Evaluating the rise and fall of Marks and Spencer:The Future of the company in Retail sector

Running Head : MARKS AND SPENCER

Marks and Spencer

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Marks and Spencer

Until the shocking ruin of Marconi , no corporate collapse had seemed as inconceivable as that of the symbol of British management and among the most admired companies the world over Marks Spencer

Marks Spencer (M S ) was among the world 's leading retailers , enjoying legendary and symbolic repute , often being listed in the best managed and respected businesses in the world . Its `fall from grace ' has been stunning and equally

spectacular and the company is now fighting for its survival . Supported by extensive thorough interviews with company managers and using a case-study method , this gives an exploratory study into failure at M S and presents this in the structure of the wider literature on organisational and managerial failure . It comes to the conclusion that whilst exterior factors in the different trading environments had an impact on the business , also there were internal phases of the crisis which worsen the circumstances and catalyse the problems

Introduction

If I had to pick one company in the world that exemplified consistent long-term growth , profitability and customer satisfaction , it would be Marks and Spencer .In terms of performance no British company can match them ' Peter Doyle , quoted in Seth and Randall , 1999 , pp . 123-124

Marks Spencer (M S ) has been a legendary UK retailing organisation for over a century . M S 's management , both its overall style and its individual leaders , have been acknowledged as exemplars of `best practice . Peter Drucker (1974 ) described M S as a `managerial giant in the western world . Tse (1985 ,

. 1 ) noted that M S has been widely recognized as among the best-managed companies in Europe . as far as management excellence of the firm is concerned , the consensus is almost Kumar (1997 ,p . 823 ) commented that in almost every survey in the United Kingdom , Marks and Spencer tends to top the list of most admired companies and their St Michael brand is world renowned . As by 1997 , a large number of academic and business commentators could be drawn upon to make similar complimentary points . Since then however , the circumstances has altered . M S is experiencing unprecedented troubles The company has seen its sales stagnate , profits collapse and market share fall . Its status is much declined both at home and abroad , where for example , it has been fined by the French courts and severely criticized for its attitude and behaviour towards its workers . Whilst a restructuring plan is underway under new , non-British management , after 12 consecutive quarters of sales decline , considerable problems remain It is fair therefore to say that the company has been openly experiencing a survival crisis since 1998 (Bevan , 2001 . The previously unthinkable , that M S could lose its independence , has become a real possibility . How could M S , which was so often hailed as an exemplar of retailing companies , and indeed of British business usually , suddenly find itself in such dire straits

The phenomenon of...