Stakeholders of Marks and Spencer and Their Influence and Powers

The purpose of this assignment is to understand the range of different businesses and their ownership. I chose Sainsbury’s and Oxfam as they are businesses with different characteristics from each other, as I needed to choose one big company (such as PLC (public limited company) or LTD (private limited company)) and a small business (such as partnership, sole trader, non-for-profit business). In fact, Sainsbury’s is a supermarket and Oxfam a charity. This assignment will cover the purpose and ownership of the two businesses, the stakeholders of each business and how they affect the business.

M&S are one of the UK's leading retailers of clothes, food, home products and financial services. Some 10 million people shop with us each week in over 375

In this task I will talking about the influence that different stakeholders exert in Tesco. The stakeholders that I will be discussing are customers, employees, and shareholder.

Marks and Spencer Group (M&S) is the premier retailer in clothing, foods and home ware within the United Kingdom. The company’s commitment to quality, value, service, innovation and trust is a key contributor to their success as a high street retailer in the UK. Their current core UK operations centre around three divisions, food, general merchandise (including clothing and home ware), and the financial services industry. Therefore Tesco plc is the prime UK retailer to analyse and compare growth, financial performance and the financial status of M&S Plc in line with other competitors within the same industry.

Part A of this report examines the resources and capabilities of Marks & Spencer (M&S) up to the mid 1990's and how they lead to creating a superior competitive advantage (CA) over all competitors.

I am required to evaluate the impact of changes in the economic environment on marks and spencer’s in relation to government decisions, policies, spending and economic management

In this report I will be comparing methods used by two different retailers on how they distribute two chosen products, of my choice, in two different retailing sectors. Seeing as the food and clothing sector both have very different styles of how they meet their product requirements, I will compare Tesco and JD; The products from these two companies itself that I’m going to compare is ‘Tesco Value Bread’ and Nike hoodies.

Thirdly employees are the stakeholders who aim is to increase the product activity and efficiency to be able to produce the best product that will attract customers. However if not met bad reputations can be formed from customers if employees are not efficient at job. They communicate with the use of verbal communication to give them motivation and to also communicate with them about the organisation itself. Employees influence can be seen through sales reports.

‘We aim to return the UK High Street Retail business to its role as Britain's most popular stationer, bookseller and newsagent … Our plans encompass improved efficiency through cost savings and margin enhancement, while rebuilding the competitiveness and depth of our product ranges.' (Ms Swann BBC, July 2005)

The company also examined macro consumer spending patterns, shopping habits, leisure trends economic issues and practices of the leading international retailers.The decision was made to leave behind the budget end of the market and concentrate to delivering superior customer service, quality goods and the latest retail concepts to a newly-defined priority target market. By following this strategy, whit new look stores, better trained staff, better customer service and improved merchandise range Tesco has left all competitors at the back.

Marks & Spencer was once a top-of-the-line company in terms of its quality and selection. However, it is reported that the company has become" an out-of-date, uncompetitive blur on the UK stock market. The decline for Marks & Spencer began in the latter part of the 1990s and due to the pressure of a "changing economic demand causing Marks & Spencer to undergo continual business realignment"¦" (IBM, Ltd. 2005, p.1)

Marks and Spencer is one of Britain's most well-known, beloved stores. Within its walls, you can get everything from clothes to quintessentially British food. It is a one-stop shop for many Britons who adore it. Because of its popularity and singular British-ness, the company thought to expand into Western Europe. After all, there were many communities of British expatriates all over the continent who would probably appreciate being able to get a little taste of home in their new locations. You can't buy meat pies and English tea just anywhere, after all.

Established in 1919 by Jack Cohen from a market stall in London’s East End, Tesco has grown and became the leading multinational retailer in the UK with a wide range of products. Tesco’s operations in the UK are the largest within Tesco PLC (Tesco, 2014). The success of Tesco lies in its strategic management. This analysis will look into Tesco’s business in the UK by following a structure of four main parts: Tesco’s value chain management; Tesco’s important stakeholders and its managing them; Tesco’s attempt in competing with other rivals and finally, potential international opportunities for Tesco to get more profit.

M&S accomplished the goal of merging its global outlets and in the process transforming them into well designed website that offers web based catalogs showcasing all of their product categories that are on sale. The website enables potential buyers to have detailed description of the product before purchasing. With more detailed description of the products, customers can make intelligent decisions before buying and be able to make payments via various payment channels like debit and credit cards.

The early 1990 's marked the beginning of a sea change in customer 's expectations with regard to good quality, healthy food. M&S image as a respectable retailer with its focus on providing a wide range of premium foods meant that the M&S brand, where food was concerned, became regarded as something of a luxury.