...Joel A Alvarado Perez 1. Why are M&S in this predicament? Has increased overseas sourcing helped or hindered their marketplace performance? Business was only getting worse for M&S through the 1990’s. The company started off on top of the department store chain, but by 1998, sales began dropping. By 1998, sales had dropped by 6%. As oppose to helping themselves by increasing the sourcing overseas, they spread out too fast and were not able to manage all of their new factories. 5 Factories were closed in that same time period. As they were losing control of their business, competitors made their arrival and easily took over the fashion industry knocking M&S off their throne for some years 2. Given that costs must be reduced, how can M&S capture the potential benefits of low-cost sourcing whilst still improving responsiveness? * M&S was one of the first companies to buy directly from the manufacturer, which reduced some costs. On top of that, worked with the largest suppliers in order to reduce the cost of manufacturing and shipping the goods, thus allowing the reduced costs. By having a consolidation warehouse, it was easier and more efficient for M&S to be able to ship it’s own product to its stores as oppose to having to set up different ship locations with the manufacturer. M&S was then able to perfect this Supply chain as they were more in control of the distribution of their goods 3. Is the current one-size-fits all approach...
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...“They’ve got an opinion. We’ve got an opinion. We won. End of story.” A case study on non-compliant corporate governance at M&S, adapted from articles by Steve Hawkes, Patrick Hosking, Peter Stiff, John Waples, Richard Fletcher, Marcus Leroux , Catherine Boyle, David Wighton and Murad Ahmed in The Times and Sunday Times, 11/03/08 to 08/07/0 11/03/08 Marks & Spencer (M&S) gave its second-biggest shareholder (Legal and General, L&G) only one hour’s notice before announcing that it would promote Sir Stuart Rose to the position of executive chairman, effective June 1st. Sir David Michels will be deputy chairman. Currently the senior non-executive director, he is no lightweight. However, given Sir Stuart’s personality, he and other non-executive directors will have to work hard to curb an autocratic bias. Lord Burns, M&S’s outgoing chairman, did not consult L&G until 9am on the morning of the announcement. Hours later, L&G issued a rare public statement condemning the promotion as “unwelcome.” Mark Burgess, head of equities for L&G, said: “We believe strongly in the separation of the roles of chairman and chief executive.” M&S apparently contacted one other large shareholder on Monday to see if it would put its name to a statement supporting the plan. That shareholder refused. M&S said it delayed informing key shareholders because of fears that details about the reshuffle could leak to the media. A spokeswoman said: “We have now spoken...
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...Defining the Market The industry that M&S are operating in is the textile apparel industry. This is a highly competitive industry that is constantly changing and it is crucial for companies in this industry to adapt to new trends and customer needs. M&S have a strong focus on consistent quality and high standards. They have been aware of technological factors and social changes within this market and have reacted in particular to the technological evolutions effectively, helping them to achieve one of their core competencies that is, quality. Driving forces in this industry proved difficult for M&S, globalization, the development of casual trends, and accelerating fashion cycles were major evolutions that became prevalent in the textile apparel industry, M&S were not reacting to these factors well and so they were becoming quite lost in their own market. Macro Economic Factors/PEST Analysis. Technological Issues The textile apparel industry is becoming to rely on technology for faster production systems and better quality products. We have seen that M&S have had a successful technological component to their organization, close co-operation with suppliers and the use of the latest technology has been the foundation for achieving the highest quality in their products. The fashion industry is going to keep evolving with the newest technology, it is vital that brands react to this macro-economic factor as it will be what may differentiate you from your...
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...Introduction Marks & Spencer Plc (from now on M&S) is an international retailer with 718 locations across 34 countries. The group sells clothing, footwear, gifts, home furnishings and foods under the St. Michael trademark in its chain of 294 stores in the United Kingdom. Approximately half of the group's overseas stores are franchised to local partners. The group also owns the clothing retailer Brooks Brothers and the Kings Super Markets chain in the United States of America. Direct mail helps M&S meet the core objective of providing customers with wider, easier access to their products such as home furnishings, flowers, hampers and wine. The financial services comprise of operations of the groups financial services companies providing account cards, personal loans, unit trust management, life assurance and pensions. Retailing accounted for 96% of fiscal 2000 revenues and financial services, 4%. The company was always considered to have a great management support that helped in its growth. But the last years, M&S’s managers seem to fail on their strategic decisions, leading the group to lower and lower sales and profits. The share price is also dropping and shareholders feel insecure for the future (figure 2). Group structure and financial performance The group’s performance measures for the year ended at 31 March were disappointing (figure-5). The return on equity ratio and the earnings per share were zero as the company had only £1.3m profit this year. For the...
