Factors That Gave M&s an Edge over Its Competitors

Boardroom political games and spats do erupt frequently and often figure in news In 2009 again Marks & Spencer's embattled board had to defend itself against a barrage of hostility from small shareholders over the position of chief executive Sir Stuart Rose. The key point to their anger was Rose's failure to anoint successors to his positions of chief executive and chairman.

At this point, what I have observed M & S didn't follow what competitors follow, early years of 20th century where M & S always use British suppliers considering they would provide them with the best quality standards at low cost, And also, they at time lag behind in introducing latest fashionable clothing thus making them all the more vulnerable to its competitors. While his competitors standards are high and their competitors use suppliers located overseas to cut down their cost.

, M & S over the past few years have been in good competition with brand like GAP , NEXT , ZARA etc who offer approximately similar priced product but more fashionable ,Also discount stores like Matalan , Asda , Primark etc offer them good cloth more fashionable with very low cost .

A firm's strategy is said to be its long-term objectives or its direction in its quest to gain and sustain competitive advantage over its rivals.

In this race to achieve competitive advantage, a firm must ask itself 3 questions, what forms of value do we seek to create? How do we create this value? And how is the value creation process organised or managed?