lccb4005 assessment 2 Environmental analysis of an industry Assignment Sample

lccb4005 assessment 2 Environmental analysis of an industry Assignment

Introduction

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Marks & Spencer is one of the UK's largest retailers, with more than 22 million people a week. However, for retailers in the increasingly competitive market climate, the operational management approach is crucial to achieving competitive advantages and greater profitability. This report presents the M&S business segment and examines how M&S works in a competitive setting. These ideas are used throughout the analysis. The Marks & Spencer summary is followed by a Competitive analysis that gives an overview of the company's strategic market climate. A thorough SWOT analysis is conducted which assesses the company's internal (force and weakness) and external (changes and threats) environments. Also, Porter's Five Forces Research examines the innovation and competitiveness of the industry

Changes that the company have made in the last few years

Marks & Spencer today intends to proceed as household shopping and clothes transfer online, and directly supplied to the home. With the changes in its channel, the company says that "accelerated changes are the only choice" given increasing competition from discounters within its challenging consumer segment. The M&S plan is now planned to reduce costs by £350 million with improved efficiency and waste and an accelerated shutdown effort. They said that they were closing 100 shops yesterday, speeding the refurbishment of his factory. They would like to cut 25% of their clothing and hobby and invest in online clothing, home sales and enforcement services. It concentrates on 33% of its sales on the website in the region. It has a new shopping centre called Welham Green (Gürel and Tat, 2017). M&S also aims to regain its 'special' position in the UK family life to 'reinforce main shopping missions with modern approaches to families and everyday occasions. There are some changes which have been done in M & S and will be identified by changes in SWOT of M & S nowadays are as follows-

Strengths	Weaknesses
The brand image that influences customers' choice is Marks & Spencer's biggest asset. To guarantee the quality, the customer will rely on different products. The company offers a range of products - clothing, food, furniture, money, etc. This represents an advantage for the company as customers who assume that one item has the same quality are drawn to another item. They have very good employees, who are very needed to run a business. It is good publicity for its foreign presence (Vlados, 2019).	M&S launched the loyalty card very late for its customers. If the M&S customers did not have these cards in all the other shops, which is the weakness of their business. The wear of women was mainly M&S. The bulk of customers would have been women. Few women in management should have understood women's taste. The management had internal disputes with the company (Išorait?, 2018).
Opportunities	Threats
M&S has a fantastic flair for various products. The introduction of technology in this regard would help the business produce more products that improve the taste of its customers. In any existing company, the threat of new competition is always there. The history of the company reveals that M&S lost a more trendy market share in Oasis with comparable prices. Others like discount shops and supermarkets were threatening the business. Possible threats from the BHS, Top Shop and ASDA may arise in this respect.	As the new companies enter the industry, raw material suppliers have gained power in negotiations. Of course, if the trading power to include suppliers from other companies is larger, they will generate more than M&S. In a growing market and with the appearance of new companies the bargaining power of customers has always grown. Several alternatives are now available on the market with only 1 option. The bargaining power of the buyers was significantly increased (Nazarko, et. al., 2017).

Concerns raised by the different stakeholders

Marks & Spencer stakeholders include employees, suppliers, customers and competitors. In publicly traded firms such as investors and securities regulators, there are additional stakeholders. These stakeholders are concerned with timely disclosure of financial details, the impact of senior management retirements and ethics. Companies need to address a certain concern to maintain strong links with their stakeholders to maintain long-term profitability. There is some concern raised by stakeholders in M & S is as follows-

• Governance- Policy management should meet the concerns expressed by stakeholders as to how M & S Company operates and takes care of its shareholders' interests. The rules such as appointing a director or the presence of independent directors on the compensation committee should apply to publicly listed companies. For private companies, standard approvals from a smaller group of investors are needed (Mok, et. al., 2017).
• Continuity- Succession plans are important for stakeholders in business continuity. Founders, managing directors and senior managers left the M & S Company for different reasons such as retirement, resignation or dismissal. An M & S organization management board should set up a special commission to fill senior management positions with internal or external applicants. Although internal applicants are usually conscious of an M & S organization's work and do not face a steep learning curve, external applicants can get a fresh viewpoint and make big changes (Mok, et. al., 2017).
• Disclosure- The timely disclosure of financial and other information causes stakeholders to worry that they will not obtain adequate decisions. Senior managers in M & S companies answer questions regularly and publish quarterly and yearly financial reports by investment analysts, investors and the media. Financial information should also be made available by partners and workers to gain stakeholders' trust and to address the issues of their shareholders (Bruijl, 2018).
• Ethics- M & S Employees should be educated in corporate legal and fair conduct. Fairness means working in the interest of all parties concerned, besides aiming to maximize profits. Not to M & S businesses that are over-promising or unsupplied. Instead, stakeholders can gain trust by setting modest targets and regularly meeting or overcoming expectations (Lin, et. al., 2020).

