QUESTIONS

Questions

Questions

Question 1:

SWOT Analysis of Marks and Spencer

Strengths

Marks and Spencer as a highborn company, which has established on a solid ground on the early thirties has strong internal resources. The relationship with suppliers was designed to ensure high and consistent quality.

M&S main strength is quality; it is 100% own brand, which is offering it to the customers at reasonable prices under the brand name St Michael. M&S has been in the business for over a hundred years and therefore built and reputation for good service and value. It does not stop at here; they build a strong relationship with their customers and staff(Kippenberger 1997).

Weaknesses

One of Marks attempt to growth is to cope with the competition and to increases its profits and market share was cutting costs. Training suffered as budgets were nibbled and prices were increasing. Shoppers began to feel M&S had become pricey. Customers a complained that the older high-street stores had become shabby and down at heel. There was nothing new in ideas or administration had been developed but more shops were added' (Bevan, 2002).

The problem came when, after years of success, the company began to operate only to please the management, not the customer'. This is a disadvantage factor in any company structure. An organisation that had become burdened with bureaucracy and flooded in paper and lacked of effective competition. They missed the saying that says change is the nature of retailing (Bevan, 2002). They are slow in responding to changes in consumer demand. M&S was reported to be aimed at a "tweed" generation, not focused on young/middle aged working women. And one of their biggest weaknesses is they used a few communication tools-previously relied on customer loyalty.

Opportunities

Although M&S has a lot of disadvantages it still has a lot of opportunities. The introduction of Per Ura generally worked well. M&S has to continue in store segmentation and develop a multiple purchases through co-ordination.

City analyst worried about the lack of growth opportunities on the food side, but M&S was described as a quality business with excellent management-one that would continue to justify its reputation (Bevan, 2002)

It does not discontinue here, there are a lot of opportunities in front of Marks that will help in raising profit, which is using technology in ordering goods from Marks and building customer loyalty using database and focus in customer needs through market research.

Threats

Defiantly, having competition from clothing retailers is the main threat for M&S. Competition from other retailers such as Top Shop, Gap as these retailers offered more fashionable and trendier design at lower prices that attract young consumers. M&S is slow adapter to change consumer trends.

Question 2:

When a group of employees working for an employer wish to pool their resources in order to give them greater leverage at the bargaining table for wages, working conditions and benefits, they do so by joining and participating in a union.

Employees choose to join unions for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are as follows:

Compensation and benefits are not commensurate for peers ...