Strategic Management at Marks and Spencer - Essay Example

MARKS AND SPENCER By and Marks and Spencer Introduction Marks and Spencer is a United Kingdom based retail company that deals in the supply of a variety of products. It is the largest retail company across Europe with very many branches in about 50 countries. The company mainly deals with food products, home appliances, retail stores, and the company’s brand. These have been the key areas within which Marks and Spencer operates. The main aim of this company is to expand the territories within which it operates. Despite the stiff competition from other retail companies, Marks and Spencer has shown a strong will to move on, and it has retained its position as the best and largest retail company in Europe. To maintain this, the company needs to develop a strategy that will take into consideration all the factors that might affect the sales of the company (Prince, M. 2012, 23). The aim of this essay is to determine all the factors that might affect the sales of each of the products of Marks and Spencer and come up with the most relevant strategy to help the company reach its goal. Better Performance in the Global Market In an institution that relies on the will of a customer in a big part like Marks and Spencer, it would be prudent to have a plan that takes into consideration most of the needs of the customer (Worth, R. 2007, 62). This is just one of the needs that the company should take into consideration. For maximum productivity, the company must evaluate each of the PESTEL factors. This is to avoid being in trouble with the administration and other bodies. The company should make sure that its waste is not harmful to the environment. A big company like Marks and Spencer could easily bring catastrophic damages to the environment. The fact that it is widely over Europe, which makes it very visible, and the public is very conscious of what they do. If the company started destroying the environment, it would be seen by everyone, and this would lead to them loosing the trust and love of the customer (Marketing Society. 2009, 15). The company should also take into consideration the international ties between the various countries that they operate in. It should follow the rules of the country to the latter. The other issue that the company should consider is how they treat their staff. A general well treatment of the members of a certain company brings a general improvement of output among the workers. This, in return, is beneficial to the company since they get products of better quality. The company should also take into huge consideration their competitors and the range of services that they offer. Information about these competitor and their rates of growth could help to know more about the needs of the customer (Ginsburg, J. 2008, 71). Marks and Spencer should recognize their achievements and re-evaluate how they came to their success so that they can even have a better improvement in the next financial year. To achieve this, it should review its SWOT analysis to see their new opportunities and know their strengths, weaknesses, and threats. This gives them a pivot point to see all that they should anticipate in the near future. It helps them to be ready for the inevitable. Given that Marks and Spencer is an internationally recognized company, they should venture into other forms of businesses. The good name of their brand will make it easier to market new products (Carter, S. 2009, 90).  The Recommended Strategy These are ways in which Marks and Spencer can reach the goals that are stated above. It would need so much dedication and input from the workers hence maximum cooperation is needed. To reach a wide range of countries, the company has a variety of options. It could open other branches across the world. Most people know about the Marks and Spencer. They should major on selling their products to even further places. This should be countries as far as Africa and South America (Jordan, B. 1988, 41). The company should also give room for partnerships with other companies operating in the same field as them. Past history about this theory has worked. Some time back, the company got into a partnership treaty with Amazon. The country marketed so well that it now considers getting into treaties with other bigger websites to reach a huge area of people across the world. To have maximum benefit from this strategy, Marks and Spencer should make sure that they increase the number of their branches across the world. This way it would be easier for people to access their products. There is also the point about having new products under the brand name Marks and Spencer. Given that this is an already established country which has earned the trust of customers over time, it would be easier to market other products (Lang, M. 2006, 19). The company should venture into other businesses like the sale of electronics such as phones and