Marks & Spencer

Bus 401
Sec: 06
Prepared For:
Barrister Submission
Saheen Ahmed

Date: 07-04-14

Course Instructor
North South University
Prepared By:
Zarin Tasnim Arshi 102-0049-030
Muntasir Shams Nehal 101-0586-030
Nafeez Mahmud 102-0106-030
Masud Imam 101-0828-030
Md. Thashin Islam 102-0096-030
Nurul Azim Rifat 101-0847-030

Company Overview:
Marks & Spencer is one of the UKs leading retailers. They offer stylish, high quality, great
value clothing and home products, as well as outstanding quality food, responsibly sourced from
around 2,000 suppliers around the world. It has employees over 81,000 people, in the UK and
abroad, and has around 520 UK stores, as well as an expanding international business.
The ground of marks and Spencer were laid back in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas
Spencer who started selling in small town markets of Northern England. Marks & Spencer is the
British largest retailer with four main divisions: The target market of Marks & Spencer is middle
to high class consumers in major cities. From 1914 onwards the company made a lot of
technological advancements and because of its high quality and medium prices Marks & Spencer
soon associated with quality and value able by its customers.
M&Ss CSR Vision:
Mark & Spencers one of the significant CSR vision is to be the standard which all others are
measured. In all their products & services they are trying to make aspirational quality accessible
to all. Mark & Spencer is guided by a commitment to quality, value, service, innovation & trust.
Mark & Spencers primary focus is on understanding and meeting the customers needs
consistently, in an increasingly competitive retail environment. M&S place real importance on
creating a place to work that inspires and rewards the colleagues & other co-workers properly.
M&S want their workforce to reflect the diversity of the people that shop with us. 25% of the
employees are aged over 50, and 28% under 30 and the majority are female (78%). Overall, the
workforce reflects the ethnic make-up of the UK population with 13% coming from ethnic
minorities. The overall motive of the company to say in such retail business:
Vision
The standard against which all others are measured
Mission
Making aspirational quality accessible to all
Values
Quality, Value, service, innovation and trust

Mark & Spencers Corporate Social

Responsibility Value Proposition:

Marks & Spencer has a strong tradition of CSR and see it as integral to how they do business.
The founders of the company believed that building good relationships with employees,
suppliers and wider society was the best guarantee of long-term success. This remains the
backbone of M&Ss CSR activities. Managing CSR will allow the company to identify potential
risks to the Company and respond to areas of performance where the company fall behind. More
importantly it also means the company can identify opportunities to differentiate it selves from
the competitors. CSR can help the company to draw shoppers to Companys stores, attract and
retain the best staff, make the company a partner of choice with suppliers and create value for the
shareholders. The approach is built around three principles and a framework developed by
Companys Board-level CSR Committee & these 3 principles are:
1. Taking care and acting responsibly in delivering high quality products and services.
2. Creating a great place & work environment to work.
3. Help in making the communities good places in which to live and work.

1. Taking Care And Acting Responsibly In Delivering High Quality Products And
Services:
The ways in which Marks & Spencer products and services connect with people, the
environment and animal welfare will always be one of the most demanding CSR challenges.
M&S wants to show that the goods are produced in an ethically and environmentally responsible
manner. To do this and respond to the customers needs and expectations, M&S must keep sight
of the wide range of raw materials, production processes and countries of operation involved in
producing and selling the goods. Where the products carry the Marks & Spencer label, M&S
have the unique ability to practice good CSR across M&Ss product range. The diagram below
shows how M&S influence the products at different stages of their lives. M&S have direct
control over the two key parts of the business distribution and selling. But the company can
also influence most other aspects of the production and use of the products.