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...trust. The firm also gained high respect from the British people; it was considered the biggest corporate charity donor within the UK (Mellahi et al 2002). Not only consumers, but staff and shareholders could share this great success. According to Wallop (2012) the company has been the most important British clothing retailer for decades, and also the first retailer in the UK to publish annual profits of £ 1bn. Lately Marks and Spencer has undergone a difficult period. The latest management changes have once again disrupted stability. In July 2012, M&S announced widespread changes across the company, including a new head of general merchandise, style director and a new head of food. A number of external and internal factors explain these changes. External Factors Consumer spending & Competition External factors can be described as things affecting the company beyond its control. Firstly, the retail industry in which M&S operates has weakened as a result of low consumer spending. Research by Ernst & Young (2012) suggests growth in consumer demand in 2012/2013 will be only half the level expected 12 months ago. According to Iqbal and Sharma (2012), spending power of consumers has resulted in aggressive competition among retailers. Retail expert Nick Bubb (2012)...
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...Part 1 1. Introduction I chose topic 8 because analysis and interpretation of business and financial performance has interested me and I want to learn more about and it is the topic I feel most comfortable with having completed my ACCA studies. Writing reports and analysing business performance was covered in papers F7 and P3 and through this report I will have the opportunity to enforce practically the knowledge acquired. Moreover undertaking this research project will improve my performance at work and enhance my professional and communication skills. I work in accountancy practice and this project will be invaluable experience. I decide to write a research project on Marks & Spencer plc. and the reason being is that I had carried out an investigation on this company before and I have preliminary knowledge on its activities and the sector in which operates. Marks & Spencer is well known and reputable retailer which I personally favour as a customer. Marks and Spencer Group plc. is an international multi-channel retailer with headquarters in London, in the City of Westminster .It carries out the retailing of apparel, home products and food items. It was started as a Penny Bazar 1884 in Leeds selling only British made goods (Enc. Britannica,2004) As of 30 March 2013 the Company’s product were sold through 766 UK stores and 418 stores internationally (www.marksandspencer.com, 2013) 1.1.2 The reason for choosing the John Lewis Plc. as the comparator company John...
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...Marks and Spencer don’t just exist for profit. They also hold a lot of responsibility too. (Fisher C and Lovell A, 2009, p311) Issues to stakeholders Affect M&S reputation or its future existence Environment issues 1) what are the corporate responsibility and sustainability issues faced by M&S? - I have defined corporate responsibility - I have said that it (corporate responsibility) can be affected socially e.g. charity events and used examples in Plan A that M&S have done - I have then defined sustainability, and I have gone onto talking about environmentalism and the risks of waste and global warming followed by what M&S have done in plan A in relation to this Virtue Aristotle- often easy for us to assess. Have to see what is generally accepted as being the right thing for a person/retail organisation. Limitations are that a society at any particular time mat not have a clear picture itself of what is right (and proper) and what is wrong. Times in the past where societies have accepted and encouraged practices we would now regard as very wrong. Its easy to find out what is right and proper now – only have to look at the law or newspapers or look at guidance given by international authorities, but society can have a mistaken view. Duty ethics Immanuel kant – what matters is the motive. The idea of doing the right thing because it is a duty or a principle. Motive of ethical behaviour being the thing that mattered. Why were you doing it? Were you...
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...& M&S Financial Analysis and Annual Reports I. Company Background The first M&S store was originally only a market stall in Kirkgate Market, Leeds, which was started by Michael Marks in 1884 (Timeline, 2012). But the continuing success of the penny section led to a partnership with Tom Spencer in September of 1894 (Timeline, 2012). The new company was based on the principle of quality, value, service, innovation and trust (Timeline, 2012). M&S’s main business was primarily on the sale of food products but during 1920 to 1940 the company had expanded into clothing with one of its most popular product, the underwear (Timeline, 2012). The current M&S developed a strategy that aims to become an international, multi-channel retailer which was initially set out by Marc Bolland in November, 2010 (2012, 2012, p.2). The strategy was to enhance the brand by developing the clothing, home and food offerings while improving the store design to make it easier to shop (2012, 2012, p.8). The strategy also includes the development and expansion of the multi-channel distribution along with the commitment to deliver consistent returns to its shareholders (2012, 2012, p.2). The strategy was further divided into the three revenue segments which are clothing & home, multi-channel and international (2012, 2012, p.ii). The clothing & home segment is composed of Food and General Merchandise which includes clothing and home products (2012, 2012, p.ii). The clothing segment was further divided into...
