Part 1 Introduction
Figure: Marks and Spencer
Source: (Marks and Spencer, 2018)
The company was discovered by two associates, Thomas Spencer and Michael Marks in the year 1884. It is a public limited corporation which falls under the group of retail industry. Headquarters of the company is in London, UK and serves the customers worldwide. In the present day, it is considered to be one of the most important global retail stores in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. The corporation owns approximately 1382 stores all over the world with 468 departments which are located at Middle East and Eurasia. M&S serve up the customers with numerous product lines comprising home products, clothing, food products, etc. M&S provides its products to the consumers in at online sites as well as offline departments. As far as United Kingdom marketplace is considered, M&S is considered to be one of the most important clothing brands for women and men (Marks and Spencer, 2018)
Location: the Headquarters of the M&S is situated in London, United Kingdom and serves the consumers worldwide.
Profit: The below image reflects on the profitability of the Marks and Spencer as of year 2018.
Figure: Key statistics of Marks and Spencer
Source: (Marks and Spencer, 2018)
From the above figure, it can be seen that the current profits before tax and of the company as on 31stMarch 2018 is 66.8 £m (Marks and Spencer, 2018)
Main competitors: the main competitors of M&S are GAP, John Lewis, Top shop and Zara (Williams, 2018).
Part 2 Analysis
SWOT Analysis of business
SWOT analysis is basically a framework which is widely used by the business organizations and companies to evaluate their own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the competitive business scenario (Grant, 2016).
The SWOT analysis of the Marks and Spencer is stated below:
Strengths
Marks and Spencer is one of the influential brands. It is having a status for value for convenience, money and diverse range of products under a single roof that effectively meet the expectations of the customers. The company has enjoyed tremendous substantially over current years and has experienced international development. The corporation is having the core competence relating it utilizes of information technology to sustain its global logistics system. Information Technology also assists M & S inefficient procurement. People are important to Marks and Spencer business and it invests money and time in training and retaining people in an order to develop the business (Gilligan and Lowe, 2018).
Weaknesses
In the words of Drucker (2017), M & S is considered to be the one of the largest retailer across United Kingdom and power of its territory, the company is still weak as there is high-end control. Its global presence is relatively less. M&S deliver foods, clothes and various other products so it is not easy to manage the business in a smooth manner.
Opportunities
M&S is focusing on forming strategic alliances with the global retailers. The company is focusing to expand its market in the GreaterChina region and Europe. The stores of M&S are at present situated at few places only so there is an opportunity for the company to expand its market base. New store type and location provide M&S opportunities to make use of market developments (Cheng, et. al., 2018).
Threats
The main problem which is faced by the company is the target of competition, globally and locally. The cost of pricing numerous consumers’ products tends to have fallen due to the lower cost of manufacturing. The production cost has fallen due to increasing outsourcing from different parts of the world. This has resulted in price struggle and resulting in price devaluation in some ranges. Intense price competition is a major threat for the company (Marks and Spencer, 2018).
Use of Corporate social responsibility by the business
According to the views of Tai and Chuang (2014), corporate Social Responsibilities is where the corporation makes use of the marketplace to stay alive in the long term success. The activities of CSR are mainly about the blend with a business and not something which can be prepared separately. The CSR report of M&S focuses on addressing the needs of shareholder, society and environment.
Figure: M&S energy fund
Source: (Toda and Dawson, 2017)
All the CSR activities which are undertaken by the M&S are as per the Plan A. The company is involved in the fairpartnership, fair trade, sustainable use of raw material, management of waste, is concerned about the climate and adopts health measures. The company is concerned about handling or managing good relations with the stakeholders and future vision. The company invested in numerous programs and took the significant initiative to reduce the energy consumption. The company has taken measures like generating fuel, reusing the waste and electricity. This also comprises recycling 82% of the waste at the production sites (Gbangbola and Lawler, 2017).
Figure: Plan A of M&S
Source: (Toda and Dawson, 2017)
Marks and Spencer is deeply committed with its Plan A not only for the economic reasons but also for the social reasons. They are not only aiming to make the product and procedure better but are making an effort to develop Plan into the core of everything they are taking into action to run and manage their business. The partners of Marks and Spencer not only offer assigned and expertise to carry out the CSR activities but also offer its operations a transparency. M&S also realize the significance of including consumers in the procedure which is a dual effect of making the imagery utilization more effective an also marketing M&S as a sustainable retailer which generates an optimistic reputation and constructs the brand. M&S is having a net positive return owing to cost savings attained due to competent operations in two years timeframe. They also allege to have improved profit and sales owing to increased status. Therefore, it can be concluded that Corporate Social Responsibility practices must be followed as doing the correct thing is the accurate thing to do (Toda and Dawson, 2017).
