Global Business Strategy

Strength	Weakness
M&S has a multichannel presence such as brick & mortar, online stores and also maintain long range of franchises world wide (Ferraro and Briody, 2013). This has created high brand image and larger market share internationally. Company maintain a diversified workforce which includes employees from different religions, ethnicities etc. This support company in catering the need of people belong to different culture.	Though Mark & Spencer offer a range of products but still wrong publicity as a non trendy store affecting its profit. As people believe that its stores offer cloths for aged people only and not for teenagers. Mark & Spencer doesn't maintain its production house in different countries which increases its cost of production.
Opportunity	Threat
Asian customer prefer to purchase ethnic and traditional wear, so by involving this category in their clothing range company will be able to expand its customer base. M&S can develop their own website for selling its product or services online.	Major threat in front of company is losing its customer base due to increasing competition in market place (Milne and Gray, 2013). M&S operates its business in different countries and hence it may exposed to different political facts.

External analysis:- It refers to process of evaluating the macro environmental factors in order to determine the opportunities and threats that are present in external environment which may affects the operations of company. This can be done using PEST tool which focuses over analysing the external factors that must be consider by M&S as it may influence the business operations (Oestreicher-Singer and Zalmanson, 2012).

Identification of company's Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Retail industry is one of the fastest growing and competitive sector which experience changes on regular bases as key players are focusing over eating one other market share by enhancing their quality of services. So, in order to deal with such competitive environment Mark & Spencer is required to formulate effective strategy. This can be done using Porter's five force model which conduct a deep analyses over the industry to which company belongs and also evaluate factors that influence the performance as well as operations of organisation. This can be better understood using following points:

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Rivalry:- Competition in retail industry is relatively higher as the number of player are expanding their business by diversifying the categories of product which also creates additional competition within this sector (Rothaermel, 2015).. Hence, the competition is relatively higher for Mark & Spencer because there are number of discount retail stores which are trying to penetrating market by selling their product at lower price. But company is dealing with this competition effectively by adopting line extension and diversifying their categories of product . Apart from this it also expanded its business over internet which is a major factor behind its sustainability at marketplace.

Threats to new entrant:- As the existing player are continuously increasing the competition by bringing innovative approaches to serve their customer and become number one at their choice. This increasing competition and also widen the criteria that must be fulfilled by the new entrant in order to sustain in market place which requires huge investment. Hence, the threat of new entrant is very limited for Mark & Spencer. This is a positive factor for the company, as M&S offer high quality products which make it harder for new entrant to break their loyal customers.

Threat of substitute:- M&S is required to innovate its product as well as processes in order to keep its brand position stronger and be able to differentiate it from its competitors because the threat of substitute is relatively higher (Spieth, Schneckenberg and Ricart, 2014). As M&S operates its business in clothing which is more closer to substitute as competitors can imitate the design of clothes and can sell it price lower than company. This may reduce the customer base of Mark & Spencer, hence it must try to bring new designs on regular bases which keep the interest of consumers toward company's product.

Bargaining power of buyer:- The customers has number of choices in market regarding the product or services and because of which the bargaining power of buyers are relatively higher. As there are number of retailers present in market which provide the product alike Mark & Spencer and offer them over relatively lower price as compare to it. So, in order to maintain its customer base M&S must try to build up number of loyal customers and try to offer them unmatched values.

Bargaining power of supplier:- In order to reduce its cost of operation M&S has outsourced its operations in other countries. This in turn has weaken the power of suppliers and in addition to this company's focus over private label also provide them power of suppliers. Therefore, the bargaining power of supplier for Mark & Spencer is relatively lower.

Strategic Recommendations Based on Analysis and Discussion of Implementation Issues

From the above analysis information it has been found that Mark & Spencer has faced several issues while internationalising its business which make company to step back and limit its business to domestic market only (Stahl and et. al., 2012). After recovering from all the losses, Mark & Spencer now started expanding its business in different nations. But the competition is increasing rapidly which restrict the company to capture market share. So it is recommended to M&S that it must deeply analyse the macro environmental factor of the country it want to enter to determine the threats and opportunity present in that nations. This information will support it in deciding whether there is any growth opportunity or not.

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Mark & Spencer is recommended to focus on entering in larger market like China, Europe etc. where there is already demand for this brand. Apart from this it must concentrate over one particular market and position itself first before moving to another which support them in getting established and acceptable by market (Verbeke, 2013). Mark & Spencer also focuses on improving its promotional strategies like creating more TV commercials, advertisements over social media sites, providing discounts over product much frequently etc. Because for every market there should be a different and effective marketing medium which support them in attracting customer toward it. But Mark & Spencer must perform its promotional activities by keeping in mind the traditions, culture and lifestyle that the people of particular country or region follows. Company must also changes it marketing style and convert it from product driven to market driven. This will support Mark & Spencer in understanding the regional demand of their product or services which in turn help them in catering the need of its customer much effectively.

In addition to this, Mark & Spencer is also recommended to offshore its manufacturing unit so that different needs of customer can be satisfied and also support in reducing the production cost. Company must also focus toward decentralising its operations and should involve other regional departments in decision making process as it will support them in improving the marketing process as expected by customers of that particular area. As M&S deals in different product categories so it become very essential for them to balance their brand image carefully (Voegtlin, Patzer and Scherer, 2012). It must segment and position its product at lowest possible level before entering into new market as it effective portfolio management will support company in positioning its brand effectively. Mark & Spencer must reinvest the revenue into its current department which in generated from the operation instead of transferring it to other nations. This support them in enhancing the operations of that particular branch and also simplify the work of company as they do not have to manage the foreign exchange around the world.

Conclusion

From the above given information it can be summarized that for maintaining and expanding business internationally, a company must focuses on developing effectively strategy for entering into market. As improper planning will leads to failure of company and it may face sever loss that can also affect its brand image. So, company must perform internal as well as external analysis of target market before entering into it using SWOT and PEST analysis. This provide information regarding the growth opportunity or threats that are present in front of company. Apart from this a company may also use Porter's generic strategy model which support them in achieving competitive advantage at marketplace.

References

• Acquaah, M., 2013. Management control systems, business strategy and performance: A comparative analysis of family and non-family businesses in a transition economy in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Family Business Strategy. 4(2). pp.131-146.
• Bharadwaj, A. and et. al., 2013. Digital business strategy: toward a next generation of insights.
• DaSilva, C. M. and Trkman, P., 2014. Business model: What it is and what it is not. Long range planning. 47(6). pp.379-389.
• Ferraro, G. P. and Briody, E. K., 2013. The cultural dimension of global business. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
• Milne, M. J. and Gray, R., 2013. W (h) ither ecology? The triple bottom line, the global reporting initiative, and corporate sustainability reporting. Journal of business ethics. 118(1). pp.13-29.
• Oestreicher-Singer, G. and Zalmanson, L., 2012. Content or community? A digital business strategy for content providers in the social age.