Marks and Spencer has many external forces that affect the company. These are known as macro environmental factors. There are six of these forces, Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors. These external factors affect the types of products/services Marks and Spencer offers, the nature of its market positioning and strategies, there relationship with their customers and their suppliers. These external factors allow Marks and Spencer to develop: * A clear vision and an expressed statement of goals * Detailed objectives and effective strategies for achieving these goals * Effective and efficient policies and procedures to implement strategic plans to achieve these goals.
Political Factors There are lots of examples to do with political factor such as government stability and relations with other countries, government spending and taxation polices. If any of these factors change then it would affect the company Marks and Spencer. Any one of these factors could affect the Marks and Spencer’s financial results. To face these problems you use a policy guidance. On the 30th of January 2006 Marks and Spencer would be the first major retailor to go down the Fair-trade route on both clothing and food. The fair-trade policy included cut salt and fat in Marks and Spencer’s foods, recycled packaging and animal welfare protection.
Economic Factors
There are lots of examples to do with economic factors that affect Marks and Spencer such as inflation, unemployment, income, interest rate, economic growth, exchange rates and price of factors of production. Currently the economic outlook is very uncertain in these recessionary times. This has affected Marks and Spencer hard in their retail sales. People do not have the money like they did during the Celtic Tiger to spend their cash on luxury items such as clothing and food luxuries. Marks and Spencer, because of this, have closed number of stores and have