Marks Spencer SWOT and PESTLE Analysis

Marks Spencer SWOT and PESTLE Analysis The greatest strength of Marks Spencer is its brand image which influences the customers choice. For quality assurance the consumer can confidently rely on St Michaels Brand Label (Benady D 2005). It has diverse products Clothing, food, furniture, financial products, etc. This is an advantage to the company as the customers who believe in the quality of one item will be drawn to another item hoping for the same quality. Their human resources are very good which is very important for running any business. Their presence in the international market is a good advertisement for them. WEAKNESS (COMPETENCE) It is clear from research findings that the company was successful till late nineties and then the decline has begun. This decline is because of inexperienced people at the helm of affairs. The company was blind to the changes in the market and continued their traditional thinking. They didnt adapt to the changes as they occurred. This is evident from thier lack of appeal of the St Micheal brand to the under 30s age bracket(Tony Grundy 2005). According to a channel 4 programme the management was focused more on the day to day operations rather than long term strategies. The same programme revealed that the company was tied to the generalised view of the market instead of thinking about the different market segments. MS was very late in introducing the loyalty card to its customers. When all the other retailers were having those cards the customers of MS didnt not have them which is a weakness of the company. Most of the merchandise of MS was womens wear. Most of the customers must have been women. There should have been few women in the management who could have understood the taste of women. There were internal conflicts between the management personnel which has affected the company. Financial Times, 19 May 1999 stated, MS has behaved more like a wholesale buyer of products à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ rather than thinking about the sort of person that was buying the item and what else they could sell to that customer. OPPORTUNITIES New Products MS has a flair for diversified products. Introduction of innovations in this regard can help the company to come up some more new products that can create increased taste in the customers for the company. Re focus on international markets In the early 2000s we find that the company started cutting down the European expansion programme. We find that the trading conditions have become tough for the company to compete well at the international level. If the company can review its marketing mix and rectify their shortcomings in regard with their proper use of 7Ps, the opportunities in the international market are immensely huge. Alliances There is big opportunity for better alliances for the existing companies with proven history of past success. MS should grab this opportunity to develop thoughtful and fruitful alliances. Assets and established structures Being in the business for a considerably long period the company has assets and established structures which can be used for the expansion of the business. Retrospection into the existing flaws of the company can help rejuvenate its business by developing overseas supply chain. THREATS New existing competition For every existing business there is always the threat of the new competition that is likely to crop up. This is evident from the history of the company the MS lost the market share to Oasis which offered more fashionable with similar prices. Others like the discount stores and supermarkets posed a great threat the company. BHS, Top Shop and ASDA can be potential threats in this regard. Volatility in Price of raw material Price of raw material is always volatile. This volatility can be a big threat to the company because the budget plans will have be to changed according to the changing prices of the raw material Economic recession During the time of this case study recession was slowly peeking up with few incidences like twin tower attack which affected the global economy. People will become more economical during these times where they cut down their expenses luxuries and comforts and concentrate more on basic needs. Internal and Corporate Appraisal Porters Five Forces Threats from Potential entrants Potential entrants of that time include BHS, Top Shop, ASDA, TESCO, Morrison etc. These have the potential to take over the market from MS. Suppliers bargaining power The suppliers of the raw material have developed a bargaining power due to the entry of the new companies into the market. If they get a better bargaining power of supplying things from other companies then they will obviously have more choices to make than sticking on to MS. Competitive Rivalry There is a stiff competitive rivalry seen in the market for MS. Labels like Gap, Next, Primark, New looks, Acadia Group etc, are the leading rivals. Oasis has offered different fashions to the customers with the similar prices. Others like the discount stores and supermarkets posed a great threat the company. It has brought lot of loss to the market share of the company. If MS doesnt take precautions to check this condition, competitors will take away the complete market share from MS. Buyers bargaining power In a growing market and with the emergence of new companies the bargaining power of the buyers has always risen up. In the market where once there is only one option now there are many options available to them. This has increased the bargaining power of the buyers to a large extent. With the economy playing heavily on the minds of people loyalty is the final thing that they would think of when someone else like Oasis and the like are ready to give a better offer. Threats from substitutes There is a big threat from the substitutes. This threat posed mainly by retailers like John Lewis, Sainsbury, Rackhams, etc. External Environment PESTLE Analysis The pestle analysis helps us to understand the external environment of Marks and Spencer better. POLITICAL The door for British Companies was opened to invest in Europe due to the Free Trade Agreements and European Integration. These political factors helped MS to stretch the wings of its expansion globally. In response to the global dictate of off shoring MS has launched a new franchise operation in Poland and Australia (Olins,1997) ECONOMIC Being in the Retail sector MS is volatile in regard with any changes made in the interest rates. The twin tower collapse of September 11 has affected the economy of the world so much. Prices have fallen low. This has changed the figures of profit completely. Fortunately, things slowly changed for better. SOCIAL The taste of a consumer keeps changing always. These changes are both an opportunity and a threat to the industry. Its an opportunity because of the new market of the consumers. It is however a threat if the company doesnt adapt itself to the change which is exactly what has happened with MS. It went on with the traditional thinking not giving adherence to the changes. TECHNICAL The Marks Spencer Charge card was launched nationally in 1985. Online shopping was launched on the Marks Spencer website in 1999. The introduction of such technology helped the business to work fast and efficiently. LEGAL There were few legal problems that the company had to face especially in the international operations. But they are short lived. ENVIRONMENTAL The company was involved in using environmental friendly resources in the production of cotton and wool. The threats are in terms of legal consequences for livestocks in terms of health and safety.