(M&S, 2004-2005)
2. Creating A Great Place & Work Environment To Work:
By producing, distributing and selling M&S products and services the company creates
employment opportunities in the UK and overseas. But the company wants to do more than just
provide jobs. The challenge is to provide a mix of benefits for everyone who works at Marks &
Spencer while also supporting the operational needs of the business. The company seeks to use
the employment policies to create a great place to work, bringing benefits to the Company,
employees and society as a whole. The company wants colleagues to feel part of a business that
does the right thing. Colleagues are now assessed and rewarded against Companys ways of
working principles which encourage everyone in the Company to:
Think customer
Be passionate about product
Be one team
Own their part in delivering results

 Be honest and confident, listen and learn

Pay and benefits are clearly important to Companys colleagues but so are good working
relationships.
The employee representation forums known as Business Involvement Groups play an
important role in improving Companys operations by giving colleagues a say in how M&S do
things. A program of staff surveys also provides a way for everyone to say how they think M&S
are doing. M&S want to promote diversity and work hard to make Companys recruitment
inclusive. There is intense competition for talent and the company aim to be an employer of
choice to attract and retain the best. Providing a range of flexible options for colleagues to
balance their work and home life helps to encourage diversity. M&S try to embed the same
approach to employment amongst Companys suppliers, franchisees and other business partners
through Companys Global Sourcing Principles. Wanting to build a longer-term relationship with
M&S is urged to attain the more testing standards of the UKs Ethical Trading Initiative Base
Code.
3. Help In Making The Communities Good Places In Which To Live And Work:
The company recognizes the obligations to the communities in which M&S trade. M&Ss
founding members of Business in the Community and remain an active member. The companys
relationship with communities is interdependent. Successful retailing requires economically
healthy and sustainable communities. At the same time, as a major retailer in the UK and
worldwide, M&S provide employment and products and services and often become an important
part of the fabric of the high street. M&S place much emphasis on the stores, the location,
design, construction and activities. A Store of the Future project has helped to improve the
environmental standards M&S use to locate, build and refurbish them. Day-to-day operations are
managed within an overall compliance system that includes emergency planning, energy and
water usage, health and safety, waste disposal, recycling, recovery of shopping trolleys and
donations of unsold food to charities. In addition to a program of store self-assessments, parts of
the system are revised by Companys internal audit team based on where M&S think Companys
performance might need improving.

M&S are also active in a wider sense. Companys

philosophy of Helping others to help themselves is about trying to help people who M&S
believe in turn will pass the benefits on to others. This approach guides Companys choice of

community program as well as the support M&S provide to employees who wish to volunteer. A
recent development is Companys growing cooperation with suppliers and business partners in
community programs. Marks & Start, Companys work experience programs for example,
involves communities, employees and a growing number of suppliers, all working together
towards a common goal.

Mark & Spencers Corporate Social

Responsibility Configuration: (How the
Company Act):
Society is changing fast and M&S know that it is not enough to rely on the CSR heritage. The
company must adapt continuously to changes inside and outside of the business. Corporate
strategies require commitment from the top and systems to ensure they can be managed at every
level of the Company. Thus the entities that are working hard in making such responsibilities to
take in in real manner are described below:
CSR Committee:
The CSR Committee one of four Board level Corporate Governance groups provides
leadership on this agenda. It meets at least three times a year and its activities have included the
development of the company CSR framework and Principles, hosting a feedback event for
representatives of stakeholder groups, and identifying internal sponsors of key issues. Looking
ahead, the Committee aims to further integrate CSR systems across the Company and to review
performance on key initiatives. It comprises: group chairman, executive director of finance,
group secretary and head of corporate governance, director of communications, creative director,
head of technology, and food division head of CSR secretary.
Executive Committee:
The companys Executive Committee, receives regular updates on CSR so that decisions can be
made on any major changes to operational policy. It is the role of this committee to run the dayto-day operations of the Company and to help formulate strategy and action what has been
agreed with the board.

 CSR Forums:
Two networks of senior managers support the CSR Committee and help to drive the companys
commitment deeper into the business. A new, store based Retail Forum met for the first time in
early 2004 and has been tasked initially with overseeing the Marks & Start work experience
program. In future it will review and improve a wider range of CSR activities in the companys
stores. The Head Office Forum, formed two years ago, consists of representatives from across
head office based functions that have supported the integration of CSR across the Company.
They also provided a sign-off process for agreeing the contents of this Report. The Forum will
continue to conduct further stakeholder research and engagement as well as share best practices
across the Company.
Divisional and Area CSR Activities:
To ensure our CSR efforts tackle the right issues in different business areas, M&S have separate
strategies for

