Marks and Spencers has managed to maintain its competitive advantage in british retailin for over 50 years. Why, do you think, have rival firms found M&S's competitive position so difficult to attack?

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer (M&S) is a British retailing Crucial to M&S's eflectiveness is a clear focus institution. Founded in 1884 by Michael Marks, a on the customer. The tone is set by top Polish Jew who had immigrated to England, the management. Each senior manager makes a habit of company has been a national chain since the early wearing M&S clothes and eating M&S food. Thus 1900s. By 1926 the company had a branch in every managers develop an understanding of what it is major town in the country and had become Britain's that customers want and like about M&S products, largest retailer, a position it still hold in the end of by staying close to the customer they can improve 90's. Primarily supplier of clothing and the quality and design of the products they offer foodstuffs, M&S is one of the world's most The customer focus is reinforced at the store level profitable retailers. In the mid 1990's M&Ss 280 by store managers who monitor sales volume and UK stores had sales of &7, Sbillion. M&S accounted quickly identify lines that are selling and those that for 15% of all retail clothing sales in the UK, and are not. The store mangers can transmit this 4,6% of all food sales. According to the Guinness information to suppliers, which have the capacity to book of records, in 1991 the company's flagship quickly modify their production, increasing the store at Marble Arch in London had a turnover of output of lines that are selling well and reducing the $3.700 per square foot - more than any other output of lines that are not moving. department store in the world. Another central feature of M&S is its pioneering The secret of the company's success lies in the approach to human relations. Long before it became way it follows some key strategic principles, many fashionable to do so, M&S has developed a commitment of which were already well established by the to the well-being of its employees. M&S has always 1920s. M&S provides a selective range of clothing viewed itself as a family business with a broad and food items aimed at rapid turnover. The firm responsibility for the welfare of its employees. M&S sells all its products under its own St Michael label offers employees medical and pension plans that provide M&S offers high quality products at moderate benefits that are well above the industry average. The company pays its employees at a rate that is well above rather than low prices. The combination of high the industry average, and it makes a practice of quality and reasonable price encourages customers promoting employees from within, rather than hiring to associate M&S with Value for money, and the from outside. Furthermore, there are a series of in-store firms' ability to deliver this combination amenities for employees, recreation rooms and consistently over the years has built up enormous hairdressing salons. The reward for M&S is the trust and customer goodwill in Britain. So strong is M&S's loyalty of its employees and, ultimately, high employee reputation among British consumers that the productivity company does no advertising in that market - a Also vital is the company's commitment to major source of cost saving simplifying its operating structure and strategic control To achieve this combination of moderate prices systems. M&S has a very flat hierarchy, there is little in and high quality, M&S works very closely with its the way of intervening management layers between store managers and top management. The firm utilizes just suppliers, many of whom have been selling a major two profit margins, one for food-stuff and one for portion of their output to M&S for generations. The clothing. This practice reduces bureaucracy and frees its focus on quality is reinforced by M&S's practice of store mangers from worrying about pricing issues having its technical people work closely with Instead, they are encouraged to focus on maximizing suppliers on product design. Suppliers are more sales volume. A store's performance is assessed by its than willing to respond to the firm's demands, for sales volume. Control is achieved partly through formal they know that M&S is loyal to its suppliers and as budgetary procedures, and partly through an informal it grows so do they. The sales volume generated by probing process, in which top management drops in M&S's strategy of providing only a selective range unannounced at stores and quizzes managers there about of clothing and food enables M&S's suppliers to the store. In a typical year, just about every store in Britain will receive at least one unannounced visit from realize substantial economies of scale from large top management. This keeps store managers on their production runs. These cost savings are then passed toes and constantly alert to the need to provide the kind on to M&S in the form of lower prices. In turn, of value-for-money products that customers have come M&S passes on part of the saving to the consumer. to associate with M&S