Innovation and creativity in business
In the words of Cruickshank (2016), innovation and creativity make an unbeatable combination for the continuous growth and development of the business organizations in the present dynamic and ever changing business environment. Creativity is a function of knowledge and imagination in order to bring innovation in the existing operations of the company that effectively improves the performance and productivity (Cruickshank, 2016).
Figure: M&S Food hall
Source: (de Brito, et. al., 2018).
M&S bring huge innovations in the company by opening new product lines like food and financial service chains. The company in recent years has implemented number of initiatives in food stores and banking services. The business recently invested in E-business so that the company can develop its online business and can expand its consumer base. M&S took a step to look for Designer and trending clothes in order to attract young consumers. The company took significant steps to develop its markets so that M&S can grow its market base. The culture of M&S is innovative and diversified, the company is having people who have right skulls and are responsible for bringing innovations in the company. The main functions of the company consist of finance, consumer care and marketing. The company is focusing on improving its attention towards the consumer. The aim of the company is to look into new products and innovative packaging. The company adopted product development strategy in an order rot overcomes the competition. The services of banking and finance are the new measures which are adopted by the M&S (de Brito, et. al., 2018).
Figure: M&S innovations and inspirations
Source: (Walker.et. al., 2018).
Marks & Spencer must offer innovative facilities to the regulars by means of latest knowledge in the industry division through e-business and e-commerce. The company needs to expand its operations in potential markets such as Nepal, India or China. It is suggested for Marks & Spencer to think about purchasing materials from out of the country to save expenditure so as to offer consumer product at less cost. It is also important for Marks & Spencer to revamp their store in ways which provide comfort, expediency and space to consumers while they are fitting, browsing and spending (Walker, et. al., 2018).
Part 3 Conclusion
From the above report, it is concluded that Marks and Spencer is one of the leading clothing brands for both women and men. The company is trying to expand its business operations by investing in the new product line. The company is using social media to market its product and services so that it can expand its consumer base. Further, the company can involve franchising, partnership and can also adopt the stages of market expansions to widen its business. M&S can develop itsinfrastructure and do promotional activities in an order to sell its products globally.
Recommendations
The company should invest in social media marketing (Blogging, E-mailmarketing and various other marketing activities). Marks & Spencer should look into improving its processes on its suppliers, inbound logistics, and operations. Their storehouse should be clearly made of the oldstockpile to offer away to fresh and quality stockpile. The wrapping of the products must also be given outstanding considerations. Marks & Spencer management must get rid of an impediment in decision making process and should use of digital industrialized systems. The company should hire punctual, enthusiastic, innovative, trustworthy and true person in an order to expand its business operations.
References
- Cheng, P., Fu, Y. and Lai, K.K., 2018. Supply Chain Risk Management in the Apparel Industry. Routledge.
- Cruickshank, L., 2016. Open Design and Innovation: facilitating creativity in everyone. Routledge.
- De Brito, M.P., Carbone, V., Meunier, C. and Allwood, J., 2018. The Clothing and Textile Sectors.
- Drucker, P.F., 2017. The Theory of the Business (Harvard Business Review Classics). Harvard Business Press.
- Gbangbola, K. and Lawler, N., 2017. How to Produce a Sustainability Report: A Step by Step Guide to the Practices and Processes. Routledge.
- Gilligan, C. and Lowe, R., 2018. Marketing and General Practice. CRC Press.
- Grant, R.M., 2016. Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.
- Marks and Spencer, 2018. About M&S. [Online]. Marks and Spencer, Availableat:https://global.marksandspencer.com/about-ms/ [Accessed on: 10/09/2018]
- Tai, F.M. and Chuang, S.H., 2014. Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), p.117.
- Toda, Y. and Dawson, J., 2017. Marks and Spencer’s CSR Approach to Promotion of Healthy Eating. Explorations in Globalization and Glocalization: Marketing History through the Ages.
- Walker, S., Evans, M., Cassidy, T., Holroyd, A.T. and Jung, J. eds., 2018. Design Roots: Culturally Significant Designs, Products and Practices. Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Williams, D., 2018. Fashioned from Nature 1990-Present.