Food, Clothing (including Beauty), Home, Money (financial services),

International Franchises and store design. The priority in the Home division, for example, is the
sustainable sourcing of wood. In Clothing, cotton and dyeing are high on the agenda. These
strategies are at different stages of completion with some already supported by action plans and
targets and others yet to be formally agreed. In 2004/05 the company aims to use these strategies
to develop action plans across all areas of the business. This will improve the companys ability
to assess how they are performing against the expectations of the stakeholders.
CSR Team:
M&S have a dedicated CSR team, which helps to run the CSR Committee and Forums and
oversees the development and management of CSR strategies and key projects. In the last few
years, this has included an extensive program of CSR customer research and consultation,
developing the content for this Report, managing a cross company review of wood sourcing and
launching the Marks & Start work experience program. The CSR team also takes the lead in
enabling consultation with many external organizations. In 2004/05, the CSR team plan to
conduct and facilitate further stakeholder research and consultation.

CSR Activities of Marks & Spencer:

Marks and Spencer cites in its reports a number of reasons why CSR is integral to our business
and informs everything we do in good times and bad. In particular, the company emphasizes its
strong tradition of CSR: our founders believed that building good relationships with employees,
suppliers and wider society was the best guarantee of long-term success. Addressing CSR is
considered an intrinsic part of good management, allowing the company to identify potential
risks, respond to shortcomings and recognize opportunities to differentiate itself from
competitors. Marks and Spencer considers CSR management to be beneficial not only in creating
value for shareholders, but also in attracting shoppers, attracting and retaining staff and being a
partner of choice.
Marks and Spencer has structured its reports using the three principles of its approach to CSR,
developed by its Board level CSR Committee in 2002:

Principle 1: Products relates to Quality Management Systems; Global Sourcing

Principles; ethical trading; animal welfare; responsible products; sustainable sourcing.

Principle 2: People relates to workplace Global Sourcing Principles; ethical trading;

community investment

Principle 3: Places relates to energy, water and waste; transport

In 2006 they came up with a new a CSR policy named Look behind the Label. Such Look
behind the label marketing campaign ran throughout the year. It was designed to describe our
approach some major issues such as sustainable fishing, animal welfare, healthy eating and
trading fairly. The aim of this campaign was to highlight to customers the various ethical and
environmentally friendly aspects of the production and sourcing methods engaged in by M&S.
However they bought a whole new change in 2007 on the CSR activities they used to conduct
previously. Marks & Spencer initiated a whole new concept of a CSR project called Plan A
which entails doing the right thing. Plan A is about systematically making every aspect of the
business, supply chain and customer use and disposal of M&S products more sustainable. Marks
& Spencer launched Plan A in January 2007, setting out 100 commitments to achieve in 5 years.
It has now extended Plan A to 180 commitments to achieve by 2015, with the ultimate goal of
becoming the world's most sustainable major retailer. All 180 commitments were made
following consultation with stakeholders and they tried to cover all of the social and

environmental issues facing the retail industry. Plan A initiative have 7 main pillars through
which they desire to conduct their CSR activates in an unique way than others. These are:
So far, they have achieved 139 with 31 on plan, 5 behind plan, 4 not achieved and one cancelled.
These commitments are more elaborated below:

1. Involve Customers in Plan A:

M&S recognizes that the customers are at the core of their success to achieve Plan A in all
aspects. Thus they are working hard to explain how many of the M&S products customers buy
contribute directly to Plan A, and making it easier for them to get involved in Plan A activities.
M&S desires to make sure that all of the 2.7 billion individual M&S products they sell each year
have at least one Plan A quality by 2020. In addition they are also determined to help 1 million
customers to create their own personal Plan A by 2015 and 3 million by 2020. Furthermore M&S
wants to run a continuous program of Plan A marketing communications, to encourage
customers to take action.

2. Make Plan A How M&S do Business:

M&S desires to conduct their CSR activities included the business they do by integrating Plan
A into every aspect of their operations including the products they develop and sell, the stores
they build and the way they work with their suppliers and engage their employees. They have
integrated Plan A across many parts of their business. This year they have opened their biggest
greenest Sustainable Learning Store to date at Cheshire Oaks and generated a net benefit of
135m from Plan A which was available to be reinvested in the business. To support this aim,
were going to: engage their employees in Plan A, integrate Plan A into their systems and
processes, build Plan A into every aspect of the construction program, engage their business
partners in Plan A and create a culture of innovation on sustainability.

