Strategic Management Report: Approaches, Tools, M&S Case Study

This report delves into the realm of strategic management, outlining a continuous process encompassing planning, analysis, monitoring, and assessment of organizational requirements to achieve business objectives. It emphasizes the importance of adapting to a dynamic business environment for sustained competitiveness. The report dissects the strategic management process, exploring tools such as SWOT and PESTEL analysis, and applies these concepts to a case study of Marks & Spencer (M&S), a prominent UK-based retailer. The analysis covers approaches for determining organizational strategies, evaluating various tools and models, and applying them to real-world scenarios. Additionally, the report examines the significance of the change management process concerning its cost and complexity. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of continuous evaluation and adaptation for long-term organizational success.

Strategic Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Approaches for determining organisational strategies................................................................1
Evaluation of tools and models....................................................................................................4
Application to real world organisation........................................................................................6
Significance of change management process in terms of cost and complexity...........................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is defined as continuous process of planning, analysis, monitoring
and assessment of organizational requirements and processes so that business goals can be meet
(Jabbar and Hussein, 2017). Business environment is very complex and rapidly changing which
makes it mandatory for organizations to remain competitive in nature. For this purpose
companies are required to constantly evaluate the effectiveness of their strategies which can
ensure long term success. The report will discuss the strategic management process and tools
which are used by organization. For this purpose this report will analyse the case study of Marks
& Spencer (M&S) which is one of the leading clothing, grocery and food retailer based in UK.
The study will also discuss about the importance of change management process within
organisation.
MAIN BODY
Approaches for determining organisational strategies
M&S uses a well defined process for identifying and implementing suitable business
strategies. The key steps involved in this process are as follows:
Analysing strategic position: The first step used by M&S to find strategy for its better
positioning is analysis of its existing position in the business environment. This is done by
evaluation of various business environment factors as well as communication with the different
stakeholders, customer analysis and market data. Thus suitable tools such as Swot analysis is
used to assess the existing strengths and weaknesses and they can be overcome or utilise (Toma,
Marinescu and Grădinaru, 2016). For gaining more clarity in strategic positioning PESTTEL
framework and other competitive analysis is also performed so that current status of the business
can be identified. This analysis is helpful in understanding the necessary areas of improvements
so that strategies can be formulated accordingly.
Prioritising and determining objectives: After evaluation of the strategic position of company as
compare to its competitors M&S aims at choosing suitable objectives which can assist in
performance appraisals. Organisation ensures that these objectives must be in alignment with the

organisational vision and mission (Sundiman, 2018). In the process of determining objectives
company also evaluate their impact, resources needed to accomplish them, their SMART nature
and priority.
Figure 1: Strategic planning process
(Source: The 5 steps of the strategic planning process, 2020)
Development of plan: In this phase organisation develops a strategic plan including essential
tactics to achieve objectives. For this purpose strategic mapping is used in which entire business
process is reviewed and performance gaps are marked for improvement. Within strategic choices
M&S try to balance the trade off between cost and opportunities and to enhance strategic
position of company (Karlik and et.al., 2017). When developing plans company also ensure that
the proposed strategies have positive impact on all stakeholders and its impact and purpose is
clearly conveyed to all participants.

Figure 2: Strategic mapping
(Source: The 5 steps of the strategic planning process, 2020)
Execution and management: In the next phase M&S communicate its plan to tits various
stakeholders and relevant documentation process is done so that strategies can be implemented.
The execution steps and ownership for each action is managed by KPI dashboards. Various
teams at M&S apply the strategies by appropriately utilising all necessary resources. For
example staff members are trained and essential technological changes are made to make
strategic outcome effective and desired.
Plan review and monitoring: For every strategic implementation this is the last phase in which
organisation review the implications of applied strategies (Bochenek, 2019). It gives a chance to
M&S to re-evaluate its priorities and to make necessary modifications as per business
requirements. Organisation tracks and analyses the KPI so that business performance can be
measured and if strategic goals are not meet then new plans and strategies are developed.

Evaluation of tools and models
There are several tools which can be used by organisations for evaluation of their
strategies. Two most common tools are SWOT and PESTEL analysis. These are discussed as
below:
SWOT analysis: It is one of the most widely used strategic planning model which helps
company to reflect on strength, opportunities, weakness and threats associated with a particular
strategy.
Strength and weakness: This element of SWOT model describes the existing resources or stage
of organisation. Thus with this evaluation company can find out the things which are going well
in the current situation (O’Neill, 2016). On the other hand weakness describes the areas in which
company’s performance is not going well and which must be improved so that overall efficiency
can be increased.
Threats and opportunities: For successful implementation of strategies it is also necessary that
organisation must identify the challenges and growth options which must be prioritise. Thus
through swot model organisation can identify the changes taking place outside organisational
environment. With the analysis of opportunities companies can determine the ways to eliminate
weakness or the constraints which can threaten the competitive positioning of the organisation.
SWOT analysis constitute only one phase of strategic planning thus for complex issues
more analysis and advanced tools are required (Altukhova and Semko, 2018). It fails to prioritise
the issue due to limited information output. As a result it may successfully highlight lot of
problems or ideas but may not give alternative solution or the strategy. On the positive side this
analytical tool does not involve much cost and can even provide significant information in small
duration of time as well. Thus it can be helpful for developing quick strategies in complex
business situations. With the evaluation of possible opportunities and upcoming threats company
can formulate strategies which not only increases profitability but are also beneficial for long
term.
PESTEL analysis: This is the second most popular tool which helps companies to evaluate the
organisational position in market and how various business factors influences the performance.
Under this model six factors are taken into considerations which are:

