Strategic Plan and Performance Evaluation: Marks and Spencer

This report provides a comprehensive strategic analysis of Marks and Spencer, a leading UK retailer. It begins with a critical evaluation of the company's performance, assessing its strengths, market position, and areas for improvement within its value chain. The report then develops a strategic plan for Marks and Spencer, utilizing tools such as SWOT analysis and Porter's Five Forces to identify key opportunities and threats. A competitive analysis is included to understand its position in the retail market. The report concludes with a reflection on the strategic management module, highlighting the learning experience and the development of skills such as effective communication, time management, and analytical abilities. The report emphasizes the importance of strategic planning for achieving competitive advantage and overall organizational success.

Strategic
Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................3
Part A.......................................................................................................................................................3
Critical evaluation of the performance of the selected company....................................3
Strategic Plan for the company...................................................................................................5
Part B.......................................................................................................................................................8
Reflection.............................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Strategic Management is an important component for an organization and
can help it in enhancing its overall productivity. The main objective of a firm behind
implementing strategic management in its workplace is to gain a competitive
advantage against competitors. Apart from this, it also helps the organization in
outperforming the market as well as surviving any changes that occur in the
business environment(Armstrong, 2019). This report is based on the organization
Marks and Spencer, which is a leading retailer in the United Kingdom founded in the
year 1884. The report critically evaluates the performance of the selected company
along with its strengths, market position as well as areas in the value chain that
require improvement. Apart from this, a strategic plan has also been included for
the company using appropriate tools. Lastly, the report includes a reflection on the
module considering the online learning activities as well as in class workshops.
Part A
Critical evaluation of the performance of the selected company
Marks and Spencer is known as the one of the British multinational retailers
which generally sells their offerings such as foods, homes, clothing and others
under their brands name. Moreover, respective entity is operating their business
into very competitive environment as well as there are various factors which impact
the business from outside. As they perform their services into various segment such
as food, clothes and other so it have to deals with various competitors. Additionally,
they are keeping developing with changing trends of clothing and customers’
desires (Berber, Đorđević and Milanović, 2018). Beside this, the core values of
Marks and Spencer are affordability, quality and services. Moreover, some of their
competitive strengths are it have excellent relation with their staff as well as they
treat and paid them effectively. It also have outlets into all over high street in
London which provide them an edge over its competitors. In addition to this,
competitive strengths of the company is its strong brand image. Marks and Spencer
is one of the leading retailers of the United Kingdom and has a large base of loyal
customers. Marks and Spencer has wide range of brands which without a doubt
assist the enterprise. Coming to ladies’ manufacturers Marks and Spencer has
specific manufacturers which include “Autograph, Classic, Indigo collection, Limited

series, Per Una, Portfolio, etc. Also, it has about 85, 000 individuals across the world
and above 90% of that are based into United Kingdom. Its personnel bring their
values to life. Moreover, its competencies, involvement towards their audiences as
well as pride are key to its longer term development. They positioned themselves as
a premium brands into super market sector. As consumers are interested to pay a
premium price for respective firm brand so they have set its higher prices due to its
premium brands conceptions into their clients minds.
For Marks and Spencer, the areas of huge value into their value chain which
appears to be as outbound logistics (such as the warehousing as well as distributing
final product to clients) are related with infrastructure (1463 around stores are
highly visible as well as simply accessible upon almost each higher street within
United Kingdom) and supported through technology (Information technology
systems as well as fast growing e-commerce enterprises). Beside this, Marks and
Spencer suppliers as well as its value chains are undertaken as part of firm’s
internal resources as well as competences which helps them to be a part of overall
sector value system (Coen and Vannoni, 2020).

