Marks and Spencer Enters China Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Marks and Spencer Enters China Case Solution

Introduction

Marks and Spencer was founded by Marks in the year 1884 and is considered as themost famous and establish brand of UK with more than 1,100 stores in the UK as well as it is also considered as themost successful brand of the world as it is currently operating in more than 70 international markets, which has helpedthe company to capture the significant market share of the clothing industry and food industry.Due to this,the company has grownsignificantly in terms of revenue, profit margin, market share and share price

Initially, Marks and Spencer was based on low prices along with providing greater value to its customers and then company establish itself a strongest brand of the world. However, the main target segment of the company was women’s and child’s wear along with targeting the men with age of 35.

However, Marks and Spencer maintains its dominance in the clothing, food and home products industry by providing value to its customers in the form of low reasonable prices with good quality, which is also the key success factor for the company and for the management as well. Moreover, it also helped Mark and Spencer to get recognized as reputed and leading global brand.

Problem statement

It is expected that the management of the company is more concerned about the decreased in profit margin of the company in recent years due to the economic crisis which badly affected many established brands in Europe and Marks and Spencer as well. Therefore, in order to overcome this issue, the management of the company decided to enter China and was concerned on how to maintain its dominance in China in the form of market share, growth and sales such as in UK, US and Middle East as Chinese market was not as advanced as other developed markets and Chinese customers have less awareness about brands.

Options Available and Evaluation

It is expected that in order to face the current challenges which were the result of economic crisis, the management of the company has certain available options which could help the company in order to overcome the current facing problems in a more efficient manner. The first option that the management of the company is considering is to focus the UK market which could be performed by focusing on key strengths, by improving operations and marketing strategies but UK market is more saturated, many establish brands are present in the market with significant market share. Moreover, the economic crisis also affects the UK market therefore, focusing on UK market does not seem a viable option.

The second option that the management is considering is establishing multi-channel shopping procedures such as increased awareness about online shopping, e-shopping and phone shopping. Moreover, in this modern world where technology is more common and every brand has its own web site, this option is also does not seem appropriate especially in a standalone position however, it could be a suitable strategy along with other options as it could attract more customers and youth, which have more awareness about the brands.

The third option that the management could use in this situation is to expand the business in international markets such as China, India, Middle East and Russia. It is expected that there is significant potential in these markets as in these markets there are great number of customers that have more disposable income as economic conditions are becoming favorable in these countries gradually. Moreover, entering China and India could diversify the risk of the company and could help the company in order to increase its customer’s base and market share.....................