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Business strategy re‐engineering and the bid battle for Marks and Spencer
Author(s) -
Grundy Tony
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
strategic change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.527
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1099-1697
pISSN - 1086-1718
DOI - 10.1002/jsc.715
Subject(s) - battle , shareholder , management , strategic management , leveraged buyout , value creation , value (mathematics) , business , sociology , computer science , corporate governance , economics , history , industrial organization , finance , private equity , archaeology , machine learning
In the late spring of 2004, Philip Green made a £ 7 billion bid for Marks and Spencer. The company's turnaround over 2001–2003 was slipping badly and its then Chairman and CEO appeared unable to cope with pressure from analysts and shareholders who were becoming highly critical of the Board's performance. Between late May and mid‐July, arguably more change was seen in six weeks than perhaps in the previous six years. A new Chairman and CEO, Stuart Rose was appointed, who enacted plans to re‐engineer the strategy for the company. This paper examines how this fascinating case illustrates how business strategy re‐engineering, an eclectic approach combining multi‐perspectives within strategy, value‐based management (VBM) and organizational behaviour, can be a useful concept. Whilst the term ‘re‐engineering’ is shared with the concept of ‘business process re‐engineering’, it is more far‐reaching and less mechanistic. Despite the obvious confidentiality and sensitivity of this deal battle, data was collected, analysed and interpreted in real time, all available from the media and thus in the public domain. This research approach is interesting, particularly as it shows how new conceptual frameworks can be developed not only through conventional interviews, observation and questionnaires, but by other methods.Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.