3. Climate Change:
M&S recognizes the increase threat of climate change and its hazardous impact in the
environment. Thus M&S aims to make their operations carbon neutral. This will impact every
area of their business from their stores and offices through to our warehouses, delivery fleets and
all business travel in the region.
M&S plan to reduce energy consumption and maximize the use of renewable supplies first, only
buying carbon offsets as a last resort. Becoming carbon neutral will be the equivalent of taking
100,000 cars off the road. They will work to source as much food as possible, reduce air shipping

and develop energy efficient, low-carbon products. M&S also aims to help suppliers and
customers to reduce their CO2 emissions by working with the National Federation of Womens
Institutes, The Climate Group and WWF.

4. Waste:
M&S also recognizes their responsibility to the society by having a desire to reduce the waste
they produce. They aim to send no waste to landfill from their stores, offices and warehouses
from all around the world. This only includes all the construction waste from building activities.
They want to reduce our use of packaging and carrier bags, and find new ways to recycle and reuse the materials they have. They also have committed to working to cut the weight of non-glass
packaging by a quarter, carrier bags by a third and to setting up schemes to generate energy from
unsold food. In addition they have a longer-term ambition that all of the packaging and products
they sell particularly used clothing will be recyclable in most parts of the UK.

5. Natural Resource:
M&S is also focused on having more sustainable natural resources means they aim to make
better use of the materials already available to us. Their intention is to make sure that the key raw
materials are sourced in a way that allows them to be naturally replenished by the environment.
In case of the concern for animals they also have to uphold and improve standards of welfare.
They aim to triple their sales of organic food and launch ranges of organic cotton, linen and wool
clothing. They also look to make ranges of polyester clothes from recycled plastic bottles rather
than oil. They also intent to convert all their fresh turkey, geese, duck and pork to free range, and
ensure that all their fish meet independent environmental standards. Similarly, they want to make
sure that all the wood they use in our products and around the business meets rigorous
independent standards. They also desire to help the farmers and livestock producers meet
independent environmental standards. In the end they target to cut water usage by 20% and will
help suppliers make cuts too.

6. Fair Trade:
M&S recognizes the important of suppliers and labors in their CSR activities. They are
committed to support their suppliers in managing labor standards in our supply chain. A new
Supplier Exchange will help to develop and share best practice and our suppliers of clothing and
home products will be given a gold, silver or bronze rating. M&S also aims to increase the
number of people they have based in countries of production and introduce unannounced audits.

They plan to expand our range of Fair trade food and clothing and convert 20 million garments
to Fair trade certified cotton. Their Milk Pledge, offering farmers a guaranteed price will be
extended into other types of farming where possible. Their Marks & Start work experience
program will continue helping disadvantaged people get into jobs through work placement in the
UK and overseas. M&S also aims to introduce new initiatives on environmental education and
helping international communities. In the end they wish to continue to support Breakthrough
Breast Cancer, the Prostate Cancer Charity and Shelter.

7. Health and Wellbeing:

Being a versatile retailer M&S aims to increase their Eat Well concept to represent half of their
food varieties, up from the current 30%. They will continue to work to cut salt ahead of FSA
targets and use only naturally occurring colors and flavorings in kids sweets and cakes. M&S
wants to replace displays of childrens confectionery at food tills with other products. They aim
to build on the training given to our 1,400 Healthy Eating Advisers so that everyone who works
in their food halls has a good level of knowledge to guide customers. They will look to extend
traffic light nutritional labels to all relevant food. They also have a ambition to launch an M&S
Health and Lifestyle Information program, offering employees advice and guidance on how to
live healthier lives. Furthermore they will also maintain free breast screening for female
employees over 40.

Overall Plan A Objectives

Involve our customers in Plan A
1. Aim for all our M&S products to have at least one Plan A quality by 2020 (50% by 2015)
2.

and help our customers identify and buy these products

Help our customers make a difference to the social and environmental causes that matter to

Them
3. Help our customers live a more sustainable life
Make Plan A how we do business
4. Engage our employees in Plan A
5. Integrate Plan A into our systems and processes
6. Build Plan A into every aspect of our construction program
7. Engage our business partners in Plan A
8. Create a culture of innovation on sustainability
Extend our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Pillars of Plan A Climate

change
9. Help our customers cut their carbon footprint
10 Reduce our operational carbon emissions by 35% and make our operations carbon neutral
11. Help our suppliers cut their carbon footprint
Waste
12 Create partnerships to help our customers reuse or recycle all our products and packaging
.
13

