Evaluation Of The Strategic Options Facing M & S

Strategic planning involves deciding on the actions and resource allocations in order to build a strong foundation for an organisation. Not only do they set a clear goal, but they provide structure and direction which increases an organisation’s chance of succeeding (Kumpf, 2004). Many authors appreciate the benefit of incorporating these plans into businesses. Kaplan describes how many executives fail to see the value of strategic planning yet argues that strategic planning need not be a waste of time if approached with the right goals in mind, arguing that the key is to create an environment of preparedness (Kaplan, 2003). Lauenstein echoes this idea emphasising the importance of strategic planning whilst stressing that many executives do not fully understand the functions of this strategy, hence not being able to reap the full benefits of this approach (Lauenstein, 1986). Nevertheless, strategic planning is not a standardised process across every organisation, and must be adjusted to fit each organisation taking into consideration a number of factors.

Strategic planning is important for all businesses because this is when they set there aims and will discuss how they can achieve that aim. These aims have to be realistic and the owners will discuss this with their workers. Some aims might be hard to get but executives will want their workers to push hard so that it can be achieved. Marks and Spencer’s aim was to be the best supermarket in Britain but the recession had affected them really bad giving them losses of over 100 million pounds. Currently they are making profits of 50 million pounds but it is nowhere near what they made a few years ago.

Strategic planning can dictate the success of any organization if properly planned as well as the failure of an organization if not implemented as planned. Strategic planning is all about making choices. It is a process designed to support leaders in being intentional about their goals and methods. Simply stated, strategic planning is a management tool, and like any management tool, it is used for one purpose only—to help an organization do a better job. This portion of the strategic plan will explain why an

Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy (Armstrong, 1986). In order to determine the direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues through which it can pursue a particular course of action. Generally, strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions:

Effective strategy is developed first by identifying and understanding the implications of the changing events in the business environment. Many of the events occurring currently have a wide international impact, and they may be seen to be influencing the results and responses of large supermarket retailers. The changes, or issues, that we see as important from a strategic planning perspective are:

It is known that the ultimate purpose for a company is to set and achieve their business goals. A firm’s strategy is a plan that offers a number of guidelines for an organisation to achieve success by fulfilling their business goals (Cambridge Dictionary, 2016; Merriam-Webster, 2016). For example, it can identify a company’s capabilities, examine the changes in the market, and forecast the possible future of a company. As a result, having a strategy is one of the crucial elements for developing a business. Planning plays an important role in strategy (MacIntosh & Maclean, 2014). Strategic planning includes several analysis activities, for instance, industry analysis, value chain analysis, and stakeholder analysis. This essay will discuss my experience in doing strategic work. In this essay, it will first describe how and what my team members and I did on strategic planning, including our acquirements and the difficulties we faced during the group work. Next, it will be followed by my reflection of doing strategic work as a group compared to doing strategic work individually.

‘Essentially, developing a competitive strategy is developing a broad formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be, and what policies will be needed to carry out those goals’ (Porter, 1980, p. xvi). The strategic aims of strategy can be very different depending on the needs of the business; however, they may include expansion, market leadership and brand building. There are different views on strategy and how they can be implemented, which are explored in this start of this essay.

Strategic planning aids a business in laying out a direction and path for the business to follow in order to increase its chances of being successful and prosperous. According to the textbook “Strategy Planning” by Bethel University, strategy is defined as “A company’s strategy consists of the competitive moves and business approaches management has developed to attract and please customers, conduct operations, grow the business, and achieve performance objectives” (2011, p. 3). From this definition, one can also ascertain the importance management plays in the strategic plan. The plan allows the managers of a business to make decisions that will be supported by all of the stakeholders involved in the organization. As the plan is developed three key questions need to be addressed. The first of these will establish the position and status of the company now. The next of these three questions will seek to establish a direction for the company moving forward. The final of the three questions will lay out a plan for achieving the targets established in the second question.

Strategic Management and Planning is a course of decisions and actions which ultimately lead to the development of a strategy to help a company achieve their objectives. Strategic planning focuses on the company’s long term range and how to accomplish what is laid out. Effective planning will help to prevent problems, provide a response if problems occur, and make available information and support needed to maintain public awareness, safety, and confidence.

Marks and Spencer are a well-known brand of retailers around the world. What made them famous in over 125 years are their core values which are: Quality, Value, Service, Innovation and Trust. They started out in England but soon spread around Europe. They are making their expansion into the Asian market and have so far been successful with opening multiple branches in Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. Marks and Spencer provide well over 70,000 items which includes clothing, advertising, packing designs, homewares and company documents. They are most well known for their clothing line

This study will show us how to act within a multi stakeholder system within a company and also frame effective strategic planning policies that will help the company to expand their business in comparatively newer markets and also enhance the customer service. The study has been done on Centrica Plc who has achieved success within this multi stakeholder system business. This study will give us ideas to frame strategic planning and also help us to know how to do proper strategic planning within this system of business.

Marks & Spencer (marksandspencer.com) is a UK-base, upscale, global retailer known for its high-quality, high priced merchandise. Operating in more than 30 countries, the company faces stiff competition, especially since the beginning of the economic slowdown that started in 1999. Costumer service became a critical success factor for Marks & Spencer. Other critical success factors included an appropriate store inventory system and efficient supply chain activities. To attract shoppers, the company had to reduce prices at its stores, which drastically reduced profits. Several other big retailers were wrestling with similar problems, including Kmart, which had to file

Marks & Spencer was constituted in 1884, as vendor stall in the streets of Leeds. It is a public limited company, which listed on the London stock exchange. It is a major British Multinational retailer. It produces clothing, home products and food items. The market share of Marks & Spencer is 10.4% in 2015 and over the years it has decreased because of the intense competition faced by the company. The headquarters is in London. The revenue of Marks & Spencer in 2015 is £10.3 billion; operating income was $762.5 million, while the profit generated by Marks & Spencer in this year was $481.7 million. Marks & Spencer is operating all over the world and they employee over 83000 people. In 1998, the company became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion. It is one of the famous brands in UK and all over the world. M&S have 852 stores throughout the UK, as well as many international stores. It has one of the largest retail outlets all over the world.

Strategic planning is an essential component in the growth and development of any business entity with the aim of enhancing its financial resources while reducing the cost of distribution and manufacturing of the products. Coca-Cola Company, UK, is one of the major players towards the development of the economy. This company focuses on the manufacturing and distribution of soft drinks and other relevant beverages. In the execution of this research project, the focus will be on the Coca-Cola Company-UK with the aim of understanding how to adopt and implement strategies in the context of the organization. Coca-Cola Company-UK focuses on the accomplishment of three critical missions: refreshing the world, creation of value and being the difference, and provision of inspirational moments in relation to happiness and optimism. In order to achieve these missions, the organization has to inculcate quality strategies towards the achievement of the competitive advantage thus fighting stiff competition within the industry of operation (Data Monitor, 2011).

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.