Implementing Product Development Strategy: M&S Sales Decline

This report examines the implementation of a product development strategy to address declining sales revenue and sustain competitive advantage in the UK fashion retail sector, using Marks & Spencer as a case study. The report begins with an executive summary, table of contents, and an introduction outlining the background of the study, problem statement, rationale, aims, objectives, research questions, and hypotheses. A comprehensive literature review explores the concept of product development strategy and corporate issues specific to Marks & Spencer. The methodology section details the research philosophy, design (analytical), data collection methods (primary survey questionnaires and secondary data), data analysis techniques (SPSS), and ethical considerations. The introduction highlights challenges in the UK fashion industry, including economic uncertainty, competition from online retailers, and specific issues faced by Marks & Spencer such as declining sales and lack of fashion appeal. The research aims to determine the role of product development strategy in improving sales revenue, examine its elements, and recommend strategies. The methodology includes a survey of 50 consumers in London. The literature review discusses new product development, seasonal demands, product modification, brand extension and SWOT analysis of M&S. The report concludes with a discussion of ethical considerations and limitations, and a Gantt chart outlining the research timeline.

Running head: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive summary-
The report aimed to propose the role of new product development t strategy in improving the
sales volume of Marks & Spencer. The highly competitive fashion industry in United Kingdom
has made this industry giant struggle. The increased competitive issues have raised several
questions in the minds of decision-makers for the long-run survival of business organisations.
The research not only dealt with the importance of corporate strategies but also analysed every
aspect of it in order to provide a relationship between these strategies and revenues of the
organisations. A detailed research methodology has been prepared for carrying out research in
the right direction. The research is expected to be completed within 20 weeks.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
1.1. Background of the study.......................................................................................................3
1.2. Problem statement................................................................................................................4
1.3. Rationale of the research......................................................................................................4
1.4. Research aims and objectives...............................................................................................5
1.5. Research questions:..............................................................................................................6
1.6. Research hypothesis..............................................................................................................6
2. Literature review:.........................................................................................................................6
2.1 Concept of product development strategy.............................................................................6
2.2. Corporate Issues and Strategies of Mark and Spencer.........................................................7
3. Methodology:...............................................................................................................................8
3.1. Research philosophy.............................................................................................................8
3.2. Research design....................................................................................................................9
3.3. Data collection method.........................................................................................................9
3.4. Data analysis technique........................................................................................................9
3.5. Ethical consideration..........................................................................................................10
3.6. Limitation of the study........................................................................................................10
3.7. Gantt Chart..........................................................................................................................10

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Topic: Implementing Product development strategy to address declining sales revenue to sustain
competitive advantage in the UK Fashion retails sector – A Case study of Marks and Spencer.
1. Introduction
1.1. Background of the study
The fashion industry in the United Kingdom has been facing significant challenges due to
the changes in the external environment. The clothing industry has been facing challenging
operating conditions due to BREXIT. Economic uncertainty has negatively affected the
confidence of the consumers (Ibisworld.com 2019). Consumers have limited their spending
which has slowed down overall sales in the market which means that majority of the retail
fashion outlets are holding on their store expansion strategies. The change in market conditions
have positively affected the competitive priced stores such as Primark and with the potential
increase of tariffs resulting in trade with other EU countries will increase the cost of operation
thereby reducing the operating margin. The total revenue generated in the year of 2019 was
£44bn and the annual growth rate in the industry is 2.2% (Ibisworld.com 2019). Moreover, with
the increase in sales of online retail outlets, the competition is stiff and highly competitive
(Ibisworld.com 2019). This study focuses on examining the role of product development
strategy in improving the sales revenue of the organisation. Marks & Spencer will be chosen as
the case study for the research project.
Marks & Spencer is one of the major British retailers and has its headquarters in London.
The company specialises in selling of food, home products and high quality of clothes
(Marksandspencer.com 2020). The company was once one of the primary leaders in the United

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Kingdom Retail market but the company has gone into a slump in recent years which has
significantly affected their purchase behaviour.
1.2. Problem statement
In the recent years, there has been significant decline of sales in Marks & Spencer where
the emergence of ecommerce and online fashion has taken a forefront for various sets of the
consumers. It is easier for consumers to search for variety of options, compare prices and then
choose the products which provides value for money. Marks & Spencer is one of the largest high
street shops with more than 300 stores which is difficult to manage for the organisations (Wood
and Butler 2018). Moreover, there is lack of parity among the stores where some of the stores are
relatively smaller and lacks variety where there are other that are too big to manage. However,
the factor having greatest impact on the consumers are the lack of fashion appeal from the
clothes offered by Marks & Spencer (Wood and Butler 2018). The company has not been able to
keep up with the change in fashion among the different target groups and majority of the
consumers are attracted to new fashion products in the market. The volume of footwear and
clothing sold has been reduced by 0.8% in the year of 2017 and the company consumers are
moving to their rivals such as Primark, H&M and Zara (Wood and Butler 2018).
1.3. Rationale of the research
Several researches and proposals have been conducted and prepared in the past to prove
the importance of corporate governance in organisational success. Past research, the result
clearly suggests that increased focus is now given on corporate governance. With the evolution
of technology, competition has increased, and the focus on these strategies has increased to
combat the increased competition and enhance organisational revenues. However, these

