Marks and Spencer Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marks and Spencer - Coursework Example Its history can be traced back to the late 1980s when the company opened its first stall in Kirkgate Market, Leeds. From a single point store, the company has now become one of the world’s largest retailers. The aim of the study is to analyse the different strategies and activities of Marks & Spencer’s such as its leadership style, organizational structure as well the analysis of the company’s resources and competencies. Introduction The garment industry consists of organizations that design, manufacture and market clothing, its associated accessories and footwear. The product category encompasses almost everything starting from basics such as underwear to the luxury items such as alligator-skin handbags to costly sweaters. Traditionally, majority of the apparel companies used to function as a wholesaler where bulk quantities were sold to the retailers and the retailers in turn sold them to the consumers with a profit margin. However, in the present context it ha s become extremely difficult to draw a line between an apparel retailing company and an apparel wholesaling company because most of the apparel companies now have both types of operation. Reports have suggested that a number of factors lying outside the internal environment of the organization impact the industry. One of the most apparent one is the speed of change. Managers and industry experts feel that the speed of global communication and pace of technological change has rapidly increased since the last few years and as a result of that, companies had to bring a different kind of strategic changes. Scholars argue that the strategy of a firm depends upon the positioning and repositioning of the company and also depend upon its competencies related to the marketplace and the forces that shape the market (Mcgrath, 2001). According to a report by Barrie (2013) â€Å"uncertainty is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the apparel industry in 2013.† Furthermore, the global fina ncial situation coupled with rising production cost, lack of innovation and low growth resulted in industry downsizing. Hence, it is evident that the garment industry needs to reinvent them for the purpose of gaining competitive advantage in the marketplace. For this purpose, a company needs to create an edge over its rivals. One of the most common ways of gaining competitive advantage is to carry out strategic planning and extensive research works. The company failed to keep up the pace with the rapid changes taking place in the retail market. This has resulted into declining market share and profitability. In the context of the technological environment, the company has failed to launch simple and basic schemes such as buying cards. Company profile (M&S) Marks and Spencer PLC, commonly known as M&S, is a UK based multinational retailing company. The company was founded in the year 1984 by Sir Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. It is presently headquartered in London, England. From a single market stall in Leeds, the company went on to become one of the world’s largest multi-channel retailing retailers. Presently, Marks and Spencer operate in more than 40 countries of the world with 1184 stores spread in different countries. The UK alone consists of 766 stores and the remaining 418 are international stores M&S organization Structure & Management Function The organization structure is one of the crucial factors of a company. A well defined organization structure not only ensures a smoother flow of information but also promotes internal and external communication. In the context of Marks and Spencer, the company follows a functional organizational structure and as a result o