Marks and Spencer is fast gearing itself to face the challenges arising out of carbon emission. Her carbon management is being spearheaded by its chief executive who is appreciated for his innovative approach. He has adopted a different course to win the hearts and minds of customers. He no longer relies on the increase of the market share by executing traditional methods. Corporate social responsibility has got an important place in the vision of the strategic advancement of the company. It was announced by the company just two years back, that it would participate in the corporate social responsibility movement with great fanfare. This fact has in the calculations of the company would have far-reaching consequences on the wallets of the British shoppers.
The intensions of the giant business company were named plan A. It is emblematic of the profile of a highly charismatic boss. “Rose, 59, has all the retail industry experience one might wish for. He joined M&S as a management trainee in 1972, leaving for the Burton Group in 1989 and returning as M&S CEO in 2004 after stints as chief executive of catalogue retailer Argos, cash-and-carry chain Booker and clothing group Arcadia” (Rachel Sanderson & Laurence Fletcher, 2008, Marks & Spencer’s Rose faces tougher challenge). It is also an index of the ever-new criteria by which every other CSR measure would be gauged in the years to come. There are many features of the plan and the latter stresses each point distinctively. They are also but one organic whole as far as the ultimate objective is concerned and that is to make M&S eco-friendly. “M&S has the philosophy of ‘helping others to help themselves” (Article13, 2005, CSR Case Studies).
It is a mammoth plan. Which if went accordingly would cut short the energy use, waste to landfills would be circumscribed, provide the inputs from the most recuperated sources, execute the CSR among the facilitators, help employees and consumers embracing healthier mode of life and push the company to the top in the drive have effective carbon management plan. It is designed to be error-free and more than just the private thinking and vision of a business leader. It is a strategic decision that is expected to absolutely transform the decision-making process and basic commercial make-up of the company. Joining the CSR movement omens well for the future of the company and other companies as well. 2012 is the year of the realization of the destination of the plan. In the time span of five years. An enormous cost of £200 million would be spent on the operational costs alone. This amount does not cater to the extensive marketing needed to make it the most successful of all such plans.
The hard adamant fact which should not escape our attention is that the plan has been unveiled at a time when the British retail industry is in the slow mode and the stock value of Marks and Spencer has been persistently coming down due to the worst holiday season. A bigger worry for the company is the determination of its chief executive that there would be no hike in prices. Rose is of the view that the pieces should not go up in the given scenario to defeat the impression that it makes the balance for the plan. He challenges that anybody can visit the stores and checkk that the prices remain the same. However, despite all this mantra, the high ups of the company have not entirely ruled out an increase in price, in case people are willing to contribute to the CSR movement. M&S is, at last, a mercantile organization intended to make more and more capital for those who laid its foundations. It has deeper business interest and is anchored in the shareholders capital. However, despite the tough financial scene, the plan has become part and parcel of the business strategy and it’s most looked after headache.
It appears that the expenditures of the plan would be fulfilled as all the hopes and targets would be met. All out efforts have been undertaken for the guaranteed success of the plan and no loophole is being tolerated. On the anniversary occasion of the plan, the company issued the report that the plan was going quite normal and there were so many positive signs to share with the consumers. There was progress on all the corners and it was heading in a very balanced way. The constituents of the plan include, “climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, fair partner and health”. These are the five central pillars on which stands the proud building of this grand initiative. The company has leapt forward in the realm of climate change and has become a shining beacon for others to emulate and appreciate. Carbon dioxide has been excluded for the annual emissions by great margins as high as several thousand tons, which is by no means a smaller gain. In UK and Ireland, the company distributed the carriers and charged the customers to discourage the habit of bag use. This measure drastically reduced the waste linked with it. The equity collected was given to the local welfare organizations that facilitate the environmental initiatives.
Another plan has been launched in southwest England on the same wavelength. It is intended if that succeeds would be replicated in the whole of the company’s store. “An approach for CSR that is becoming more widely accepted is community-based development projects, such as the Shell Foundation’s valley ent 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 develop new skills for the parents. Marks and Spencer is also active in this community through the building of a trade network with the community – guaranteeing regular fair-trade purchases” (Maignan, I.; O. Ferrell, G. Tomas (1999). “Corporate Citizenship: Cultural Antecedents and Business Benefits”).
M&S is an eco-compatible company and reasonably responsible in the domain of international commercialization. It is being hailed as the one practising the best ethical practices. Many institutions that are linked in some way with the concerns of CSR have appreciated lavishly the measures taken by the company as the steps in the right direction. It has also implemented or is in the process of implementing some other measures too. “In 2006 the Look behind the label marketing campaign was launched, the end of this initiative was to magnify to customers the diverse ethical and environmentally friendly sides of the production and sourcing techniques adopted by marks and spencer including the fairtrade products, sustainable fishing and environmentally compatible textile dyes” (Paddingtonwaterside, 2006, Marks And Spencer Launches New Label). Eco stores are being constructed on a trial basis to evaluate the healthy life of the program.