Send no operational and construction waste to landfill and reduce our operational waste by

.
14

25% and construction waste by 50%

Help our suppliers to reduce waste and send no waste to landfill

.
Natural resources
15 Ensure efficient use of natural resources in our operations
.
16 Reduce the impact on the natural resources used to make our products
Fair partnership
17. Ensure workforces and communities benefit in our supply chain
Health and wellbeing
18 Drive health and nutrition benefits across our product offer
.
19

Help to facilitate behavior change through clear nutrition labeling and information

.
20

Encourage our customers and employees to become more active

CSR effects on the Stakeholders:

Year after year, Marks & Spencer sets a high standard for environmental sustainability in the UK
retail world. Its large scale and high level of social consciousness give it the unique position to
promote change throughout the industry. As a part of its Plan A initiative, launched in January

2007, M&S makes a varied range of responsibility efforts, from beach-cleaning and cancer
fundraising to recycling programs and organic produce.
Lets take a look at the year's most important changes and surprises, as revealed in the company's
recently released 2013 Plan A Report:
1. The Plan A Initiative has seven main pillars the first is customer involvement. The
initiative continues to excel in this area, with customers donating 3.8 million articles of
clothing through M&S' shwopping campaign, 1.5 million raised for Breakthrough Breast
Cancer, and 690,000 raised for Macmillan Cancer Support in the last year. But in the
interest of also helping customers live more sustainable lives, M&S is developing an online
plan that will help one million customers develop personal sustainability goals by 2015.
Ambitious and tailored projects such as this not only set M&S apart from its competitors but
also have the potential to change how people make decisions, and the ecological effects of
those decisions.
2. The second pillar focuses on integrating the ideas behind Plan A into the rest of the business
the driving tenet behind corporate social responsibility and will soon become a necessary
component of every companys business model. With statistics including a 78% employee
engagement rate and 135 million worth of net benefit to be reinvested back into the
business, Plan A is certainly earning its ROI in certain areas. One area needing improvement
is in liaising with other business partners: Plan A is falling behind on requiring all food
suppliers to reach adequate levels in their own sustainability framework. Only 40% of
suppliers are even achieving the bronze status or higher, with a mere seven suppliers
reaching silver level though there is progress being made towards energy efficiency with
their clothing suppliers.
3. Marks & Spencer is also making developments in the third pillar of Plan A, which focuses on
climate change. With an absolute drop in carbon dioxide emissions by 23% since 2007 and a
37% decrease in carbon intensity, the effort is clear. Plan A credits more efficient electricity
use, reduced gas leaks, and better waste recycling levels in achieving this goal. To make
amends for what it cannot change, M&S purchases high-quality carbon offsets. However, the
company has been most successful in helping its suppliers decrease emissions. As mentioned
in the previous section, the only place where M&S still struggles to achieve sustainability is

with its food suppliers. If this is the only failure, it should be noted that all of the nine other
goals have already been achieved.
4. The statistic from in the fourth pillar representing waste. Currently, Marks & Spencer sends
zero waste to landfill. While it isnt entirely clear where all of this waste is diverted, it is
evident that 89% of food waste is being composted or anaerobically digested for conversion
to biogas, any clothing waste is being donated or recycled, and all construction waste is being
recycled. On top of this, the company reported a construction waste reduction of 50%.
5. Where Plan A is most critical of itself is in the fifth pillar concerning natural resources. The
highlights include an 88% usage of sustainable wood and 100% sourcing from sustainable
fisheries. Furthermore, the vast majority of beef is sourced from the UK, all of its coffee and
tea is certified Fair Trade, and its sustainable cotton sourcing goals remain on target.
However, per its own admission, M&S is still working out how to overcome a number of
challenges on soy, cocoa, and leather. Based on its accomplishments in this area in 2012 (or
rather the lack thereof), it can be agree.
6. The sixth pillar of Plan A covers Marks & Spencers fairness in partnerships. Much of the
focus is put on the important but dry topic of supply chain training and efficiency, for which
M&S is on track to achieve all of its projections. One aspect that catches eye is the plan to
ensure that all employees in developing countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
earn a livable wage. While hard data are not yet supplied, the larger emphasis on Fair Trade
and sustainable sourcing should go hand-in-hand with achieving these objectives by 2015.
7. The final pillar is the umbrella for health and wellbeing. To remain socially responsible in an
era where based on current trends 60% of the UK population could be obese by 2050,
nutrition needs to be a main focus of any company involved in the grocery or food sales
industry. With many of Plan As wellness goals already achieved (such as salt reduction in
food, elimination of food coloring, online dieting websites and customer engagement, etc),
the retailer is making great headway. However, M&S focuses primarily on nutritional
labeling. Calorie labeling on packages was only introduced in October 2012. Fortunately, this
is rapidly expanding. With plans to improve labeling, increase nutritional information on
non-packaged products, and initiatives to integrate sustainability labeling, Plan A seems to
know what needs to be fixed and how to fix it.