My Pawnshop

Course Project Introduction to Business (GEB 1011) Think of a small company you would like to start. Using this company, include the following components in your finalized submittal and use them as Section Headings for formatting your submittal. Put the Section Headings in BOLD. Then your responses in normal 12 point size type and write in complete sentences. 1) Provide an Introduction of your company. Include your main product and/or service. In what country and part of the world is your company located? Explain why your company is located there.With the economy struggling and more and more people loosing their jobs as a major source of income I believe that providing the service of small collateral loans would be a great idea for a business. In this economy the pawn industry is a business that is growing and taking a powerful jump in the economy. I believe that opening and place where people can get short-term loans against a collateral would be a very successful business. I would strategically pick locations in United States that really need this service the most. For example, low-income regions in Orlando such as Pine Hills, would be a good place to open a location.Last and more important,   Make sure to set up shop where the local population is interested in buying your goods Choosing a location with a population that has supply and demand for the specific products I am selling. 2) Describe the form of business ownership you would choose for this company and explain why. Give at least three advantages and three disadvantages of your chosen form of business ownership. The form of business ownership I would choose for my company would be Sole Proprietorship. A business owned and operated by a single individual — and the most common form of business structure in the U.S. The advantages with a sole proprietorship: 1. Ease and cost of formation: simply announcing you are in business and requesting any licenses and permits you may need; use of profits à ¢â‚¬â€ since all profits from the business belong exclusively to you, the owner. 2. Flexibility and control: you make all the decisions and direct the entire business operations; very little government regulations; secrecy; and ease of ending the business. 3. Sale or transfer can take place at the discretion of the sole proprietor. There are disadvantages, however, including unlimited liability: . All business debts are personal debts, meaning you could lose everything you own if the business fails or loses a major lawsuit. 2. Limited sources of financing: based on your creditworthiness. 3. Limited skills: the sole proprietor really must be a â€Å"jack-of-all-trades,† part manager, marketer, accountant, etc. ; and limited lifespan meaning that the business ends when the owner dies. 3) Describe how you would use Supply and Demand to determine the products/services your company would provide. Include how this affects the pricing of your company’s product/service. When supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop. When supplies become scarcer, prices tend to rise. †Ã‚  (Understanding Business, Nickels,McHugh and McHuhg P. 37. ) There are many factors that play a role in using Supply and Demand for the items that my company would be working with. The age of the item, current condition, market value, and ability to re-sell, are all taken into consideration. The market value of precious metals changes daily so this will give more flexibility to play with the loaning, buying or pricing of it.Furthermore, I would have to contemplate the supply and demand or desirability of your item. Perhaps a new product ahs made it obsolete or even decrease its value. For example, a video game system that was worth $300. 00 two years ago may be practically worthless today. With new technology in the market and depreciation of electronics an outdated platform is not going to be in high demand. Another example would be the Blue-ray player, since they have become increasingly popular and they have a high demand in the market the DVD player has depreciated in value.Therefore if a client brings a DVD player in the store the appraisal value would be lower hence the selling price. Taking these factor into consideration, the use of supply and demand would affect the pricing of my company and it would play a very big role because I am the one investing money on the collateral that the customer is bringing to the store, hence my responsibility is to have the knowledge to take smart decisions and to properly train the people that would be working for me to be capable to make smart pricing by using tools such, internet, blue book, catalogs and their experience.One advantage that my company would have is that because I am targeting low income communities the $300. 00 game system they could not afford would be selling for a much lower price at my store. The demand would be there still for the system but this time the used system would be price one third of the original price and there would be an option for that customer to put it on layaway and pay for it slowly something that is becoming popular on big retail stores now days. As the Chief Executive Officer of your company: ) Describe your company’s Strategic Plan. Include a SWOT, Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, analysis ((list at least three, (3) items per section)). 5) Describe how you would implement the Management Functions in your company. 6) Describe the process you would use to recruit, hire, and train your employees. 7) Describe how you would approach the marketing mix for your company (Product, Price, Place, Promotions, the 4 Ps,). 8) Describe how you would develop and use the basic accounting statements in your company.

