Logistic and Global Supply Chain Management Marks and Spencer - Assignment Example

?Introduction: The overall clothing and fashion sector or industry is witnessing high and intense competition on part of the increasing technologicalchanges and globalisation. The fashion retailers all over the world are trying to come up with effective and efficient strategies which will allow them to come up with strong competitive position against the other competitors in the industry (Pretious & Love, 2006). It is important for the fashion and clothing retailers to explore and understand the changing trends and preferences in the market and respond to them on timely basis in order to survive and compete in the industry. In this case study analysis an attempt has been made to explore and investigate the issues faced by one of the leading clothing retailers in UK, Marks and Spencer (M&S). The report outlines and explains the different measures and steps taken by the management of Marks and Spencer (M&S) to change the clothing business and supply chain strategy in order to remain competitive in the industry. Changes made by Marks and Spencer (M&S) in its Clothing Business to enhance its Competitiveness: Marks and Spencer (M&S) is a big name in the UK clothing retail industry. The company has been providing the customers with high quality products at competitive prices. Marks and Spencer (M&S) made record profits until year 1998 and expanded into different international markets (Davies, 1999). However, in 1998 the company faced increasing issues and challenges which resulted in negatively affecting the performance of the organisation and hence the organisation started showing negative results (Christopher and Peck, 2001). The main reason behind these negative outcomes was the long supply chain which decreased the responsiveness of the company (Harrison and Pavitt, 2001; Mellahi, Jackson, & Sparks, 2002). However, the management of Marks and Spencer (M&S) analysed and explored the situation and came up with several changes not only in operational practices but also in its overall clothing business in order to increase the competitiveness in the market. On one hand the company focused on reshaping and redesigning its supply chain order to make sure that the customers are provided with clothes on time according to the changing needs and trends in the market. On the other hand the management of Marks and Spencer (M&S) worked on improving and updating the clothing segment according to the changing requirements and preferences of the customers (Burt, Mellahi, Jackson, & Sparks, 2002). The management of the company came up with different clothing brand lines in order to cater to the needs and requirements of different sets of target customers. As a result the company introduced different brands for its clothing business namely: per una, The Autograph, The Perfect Collection, The Classic Collection, Indigo Collection, Blue Harbour, and several other (Harrison and Pavitt, 2001). The management of Marks and Spencer (M&S) came up with different brand identities and positioning statements for its different clothing brands and collections keeping in view the different requirements and needs of the targeted customer segments. This in turn allowed the company to increase the overall sales and enhance the growth and performance. Marks and Spencer (M&S) has learned from its initial mistakes and now is monitoring the marketing trends closely in order to respond to the changes on timely basis with effective and efficient strategies. Due to the increasing competition in the clothing retail industry, the company is facing increasing competition in street retailing from the other clothing retailers in the market like Zara and Primak and for this reason the management of Marks and Spencer (M&S) is spending heavy amount to survive and win in the war of street retailing (Ruddick, 2012). On the other hand the management of Marks and Spencer (M&S) is looking for other channels to reach the customers including e-commerce and m-commerce. For instance, the company has also provided the customers with the facility of the online shopping in order to reach more customers and increase the competitiveness of the company. Changes made to the Supply Chain Strategy of Marks and Spencer (M&S): It is important for the organisations operating in the fashion clothing industry to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall supply chain in order to make sure that they are able to response on time to the changing needs and demands of the customers (Tokatli, Wrigley, & Kizilgun, 2008). With the passage of time supply chain and logistics management has become one of the most important strategic functions and operations for the fashion retail organisations. Marks and Spencer (M&S) faced problems and issues because of the long supply chain with low (Hilletofth & Hilmola, 2008) responsiveness and at the same time high cost. This in turn did not allow the company to show flexibility for short lead times. Hence, in order to increase the responsiveness and flexibility of the supply chain the management of Marks and Spencer came up with different strategies and enhanced the overall supplier relations. At the same time the company worked to reduce the cost associated with the supply chain and saved around 120 million pounds in the year 2000 (Harrison and Pavitt, 2001). The management of Marks and Spencer (M&S) worked to come up with effective and efficient strategies in order to eliminate the duplicate activities from the supply chain and at the same time to increase the overall transparency. The