In the end the comments by Jonathan Porritt about M&S, founder director of Forum for the
Future, indicates how British businesses have responded to sustainability and social
responsibility scandals this year. For him, Marks & Spencer has performed remarkably well. For
example, even after proving to be horsemeat-free, M&S has responded to the crisis by doing
what he calls strategic de-risking. Porritt manages to find a few small criticisms where M&S
falls short of its competitors, but his final take-away is perhaps the most important of all: Marks
& Spencer has truly branded itself as the go-to retailer for large-scale sustainability, and this ecoconsciousness is now inseparable from the name Marks & Spencer.

Stakeholders Perception
Quality
Value
Service
Innovation
Trust
(Plan A report, 2013)

Impact of CSR in M&S sustainability and

profitability:
The most known CSR activity by M&S was Plan A, (described earlier in the project part) which
was mainly promoted for the sustainable future which leads the companys sustainability. Also
the campaign behind the label assist company to become more connected with its customers,
engage the customers unlike the Plan A, make them trustworthy which lead to a zero turnover
customer rate even zero employee turnover. Hence, the company gained the advantage of high
profitability with lowering down its cost and at end leads to better sustainability.
CSR and Sustainability
A companys most valuable asset is its ability to convert brand power into customer buying
decisions. Only the company that shares reliable information can be a trustworthy partner in
sustainability for customers who are ready to buy. M&S differentiate itself through
transparency and customer engagement. When the company launched the Plan A, the company
reported a drop in the share price and net income. But after the 5 years of than Plan A, when the
company achieved most of its commitment, these indicate the companys sustainability.
Being Differentiator by transparency and customer engagement
Against this backdrop, and in response to public concern over sustainability and traceability,
M&S was anxious to get in front of the issue and better understand what was driving customer
concerns and behaviors. Their analysis revealed four consumer groups:
25 percent werent interested in green or social issues at all; most of these customers had low
incomes and more pressing concerns;
38 percent were somewhat interested in green or social issues but didnt know if they could
make a difference themselves. These customers wanted to be sure if, for example, their
individual recycling would make a difference;
25 percent were fully engaged in the issues but did not want to compromise on price and
quality;

 12 percent were crusaders very passionate and looking to Marks & Spencer to be an advocate
as well.
Based on these insights, M&S launched the Behind the Label campaign, which educated its 16
million customers about all the things the company was doing around environmental and social
issues. The program was deemed a success, but competitors were also doing some good things to
gain consumer trust.
CSR and Profitability:
The CSR activities actually need a lot amount of capital out flows. These in the first scene
seemed that company is losing its profits for some charity activities. Like Marks & Spencers
overall annual contribution to community programs was 9.8m including 250,000 to the victims
of the tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka. We also agreed to send one of our managers to work with
Care International (UK) to help affected communities in Galle, Kulatara and Matara. In addition,
with the generous support of our customers and staff we helped to raise 2.0m for victims of the
tsunami and 1.5m for Breakthrough Breast Cancer Awareness. Bute CSR is a process of
continuous improvement for the company which in the later part turn back profits by being used
as a promotional tool. According to the report of 2010, the officials of M&S said Marks &
Spencer is now reaping the rewards of Plan A, claiming that the programme made it an extra
50m.
Companies are finding that many CSR initiatives, including those that reduce energy
consumption or benefit the environment, help reduce overall cost structures or increase
productivity. The Plan As become a carbon natural concept, helps reduce the cost structure and
turned into profit. When looking at M&Ss achievements, we saw that its not just about
reducing food waste (40 percent), improving energy efficiency per sq. feet (28 percent).
Gaining the trust of the customers are also leads to the profits. As the traditional management
explains 20% of its profit comes by retention of the customers. Through the Plan A, the company
engaged its customers in the CSR process trough campaigns like Shwopping. And by this they
were successful to retain their customers for longer period and make some positive impression to
the potential ones.

