spencer is to conquer its goals by preparing
effective strategies. Besides this, the mission of this company is to provide quality products to
the customers. In context to this, the firm also focuses on their purpose of attaining goals and
objectives (Papadakis and Barwise, 2012).
The key objectives of Mark and Spencer is employee orientation. The company expects
higher form its staff to give their maximum contribution to this company. It is necessary for the
company to have succession management. The organization aims at focusing the retain the
employees and also to recruit the talented and skilled employees in the company. In addition to
this, the organizational objective of this firm is to aback their monopoly in the clothing and
fashion stream. However, this can be done with the help of transforming the resources and
authority into quality and value products. The firm also have a sales objective where the
management aims at raising their sales of products.
In context to above, the stated organization has certain capabilities through which it can
attain its goals and objectives in effective manner. However, this organization is well versed with
human capabilities, financial capabilities and physical capabilities. Mark and Spencer has around
82900 employees in all the departments and stores of this firm. The company have employees
with requisite skills and qualities in the field of retail industry. In addition to this, the firm make
sure of providing timely trainings to the employees which keeps on enhancing their performance.
On contrary to this, the organization has ample of financial resources which can be used for
further expansions. The renowned company can also enhance its position with the help of
financial capabilities. The company can use funds for promotional actives so that the value of its
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products can be increased. Besides this, the company has physical capabilities through which the
products can be sell out easily to its stores (Papadakis and Barwise, 2012).
In order to evaluate the micro environment of Mark and Spencer, SWOT analysis is taken
into consideration. This will help the organization to identify the strengths and weakness for
which the measures of improvement can be adopted. Following are stated below.
Strengths: Product quality of this company has become the main strength of this organization.
The customers of this firm always get good quality products such as fruits and vegetable and
specially clothing. The organization maintain its quality in the products has resulted in attracting
the customers towards the vegetarian food. Besides this, the brand has maintained positive image
for the customer services. They adopted polite and calm behaviour with the customers which
leads to maintain good customer relations. For an instance, when the women customers buy
clothes, the worker of departmental store help them by measuring sizes. In addition to this, the
management of this company has provided proper shopping environment (Papadakis and
Barwise, 2012).
Weakness: There are certain weakness of this company which can result in hampering the
productivity of m&S. The major weakness of this company is stock control where the company
is unable to meet the demands of the customers. In contrary to this, sometimes the goods remain
unused. This results in wastage of resources which can enhance the cost of the company
products. In addition to this, the company has the issue of waste store spaces because the
company has huge space for the storage of products. But the company is not able to raise its
market share.
Opportunities: There are certain opportunities which the company have such as internet
technological development. This is the areas where the organization needs to focus. The firm can
adopt the concept of online trading where it can make available its products at virtual media.
This will provide an assistance to the customers to get 24*7 products with home delivery. The
organization needs to take advantage of the technology which can be useful for the customers
and the company as well. In addition to this, the organization can also extent its market by
opening its stores in Hong Kong and Ireland. This will result in increasing the company
operations in an effective manner (Papadakis and Barwise, 2012).
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Threats: There are certain threats through which the productivity of the firm get affected. The
company is facing strong competition at global level. The strong competitors of this firm are
ASDA, Sainsbury, Tesco and safe way. However, the products offered by these competitors are
not only good at quality but also adds certain value. Besides this, change in social environment
can also be a threat for this organization. Here, the changing taste and preferences of the
customers can affect the productivity of M&S. This can result in wastage of resources due to
extra stock.
Evaluation of the outcomes
From the above micro and macro analysis, the strength, weakness, opportunities and
threats of this organization is evaluated. In addition to this, PESTLE analysis and Porter 5 forces
has implemented to M&S. With the help of PESTLE analysis, it can be evaluated that the
company is diverted in different countries and market. However, the company needs to focus on
changing factors with reference to social, economical, environmental, legal and other factors.
Focusing on these factors will assist the company to bring changes and dynamism in the products
and services of this company. In addition to this, the organization is well versed with certain
capabilities which can help this organization to grow and expand (Niza and et.al., 2014).
In context to above, the company has several strengths which can provide an assistance to
this firm to offer better products and services as compare to its competitors. For an instance, the
company have ample of financial resource which can be used by this firm in order to develop
and improve its performance. The organization can conduct training sessions for the employees
so that their current performance can be improved. By providing requisite training and
development sessions the work level of the employees can be enhanced. This will result in in
proving the overall performance of the organization. In addition to this, the organization is
required focusing on the weakness like stock management and lack of clothing segmentation. In
order to improve the stock control of this company, the management can adopt certain methods
such as Just in time, minimum stock level and stock review. All these methods will help this
organization manage the inventories in an effective manner. The organization will be able to find
the minimum stock level so that whenever it will decrease the firm can reorder for the further
production. On another side, Just in time method will help this organization to reduce the cost by
cutting stock to the lower level. As per this method, the items will be delivered whenever they
will be required. This will provide an assistance to the management save the resources and make
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them use in effective manner. The ultimate impact of the same will be managed stock level of
this organization. This can result in wastage of resources which will ultimately affect the position
of this organization. Besides this, the company has positive brand image in terms of quality and
differenced products (Papadakis and Barwise, 2012).