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...products are a little changed in either color, accessories, material or styling to not become outdated. • Their objective: “is not that customers buy a lot but that they buy often and will find something new every time they enter the store.” 1b. What are the major differences in Zara’s supply chain when compared with that of M&S? • Length of the supply chain: Zara’s value chain includes 17 steps while M&S involves thirty steps. This makes a huge difference in lead times and inventory holding costs. Because Zara has fewer steps they are able to spot a new fashion and create those articles much faster than M&S, sometimes leaving those fashions out of style once they are available on the rack. • Number of outsource elements: Zara only outsources two elements of their supply chain whereas M&S outsources nine. Zara built their own central warehouse in Galicia, where products are cut, sewn, ironed, packed and ticketed in an average of seven to eight days. It also includes internal logistics which deliver pieces to the exclusive sewing assembly cooperatives and collect them back, this being their only outsource element besides the customers. M&S outsources all trimming, cutting, assembly, washing, ironing, plying and packing...
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...http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/rewards_benefits From our humble beginnings as a single market stall, we've grown to become one of the UK's leading retailers of clothing, food, home products and financial services. We now employ 68,000 employees in 30 countries, have more than 500 stores and serve tens of millions of customers each and every week. Our commitment to provide superior quality products at attractive prices has built us an £8 billion turnover, but more importantly has given us the enviable reputation as the retail store against which all others are measured. To discover more about the core beliefs that have contributed to our success, click on the links below. Our Values Our Diversity Our success has been built on a number of core company values that have remained almost unchanged since our earliest beginnings. They are: Quality - Delivering excellent standards consistently. Value - We need to deliver exceptional value to our customers. Innovation - We need to continue to be at the forefront of innovation in both general merchandising and food. Trust - We are the most trusted retailer. We have a proud heritage of staff welfare, customer care and involvement in the community. We want to continue to build this. Service - is about delivering the highest standard of services to our customers. Service, has perhaps the biggest impact on our people. We want everyone who works for us (no matter what role they're in) to be focused on helping us...
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...MASH The first thing I noticed was the awesome theme music. I remember seeing reruns of M*A*S*H as a kid and turning the channel immediately because the opening theme made it sound like a drama and not something funny. So when the lyrics of the song are sung at the beginning of the film it catches me off guard. “Suicide is painless”, is one of the stupidest lyrics I think I've ever heard but I think that was the point of director Robert Altman. I later did some research and found out the song was written by the director's 14 year old son. Something else I noticed right off the bat was how familiar a lot of the faces were but I couldn't put a name on any of them until the credits rolled, Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, and Robert Duvall being the most familiar. Up until a few years ago I had no idea M*A*S*H was a movie before it was a show. So when we were assigned the film I had expectations of seeing some of the cast members of the series. Apparently I was wrong because I didn't see any whatsoever. From what I've read, the show is based on the movie, and the movie is based on the book so all the characters are exactly the same. I have to say this. Hawkeye and Trapper John are now two of my favorite movie characters of all time. Sutherland and Gould played their respective parts so nonchalantly that you forget they're both actually trained surgeons in the middle of a very bloody war. I have to admit the zaniness of the film touched a bit too close to something I would...
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...assignment is to understand and explore the main principles of the way Marks and Spencer’s operates. In the assignment I will be examine the strengths and weaknesses of the company, however the most critical issues which will be covered in the essay is the leadership and management style and corporate culture of Marks and Spencer’s. Furthermore I will analyse to what extent o regard leadership and management style as the key factors in accounting for Marks and Spencer’s relative underperformance over the last 20 years. Explain 5 strengths and 5 weaknesses of Marks and Spencer’s Referring back to the case study, we can see that Marks and Spencer have a very well known recognition of their brand, which links to quality. In the late 1880’s the company introduced the ‘St Michael’ logo as a sign of quality. With the brand linked to quality has helped the company build loyalty with their customers as they always ensure that their products are consistent and of high quality. This has of course helped Marks and Spencer gain rewards in terms of profit. Another strength which the company comprise is the good reputation of customer service. Marks and Spencer’s tend to focus a lot on their customer services; with one of their fundamental principles was to ‘provide friendly, helpful service and greater shopping comfort and convenience to customers’ Marks and Spencer’s assistants all carried tape measures to assure a good fit and also exchanging and refunding in the company was not a problem...
