External Forces

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
They have celebrity icon Myleen Class as the face of Marks and Spencer. She appears on the adverts on the TV and on the website modelling their clothing. Marks and Spencer’s adverts appeal to women in their 20’s and also mature women, so they are covering all areas with their advertising campaign. Also their website is very appealing with bright colours and very easy to use, also it’s constantly updated. Their online shopping and website show they have internet technology which is vital in this time.
Legal Factor
Legislations are always changing. For instance, if there is a tightening of health and safety legislation and regulations, it will increase costs. Premises failing to meet the higher standards may be closed down. To avoid this, Marks and Spencer carry out re-training and update every year. They keep up to date with the new laws and legislations, and with issues regarding Health and Safety. They also make sure that their legal protection is updated. Marks and Spencer invite business changes to the company, tax changes to the company and products change amongst many other things to imply its company for re-training. They also invite goals/methods that need to be changed and new training and also on-going development.
An example of legislation is the ‘’Fair packaging and Labelling Act (1996) –Provided for the regulation of packaging and labelling of the consumer goods, requires that manufacturers state what the package contains, who made it, and how