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researches have focused more on the increasing use of corporate governance at a generic level.
The past researches lack the focus on importance and impact on revenues.
Creation of a proper strategy at the corporate level and increasing revenue through the
same has become an important issue in the current scenario, and the aim of the study is to
analyse the importance of corporate governance in addressing the revenue in retail fashion.
There is a belief that survival and growth primarily depend upon ‘Corporate Governance
Policies' (Demirag 2018). It refers to the set of rules and guidelines in an organisation that
ensures accountability and transparency within the organisation with respect to its stakeholders.
It encompasses every aspect of the management, starting from the action plans until corporate
disclosures (Tricker and Tricker 2015). It helps the organisation in attaining the company's long-
term objectives. Past research shows innumerable issues related to corporate governance a few of
which are accountability issues, conflict of interest, violation of ethics, oversight issues and
transparency (DHU and HBP 2019).
1.4. Research aims and objectives
The aim of the research is to understand the importance of corporate governance and
strategies in the enhancement of revenue in the retail fashion market by focusing on Mark and
Spencer.
The research objectives are:
i. To examine the role of product development strategy in improving sales revenue in
Marks & Spencer clothing
ii. To examine the different elements of product development and how it affects the
sales parameters

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iii. To recommend possible product development strategies for addressing declining sales
volumes
1.5. Research questions:
RQ1. What is the role of product development strategy in improving sales revenue in Marks &
Spencer clothing?
RQ2. What are the different elements of product development and how it affects the sales
parameters?
1.6. Research hypothesis
H0: Product development strategy will not help in improving the decline in sales volumes in
Marks & Spencer clothing
H1: Product development strategy will improve the sales volume with arrival of new product
designs in Marks & Spencer clothing
2. Literature review:
2.1 Concept of product development strategy
Kiss and Barr (2017) states that new product development strategy is a dynamic process
which is affected by the seasonal demand and also affects the seasonal demand of the products in
the fashion market. The author also suggested that product development occurs every year during
each seasons and short time-to-market. According to Elverum, Welo and Tronvoll (2016),
product modification and revisions occur each time due to the continuous interactions among
marketing functions, designers and stylists. Therefore, the process of new product development
strategy goes through phases such as design, modelling, detailed engineering, material sourcing,

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production and distribution. Hosseini, Soltani and Mehdizadeh (2018) states that product develop
strategy is one of the growth strategies within the Ansoff matrix. It also requires changes in the
operations in business where investments have to be made in new product development through
research. On the other hand, Kiss and Barr (2017) brand extension is one of the key ways used
by companies to launch their products where the firms aim to leverage their existing consumer
base in the market.
2.2. Corporate Issues and Strategies of Mark and Spencer
In order to determine the corporate issues it is very important for the organisation to
perform industry and competitor analysis. Mark and Spencer is 135 years old public limited
company that is specialised in the retail industry sector (Bernon 2018). This project report
focuses on the fashion retail market of the company. The SWOT Analysis as per the previous
researches and previous studies has been mentioned in brief in this segment. The company has a
strong cash flow and a successful track of developing new products. It has a good performance in
new markets. The weakness however is that it needs to invest more in technologies. It needs
proper financial and marketing strategies to cope up with the recent challenges because of new
entrants. The increasing operational cost and rising pay is a major threat that needs to be focused
upon. The business operates as a family of accountable and responsible businesses that values all
its stakeholders.

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The organisation has faced several corporate governance issues starting from its
transition from a family-controlled business to mainstream institutional ownership. It also went
against corporate governance best practice in the year 2008. The company also compromised its
quality in order to reduce the prices. The sub brands also lacked authority and consistency
(Cullinane et al. 2019). Concerning these issues, the organisation has focused on restoring the
basics, shaping the future and making M&S special. It has aimed in restring sustainability and
profitability within five years.
3. Methodology:
3.1. Research philosophy
There are three types of research philosophies – Interpretivism, Realism and Positivism.
This research considers the positivism philosophy as it is based on facts and sensory experiences
and the issue is investigated in a critical and logical way.