strategies for supplier relations also allowed the company to reduce the overall supply chain cost by building strong relationship with few suppliers (Blois, 2003). The company has successfully outsourced some of the raw materials to low cost regions in order to reduce the overall cost of the supply chain. At the same time the company has invested in forming strong relationship with some permanent suppliers in order to increase the responsiveness on one hand and enjoy the benefits of economies of scale on the other hand (Christopher and Peck, 2001). Along with this the company has also been focusing on enhancing the supply chain further with the help of the different technologies. The management of the company has been able to manage the risk associated with the supply chain of the fashion and clothing retail. The company has invested in internalising the designing of the product which in turn has allowed managing the risk and uncertainties regarding the supply chain of the fashion products (Khan, 2003; Khan, Christopher, & Burnes, 2008). The management of Marks and Spencer (M&S) is also being considerate about the sustainability of the supply chain and has been working to reduce the overall carbon foot prints of the supply chain. Different Supply Chain Performance Objectives: Marks and Spencer (M&S) has introduced different clothing ranges and brands with different objectives and strategies. The target market for each clothing brand is different and so are the requirements and preferences of the customers. In order to make sure that the requirements and needs of all groups of target market are fulfilled and accomplished it is important for the company to have different supply chain performance objectives for each clothing range and brand. The table presented below outlines some of the main supply chain performance objectives for the different clothing ranges and brands of Marks and Spencer (M&S). Classic Autograph Per Una Indigo Blue Harbour Product Range Comfortable and long lasting collection Top designer collections High quality range Casual women’s clothing Casual men’s clothing Design changes Less design changes as it is based on the long lasting style More design changes More design changes as inspired by the changing and latest trends Less design changes Less design changes Price Value for money pricing Competitive ‘high street pricing Competitive affordable prices Competitive pricing Competitive pricing Quality High quality and comfort High quality High quality High quality High quality Sales Volume High Small Small High High Order winners Long lasting style and versatility Designers collection in a unique boutique environment Highest quality material and individual cuts for every size Latest trends and high end clothing High end casual clothing and sportswear for med Order qualifiers Design and comfort Cutting edge designs Latest designs High quality casual clothing High quality casual clothing Operations priorities High quality and response High quality with flexibility Flexibility, Very fast response High quality and flexibility High quality and flexibility List of References Blois, K. (2003). B2BRelationships'-A Social Construction of Reality? A Study of Marks and Spencer and One of its Major Suppliers. Marketing theory, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 79-95. Burt, S. L., Mellahi, K., Jackson, T. P., & Sparks, L. (2002). Retail internationalization and retail failure: issues from the case of Marks and Spencer. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 191-219. Christopher, M., and Peck, H. (2001). Moving Mountains at Marks and Spencer. Case prepared for CSCMP. Available from http://www.andi.com.co/Archivos/file/Gerencia%20LTI/Seminario%20SENA/ANDI%202012%20EC%201%20Mark%20&%20Spencer.pdf [Accessed 5 March 2013] Davies, G. (1999). The evolution of Marks and Spencer. Service Industries Journal, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 60-73. Harrison, A., and Pavitt, J. (2001). New supply chain strategies at old M&S. In Johnston, R., Chambers, S., Harland, C., Harrison, A., Slack, N. (2003). Cases in operations management. UK: Prentice Hall. Hilletofth, P., & Hilmola, O. P. (2008). Supply chain management in fashion and textile industry. International Journal of Services Sciences, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 127-147. Khan, O. (2003). Managing risk by internalising product design in fashion retail: an exploratory case of Marks and Spencer. Available from http://www.iimm.org/pdf/Omera%20Khan.pdf [Accessed 5 March 2013] Khan, O., Christopher, M., & Burnes, B. (2008). The impact of product design on supply chain risk: a case study. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 412-432. Mellahi, K., Jackson, P., & Sparks, L. (2002). An exploratory study into failure in successful organizations: The case of Marks & Spencer. British Journal of Management, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 15-29. Pretious, M., & Love, M. (2006). Sourcing ethics and the global market: the case of the UK retail clothing sector. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 34, no. 12, pp. 892-903. Ruddick, G. (2012). A street fight Marks and Spencer has to win. The Telegraph. Available from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9653122/A-street-fight-Marks-and-Spencer-has-to-win.html [Accessed 5 March 2013] Tokatli, N., Wrigley, N., & Kizilgun, O. (2008). Shifting global supply networks and fast fashion: made in Turkey for Marks & Spencer. Global Networks, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 261-280. Read More