Case Study on Marks and Spencer
Introduction
Marks and Spencer is one of the most prominent companies in UK in which they are well known for their greatness and quality. With years of experience in this field, they have had their share of struggles in both their internal and external environments. Since the 1980’s, it has been loyal to its strict traditions involving its processes and trading traditions which has been a benefit for them for a long time. At present Marks and Spencer stands out as one of the most recognizable names in the field of retailing. Dealing with a vast variety of products from apparels to foods, Marks and Spencer has proven itself as a leading retailer not only in the UK market but also in foreign markets as well. Based on a case study done by Collier (2004), it provides a few descriptions on the core of the company. Marks and Spencer is described as a company that adheres to top-down management approach compounded by the close supervision provided by its former CEO. This approach has proven successful for them for decades, however in the 1990’s a steady decline in sales not to mention the company’s overall performance concluded that a change was needed. In its time through the various changes in leaderships, Marks and Spencer seemed to have implemented many groundbreaking changes. The changes that the company embraced are reflected mainly on their company’s strategy as well as its operations but only to a certain extent. However Marks and Spencer’s core principles remained the same and they are offering a selective range of high-quality, well designed and attractive merchandise at reasonable price, encourage suppliers to use the most modern and efficient production technique, to work with the highest quality control, to provide friendly and helpful service to their customers, to improve the efficiency of the business and lastly to foster good human relations to its stakeholders. But overall the company has kept a closed eye on the ever-changing external environment as
Marks and Spencer is one of the most prominent companies in UK in which they are well known for their greatness and quality. With years of experience in this field, they have had their share of struggles in both their internal and external environments. Since the 1980’s, it has been loyal to its strict traditions involving its processes and trading traditions which has been a benefit for them for a long time. At present Marks and Spencer stands out as one of the most recognizable names in the field of retailing. Dealing with a vast variety of products from apparels to foods, Marks and Spencer has proven itself as a leading retailer not only in the UK market but also in foreign markets as well. Based on a case study done by Collier (2004), it provides a few descriptions on the core of the company. Marks and Spencer is described as a company that adheres to top-down management approach compounded by the close supervision provided by its former CEO. This approach has proven successful for them for decades, however in the 1990’s a steady decline in sales not to mention the company’s overall performance concluded that a change was needed. In its time through the various changes in leaderships, Marks and Spencer seemed to have implemented many groundbreaking changes. The changes that the company embraced are reflected mainly on their company’s strategy as well as its operations but only to a certain extent. However Marks and Spencer’s core principles remained the same and they are offering a selective range of high-quality, well designed and attractive merchandise at reasonable price, encourage suppliers to use the most modern and efficient production technique, to work with the highest quality control, to provide friendly and helpful service to their customers, to improve the efficiency of the business and lastly to foster good human relations to its stakeholders. But overall the company has kept a closed eye on the ever-changing external environment as