Strategic Management BUS3005: Analysis of Marks and Spencer's Strategy

This essay provides a strategic analysis of Marks and Spencer (M&S), a major British multinational retailer, examining its strengths, weaknesses, and the challenges it faces at both national and global levels. It discusses issues such as increased corporation tax in the UK, growing competition from rivals like Zara and Primark, and the impact of COVID-19 on its operations. The analysis also covers internal factors like technology and brand equity, as well as external environmental influences such as digital marketing, social media, and changing consumer behavior. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of innovation, strategic CSR practices, and leveraging e-commerce platforms for M&S to enhance its competitiveness and achieve long-term growth. Desklib is a valuable resource for students seeking similar solved assignments and study materials.

BUS3005 Strategic
Management
(Assessment 1)
1

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
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INTRODUCTION
The business environment is inclusive of internal and external factors which have a direct and
indirect influence upon organization strength capabilities and profitability at the national and
global level. This essay is conducted on Marks and Spencer which is a major British
multinational retailer (Swinney, 2019). Marks and Spencer is operating as a British multinational
retailer and headquartered in London, England United Kingdom. This company is specialised in
selling home products, clothing and food products. This organisation was founded in the year
1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. Currently organisation is having stores in 1463
more than locations and serving worldwide. Organisation is operating in retail industrial sector is
one of the leading organisation in respective industry.
Marks and Spencer is among one of the leading department stores and grocery retailers
based in the United Kingdom company. Main mission is to make high-quality products and
services to customers which are accessible to all. Furthermore, it has been underlined that Marks
and Spencer main values for innovation, quality service etc. Along with this company emphasise
upon redefining their brand position statement with an effective communication strategy in order
to enhance sales. The company was founded by a partnership between Michael Marks, a Polish
Jew born in Slonim who had migrated to Leeds, England in the early 1880s, and Thomas
Spencer, a cashier from the English market town of Skipton in North Yorkshire. This
organisation significantly made its reputation in starting of 20th century and significantly entered
into a long-term relationship with the manufacturers in Britain. This essay discusses Marks and
Spencer from a global perspective in which its strength and weaknesses geographically has been
analysed. Along with the issues that company is facing at global and national level is also being
discussed in this report.
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MAIN BODY
Marks and Spencer is operating as a multinational organisation and offers wide range of
customers nationally as well as globally. It has been evaluated that there are some certain issues
that company is facing. It has been evaluated that in terms on national level it has been evaluated
that the government of United Kingdom hikes corporation tax to 25% (UK hikes corporation tax
to 25% as pandemic support hits £407 billion. 2021). This increases the burden of tax on Marks
and Spencer in United Kingdom, that have a major impact on their profitability and generation of
revenue. In addition to this it has been evaluated that on a global scale Marks and Spencer is
facing issues in terms of becoming unfashionable and which decrease their ability to appeal
younger generation. Marks and Spencer is United Kingdom biggest seller of clothing by value
but on a global scale its rivals like Zara and Primark are becoming more fashionable and have
also adopted online clothes shopping as comparatively to Marks and Spencer. Furthermore it has
been evaluated that on the global level Marks and Spencer is facing trading challenges before,
during and after covid-19 (SULISTYONO, 2018). Along with this its competitors like H&M,
Primark on global scale are opening more online stores in order to serve more new consumers.
This is causing problem for Marks and Spencer during the time period of covid-19 which
affected their profitability (Expert Blog: Marks & Spencer facing trading challenges before,
during and after COVID-19. 2020). It has been identified that Marks and Spencer is having
certain strengths on both national and local level which include, it is a recognised and
multinational brand with a variety of products and have famous designers brand. Being a
multinational retail company this organisation sell products under its own brand name have
skilled and talented employees worldwide. However it has been underline that the major
weakness of Marks and Spencer on global and national scale is that due to high competition,
Marks and Spencer is facing the challenge of decline in sales. Along with this company major
weakness is high cost due to manual process and low investments in global store and global
expansion. Furthermore, it has been evaluated that Marks and Spencer is one of the leading
business in the United Kingdom and have many the partnership over the years cross-national as
well as international boundaries. This is organised brand which is its one of the greatest strength
and offer a variety of products and services to customers. However it has been identified that in
the year 2019 the sale of some stores of Marks and Spencer has been declined due to poor supply
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chain system and lack of investment on digital scale and e-commerce. Due to the change in
perception of public buying behaviour less investments on Marks and Spencer on online
platform at as major drawback for company profitability and cost (Schleper, Trautrims and
Baldock, 2021). It has been underlined that from past many years in retail industrial sector there
is fierce competition in which organisations are undertaking use of many strategies such as
innovation, CSR practices, abiding ethical practices and focusing upon strategic innovation in
order to generate more profitability and attract large number of consumers. High degrees of
competition in retail industrial sector is creating number of issues in front of Marks and Spencer
in which they are needed to develop a whole new business strategy as well as promotional
strategy in order to be innovative. Company is not only required to focus upon United Kingdom
but also emphasize upon global level to take advantage of digital platforms to serve customers
and have a large market size (Jones and Comfort, 2019). From the above analysis it has been
evaluated that all these issues such as an increase in corporate taxes, increase in competition on
both national and global scale, lower investment of Marks and Spencer online platform as
comparatively to other rivals etc are some certain issues that Marks and Spencer is facing at an
industry, national and global level. All these issues are not only affecting organisational
capability to generate higher growth but also affecting them to influence attention of large
number of consumers.
