Strategic management assignment Marks & Spencer case study

Résumé du document

Marks & Spencer is a British clothing and food retailer created in 1884 at Leeds (www.marksandspencer.com). It is the largest retailer in the United Kingdom and the firm is listed on the London stock exchange. The company was in a terrible crisis of growth in the early 2000s. Competition became an important threat, owing to the practice of offering the same quality products at a lower price (Kookaï, etc.). Frequent changes of management, decisions made too slowly and rapid changes in culture create difficulties in pursuing a clear strategy. The CEO Vandevelde and the retailer Holmes decided some strategic options during this period, such as the reorganization of its international activities. In 2001, the group decided to sell 18 unprofitable stores in Western Europe, and withdraw from France

Extraits

[...] Creating a new logo can allow the customers to forget the difficult period and bring the change required, which is in keeping with the value of innovation. The organizational structure also needs to be changed, to become less bureaucratic, more dynamic and reactive to the external environment. In this case, control systems must be reinforced to manage and control each outlet. Finally, it could be interesting to change the power structures to accompany the organizational change. Bibliography / referencing Collier, N. (2008) Johnson et al. p 208 Case A Collier, N. (2008) Johnson et al. p 831 Case B Considine, P. [...]

[...] Strategic management assignment: A case study of Marks & Spencer Question 1 Marks & Spencer is a British clothing and food retailer created in 1884 at Leeds (www.marksandspencer.com). It is the largest retailer in the United Kingdom and the firm is listed on the London stock exchange. The company was in a terrible crisis of growth in the early 2000s. Competition became an important threat, owing to the practice of offering the same quality products at a lower price (Kookaï, etc.). [...]

[...] He reacted strongly to events without discussing them (for instance defending against the bid: action without debate), and he pursued his objectives even if the employees and some directors were unhappy and left the firm. This is a non participative management strategy, but one that is very appropriate during the catastrophic situation of M&S. Rose justified his decisions on the basis of business rules: live in a tough, commercial world” (Rose quoted by Irish Times, 2004). We may evaluate the effectiveness of his leadership thanks to qualities and skills required for effective leadership (Considine, 2008). We will first study the vision. [...]

[...] (2008) Strategic Management + supplementary reading's Deal, T. Kennedy A. (1982) Corporate cultures: The rites and rituals of corporate life Fiedler, F. E. (1967) A theory of leadership effectiveness Johnson, G. Scholes, K. (1993) Exploring corporate strategy Rumelt, R. [...]

[...] In October 2001 the price rose from 240p to 320p, which proves that this decision was politically acceptable for shareholders. This was also feasible because M&S had the resources and competencies needed, and the joint venture allowed the company to save money. Finally, was probably a strong help in the M&S strategy of repositioning. However, the Johnson, Scholes and Whittington model could be completed by the corporate strategy evaluation from Rumelt (1980). Let us apply it to the case study: - Are the current objectives of the organization appropriate? [...]