Political: To improve and formulate strategies companies must analyse the political status of the
company (Elbanna, Al Katheeri and Colak, 2020). The first element of the model evaluates the
impact of these political factors on strategic planning process.
Economical: The strategic outcomes or the plan also depends upon economic factors. Thus this
model is helpful in understanding the consequences of economic factor on strategy
implementation.
Social: This element of PESTEL analysis helps company to understand the social aspects which
influences business and operational activities.
Technological: The technological changes are very influential and thus successful organisational
change cannot take place without analysis of these factors. Thus this model act as one of the
efficient tool considering technological changes as an important part.
Environmental: This can be considered as one of benefit of the model that it also evaluates
environmental or climate factors as important (Berisha Qehaja, Kutllovci and Shiroka Pula,
2017). Since these factors have indirect impact many times they are not considered in strategic
planning. However PESTEL analysis ensures that these changes can be easily converted into
opportunities.
Legal: The strategies implemented without legal framework can result in big mess. Thus the
model can be considered as feasible enough to identify legal challenges so that they can be
addressed properly.
PESTEL analysis is very simple and thus it can lower the impact of threats to great
extent. It promotes the strategic thinking and cross functional expertise within organisation.
Since this framework is capable to analyse all dimensions of any business environment it also
makes it easy to apply and identify new opportunities related to business growth and expansion.
However for decision making process on the basis of this framework companies must conduct
this analysis on regular basis (Schilling and Shankar, 2019). On most occasions the time and cost
limitations also restrict the quality of information available for making accurate decisions.
Further the model also seems to be limited in analysing crucial aspects such as competition and
industry analysis as well as stakeholders perspective.

Application to real world organisation
Organisations such as M&S also use SWOT and PESTEL models for improving and
changing their strategic direction. It helps to retain sustainable profits as compare to other
organisations.
SWOT analysis of M&S
Strength: One of the strength of M&S is that it has long experience and good brand value among
customers. Thus when company enters into any new market segment then its existing brand
value helps to build customers easily (Toma, Marinescu and Grădinaru, 2016). Due to this reason
company always try to focus its strategies in sustaining good public will.
Weakness: M&S clothing segment is known for good quality however it faces tough competition
from Zara and H&M. One of the weaknesses of M&S is that its clothes are not considered as of
good design and quality as compare to its competitors. Thus customer dissatisfaction affects the
performance of company. The identification of this weakness guides organisation to take steps in
this direction by improving its product and customer relation strategy.
Opportunity: M&S is very successful in UK which can be used to explore the Asian countries
which have great potential markets. In those markets organisation can enter via online platforms
or through different market entry strategies so that its global presence and market share can be
increased.
Threat: Competition is one of the most significant threats which is currently being faced by
M&S. The company is facing several challenges from other service providers in terms of its
pricing strategies and product quality. Thus it is important that company must take necessary
steps to overcome these threats.
PESTEL model applied to M&S
Political: The political instability in UK due to Brexit is affecting growth and operational
strategies of organisation. For instance the changes in import duties and taxation can force M&S
to modify its supply change and business expansion plans.

Economic: Pandemic induced unemployment has affected the economy and purchasing power of
customers to great extent. Thus M&S has also planned to ensure that with its low pricing range
most of the people can afford services. The poor economy also forced M&S to shut down its
many stores and to have more reliability on online platforms so that store maintenance costs and
employee expenses can be reduced and profitability can be maintained.
Social: Social changes such as online shopping preferences, home delivery and organic food has
resulted in considerable change in M&S operations (Rothaermel, 2016). In response to these
changes organisation has launched new food products for health conscious customer groups and
a greater emphasis is also paid to 24*7 home delivery services via online platforms.
Technological: Changes such as digital and social media marketing are already a part of M&S
operational process. However with upcoming advancements in artificial intelligence company is
also training its teams to make them more efficient so that they can integrate information
technology to predict the behaviour of their customers.
Environmental: The increasing preference of concepts like corporate social responsibility and
sustainability M&S is also committed to reduce its carbon foot print and to contribute socially by
means of charity and social development (Adewale, 2016). These strategies helps organisation to
adopt strategies which creates a perception of responsible organisation among customers.
Legal: With the application of framework it is analysed by organisation that regulations such as
minimum wages, information handling and other business contracts must be fulfilled. The failure
to do so can have negative impact on the brand value of organisation. Thus in response to such
laws M&S always ensure that it treats its customers, employees and other stakeholders in good
and ethical way.
Significance of change management process in terms of cost and complexity
Change management refers to the systematic approach of identifying and managing
changes within an organisation (Georgiev, 2017). For making transformations in business
process and strategies it is necessary that organisation must follow change management process
instead of directly responding to change needs. Change management involves three stages:
preparedness for change, management and reinforcement. M&S is transforming its business from
offline stores to online retailing platform. However instead directly making transformations,