M&S works very closely with its stakeholders last year it included a supplier conference,
dialogues with trade associations and meeting with regulators, involving employees in wide
range of Plan A activities, we think though that M&Ss main strength is its ability to actually
listen to stakeholders, understand what they want and apply it accordingly. This way M&S
knows for example that integrating social and environmental policies and performance into
financial reporting is an important issue amongst many investor groups, and hence works with
stakeholders on integrated reporting. These help the company to had a uninterrupted flow of
investments.
Positive news flashes are having impact on the investors and help companies to hold a strong
position of their share price. The CSR activity like behind the label campaign, make a very
positive impression over the investors along with the society and thus the share price was high on
the year 2006 from the year 2005. The price appreciated to 36.4 pound from 29.1 pound which
shows a huge impact of the campaign launched in year 2006. Moreover, M&S have made in 4
years a net profit of $286 million from Plan A.
Year ended

Turnover ( M) Profit before tax ( M) Net profit ( Basic

M)

(p)

31 March 2007 8,588.1

936.7

659.9

39.1

1 April 2006

7,797.7

745.7

520.6

36.4

2 April 2005

7,490.5

505.1

355.0

29.1

eps

Source: London Stock Exchange

In the year 2011, the headline news is that the overall financial benefit of Plan A has increased to
70 million per year; up from the 50m profit effect which many students will have seen ex CEO
Sir Stuart Rose mention. The profit improvement arisen from more efficient use of energy in
shops and distribution centers saved the most money in 2010-11, netting M&S an 13.5 million
cost saving, followed by packaging reductions, which saved 11 million.

How they obey their CSR commitments:

Since the foundation of the CSR activities in the name of Plan A till now M&S has represented
a tremendous success in fulfilling most of their success. Achieving most of the commitments in
such a limited time frame appropriately requires lots of aspects to act in favor in the same time as
well. M&S has been able to integrate all the aspects of the CSR activities in and appropriate
manner and bring wellbeing to both the society and business altogether. How they were fully
obedient towards their commitments is given below:
Integrate Sustainability In The Companys Values:
Although the business emphasizes mostly about the bottom line and benefits, it all starts with the
companys success to fully integrate sustainability into its values and mission. We sell high
quality, great-value clothing and home products and outstanding quality food. We source
products responsibly from over 2,000 suppliers around the world. Over 81,000 people work for
M&S in the UK and worldwide. Our core values are Quality, Value, Service, Innovation and
Trust, it says in the companys progress report. As we can see, sustainability is not explicitly
mentioned here, but its reflected in every word in this statement, showing how it became
integral to M&Ss strategy and culture.
Strategic Approach And Magnitude Make A Difference:
From the beginning of Plan A, it was clear that M&S is going all the way. Our intention when
we designed Plan A was to integrate it into every aspect of how we do business, Said Sir Rose
back in 2007 and so it did, starting with 100 commitments with a 2012 deadline that grew in
2010 to 180 commitments with a 2015 deadline. Unlike many companies that are cautious and
try to experience sustainability one bit at a time, M&S understood from very beginning that its
almost impossible to integrate sustainability partially and do it well. Through Plan A, M&S was
able to fully embrace sustainability, reaching every part of the business.
In addition M&S adopted a strategic approach that helps it implement the plan successfully.
Behind every achievement, from reducing non-glass packaging per item in 26 percent to
launching carbon neutral chocolate and lingerie stands a collaborative work of different parts of
the organization. One cant meet so many goals without having finance, logistics, operations,
procurement and other functions at the organization working together and being on the same
stage.
Fully Embrace Stakeholder Engagement:

