Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy of Marks and Spencer

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Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy of Marks and Spencer
Stuart Rose, the chief executive of Marks and Spencer, is quite an innovative person.
Instead of increasing the market share by taking conventional measures, he has mapped out a
new strategy to win the hearts and minds of the customers. He was the initiator of incorporation
of corporate social responsibility in the strategic vision of the company. Two years back, the
company was announced as the one holding a high rank on the market; CSR implementation was
expected to attract more British shoppers. What was initially suggested was a plan A, which
included a set of measures that would help to maintain the highest standard of excellence in
comparison with other companies that also put in effort corporate social responsibility. The 5-
year plan was created to tackle some of the biggest challenges their business was facing.
The plan has several fundamental principles, which influence its future ultimate
objectives. It is designed to make Marks and Spencer more and more eco-compatible. It is a huge
plan that can minimize the energy use and reduce waste products; it presupposes the use of
materials that bring down the pollution of harmful substances or products into the environment.
All these measures will enable the company to become a leading retailer carrying out the
corporate social responsibility strategy. It is the most comprehensive plan undertaken by giant
business company and is more than just a private philosophy of a businessperson. It is a strategic
resolution, which deeply affects the company’s decision-making process in relation to its
fundamental commercial profile.
CSR is aimed at assisting the employees, and the customers opt for healthier lifestyle and
make Marks and Spencer a company to be reckoned with. All the key points of this plan should
be completed by 2012 thought its implementation is extremely expensive; its cost is estimated as
£200 million (Bowers, 2007). These calculations do not include the extensive marketing program 
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required to make the mentioned plan A successful (Bowers, 2007). This strategy appeared to be
represented at the time when British retail industry was in recession and the stock value of the
company has been going down because of the worst in the history holiday season.
Stuart Rose has made a decision to retain the prices for company’s products, and thus the
plan is doubted to be infused. To his point of view, Marks and Spencer should convenience the
buyer that the prices did not become more expensive, and everybody is welcome to visit their
stores to settle all doubts. However, this point of view is ambiguous. To implement the plan A,
the supervisors should forecast the impact of price drop. Finally, Marks and Spencer is a
commercial organization with business interests, and its aim is to comply with shareholders
equity. Yet, despite of financial issue, the plan still remains an integral part of the company’s
prime concern.
It seems that the cost of the plan will make up for all the expectations as it has been
evaluated by the company. To be more precise, the company ensures itself that the plan has no
lack of strength, and its implementation is a feasible task. Owning to the anniversary of the plan
implementation, the company has issued a report that says that it shifts all expectations due to
positive developments of its major aspects. The main elements of the plan are the following:
climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, fair partner and health. These five components
underline its main concept. Marks and Spencer has achieved a public recognition thanks to the
positive influence made on climate change research. The emission of carbon dioxide has been
reduced by several thousand tons; it makes this fact a tremendous achievement in the
environmental protection.
It is well known fact that when the customer purchases some product in a store, they get
the wrapping paper free, and in the UK and Ireland, the company discourages the trend of using 
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bags or wrapping paper by charging a particular amount for them. Thus, the waste associated
with them has drastically been cut down. The profit gained was invested to local charity
organizations that cater the local environmental initiatives. Another venture of the same line has
been launched in the southwest England, and if the previous experience happens to be fruitful,
many other stores would take over this example.
An approach to CSR is becoming widely accepted in community-based development
projects, such as the Shell Foundation's involvement in the Flower valley, South Africa.
Here they have set up an Early Learning Centre to help educate the community's children,
as well as to develop new skills for the adults (Maignan et al., 1999, p. 458).
Being an eco-friendly and responsible business company on the international arena, Marks and
Spencer is considered to be decently practicing ethic