The company is also constantly making efforts to build a “Sustainable Construction Manual”. It would be done on the basis of the data collected from the experience. The program also incorporates purchasing fair trade cotton and a big chunk of UK fruit crops. The most important characteristic of the plan which must be mentioned and appreciated is here is that is a dynamic one. It also looks after the changing scenario and is an adaptable one in such an eventuality. When is felt that something is out of order or is not functioning well, it adjusts itself against the varying situation? However, the pace of the program to meet the targets remains unaffected. “The companies at the heart of the plans have all promised to clean up their own operations as a precondition of the campaign” Our philosophy is that we will not ask customers to do something that we have not done” (Maignan, I.; O. Ferrell, G. Tomas (1999). “Corporate Citizenship: Cultural Antecedents and Business Benefits”) The company initially devised of using bio-fuels but came to realize that it involves the loss of habitats and bring in its train several other headaches for the organization. Resultantly, the company has set aside this option and waiting for the time till sustainable sources are explored. These accomplishments are touching ones and the lists enumerated here is not an absolute one. For the end goal of getting the targets, the company has come up with a lot of self-abnegation unusual for a commercial organization. It has tightened the requirements for having a company car. These measures have decreased the quantity of auto fleet. When adjusted against the other achievable targets, this one should have been kept away from the spotlight. “We consider corporate social responsibility and corporate governance as mutually reinforcing concepts and such draw attention to the potential impact of a change in investors’ attitude towards CSR and the need for innovation in the area of financial modelling to incorporate CSR” (André Habisch,2005, Corporate social responsibility across Europe).
What seems to be the biggest thing is that every aspect of the M&S is moving towards the approaching shadows of reduced carbon emission. “Companies at every level of environmental achievement can only be green with envy at the enormous and positive public profile Marks and Spencer have achieved since they launched Plan A in January 2007. Marks and Spencer’s wide-ranging corporate strategy for sustainability have put them at them within the top ten “green brands” in the UK recently, and top of a list of companies with the best reputation” (FSN, 2008, Marks and Spencer’s environmental plan – has it paid off?). However, given the size of this organization, its small two partners registered on its website are not inclined to contribute to the plan. The company is spending money lavishly and with great enthusiasm, while others are sitting on the sidelines. It is also interesting to question and get the answer, what would be the fate of the company when it radically restructures its business profile. The answer would be found in the bottom line philosophy of this business giant. “As a simple device to enable busy people to visualize quickly what practical issues are covered by the responsible business agenda, the approach of the food technology division of Marks and Spencer is hard to beat” (David Grayson, Adrian Hodges 2004,63).
Critics point out that the plan is not errored free and there are certain loopholes that are capable of placing obstacles in its successful realization. The two most ambitious benchmarks of the plan which the top management would like to achieve at all costs are to save the earth and refurbish the potential of the company to produce an increased amount of capital. Both demand one fundamental thing. That is the British consumers should be on the same page on which the company is. Save the planet section of the initiative tagged all the products to speak with the customers to reveal whether the article was sent by air. The consumer then makes his or her mind to buy it or otherwise. The chief executive hopes that they would not but is not prepared to minimize the refrigerated products for the stores. At this particular moment, it is being criticized as being suicidal. On the other side of making money, the customers have been left with the option to decide with integrity whether they look after the environment themselves by refraining to purchase things from other sores. Marks and Spencer are rather expensive than its competitors. Even though it is being opined that there would be no price increase, on the other hand, customers feel the leverage for the same.
However, for the chief executive of the company, it is very significant to cut drastically the carbon emissions and the world must undertake concerted efforts in this regard. On his part, he has given the lesson on how to begin and the modality offered by him is a sure way to meet the targets. Will Mr Rose come up with flying colours and be able to beat past his competitors in the retail industry. Unfortunately, it is very early to gauge the true indicator of the situation. What endows plan with the unparalleled features is that M&S is not the market leader as far as market volume is concerned. She is already being knocked out by its heavy rivals. Despite this hard adamant fact, the company attaches high priority to its corporate social reasonability by spending considerable money which otherwise could have been spent on the business side. The plan envisions entire Britain to be eco friendly and by taking such measures as would involve all the consumers to be on board, the company needs to be met with applause.
References
Rachel Sanderson & Laurence Fletcher, 2008, Marks & Spencer’s Rose Faces Tougher Challenge. Herald tribune may 11. International. Web.
Maignan, I.; O. Ferrell, G. Tomas (1999). “Corporate Citizenship: Cultural Antecedents and Business Benefits”. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Vol.27, No.4, pp.455-469.
Paddingtonwaterside, 2006, Marks And Specer Lauches New Label. 2008. Web.
FSN, 2008, Marks and Spencer’s environmental plan – has it paid off?. FSN publishing. Web.
David Grayson, Adrian Hodges 2004, Corporate Social Opportunity!: 7 Steps to Make green leaf publishers.
André Habisch, 2005, Corporate Social Responsibility across Europe. SPRINGER.
Article13, 2005, ‘CSR Case Studies’. Corporate Social Responsibility. 2008. Web.
Fombrun, C. (2000). “The value to be found in corporate reputation”. Financial Times.