D1 stakeholders in M&S Essay

There are many people and groups that have an interest in the running and the functions of Oxfam and we call them stake holders. Below I will give examples of stake holders and explain how they take an interest and how they influence the company. Throughout D1 I will be stating the different stake holders and their influences in the business ‘Marks & Spencer’. I will also be grading the different stakeholders from 1-10 depending on their affectivity in influencing changes in Marks & Spencer’s. Customers Customers are big stakeholders in any retail business including Marks & Spencer. Customers contribute to profit levels and turnover through buying products and services. They also have a large influence on the running of the business. This could be from requesting changes to better their needs or the needs of the environment. Without the customers of a business there would be no business simply because there would be no one to purchase the products. Customers are so important to the business that M&S introduced the loyalty card program which allows for special promotions, and special offers. This provides customers with more of a reason to shop with M&S due to the fact that it gives them bonuses for their loyalty. Customers demand a range of things, such as: cheap prices, high quality products, and a high level of customer service. Evidence of the influence that customers have is the implementation of the purchasing of carrier bags at the check-out till in their various stores. Customers will have complained that the business was not environmentally friendly enough due to their ethical persona. And this would have had an impact on the shareholders and they would have taken the information given into consideration and implemented change. For the Customers in Marks & Spencer’s I would grade them an 8 out of 10. This depends on the level the employee is at. All of the employees from managers to floor workers have a great deal of influence however the influence is greatened as you go higher up in the hierarchy. This is because the higher you are the more power and the closer you are to the shareholders who can choose whether or not to implement change.