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...PENGGUNAAN BAHAN MANIPULATIF DALAM MEMBANTU KONSEP KEFAHAMAN OPERASI TOLAK DI KALANGAN KANAK-KANAK TABIKA 6 TAHUN DI HULU SELANGOR Oleh Nurfarahin Binti Shamsudin Abstrak Kajian tindakan ini bertujuan untuk melihat keberkesanan penggunaan bahan manipulatif dalam membantu kebolehan operasi nombor dalam kalangan kanak-kanak enam tahun di tabika. Pengkaji memilih dua orang kanak-kanak tabika yang berumur enam tahun sebagai kumpulan sasaran. Tinjauan awal telah dilakukan dengan menganalisis lembaran kerja yang dilakukan keatas pemerhatian keputusan ujian pra. Berdasarkan analisis lembaran kerja yang dilakukan oleh kanak-kanak dalam operasi tolak menunjukkan tiga daraipada mereka mempunyai masalah dalam menyelesaikan operasi tolak dalam lembaran kerja yang diberikan guru. Melalui keputusan Ujian Pra yang diperolehi oleh kanak-kanak amat tidak memuaskan kerana kanak-kanak tersebut mendapat 2 markah kebawah iaitu sebanyak 20% Perbandingan keputusan sebelum aktiviti dijalankan dengan selepas aktiviti dijalankan amat memberangsangkan. Perbezaan skor antara Ujian Pra dan Ujian Pos yang amat ketara bagi dua orang kanak-kanak membuktikan penggunaan bahan manipulatif ini amat signifikan dengan kemahiran kanak-kanak dalam menyelesaikan operasi matematik tolak dengan aktiviti penggunaan bahan manipulatif. Kanak-kanak didapati lebih suka dengan tindakan inovatif dengan menjawab soalan yang diberikan oleh guru dan ini merupakan intipati dalam kajian tindakan ini menjawab persoalan yang...
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...SEKOLAH KEBANGSAAN KAMPONG SADEK 09200 KUPANG KEDAH Nama: ........................................................... Tahun : ............................. PEPERIKSAAN AKHIR TAHUN PENDIDIKAN MUZIK TAHUN LIMA 40 MINIT Bulatkan jawapan yang betul berdasarkan soalan-soalan yang berikut. Soalan 1 – 2 adalah berdasarkan gambarajah diatas. 1. Apakah nama bagi not diatas? A: minim C: kuaver B : krocet D: semibrif 2. Berapakah nilai bagi not tersebut? A: 2 C: 3 B : 4 D: 1 Gambarajah A 3. Gambarajah A menunjukkan sejenis simbol dalam muzik.Apakah nama simbol tersebut? A: rehat C: klef trebel B : krocet D: klef trouble 4. Rajah diatas menunjukkan sejenis tanda rehat.Ia adalah sejenis tanda rehat bagi not______________? A: semibrif C: minim B : krocet D: kuaver 5. Garis baluk mempunyai ___________ garis dan ____________ ruang. A: 3 , 4 C: 6 , 7 B : 5 , 4 D: 2 , 4 Soalan 6 – 10 adalah berdasarkan lagu dibawah. 6. A: riak C: pagi B : suria D: hari 7. A: cantik C: kasih B: asli D: bahagia 8. A: laut C: kasih B: gebu D: asli 9. A: tadi C: tercinta B : jaya D: indah 10. A: Malaysia C: tanah airku B : tempat ku D: tumpah ku BAHAGIAN-BAHAGIAN REKODER 11. Bahagian X ialah: A: tengah C: kaki B : kepala D: belakang 12. Bahagian Y ialah: A: badan C: kaki B: hujung D: hulu 13. Bahagian Z ialah: A: jari C: kaki ...
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...FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI KEGAGALAN SEBUAH PROYEK PENGEMBANGAN PERANGKAT LUNAK: STUDI KASUS IMPLEMENTASI ERP PADA FOXMEYER Latar belakang Kasus proyek implementasi aplikasi Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) di perusahaan farmasi FoxMeyer pada tahun 1996 termasuk 1 dari 10 besar kegagalan proyek teknologi i nformasi seluruh dunia periode 1990-2005[1]. FoxMeyer merupakan perusahan ke-5 terbesar farmasi di Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1995 dengan penjualan tahunan mencapai 5 triliun US$ dan pengiriman barang mencapai 500.000 jenis produk/hari. Pada prinsipnya, bisnis perusahaan bergerak di bidang healthcare services, termasuk: 1. Mendistribusikan produk farmasi, perawatan kesehatan dan kecantikan ke toko, rumah sakit, dan fasilitas kesehatan lainnya. Dengan kata lain, customer dari FoxMeyer adalah retailer. 2. Menyediakan servis kesehatan ke fasilitas kesehatan maupun farmasi. 3. Franchaising toko [2] . Seiring dengan berjalannya waktu, FoxMeyer merasa perlu meningkatkan kinerja bisnisnya yaitu dengan cara menerapkan sistem ERP. Hal ini dilatarbelakangi ekspektasi FoxMeyer bahwa dengan adanya ERP, perusahaan FoxMeyer akan mampu mengelola informasi secara cepat dan tepat, termasuk dalam hal mengintegrasikan persediaan produk serta merespon permintaan customer dengan lebih cepat. Penjelasan Masalah Untuk melaksanakan strateginya, pada September 1993 FoxMeyer melakukan kontrak dengan SAP dan Arthur Andersen Consulting untuk mengimplementasikan SAP (R/3). Proyek...
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