HRD in Bangladesh: Chronological Background Essay

Human resource development (HRD)( is the most useful device for enhancing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of managers to accomplish their tasks efficiently. It helps inculcate right values and attitudes among the managers as well as administrators and their subordinates. It keeps them abreast with changes taking place in various spheres. It is thus, an investment in human resources to ensure the continued quality and adaptability of the administrators of both public and private sector organizations to change and their ability to grasp contemporary social and economic problems. Today it has come to be regarded as very vital and a precondition for national development. In today’s world everything is changing rapidly and every country has to cope with such changes. The strong urge felt by governments to formulate appropriate policies, make timely decisions and implement those decisions to meet the changing demands of the citizens, force them to improve the managerial skills and competence through systematic training. Even the poorer nations of the world now embark upon building training infrastructure for the development of their human resources in an attempt to achieve the goals for wider social, economic and political development. They are often supported in their efforts by international donors, whose advocacy of good governance is another important reason for the increasing emphasis on training and the consequent expansion training arrangements in poorer countries. With a view to contribute in our national development, a good number of public and private training institutes have been playing their role since Pakistan period. In 1960, Gazetted Officers Training Academy (GOTA) was set up in Dhaka for regular and systematic training of the civil servants. National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) was set up at Dhaka in 1961 mainly to impart public administration training to the mid-level officers of central and provincial governments, autonomous and local bodies. At the same time Bangladesh Management Development Center (BMDC) was established under the Ministry of Industry in order to develop our manpower into human resources through management training. In 1970, BMDC turned into an autonomous training institute. To cater for the training needs of the senior administrators, another training institute; Bangladesh Administrative Staff College (BASC) was established in 1977 as an apex institute. In 1984 the government merged NIPA, COTA and BASC to the Public Administration Training Complex (PATC). PATC, later renamed as Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center (BPATC), is entrusted with the responsibility of imparting training to officers of all categories. In order to synchronize the efforts of different training institutions and to make training relevant to the process of national development, a National Training Policy was formulated in 1986. At present many training institutes like BCS (admin) Academy, Bangladesh Institute of Management (BIM), Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center (BPATC), Land Acquisition Training Center (LATC), Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), Academy for Planning and Development (APD), Rural Development Academy (RDA) and National Academy for Education and Management (NAEM) are playing a vital role in our national development as the public training institutes through training activities. Besides these, few NGOs like HAMIBA HRD Centre, BRAC, Steps towards Development (STD), PROSHIKA, Resource Integration Centre (RIC), SKILL (Specialized Knowledge and Information Liner for Life), SPEED and so on are initiating training activities as private sector training institutes for our national development. [pic] ( HRD is a process of developing human resource through appropriate need based training. ———————– HR Functions: Employee Development Objectives: After reading this chapter you should be able to †¢ Be familiar with HRD programs in Bangladesh †¢ Identify the HRD approaches †¢ Distinguish between HRD and HRM †¢ Discuss the activities involved in HRD process

The Death Penalty Is No Rich People On Death Row - 813 Words

Your Excellency, I am writing to you to express my disagreement with your country’s continued use of the death penalty. I recently read an article by Sonia Polton (Mail Online) which raised many points on this matter.One important issue was brought to my attention by one of the founding members of Voices of Death Row, Linda Taylor who said, â€Å"There are no rich people on death row.† I believe this one quote explains the reality very clearly/ people with more money can afford to use top class lawyers and give themselves the best chance to avoid or postpone their sentence. Whereas, people with less money do not have this luxury. Does this not mean that people are paying to stay alive ? Should a nation as mighty as America still perform such barbaric acts in today s world? America is looked at all across the globe as an example of how the world has developed, yet you still chose to challenge this by implementing the death penalty. Murderers and criminals are not afraid of the death penalty, quite the opposite. In her article Sonia Poulton argues that the 33 states which still use the system have more murders and gun crime cases than the states that have abolished it completely. This demonstrates that the death penalty is not enough of a threat and does nothing to deter people from committing serious crimes. Do these results not show that the logical decision would be to abolish it altogether? Sonia Poulton continues her argument, suggesting that the percentage of wealthyShow MoreRelated Capital Punishment Essay: Death Penalty Maintains Justice1194 Words   |  5 PagesDeath Penalty Maintains Justice It is no triumph that death sentences are routinely carried out, or even that such a device is necessary within our society. Yet the fact remains that society does require a death penalty, and to believe that the topic is one-sided or easily answered would be a fatal mistake. 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