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3.2. Research design
Analytical research will be used out of the three research designs – exploratory, analytical
and explanatory (McNichols and Stubben 2018). This design helps in getting detailed idea of the
existing theories and evaluates the study in a descriptive manner. The study has chosen the
explanatory research design to examine the relationship between the variables.
3.3. Data collection method
Primary data can be collected through survey, questionnaires and interviews and
secondary data can be collected from previous researches and other printed and published online
forms. The study has collected primary data through a survey questionnaire which consisted of
close ended questions. These questions were catered to the population in London and 50
consumers in London will be surveyed personally. These consumers mainly shop in the high end
streets. The survey questionnaire will be divided into demographic questions and questions on
product development strategy and revenue sales. Simple random sampling has been chosen as
the method for choosing the respondents where random persons on high end streets have been
surveyed directly. Secondary data will also be collected from web journals, articles and
government report to understand the current impact of the new product development strategy on
the sales revenue.
3.4. Data analysis technique
The quantitative data collected should be transformed into numerical data and the annual
reports and those data are to be compared. The financial outcome should be compared with the
strategic inputs in order to reach the conclusion. SPSS will be used as a tool for analysing
quantitative data where inferential statistics and descriptive statistics will be used. Secondary

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will be used to perform a case study analysis where statistical data will be used to understand the
current position of the company and approaches needed to remain sustainable in the market.
3.5. Ethical consideration
The research methods will not force any respondents to participate in the survey. Any
personal information will not to be shared publicly; the details of the respondents are not to be
shared publicly and proper guidelines of research presentation is to be followed.
3.6. Limitation of the study
According to Simonsohn et al. (2017), there are a number of limitations of a research
study. There is a problem regarding period. The respondents do not provide proper feedbacks
every time and hence result may be wrong. Availability of all the resources also remains a
question. However, the research must be planned accordingly to come up to a proper outcome.
3.7. Gantt Chart
Activities 1st Week 2nd to 3rd
week
4th to 7th
Week
8th to 11th
Week
12th to 15th
Week
16th to
19th
Week
20th Week
Selection of the topic 
Data collection from secondary
sources
 
Creating layout 
Literature review   
Analysis and interpretation of
collected data
  
Findings of the data  
Conclusion of the study 
Formation of draft  

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Submission of final work 
(Source: Created by author)

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References:
Bernon, M., 2018. Sustainable supply chains: Marks & Spencer’s Plan A. The Business &
Management Collection.
Cullinane, S., Browne, M., Karlsson, E. and Wang, Y., 2019. Retail Clothing Returns: A Review
of Key Issues. In Contemporary Operations and Logistics (pp. 301-322). Palgrave Macmillan,
Cham.
Demirag, I. ed., 2018. Corporate social responsibility, accountability and governance: Global
perspectives. Routledge.
DHU, H. and HBP, C., 2019. Corporate Governance and Earnings Management: A.
Elverum, C.W., Welo, T. and Tronvoll, S., 2016. Prototyping in new product development:
Strategy considerations. Procedia CIRP, 50, pp.117-122.
Hosseini, A.S., Soltani, S. and Mehdizadeh, M., 2018. Competitive advantage and its impact on
new product development strategy (Case study: Toos Nirro technical firm). Journal of Open
Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 4(2), p.17
Ibisworld.com 2019. IBISWorld - Industry Market Research, Reports, and Statistics. [online]
Ibisworld.com. Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/market-research-
reports/clothing-retailing-industry/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2020].
Kiss, A.N. and Barr, P.S., 2017. New product development strategy implementation duration and
new venture performance: A contingency-based perspective. Journal of Management, 43(4),
pp.1185-1210.

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Marksandspencer.com 2020. Welcome to Marks & Spencer. [online] Marksandspencer.com.
Available at: https://www.marksandspencer.com/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2020].
McNichols, M.F. and Stubben, S.R., 2018. Research design issues in studies using discretionary
accruals. Abacus, 54(2), pp.227-246.
Nithisathian, K., Wall, W.P., Thanitnan, C. and Ponwiritthon, R., 2018. Maintaining
Indispensable Competitive Advantage: Corporate Strategy for 21st Century. RMUTL Journal of
Business Administration and Liberal Arts, 6(1), pp.11-24.
Simonsohn, U., Nelson, L. and Simmons, J., 2017. Research Methodology, Design, and
Analysis. Annual Review of Psychology, 69(1).
Tricker, R.B. and Tricker, R.I., 2015. Corporate governance: Principles, policies, and practices.
Oxford University Press, USA.
Wood, Z. and Butler, S. 2018. Seven reasons why Marks & Spencer is in trouble. [online] the
Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/may/23/seven-reasons-why-
marks-spencer-is-in-trouble [Accessed 28 Jan. 2020].