Looking at M&Ss achievements, it can be said that its not just about reducing food waste (40
percent), improving energy efficiency per sq. feet (28 percent), or even becoming carbon neutral,
but also about engaging stakeholders. The company understood that to become the most
sustainable major retailer is not just a question of performance assessment or integration of
sustainability measurements, but also a matter of stakeholder perception.
To establish this perception M&S works very closely with its stakeholders last year it included
a supplier conference, dialogues with trade associations and meeting with regulators, involving
employees in wide range of Plan A activities, offering customers to get involved in Plan A
activities and campaigns like Shwopping, and so on. So, M&Ss main strength is its ability to
actually listen to stakeholders, understand what they want and apply it accordingly. This way
M&S knows for example that integrating social and environmental policies and performance
into financial reporting is an important issue amongst many investor groups, and hence works
with stakeholders on integrated reporting.
Show Shareholders Substantial Material Benefits:
Even as other groups of stakeholders play a pivotal role in M&Ss success, shareholders still
have a powerful impact on shaping the companys strategy and priorities and hence its very
important to get them on board. And the name of the game is materiality. As Jonathon Porritt,
Founder Director of Forum for the Future explains, investors argued for years that they
understand sustainability is important, but there are many more material things to take care of
first. Now, he says, M&S has created the case where sustainability has a material impact on the
bottom line, on top line growth and risk management. The result is that its much more difficult
for investors to use the non-materiality excuse and its easier to get their support for the plan.
Its Not Just About Savings:
M&S have made in 4 years a net profit of $286 million from Plan A. Yet, as Alan Stewart, M&S
CFO explains, the company sees more benefits beyond the savings from tangible benefits like
the creation of business opportunities to intangible benefits such as making the company more
attractive as an employer for employees and people who seek to join it. It is important for a
company to acknowledge and embrace all types of benefits, because a successful journey to
become a sustainable company is not just about a better bottom line, but a better triple bottom
line eventually.

Controversies Faced By M&S:

Comprehensive Spending Review:
In October 2010, chairman Sir Stuart Rose was a signatory to a controversial letter to The
Daily Telegraph which claimed that "The private sector should be more than capable of
generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public sector, and the redeployment of
people to more productive activities will improve economic performance, so generating
more employment opportunities", despite recent job cuts of 1,000 staff. This prompted calls
for a boycott of Marks & Spencer and the companies represented by the other signatories to
the letter.

Contactless Payment Issues:

Some Marks & Spencer customers claim that the chain's contactless payment terminals have
taken money from cards other than the ones intended for payment. Contactless cards are
supposed to be within about 4 cm of the front of the terminal to work. M&S investigated the
incident and confirmed the new system had been extensively tested and was robust. It had
recently rolled out the contactless payments system, provided by Visa Europe, to 644 UK
stores.

Muslim Checkout-Staff Policy:

In December 2013, Marks & Spencer announced that Muslim checkout staff in the UK could
refuse to sell pork products or alcohol to customers at their till. The policy was announced
after at least one news outlet reported that customers waiting with goods that included pork
or alcohol were refused service, and were told by a Muslim checkout worker to wait until
another till became available. The policy applied across all 703 UK M&S stores and
prompted a strong backlash by customers.
A company spokesman subsequently apologized and stated that they will attempt to reassign
staff whose beliefs may impact their work to different departments, such as clothing.

Conclusion:
Marks and Spencer has managed conduct their CSR activities with high ambition and
determination. It has managed to create a benchmark for other retail companies to follow their
lead in conducting CSR activities and becoming one of the sustainable companies in the business
sector. M&S competitors can learn a lot about stakeholder engagement, transparency and
materiality from the company. Under the headings of Plan A each issue is broken down into
targets set for the reporting year, performance in the current year and future goals. This approach
is highly effective in terms of presenting a clear and thorough picture of the broad scope of
Marks and Spencers CSR related activities. M&S has not only committed to these developments
towards societies but also has successfully implemented them. Under such CSR activities it is
also visible than they are not only heading towards a sustainable business but also towards a
business which is also financially stable. Assurance is provided by an independent third party, in
line with best practice. Surprisingly, in spite of achieving most of their targets in the
commitments towards the Plan A objectives some aims of M& S is still facing some big and
challenging targets. Some of these are to meet sustainable sourcing standards for eight key raw
materials; to ensure all M&S products have a Plan A quality; to improve our suppliers
sustainability performance; and to engage customers and employees in Plan A. Thus it is
desirable that M&S will quickly able to recover these shortcomings.

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