Table of Contents
Companies need to be aware of how countries, businesses, and institutions operate in global markets if they want to succeed in embarking in new territories. In recent years, the changing social, economic, and political environment has formulated a different competition for companies in Europe. Consequently, Europe has had increasing interests for firms due to the market opportunities it present. Marks and Spencer is a business organization, whose market is based significantly in Europe. However, the company has adopted different strategies over the past to infiltrate the international market. The internationalization of Marks and Spencer will be addressed in detail.
Europe Market Experience
Marks and Spencer have been a successful retailing company in Europe. According to Burt, Mellahi, Jackson, and Sparks (2002), the company was created in 1884 when it was a penny bazaar. However, the company has expanded into one significant retailer in the United Kingdom and has products ranging from food products, clothing, household accessories and many others. However. Its international experience in the Europe market has had difficulties. This company entered the market globally by targeting South Africa and Hong Kong where it exported its products to them under a name referred as St. Michaels. Nonetheless, franchise and Local retailers in Asian market did not allow Mark and Spencer to build a strong foundation and thus, the company terminated its contract (Jackson & Sparks, 2005). Further, the company established in Canadian market through family tie-ups and became successful as it operated about 275 stores in the country. Additionally, it tried to infiltrate the US market but was rejected by North America due to its inability to satisfy customer demand (Burt, Mellahi, Jackson & Sparks, 2002). Evidently, M & S entered the international market without strategizing appropriately. For a firm to join successfully in a global market, it must make efficient company decisions that take into account specific differences such as political, institutional environment, legislative, economic, and culture of foreign markets. M&S had no internationalization strategy.
Pattern of Internationalization
Internationalization is the expansion of a company from the local market to foreign market. Ultimately, the decision of a company to internationalize has significant effects on the company and its operations. Moreover, it affects the management of the organization (Azuayi, 2016). Marks and Spencer were established in the UK in 1884 but later decided to expand globally to other countries (Jackson & Sparks, 2005). However, by the 19th century, the company’s international market was on the point of collapsing since the senior management was incompetent. In fact, by 2001 saw the company withdrawing from operating overseas and started to concentrate in the UK (Jackson & Sparks, 2005). Evidently, the patterns of M & S show how crucial it is for a company to review its international strategy. A company should observe its global patterns to establish flaws present and strategize efficiently to prevent massive losses.
Implications for Further Internationalization
The process of internationalization is challenging and complex by nature. Evidently, some of the factors that make this process to be complex include the uncertainty in markets, formula, formats, the requirement of high degree of operational flexibility, and high innovation (Azuayi, 2016). Evidently, further internationalization will result in uncertainty of Marks and Spencer firm in the Europe market. The firm will face massive competition from other companies and will result in the company having significant challenges. Moreover, for a business to succeed successfully, operational flexibility of high degree will be required (Azuayi, 2016). The European market is dynamic, and therefore Mark and Spencer will need to be flexible in its operations to take advantage of the local companies. Equally important, innovation is an impact of internationalization. Businesses require being highly innovative to succeed internationally due to the high competition (Azuayi, 2016). Therefore, Marks and Spencer will need to be creative to be at an advantage in the global market.
In sum, the internationalization of Marks and Spencer. Companies need to be aware of how countries, businesses, and institutions operate in the global market if they want to succeed in embarking in new territories. The process of internationalization requires strategic skills for a company to succeed in the worldwide market.
- Azuayi, R. (2016). Internationalization Strategies for Global Companies: A Case Study of Arla Foods, Denmark. Journal of Accounting & Marketing, 05(04). doi:10.4172/2168-9601.1000191
- Burt, S. L., Mellahi, K., Jackson, T. P., & Sparks, L. (2002). Retail internationalization and retail failure: issues from the case of Marks and Spencer. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 12(2), 191-219.
- Jackson, P., & Sparks, L. (2005). Retail internationalization: Marks and Spencer in Hong Kong. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 33(10), 766-783. doi:10.1108/09590550510622308