Changes will company take competitive advantages position

Marks and Spencer are recognized internationally for true meaningfulness due to its structured and information-oriented supply chain management and style management of suppliers. Standardization involves the consistent style, consistency of the goods, shop design, display and even employees in-service program, who have a thorough standard. Standardization management has the greatest advantages of saving a lot of management costs and allowing consumers to impress Marks and Spencer, making it more for taking competitive advantages (Stindt, et. al., 2017). "Customer loyalty" remained Marks and Spencer's corporate philosophy. Consumers think that the standard Marks & Spencer goods that are chosen are a wide variety of high quality and price commodities. Furthermore, clients are increasingly relying on product design and after-sales facilities, so that Marks & Spencer have taken various measures. Marks and Spencer have concentrated more in recent years on customer understanding, the internal management system for the implementation of a simple and fast decision-making mechanism as well as "buying" and "selling" for competitive advantages (Chatzoglou and Chatzoudes, 2018).

M&S retail as the industry has its special strategic momentum that can be analyzed by 5 opposing powers from Porter.

1) Threat entry- Low-cost retail firms are increasingly facing new entrants' risks by contributing to lower barriers to retail entry.

2) The threat of substitute- The technical contents of most retail items are not higher and are more likely to be emulated to make the alternative riskier.

3) The bargaining power of suppliers- Retail and development businesses negotiating in the retail sector from the most developed countries have become increasingly prevalent. The new companies also acquired control during negotiations as suppliers of raw materials join the industry. Naturally, they would produce more than M&S, if the trading power for the suppliers of other companies is greater (Boiko, et. al., 2019).

4) The bargaining power of the buyers- Increasingly customer leverage is being provided by retail markets that are forcing the retailer to pursue a low-cost, high-quality service strategy.

5) Existing rivals- Nowadays, a range of tissue styles, diverse regions and a three-dimensional cross-competitive landscape are complex retail industry rivals.

In the face of fierce rivalry, M&S retail firms have used a variety of strategic approaches to improve productivity. M&S should use the competitive theory of Porter, adopt a strategy, and take measures to address social development (Liu, et. al., 2019).

The M&S company's competitive advantage & strategic objective is to select target markets, strategic optimization, or a group of market segments to search for its market place in the aim of the market for its competitive advantage as part of its services. Since it needs a specific segment of the consumer, companies can be more economically responsive than other competitors to fulfil their requirements. To avoid strong front-line contenders, a tactic often followed to find the weakest link in current competitors by choosing the target market will be broken. The M&S target approach should be chosen to conduct market research and market segmentation. In this market segment, the business can attain a certain competitive advantage. The aim of the M&S strategy should be considered for the characteristics of the target market, including the number of outlets, the choice of the production company's scope, and pricing strategies. To implement the objectives at the same time, the cost management approach and the differentiation method can also be used (Samsir, 2018).

Recommendation

For better growth and success of M & S, there are some recommendations that need to be followed by the organization are as follows-

• Through using modern business technologies, Marks & Spencer will offer customers innovative services by way of e-commerce and e-commerce. It needs to expand its business worldwide, especially in Asian countries like Nepal, India and China.
• Due to the constant decrease in recession and wages worldwide, Marks & Spencer remains in the top ten. However, Marks & Spencer must make the company safer and stable, as competitors keep the business worldwide using various promotional techniques (Sadq, et. al., 2020).
• Marks & Spencer is advisable to purchase supplies from outside the EU to reduce the expense to provide consumer products at lower prices. Marks & Spencer also needs to restructure its shop so that customers have space, safety and comfort when browsing, fitting and shopping. Marks & Spencer management will minimize decision delays and the use of automated manufacturing systems. A good, imaginative, enthusiastic, prompt, honest and reliable staff is a requirement for Marks & Spencer.
• To keep its position in the top ten for all time, Marks & Spencer needs to improve their processes for inbound logistics, operations and suppliers, shop design and design and much more. Their storage units should be free of ancient inventories to replace new stocks. Packaging of their products should also be taken into account (Gareche, et. al., 2019).
• M&S has taken crucial steps to address many problems in this study. However, in a highly competitive market climate today, M&S should also adopt an optimal strategy for achieving increased competition, by lowering costs for both human and materials through the exploration of cheap labs outside, and by fully improving their service effectiveness and innovation

Conclusion

The above report concluded that Competitive market environments, corporate management strategies are critical for achieving the competitive edge and for providing retailers with more sales. It supplies goods to any consumers in time regardless of whether it is a variety of food or garment type. As the changing environment on the market shifts, M&S will update the business plan in time and the on-going implementation of the strategy will address changing customer requirements. The Porter studies M&S deals with potential social growth and promotes the attraction of M&S through different methods in the world environment for various customers. Analysis and discussion findings are largely supporting the fashion sector. Even in the classic sector, the experience of the old brand store shows that, if continuous innovation is accomplished, they can build their own countries 

References

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