Strategic Plan for the company
A strategic plan can be defined as a well-structured plan that is used by an
organization in order to set priorities, utilize resources in an effective way as well as
strengthen its operations(Deslatte and Swann, 2017). In order to develop a strategic
plan, Marks and Spencer collects current data relating to the customers that is
available in the market. Once the data is collected, it is reviewed by the managers
of the company. This helps in identifying any strategic issues that can have an
impact on the overall operations of the company. After identifying the issues, the
next step is to conduct an analysis of the business environment as well as the
competitors. Marks and Spencer is one of the leading retailers in the United
Kingdom that sells high quality clothing, household as well as food products.
Mission and Vision
A mission statement can be defined as a short statement that describes the
reason behind company’s existence, its overall goals as well as the kind of products
and services that it provides. The mission statement of Marks and Spencer is to
make high quality products accessible to everyone through the wide range of its
products.
On the other hand, a vision statement can be defined as a statement that
describes the current as well as future objectives of the company. Not only this, it
guides the company in making effective decisions. The respective company, Marks
and Spencer aims to provide a standard against which its rivals or competitors’
performance can be measured(Deslatte, Swannand Feiock, 2017). This can include
customer experience, care for the community as well as the environment.
Core Values
The respective company, Marks and Spencer is built on core values that
include service, innovation, trust as well as service. In the last 10 years, the
company has introduced various new products as well as expanded its presence
internationally.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths –One of the major strengths of the company is its strong brand
image. Marks and Spencer is one of the leading retailers of the United Kingdom and

has a large base of loyal customers. Marks and Spencer has wide range of brands
which without a doubt assist the enterprise. Coming to ladies’ manufacturers Marks
and Spencer has specific manufacturers which include “Autograph, Classic, Indigo
collection, Limited series, Per Una, Portfolio, etc.
Weaknesses – Besides having various strengths, the company also has
various weaknesses such as it has not been able to perform effectively, financially
in the recent years(HASAN and Gafforova, 2019). Apart from this, the company is
majorly dependent on the UK market for its revenue.
Opportunities – The company has a great opportunity of expanding its
business online as well as internationally. Apart from this, the company also has an
opportunity of reshaping its clothing segment in order to attract a greater number
of customers.
Threats – There can be certain factors that can act as threat to its overall
performance as well as profitability. Competition from rival brands can act as one of
the major threats. Apart from this, changes in the market trends can also affect the
profitability of the company.
Porter’s Five Forces
The retail industry in the United Kingdom is one of the largest employers in
the country. There are a number of organizations that operate in the UK retail
industry and offer different types of products to the customers in order to satisfy
their needs(Panchenko and et.al., 2019). Porter’s Five forces model can be used in
order to analyze the industry in which the company operates.
Threat of New Entrants -New entrants in Retail brings innovation, new
ways of doing matters and put pressure on Marks and Spencer Group Plc via lower
pricing approach, lowering charges, and imparting new cost propositions to the
customers. Marks and Spencer Group Plc has to control these kinds of demanding
situations and build powerful obstacles to protect its aggressive facet.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers -All maximum all of the agencies in the
Retail industry buy their raw cloth from numerous providers. Suppliers in dominant
role can lower the margins Marks and Spencer Group Plc can earn in the market.
Powerful providers in Consumer Services sector use their negotiating energy to

extract better expenses from the companies in Retail area(Rosenbaum, Otalora and
Ramírez,2017). The standard impact of higher supplier bargaining energy is that it
lowers the general profitability of Retail.
Bargaining Power of Buyers -Buyers are often a demanding lot. They want
to buy the best offerings available by paying the minimum price as possible. This
put pressure on Marks and Spencer Group Plc profitability in the long run. The
smaller and more powerful the customer base is of Marks and Spencer Group Plc
the higher the bargaining power of the customers and higher their ability to seek
increasing discounts and offers.
Threat of Substitute Products -When a new services or products meets a
comparable patron desires in specific methods, industry profitability suffers. For
instance, services like Dropbox and Google Drive are substitute to storage hardware
drives. The danger of a replacement products or services is high if it offers a value
proposition that is uniquely specific from gift services of the industry.
Rivalry among Existing Competitors -If the rivalry a number of the
present players in an enterprise is extreme then it'll drive down expenses and
reduce the overall profitability of the enterprise(Varelasand Apostolopoulos, 2020).
Marks and Spencer Group Plc operates in a very aggressive Retail enterprise. This
competition does take toll on the overall long-time profitability of the enterprise.
Competitive Analysis
Marks and Spencer faces a few awesome competition both inside the UK and
abroad. For example, Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Next, Gap, Sports Direct,
Debenhams, John Lewis and Amazon are some of the biggest competition of Marks
and Spencer. Competition is so fierce that Marks and Spencer faces a large chance
of dropping its scope within the business. Due to a fierce opposition and other
factors, the agency is scaling down its operations globally. In fact, Marks and
Spencer has already pulled out of China, and closed a number of stores in France
and the United Kingdom.Competitive differentiation is the primary strategy, to
pursue “I actually have what human beings don’t have, my superior that what
people have” consumer fee that is extraordinary from other competitors.
Differentiation approach is that the business through the traits manufacturing
makes their product or service unique, and thus purchasers are willing to pay a