With the help of Porters 5 forces, it can be evaluated that the company has less buyer and
supplier power because the firm is operating in retail industry where there are large number of
competitors the organization have. However, this can affect the productivity of this firm as the
customers will switch over to its competitors. In terms of threats of new entry, here M&S is
much more powerful due to its positive brand image and product quality. This will help the
company to maintain its position while the new firm enters in the market. Besides this, SWOT
Malaysian has remained useful for this company to identify the strength, weakness, opportunities
and threats. There are certain opportunities which can help this company to grow and expand in
the areas where it is not present. For an instance, the organization can adopt information
technology where it can digitize the whole process of working. It will result into lower down the
duplication of work. In addition to this, the organization can also adapt the concept of online
trading. With the help of this concept, the firm will be able to make its strong virtual presence. It
will make easier for the customers to purchase the products of M&S whenever they need (Niza
and et.al., 2014).
The stated firm can increase its customer base by interacting with the customers over
social media and other tools. This will allow the customers to send their feedbacks and queries
with reference to the products of M&S. It leads to enhance the customer trust towards this brand.
In addition this, the venture requires focusing on its threats so that it can improve its position.
The management is needed to formulate the strategies in a ways that it can overcome to its
competitor. As a result, the firm will be able to attain its goals and objectives in an appropriate
manner.
Strategic Recommendations
There are certain recommendations for M&S which can remain useful for this
organization to gain competitive advantage. The management of this firm can adapt product
development strategy where the company can analyse the market and introduce new product in
the market. This will help the organization to increase its customer base in an effective manner.
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Besides this, the organization can also use the same product in new market. The firm can operate
in markets like Asian market. Here, the company needs to analyse the situation of Asian markets
where it can target both the India and China economy. The departmental stores of M&S are
available in China and India but in some cities only. However, the company has an opportunity
to expand its business in this market. For the same, the firm needs to formulate a marketing plan
so that it can trace the whole picture (Niza and et.al., 2014).
Besides this, the organization can also use online trading through which the company will
be able to trade with the help of virtual media. The stated firm can increase its customer base by
interacting with the customers over social media and other tools. This will allow the customers to
send their feedbacks and queries with reference to the products of M&S. It leads to enhance the
customer trust towards this brand. In addition this, the venture requires focusing on its threats so
that it can improve its position. On another hand, the company can also use promotional and
advertising techniques which will help this organization to enhance the value of its products.
This will result in attain the goals and objectives of the this organization. In addition to this, the
predetermine objectives of this company can also be attained effectively. On another side, Just
in time method will help this organization to reduce the cost by cutting stock to the lower level.
As per this method, the items will be delivered whenever they will be required. This will provide
an assistance to the management save the resources and make them use in effective manner. The
ultimate impact of the same will be managed stock level of this organization. This can result in
wastage of resources which will ultimately affect the position of this organization. Besides this,
the company has positive brand image in terms of quality and differenced products (Niza and
et.al., 2014).
Implications for stakeholders
M&S has various stakeholders who have direct or indirect interest in the operations of the
company. The stakeholders of M&S are suppliers, customers, government and the society where
the company traded. Suppliers are the most important shareholders of this company. They
demand for timely payments for the raw material provided to the company. It is the duty of this
company to attain the satisfaction level of the suppliers. If this is not happen so then they will
affect the quality of raw material. Besides this, customers are another most important
stakeholders of this company. The organization needs to focus on their needs and demands in an
effective manner. The firm should provide them quality products so that they can attain the
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satisfaction level of the consumers. This will help the organization to increase their productivity
and profitability in an effective manner. However, the stated recommendations will help the
stakeholders to get higher return form the company. For an instance, if the profits of this
company will be higher then the return of shareholders will also be greater. This will help the
company to raise its investments in an effective manner (Minoja, 2012).
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that, stream strategies are important for the
company in order to produce goods and services as per the customer needs and demands. This
will provide an assistance to the company to attain its goals and objectives in an effective
manner. However, the macro and micro environment analysis of M&S has remained helpful in
identifying the strengths and weakness of the company. With the help of this, the organization
has adopted corrective measures through which its performance can be improved.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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macroinvertebrates with implications for water management. Environmental
management.51(6). pp.1274-1283.
Booth, S.A., 2015. Crisis management strategy: Competition and change in modern enterprises.
Routledge.
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of research and practice. Journal of World Business, 49(2), pp.245-252.
Driouchi, T. and Bennett, D.J., 2012. Real Options in Management and Organizational Strategy:
A Review of Decision‐making and Performance Implications. International Journal of
Management Reviews, 14(1), pp.39-62.
Eden, C. and Ackermann, F., 2013. Making strategy: The journey of strategic management.
Sage.
Feeley, H.B., Woods, M., Baars, J.R. and Kelly-Quinn, M., 2012. Refining a kick sampling
strategy for the bioassessment of benthic macroinvertebrates in headwater
streams. Hydrobiologia, 683(1), pp.53-68.
Fernandes, G.W., Kunz, A., Steinmetz, R.L.R., Szogi, A., Vanotti, M., de Moraes Flores, É.M.
and Dressler, V.L., 2012. Chemical phosphorus removal: a clean strategy for piggery
wastewater management in Brazil. Environmental technology, 33(14), pp.1677-1683.
Lujano-Rojas, J.M., Monteiro, C., Dufo-Lopez, R. and Bernal-Agustín, J.L., 2012. Optimum
residential load management strategy for real time pricing (RTP) demand response
programs. Energy Policy, 45, pp.671-679.
Minoja, M., 2012. Stakeholder management theory, firm strategy, and ambidexterity. Journal of
Business Ethics, 109(1), pp.67-82.
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