Managing Resources
For M&S to improve their business performance, they could implement a variety of measures in order for
them to achieve overall better performance. By managing their resources effectively they could have better
business performance.
Marks and Spencer’s have used the resources that they have very effectively by introducing cafes in their
stores, by doing this it increased the amount of time that a customer would spend in the store, meaning
more of their disposable income was being spent. The cost of putting cafes into their stores is around £20
million which is a lot of money to put into an investment for the company, however by spending this money
it improves the businesses image and will bring in profits over time and will make the invested money back
and allowing them to be able to invest and expand their businesses more. By investing in cafes it also helps
to attract the consumers and increases the loyalty that they have with their customers by making a place
where they can sit and eat whilst shopping. On the other hand there is drawbacks to the investment that
they made, such as the high levels of construction work that would be carried out on the stores until they
have been built, during this period of time it will cause disruption meaning that their customers may choose
to shop somewhere else, leading to them losing customer loyalty due to the mass construction which is
taking place. As well as construction, if the cafes were not successful then they would invested £20 million
into a project that did not make the figures back, the money could have been used for a different investment
which could have created further profits.
A technological advancement that M&S should consider including in there stores could be self-checkouts
where people are able to pay for their own products without the need of a member of staff, this would be
beneficial for the company as it would mean they would need less staff on the tills and it would mean that
more people could be served in a faster time. This could also attract new customers who like to keep social
interaction to a minimum as it would be a convenient way for them to shop and would generate more
profits for the company. However there would still be staff needed on the tills and around the area as they
may be customers who need help with the self-service checkouts if something goes wrong and a member of
staff who would need to be fully trained would need to help them. This is very effective for the business as it
means that less staff would be needed and could complete other tasks which could mean that M&S would
complete more tasks and reach their targets faster which would make the business more successful.
On the other hand there is limitations to introducingself-service checkouts as it means that they would have
to train all of their staff to be able to understand the technology, this could be costly for the business and
time consuming.
Another method that M&S could use would be updating their budgeting software. By doing this it means
that the business will be able to monitor their costs closely and keep track of the spending within each
department, they will be able to monitor individual performance and help their employees to work better.
Updated budgeting software could help them with their budgeting and by using it, it could mean that they
may be able to reduce their costs. However if the employees were not working effectively then there would
need to be further strategies put in place to make the staff more motivated and efficient with their work to
be able to meet deadlines and targets. There is limitations to introducing this software for the company
however, as there staff would all need to be trained on how to use it, this could be costly for the business to
train everybody and could be time consuming
M&S manager their resources effectively in the 3 sectors:
For M&S to improve their business performance, they could implement a variety of measures in order for
them to achieve overall better performance. By managing their resources effectively they could have better
business performance.
Marks and Spencer’s have used the resources that they have very effectively by introducing cafes in their
stores, by doing this it increased the amount of time that a customer would spend in the store, meaning
more of their disposable income was being spent. The cost of putting cafes into their stores is around £20
million which is a lot of money to put into an investment for the company, however by spending this money
it improves the businesses image and will bring in profits over time and will make the invested money back
and allowing them to be able to invest and expand their businesses more. By investing in cafes it also helps
to attract the consumers and increases the loyalty that they have with their customers by making a place
where they can sit and eat whilst shopping. On the other hand there is drawbacks to the investment that
they made, such as the high levels of construction work that would be carried out on the stores until they
have been built, during this period of time it will cause disruption meaning that their customers may choose
to shop somewhere else, leading to them losing customer loyalty due to the mass construction which is
taking place. As well as construction, if the cafes were not successful then they would invested £20 million
into a project that did not make the figures back, the money could have been used for a different investment
which could have created further profits.
A technological advancement that M&S should consider including in there stores could be self-checkouts
where people are able to pay for their own products without the need of a member of staff, this would be
beneficial for the company as it would mean they would need less staff on the tills and it would mean that
more people could be served in a faster time. This could also attract new customers who like to keep social
interaction to a minimum as it would be a convenient way for them to shop and would generate more
profits for the company. However there would still be staff needed on the tills and around the area as they
may be customers who need help with the self-service checkouts if something goes wrong and a member of
staff who would need to be fully trained would need to help them. This is very effective for the business as it
means that less staff would be needed and could complete other tasks which could mean that M&S would
complete more tasks and reach their targets faster which would make the business more successful.
On the other hand there is limitations to introducingself-service checkouts as it means that they would have
to train all of their staff to be able to understand the technology, this could be costly for the business and
time consuming.
Another method that M&S could use would be updating their budgeting software. By doing this it means
that the business will be able to monitor their costs closely and keep track of the spending within each
department, they will be able to monitor individual performance and help their employees to work better.
Updated budgeting software could help them with their budgeting and by using it, it could mean that they
may be able to reduce their costs. However if the employees were not working effectively then there would
need to be further strategies put in place to make the staff more motivated and efficient with their work to
be able to meet deadlines and targets. There is limitations to introducing this software for the company
however, as there staff would all need to be trained on how to use it, this could be costly for the business to
train everybody and could be time consuming
M&S manager their resources effectively in the 3 sectors:
