What Comparative Advantages Did Macks and Spencer Enjoyed?

Question

QUESTION: What comparative advantages did Macks and Spencer enjoyed?

ANSWER:

HERE  IS SOME  USEFUL  MATERIAL.

REGARDS

LEO  LINGHAM

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COMPANY BACKGROUND

In 1894, Michael Marks formed a partnership with Tom Spencer to venture on the retailing business. The first shop opened in 1904 at Cross Arcade in Leeds, West Yorkshire. In 2004, the organization celebrates their 120th anniversary, appoints as the Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer and the head office staff started to move into their new registered office at Waterside House, Paddington, originally headquartered in Baker Street, London for many years. At present, they have over 600 stores worldwide, 450 of which are located in UK and the remaining 150 outlets operating in 30 countries around the globe, with sales amounting to U.S.$ 14.6 billion and a market value of U.S.$ 11.6 billion and profits posted at U.S.$ 1.1 billion and assets totalling to U.S.$ 8.1 billion ( 2005).  is the current Chairman while  is the Director of Human Resources for the organization and is mainly responsible for personnel management. The executive directors compose of the Chief Executive (), Group Finance Director () and the Executive Director for marketing, e-commerce, store design and development (). The non-executive team includes the Chairman (), Senior Independent Director (), Non-executive Directors () and Group Secretary and Head of Corporate Governance (). The various directors of the British retailer include Director of Womenswear & Girlswear (), Director of Menswear & Boyswear (Andrew Skinner), Director of Lingerie (Matthew Hudson), Director of General Merchandise Planning (), Director of Food (), Director of Home and Beauty (), Director of Retail (), Director of Human Resources (), Director of Property (), Director, International and UK Outlets (), Director, IT (), Director of GM Supply Chain and Logistics (), Director of Sourcing (), Director of Far East Procurement () and Director of Communications ().

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

           Being in retailing for over a hundred years, one of Marks & Spencer's competitive advantages over their counterparts in the business

1.--is the reputation that they have established with their customers, employees and suppliers.

2.-Their customers have long associated the company with total dependability and value for money;

3- the internal architecture of the company was cantered round permanent employment relationships,

4-strong organizational routines, and a shared sense that there was a Marks and Spencer way of doing things, which the employees benefit from;

5-and the suppliers relationship with the firm in that the external architecture of Marks and Spencer's organisation was built around an almost Japanese relationship with suppliers – detailed influence on product specification and design as part of relationships sustained over many years.

6-.They also have strong environmental and community responsibilities, (1 part of their corporate responsibility.

7.-‘Marks and Spencer have pioneered and excelled themselves in a whole range of 'modern' management methods, notably strategic marketing, consumer research, product innovation and development, personnel management, staff training and management development, quality assurance and technological-oriented purchasing' .

Overall, the strong and identifiable corporate culture of Marks & Spencer that operates to get the best out of relatively ordinary employees have continued to produce exceptional corporate results over many years and through many changes in the economic environment .

Although there have been downfalls for the hardy retailing perennial over the years largely due to economic crises, they have managed to surmount all the stumbling blocks through an resilience that their competitors view as unnerving.

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Businesses do not exist in a vacuum, they exist within an external environment consisting of the actions of other players who are outside the business, some of which are the competitors, the economy, the social system and the environmental system (.). The primary competitors of the company are department store industry. Marks & Spencer also competes in the apparel & accessories retail, grocery retail, and home