company is first preparing itself for the change. In this context organisation is providing both
online and offline services so that it can review the response of its stakeholders and can prepare
its employees to accept and understand the change needs. This approach is greatly helpful in
identifying the gaps which can affect the transformation process (Berisha Qehaja, Kutllovci and
Shiroka Pula, 2017). If these gaps are not identified and filled then it can result in failure of the
process and operational costs can also exceed.
A well defined change management process also allow organisation to implement
changes at different levels of organisation by considering vision, resources and long term
requirements of the organisation. It is possible that without proper planning some of the
stakeholders may not be identified and their contribution may diminish in applying changes. This
can weaken the strategic position of the organisation. Another benefit of change management
process is that it makes transformation process more productive and transparent. Even after
implementing any strategic change or transformation it is not assured that organisation will be
able to achieve its objectives (Sundiman, 2018). Organisational changes such as technology
transformations, leadership and management changes are very crucial and do not take place
frequently. Thus it is necessary that these changes must take place in systematic manner
otherwise it can have serious implications in terms of cost and brand value of organisation. It is
one of the reasons that M&S analyse several aspects related to strategic change. This can be done
only by proper planning and management process.
With the changes in strategy company is also required to change its people, resources and
objectives as well. Thus lack of planning can result in big failure. Transformation processes
which are not managed properly have higher probability of failure. Lack of planning and
monitoring process reduces the productivity and employees may is the project deadlines. It is
also possible that some stakeholders may not agree with the sudden imposed changes. Thus if
their resistance towards changes is not reduced then the change implementation process will
definitely face barriers and non-cooperation. It will delay the project and ineffectiveness can be
reflected in terms of increased expenses or project failures. For instance if M&S implement any
strategic option without informing about employees then they may get confused about strategies
and it will surely lead to situation of mismanagement. As a result of this customer dissatisfaction
and disagreement of employees can be observed at large scale. Thus from cost efficiency also

change management process is necessary for the organisation so that changes can be
implemented with minimum risk and maximum efficiency.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it can be concluded that strategic management plays crucial role in
the sustainable growth of organisation. Thus it is very important that companies follow suitable
process to determine and implement its business strategies. It has been also analysed from the
above study that for implementing highly effective strategies companies can use different tools
which understand the change needs and market requirements. Thus it can also be suggested that
for improving organisational performance strategic planning process must be carried out in
systematic and careful approach. It will help in making business activities more effective in
terms of quality and company’s long term goals.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adewale, A.A., 2016. Change, customer satisfaction and competition: Issues from the strategic
management context. International Journal of Economics, Business and Management
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Altukhova, L.A. and Semko, I.A., 2018. Strategic management of competitive agribusiness
organizations model. International Journal of Advanced Studies. 8(2). pp.9-21.
Berisha Qehaja, A., Kutllovci, E. and Shiroka Pula, J., 2017. Strategic management tools and
techniques usage: A qualitative review. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et
Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis. 65(2).
Bochenek, M., 2019. Balanced scorecard in strategic management process. Publishing House of
Rzeszow University of Technology. p.7.
Elbanna, S., Al Katheeri, B. and Colak, M., 2020. The harder firms practice strategic
management, the better they are. Strategic Change. 29(5). pp.561-569.
Georgiev, M., 2017. The Role of the Balanced Scorecard as a tool of strategic management and
control. Journal of Innovations and Sustainability. 3(2). pp.31-63.
Jabbar, A.A. and Hussein, A.M., 2017. The role of leadership in strategic
management. International Journal of Research-Granthaalayah. 5(5). pp.99-106.
Karlik, A.E. and et.al., 2017, May. A model of a strategic economy management system. In 2017
XX IEEE International Conference on Soft Computing and Measurements (SCM) (pp.
678-680). IEEE.
O’Neill, J.W., 2016. The role of storytelling in affecting organizational reality in the strategic
management process. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management. 4(1). p.1058.
Rothaermel, F.T., 2016. Strategic management: concepts (Vol. 2). McGraw-Hill Education.
Schilling, M.A. and Shankar, R., 2019. Strategic management of technological innovation.
McGraw-Hill Education.
Sundiman, D., 2018. The effect of knowledge management on the strategic management process
mediated by competitive intelligence in the small business company. Jurnal
Manajemen Dan Kewirausahaan. 20(2). pp.105-115.
Toma, S.G., Marinescu, P. and Grădinaru, C., 2016. Strategic planning and strategic
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Online

The 5 steps of the strategic planning process, 2020. [Online]. Accessed through
<https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/5-steps-of-the-strategic-planning-process> .