Stakeholders of Marks and Spencer Literature review

Stakeholders of Marks and Spencer - Literature review Example Center of discussion in this paper is the company that has a global reputation in fashion. It has many stakeholders who have helped build a global reputation. The contribution of stakeholders to the welfare of the company is very crucial. The company strives to maintain a high level and effective communication with its stakeholders. Marks and Spencer has both internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders include the staff, management, owners, and shareholders. Staff and management devote time working for the company in order to earn a source of livelihood. Approximately, the company has 78000 workers. On the other hand, owners stand as internal stakeholders because the company’s profits are a source of income to them. Shareholders provide the company with capital of expansion while anticipating an increased a higher value of their shares as the company continues to make profits. On the other hand, it has stakeholders from the external front who include customers, s uppliers, competitors or substitutes and the public. The customers play a very crucial role as stakeholders. They buy the company’s products to derive a form of utility from them and through this way, the company’s sales increase. Suppliers form the other category of external stakeholders of the company. Through the sale of goods to the company, they gain profits while the company utilizes the supplies in its business. The public forms a larger category of stakeholders because the company’s products create an impact on the welfare of the society. ... Each of the stakeholders exerts a form of pressure that affects the standing of the company. Therefore, the type of communication and relationship that the company maintains with each of the stakeholders affects it. This has necessitated the company to have different forms of communication with each of its stakeholders. Relationship of the Organization with its Stakeholders The founders of Marks and Spencer emphasized on the importance of maintaining an effective and trustworthy relation with its stakeholders at all times. The basis of the relationship is the crucial value of trust. Trust has been the company’s value for the company for a long time. The company’s corporate and social responsibility department concentrates on formulating strategies of trust enhancement. The company strives to stay updated on the expectations of its stakeholders as circumstances change. For example, the emerging need for production and promotion of healthy food products has placed higher expectations from the customers. In addition, the public expects the company to maintain the trust by producing products that present limited adversity to the environment. The company has to maintain its trust with stakeholders at different fronts because the future of the company depends on these stakeholders (L'Etang, and Pieczka, 2006:216-225). In all of its dealings, the company believes strongly in using the right approach to tackle the right things. Marks &Spencer and its Customers Customers form the most important category of stakeholders of any organization. The same applies for Marks and Spencer. According to Davis (2010), the company realizes this important aspect and makes efforts to