It has been evaluated that there are some certain internal factors which is affecting
business operations of Marks and Spencer decision making and profitability. It has been
evaluated that factors such as internal technology, resources and dependency, corporate image
and brand equity and technical equipment’s for online task execution for some certain internal
factors which is affecting profit generation capability of Marks and Spencer (Hague, 2021).
While on the other hand in context with external environmental influence digital marketing and
media, competitors, technology, social media, economic situation due to the outbreak of covid-
19 and change in behaviour pattern of customers are some external environment influences
which is impacting Marks and Spencer. Furthermore, it has been evaluated that competitors of
Marks and Spencer is taking advantage of innovation through new developments and
improvements in their technology and business system. Furthermore, it has been evaluated at
competitors of Marks and Spencer such as Primark, Zara are taking use of social media to attract
social consumers and taking advantage of new approach of influencer marketing and focusing
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Upon AR power shopping experience. Along with this it has an evaluated that ethical and value
based brand is on the rise in retail industrial sector, in which consumers are actively seeking to
buy from those organisation who are associated with political environmental and social ideas. It
is essential for organisation to emphasize upon corporate social responsibility and further
showcase them on their annual report this is an important factor which is making number of
competitors of Marks and Spencer to grow faster.Thus, from the above analysis it has been
identified that Marks and Spencer profitability and business decision making is affected by
internal and external environment factors and some innovative practices that has been considered
by its competitors. In this it is essential for Marks and Spencer to focus upon these things which
is happening in industry in order to significantly drive innovation in company. It has been
evaluated that these influences and factors have changed the dynamic of retail industry in
positive manner and it allow organisation to conduct cost effective operation such as social
media marketing and also allow them to influence large number of customer base with less
investment on their advertisements. Furthermore, it also facilitate organisation to provide
maximum satisfaction to customers and make them more aware about their offerings.
In this it is essential for Marks and Spencer to significantly focus upon e-commerce platform
in order to enhance shopping trend. With the help of becoming experimental and taking
advantage of valuable promotional tools through interactive displays and real life props Marks
and Spencer can gain competitiveness (Rains and Longley, 2021). Along with this it is essential
for company to shift to the virtual space, increase the use of chatbots, conduct ethical and value
based business practices while focusing upon environment in order to enhance consumer value
towards brand. In this company is required to have genuine transparency and take stands on
ethical issues to gain consumer loyalty and trust. It is an important CSR practice which will lead
Marks and Spencer to enhance their competitiveness in industry. Marks and Spencer is also
needed to take advantage of augmented reality (AR), machine learning and artificial intelligence
so that consumers can rely on online shopping during the time period of pandemic. This will
enhance Marks and Spencer capability to overcome their weaknesses geographically
(Cordewener, 2018). With the help of this organisation can also overcome the issues that they are
facing at industry national and global level. With the help of this company can maximize their
overall growth and profitability in a well-defined and effective manner. It will also assist
organisation to enhance their competitiveness in industry to gain long term growth and success.
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CONCLUSION
Thus from the above-mentioned analysis it has been concluded that Marks and Spencer is a
leading organisation and is one of the United Kingdom foremost retailer of foods, clothing,
homeware and financial services. This organisation is operating in more than 30 countries
worldwide and have specific vision, values and mission. Organisation aspires to offer qualitative
production services which is accessible to all. From this essay it has been identified that in order
to overcome the issues like increase in global competition, outbreak of covid-19, economic
fluctuations etc. It is essential for organisation to emphasize upon innovation focus upon
strategic innovation and corporate social responsibilities with efficient governance and ethics and
focus upon CSR practices in order to have positive attitude towards consumers, environment,
community etc. This helps them to enhance their competitiveness in not only local but also
global environment which can significantly change their profit earning capability efficiently.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Swinney, J.H., 2019. Marks and Spencer Made Me. Postcolonial Text, 14(3 & 4).
SULISTYONO, J., 2018. ANALISA CITRA MEREK, KUALITAS PRODUK DAN PERSEPSI
HARGA TERHADAP KEPUTUSAN PEMBELIAN (STUDI KASUS DI TOKO MARKS
& SPENCER KELAPA GADING JAKARTA) (Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Mercu
Buana).
Schleper, M.C., Gold, S., Trautrims, A. and Baldock, D., 2021. Pandemic-induced knowledge
gaps in operations and supply chain management: COVID-19’s impacts on
retailing. International Journal of Operations & Production Management.
Haski-Leventhal, D., 2018. Strategic corporate social responsibility: Tools and theories for
responsible management. Sage.
Hague, P., 2021. Market research in practice: An introduction to gaining greater market insight.
Kogan Page Publishers.
Nyame-Asiamah, F. and Ghulam, S., 2019. The relationship between CSR activity and sales
growth in the UK retailing sector. Social Responsibility Journal.
Rains, T. and Longley, P., 2021. The provenance of loyalty card data for urban and retail
analytics. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 63, p.102650.
Cordewener, A., 2018. Cross-Border Loss Compensation and EU Fundamental Freedoms: The
‘Final Losses’ Doctrine Is Still Alive!. EC Tax Review, 27(5).
Jones, P. and Comfort, D., 2019. “Better Retail, Better World”: A commentary on British
retailers and the sustainable development goals. Journal of Public Affairs, 19(2),
p.e1910.
Jones, P. and Comfort, D., 2019. Storytelling and corporate social responsibility reporting: A
case study commentary on UK. food retailers. Journal of Public Affairs, 19(4), p.e1834.
Online
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UK hikes corporation tax to 25% as pandemic support hits £407 billion. 2021. [Online].
Available throughhttps://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/03/uk-hikes-corporation-tax-to-
25percent-as-pandemic-supports-hits-407-billion.html
Expert Blog: Marks & Spencer facing trading challenges before, during and after COVID-19.
2020. [ Online]. Available
throughhttps://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/news/news-articles/2020/06/expert-blog-marks-
and-spencer-facing-trading-challenges-before-during-and-after-covid-19
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