Stakeholder Analysis: Impact on Business Practices at Marks & Spencer

This report examines the influence of internal and external stakeholders on the business practices of Marks and Spencer (M&S). It defines stakeholders, categorizing them into internal (employees, shareholders) and external (customers, government, local communities), and discusses their impact using Mendelow's Matrix. The report highlights how stakeholders affect business practices, particularly within sales, where customer satisfaction, employee performance, and governmental regulations play crucial roles. Ultimately, it concludes that stakeholders are essential for business survival and significantly shape M&S's operational strategies, emphasizing the importance of aligning business practices with stakeholder needs to achieve business success. Desklib offers a variety of solved assignments and study resources for students.

PROFESSIONAL
DISCUSSION NOTES

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
This report will discuss and analyse the relationship of internal and external stakeholders on
business practices followed by the organization Mark and Spencer. Business practices refer to
implementation of new methods and procedures in the organization. Business practices are
important because it helps in increasing the productivity of the business and it also helps in
increasing the morale of the employees. It will also help Marks and Spencer in retaining and
attracting employees.
MAIN BODY
A stakeholder may be defined as the group that has an interest in any activity or decision of an
organization. They are the persons who take interest in that project or business of a particular
organization. Stakeholders can be classified into two parts:
 Internal stakeholder
 External stakeholder.
Internal stakeholders are those persons who take part in the activities off the company by
maintaining direct relationships. External stakeholders are those who do not work directly with a
company but somehow affected by the actions and outcomes of the business.
Mendelow's Matrix represents the four boxes of stakeholders which are discussed as follows:
 High Interest and High power: Stakeholders of this group are considered as key
players and there is need of actively engagement of business by this group. The
stakeholder of this group has an influence which is very significant. If they are
unhappy with the strategy, then they have power to change or stop the strategy.
(Cillo,and et.al., 2019).
 High Interest and Low Power : This group of stakeholders has power by which
change can be influenced and this group also takes interest in what is happening.
They also have little power that they can attempt to join the forces of group, which
are powerful. This group should be kept informed.
 Low Interest and High Power: It is very essential that this group must be kept
satisfied because this is the group of stakeholders which has the potential to move
into the 'High Interest with High Power'. If this group will be satisfied than, they are
less likely to gain interest and also exercise their influence for power.

 Low Interest and Low Power: This group takes very less interest in the organization
and direction. This is often due to their lack of power of shareholders which
influence a situation. If any little resistance is there, then the position will be likely
accepted.
The stakeholders of marks and Spencer's are employees, customers, shareholders and investors,
suppliers, local communities, government and pressure groups.
The internal stakeholders of Marks and Spencer's are as follows:
 Employees : In order to earn a source of livelihood, Marks and Spencer has over
78000 employees who devote their time in working for the organization (KEYFACTS.
2021) Employees demand job security, fair treatment for them and other things which
provide them safety and security.
 Shareholders : Shareholders are the group of persons who has invested their money
buying the shares of the company. They will take interest in the company only, if the
company will grow. M&S are also conducting Annual General Meetings and other
meetings so that the shareholders remain updated with the information.
External stakeholders of the Mark and Spencer's are as follows:
 Customers: Customers are the most important stakeholders of the M&S because they
are the persons who will purchase the products of the company. They are also
conducting surveys so that they may able to identify the needs and preferences of
their customers.
 Government:The government of a country sets laws and regulations for the
company. They ensure that whether the company is following laws, health and safety
provisions of employees or not. The government must provide employment
opportunities for the citizens and also makes sure that company must pay taxes to the
government (Denney, 2018).
 Local communities:Local communities are providing a base for the company through
which sales can be conducted. Marks and Spencer has a good relationship with these
local communities, and they are also doing visits and meetings and stakeholder
conferences amongst each other.
Business practices:

It means implementation of new methods for organizing routines and procedures in the company.
These practices defines the ways by which businesses can be done in most effective manner.
Business practices defines the law by outlining acceptable behaviours which are beyond the
control of the government. Business practices are established which is helpful for promoting the
integrity among the employees and from key stakeholders trust is gained. The business
practices within the Marks and Spencer's are as follows:
Internal as well as external stakeholders have a direct and major impact towards the
company and its concerned business practice. This can be justified with the aspect of sales
business function that is associated with the sales of the product of the company. Here both the
external as well as internal stakeholder would share relationship and impact the concerned
practice(Derakhshan and et.al., 2019). Competitors and its product would have a direct impact
towards the company’s sales practice and strategy in terms of making it to be effective or
ineffective. In the same way employees as internal stakeholder will have an impact on sales
function that if more products sold by the employees of the company than it would help them in
getting additional benefits in the form of bonus or incentives by the company and if the
employees are not satisfied than it will lead to turnover of employees in the organization. This
will also affect the goodwill of the company.
If the customer is satisfied with the quality of the product which the company is
producing, then it would be helpful for increasing the sales of a company. If company is
fulfilling the needs and desires of its customers, then it would affect the selling strategy of the
company and if it is not fulfilling the needs and demands of a customer, then the customer will
shift to other product(Pirozzi, 2019).If the company is producing goods and services according to
needs and desires of the customer than it may be possible that customer will not switch to other
brands.
Government has also framed some rules and regulations which also should be kept in
mind while following the sales practice within the company. If the company is not following
them than the government will charge some kind of penalties in the form of taxes or in some
other forms for the company. The government will also take some action against the company if
company will not pay the taxes on time.

CONCLUSION
The report has concluded that stakeholders are the essential key of any business. Without
stakeholders, the business cannot survive. They also play a very important role in business
practices of Mark and Spencer's and if these business practices are followed by the stakeholders
of the Mark and Spencer than it may be helpful for achieving new insights for the business.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Cillo, V.and et.al., 2019. Understanding sustainable innovation: A systematic literature
review. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 26(5),
pp.1012-1025.
Denney, V.P. 2018. Achieving business performance through ethical business practices.
Global Journal of Business Discipline. 2(1), pp.15-45.
Derakhshan, R.and et.al., 2019. Project governance and stakeholders: a literature
review. International Journal of Project Management. 37(1), pp.98-116.
Pirozzi, M. 2019. Stakeholders, who are they? PM World Journal. 8(9), pp.1-10.
Online references
KEYFACTS. 2021. [Online]. Available through
<https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/investors/key-facts>
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