computers. This would be a huge boost to the company. Smartphone and laptops should be among their major priorities of products. These products have been seen to sell a lot in the recent years. It would also help in the marketing of the company. Marks and Spencer should also consider putting in place a multi-channel business store where people can get a wide variety of product all under one roof. This would make it the most convenient place to go shopping sine one would get almost everything they want. Marks and Spencer has for a long time been the leading retail company in the UK. Owing to its success, it should go more global and move out of Europe to reach other places in the world. This should be their long-term goal, and to achieve it they must start investing on the project now such that in a period of about three years the company will have achieved this goal. This will have it rate among the best retail companies in the world and not only in Europe. The company should do a rebranding to give it a more global outlook (Datamonitor (Firm). 2000, 64). The company have the capabilities of become the best in the globe, it only need a little tuning to its management strategy. Marks and Spencer should put up new offices in its management that would help it achieve some of the long-term goals. Justification for the Choice of Strategy Marks and Spencer is a big company with huge potential to reach the whole world. The strategies above and their explanations give suggestions that would not only increase the sales of the company, but also put it in the global market. Companies such as ASDA and Tesco are good companies that operate within Europe. However, Marks and Spencer is a company with more potential, capabilities, and customer trust than its competitors. This is why it has retained the position of the best in Europe for a long time. It is time they expanded their territories and operate on a larger scale. Their goal should by far out way those of their competitors. These strategies puts it a place where it competes in the global market, and not across Europe as its competitors (Jackson, P. 2012, 37). Portfolio The market has been challenging due to the rise of many companies with the same aim for dominance. Despite these challenges, Marks and Spencer still recorded a good performance with sales going up by 6.1% from the previous year (Datamonitor (Firm). 2008, 11). The popularity of the company has also gone up with the company increasing its direct business sales by 31%. This is due to the introduction of mobile web payment methods which customers find more efficient (Ebsco Publishing (Firm). 1900, 53). The total investment on the company’s multichannel business was 150 million dollars. The revenue growth for this multichannel business was between 300 to 500 million dollars (Textiles Intelligence Ltd, & International Apparel Federation. 2011, 17). The average sales of the company went up by 4.2 percent for the whole company. References Kaden, R. J., Linda, G., & Prince, M., 2012. Leading Edge Marketing Research: 21st-Century Tools and Practices, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Worth, R., 2007. Fashion for the People: A History Of Clothing At Marks & Spencer, New York: Berg. Marketing Society, 2009. The Future of Marketing, London: Marketing Society in Association with Accenture. http://www.worldcat.org/title/future-of-marketing/oclc/711066224&referer=brief_results Bently, L., Davis, J., & Ginsburg, J. C., 2008. Trade Marks and Brands: An Interdisciplinary Critique, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Carter, S., 2009. The New Language of Marketing 2.0: How to Use Angels to Energize Your Market, Upper Saddle River: Ibm Press/Pearson. Jordan, B., 1988. Super-Market Wines: A Choice Of Red And White Wines Under £5.00 From Asda, Co-Op, Gateway, Littlewoods, Marks & Spencer, Safeway, Sainsbury, Tesco And Waitrose, London: Witherby. Smit, P. M., Vanistendael, F., & Lang, M., 2006. The European Court Of Justice Judgment in "Marks & Spencer": Comment and Analysis. Datamonitor (Firm), 2000. Marks and Spencer Group Plc, New York: Datamonitor. Http://Search.Epnet.Com/Login.Aspx?Direct=True&Db=Buh&Jid=Zgc. Gomes, E., & Jackson, P., 2012. Understanding Business Strategy. Datamonitor (Firm)., 2008. Marks & Spencer Simply Food Case Study Remaining At The Forefront Of Premium Food Retail, London: Datamonitor. Http://Search.Ebscohost.Com/Direct.Asp?Db=Bth&Jid=8p0u&Scope=Site. Ebsco Publishing (Firm), 1900. Marks & Spencer Group, Plc Swot Analysis. [S.L.], [S.N.]. Http://Www.Worldcat.Org/Title/Marks-Spencer-Group-Plc-Swot-Analysis/Oclc/291137566&Referer=Brief_Results Textiles Intelligence Ltd, & International Apparel Federation, 2011. Global Apparel Markets. No.13, 1st Quarter 2011 No.13, 1st Quarter 2011, Wilmslow: Textiles Intelligence. Http://Www.Worldcat.Org/Title/Global-Apparel-Markets-No13-1st-Quarter-2011/Oclc/773508543&Referer=Brief_Results Read More