The Key Issues That M & S Faced Developing And Implementing Its Strategic Plan

Marks and Spencer is one of the most famous garment retail organizations based in UK. It started its journey in the year of 1894 with its first office in Cheetham Hill, Manchester. In the beginning the business was a family owned business and achieved a great success in all their stores located in various high and significant streets of UK (Campbell & Rahman, 2010). The business achieved a great popularity among the customers due to its good quality products in affordable prices. Though, after the change of the ownership of the business when the major shares of the business got occupied by its major share holders like big insurance companies and organizations the business structure and strategy were changed deeply (Davenport, 2009). Initially

Strategic Management is the theory and practice of making decisions that shape the future of the firm. This course looks at the content and process of strategic decision making from the perspective of managers who are responsible for an entire business unit. These may be individuals who are acting in the capacity of a Chief Executive of a company, divisional General Managers, or departmental heads. It is also the perspective most

Marks and Spencer (M&S) p.l.c. is one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom with a selling space of 12.5 million square feet, was established in 1884 as ‘Penny bazaar’. M&S sells clothing, food, footwear, gifts and home furnishings in its 760 stores around the world. The company’s wholly own and franchise stores operates in Europe, Hong Kong, Far East, Australia, Middle East, the Bahamas and Bermuda making a total of 34 countries.

Strategic planning is significant to a business since it is graphing a pathway to the future growth of the organization. Kaufman writes, “A useful strategic plan identifies and justifies” (2016, p.57). When the organization defines a cohesive vision that was listed in the journal, one can realize the value and the direction that the company is trying to achieve. Gale points out that the markets are not going through the normal means of purchasing their products, they instead saw the opportunity to purchase in bulk and sure the saving to the customers (2016, para.6). Their low prices create the competitive advantages the organization is looking for their stores.

Strategic Planning is one of the most fundamental factors in the success of an organization. This research project will discuss the importance of strategic planning as well as the different components of strategic planning. Many organizations fail to accomplish their goals and tasks due to the lacking of strategic planning. In order for their businesses to be successful, organizations need to be well informed about how the strategic planning process works.

Marks and Spencer Company is one of the biggest retailers in UK, which it has known by providing the finest qualities of goods and services including clothing, home product, foods and groceries. In currently, M&S Company operates 852 UK stores, 480 international stores and e-commerce platform includes approximately 83,069 employees, while M&S Company is one of the UK’s leading market positions in Menswear, Women-wear and Lingerie products (Mark and Spencer 2016.

To businesses today strategic planning is not just an idea, it defines a way to build a brand, customer loyalty, produce and grow long-term revenues which enables an organization to achieve its objectives. (David, F., 2014) Strategic management is a fundamental part of business which assists in sustainability of the business and helps create value for a business. Without the right mix of strategic planning a business can lose market share to their competitors; hence profits. Since 1994, Amazon has been paving the way for both e-commerce and traditional brick and mortar retail companies.

Marks and Spence plc, also known as M&S is one of the major British multinational retailers headquartered in London. The company, founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds, is specialised in selling cloths and luxury food products. For more than 129 years, M&S grew from a single market stall to a giant international multi-channel retailer. Today, M&S is operating in more than 50 territories while employing almost 82,000 people. M&S worked hard to offer high quality products to its customers through its founding core values that are Quality, Value, Service, Innovation and Trust. By diversifying its stores, locations, channels and range of products, M&S reduced its dependence on the UK and broadened its international focus (Marks and Spence plc, 2014). The position of M&S in retail industry of UK remained unchallenged for many decades until the company started facing turbulence in 1990s. M&S emerged as a household name internationally by the early 1990s but the last part of the decade remained unfortunate for the company (Collier, 2014).

Marks and Spencer (M&S) was founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in 1884 - he called his business 'penny bazaars' with signs reading "Don't ask the price, it's a penny" (the forerunner of stores like Poundland today?) The company went public in the 1920's and by the 1970's M&S had established itself as a British institution with locations in every major town and with 99% of products branded as M&S goods.

It is arguably evident that the decline of resource played a significant role in reducing its growth and encouraging profitability for the case of M&S (Nadine & Anne, 2009). During the year 2000, the company promoted all its internal managers, implying that there was no new ideas and innovation brought into the organization. Lack of adequate resource affected customer satisfaction significantly because of the few staff that performed most of the tasks in the organization (Bevan, 2007). Opening up of new branches implied that the company constrained its financial resources, instead of diverting them towards meaningful strategies like sales and marketing and brand image. In addition, the available capital was misplaced in internet shopping and the streamlining of the company’s international relations rather the strengthening of existing retail outlets. All these strategies deployed by M&S imposed negative impacts on the customer satisfaction. In addition, its customers raised issues of discontent citing the arrangement of the products on grounds that they could not differentiate casual and work outfits (Nadine & Anne,

The Marks and Spencer corporation was established in the year 1894. The beginning of the company was basically as a market stall in Leeds. From their onwards, the company has gone on to become an international, multi-channel retailer. The headquarters of the company is located in London, England. The management of the company believes that their success basically rides on their principles which are inspiration, innovation, integrity, and in-touch.

Marks and Spencer (M & S) was started by Michael Marks and later joint by a partner Tom Spencer in 1884. It is one of the largest British retailers that sold clothes, home furnishings, food, gifts etc. and was formerly known as St. Michael. It has markets in Europe, Far East, America and Asia. The company suffered a series of losses and a dip in the market share from a few years before the stepping down of the then CEO, Sir Richard Greenbury, in 1999. In 2001 the company underwent a drastic strategic change and the

Marks and Spencer (M&S) is one of the UK’s leading retailers, with over 21 million people visiting its stores each week. M&S offers stylish, high quality, great value clothing and home products, as well as outstanding quality foods, responsibly sourced from around 2,000 suppliers globally. M&S employs over 75,000 people in the UK and abroad having 600 UK stores, plus an expanding international business.

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is a major British retailer, with over 840 stores in more than 30 countries around the world, over 600 domestic and 285 international.[1][2] It is the largest clothing retailer in the United Kingdom, as well as being a food retailer, and as of 2008, the 43rd

Strategic planning is central to management study. It defines the long term direction for the company and all other business functions orbit around their established strategies. This article studies how a company formulates business-level strategies, optimize their competitive positioning and obtain a competitive advantage over their rivals.