better charge(Witcher, 2019). Successful examples adopting differentiation strategy
are along with the US Norton branch shops, its one-of-a-kind, nuanced human
provider has gained reward from clients, in order that no rival can in shape.
Part B
Reflection
The respective module on strategic management has been a very learning
experience for me. This is because it has helped me understanding the important of
developing effective strategies for a company. Different organizations make use of
strategic management in order to enhance their existing performance as well as
increase overall profitability. I also got an opportunity to develop a strategic plan for
one of the leading retailers of the United Kingdom, Marks and Spencer. This helped
in progressing my thinking and view the organization in a strategic way. I have
learned that in order to gain a competitive advantage, a company needs to plan
effectively and decide on the activities that can contribute to its overall success.
Being a market leader, Marks and Spencer has various aims as well as objectives
that it desires to attain. This is done by implementing various strategic tools with
the help of which it is able to develop effective strategies.
All of my learnings from this module will be helpful in my career development
as they have not only enhanced my existing knowledge about how organizations
operate, but also assist me in getting my desired job. I have also developed various
employability skills like effective communication skills, presentation and analyzing
skills. Apart from this, I have also developed effective time management skills
during this module. This means that I am able to manage my time effectively and
complete the assigned tasks on time. Therefore, the module will be a great
contribution to my career in the future.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that strategic management is an
important aspect that organizations take into account in order to be successful.
There are different strategic tools that can be taken into account in order to analyze
the overall performance of the company. These can include SWOT analysis, Porter’s
Five Forces Model, Competitive analysis etc. A strategic plan can help a company in

utilizing its available resources in an efficient manner thereby attaining both short-
term as well as long-term objectives.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Armstrong, M., 2019. Strategic human resource management. pdf drive. com.
Berber, N., Đorđević, B. and Milanović, S., 2018. Electronic human resource
management (e-HRM): A new concept for digital age. Strategic Management.
23(2). pp.22-32.
Coen, D. and Vannoni, M., 2020. The strategic management of government affairs in
Brussels. Business & Society. 59(4). pp.612-641.
Deslatte, A. and Swann, W.L., 2017. Context matters: A Bayesian analysis of how
organizational environments shape the strategic management of sustainable
development. Public Administration. 95(3). pp.807-824.
Deslatte, A., Swann, W.L. and Feiock, R.C., 2017. Three sides of the same coin? A
Bayesian analysis of strategic management, comprehensive planning, and
inclusionary values in land use. Journal of Public Administration Research and
Theory. 27(3). pp.415-432.
HASAN, A. and Gafforova, E.B., 2019. Strategic entrepreneurship: A management
method for improving the performance of small and medium-sized tourism
enterprises (SMTEs). Управленец. 10(3). pp.25-35.
Panchenko, V. and et.al., 2019. The Role of Investment Strategy in the Strategic
Management System of Service Companies. Academy of Strategic
Management Journal. 18. pp.1-6.
Rosenbaum, M.S., Otalora, M.L. and Ramírez, G.C., 2017. How to create a realistic
customer journey map. Business Horizons. 60(1). pp.143-150.
Varelas, S. and Apostolopoulos, N., 2020. The Implementation of Strategic
Management in Greek Hospitality Businesses in Times of Crisis. Sustainability.
12(17). p.7211.
Witcher, B.J., 2019. Absolute Essentials of Strategic Management. Routledge.