Assessment of Drivers for Changes on Organisational Operations
- Social-cultural factors
The retail sector is affected by population shifts and generation changes. Both M&S and the House of Fraser need to abide by these changes to develop products and services that met the diverse needs. Also, the companies required to establish sustainable businesses.
- Technology
Technology in the e-commerce sector and the social networks influenced the firms’ change of strategies to enhance the customer experience. For instance, M&S needed to access the employees using internet-enabled devices to show the latest trends. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
iii. The need to maintain a strong brand
Both M&S and the House of Fraser needed to restore their companies’ effectiveness and brand names. For the House of Fraser, there was a need to ensure it stayed in the market thus had to reduce the number of stores and establish new strategies. M&S also needed to maintain its competitive advantage, thus had to diversify in its approaches and products.
- The opportunity of online business and customers
Both M&S and the House of Fraser were influenced by the need for increasing their networks of convenience stores. However, technological transformations, including online businesses, led to a reduction of physical stores and focusing more on technology.
- Changing Customer Preferences
The changes in population need prompted both organisations to change their business strategies to meet these preferences. Both firms had to employ technologies, such as big data analytics, to evaluate consumer needs and establish products and services according to the information.
Negative Elements of Change
- Competition
The increase in e-commerce organisations and competitors for the two firms resulted in reduced customers and profit. The competition resulted in downsizing in the number of workers and stores.
- The Internet
New technologies had a disruptive impact on the firms. Digital firms, including Amazon, had employed high technologies, including ICT. Both firms had to invest more in these technologies. However, the technologies, such as online businesses resulted in less number of stores and employees.
iii. Leadership and Management
For both firms, the lack of effective leadership was a foundation of their poor performance. Both companies, therefore, had to realign their executive roles as strategic and operational changes.
- Increasing E-Commerce
The online competition was a significant threat that resulted in the firms’ changing their structures, strategies, and operations. The two firms had to invest in technology, such as data, to enhance their competitiveness. The rising e-commerce caused the firms also to reduce the number of stores and focus on online retail.