Business strategy is the means by which the company plans to achieve its goals and objectives. It can also be called long-term planning of the organization. The strategy covers periods between 3 and 5 years and sometimes longer. Companies use two main types of strategy, general or generic and competitive strategies. The overall strategy involves growth, globalization and scaling strategies. Competitive advantage includes low prices, product and customer differentiation. We will examine the business strategy used by Marks and Spenser (Cole, 1997). The company is a British multinational company headquartered in Westminster, London, specializing in luxury clothing and food products. The alternative strategies related to substantial growth, limited growth or downsizing for Marks and Spenser.Substantial GrowthThe Marks and Spenser alternative for substantial growth can adopt the following strategies, horizontal integration, related diversification, vertical integration and unrelated diversification. Horizontal and Vertical Integration In horizontal integration, the company's product range comes from a wide customer base. That is, they sell luxury clothing or food products from different manufacturers. This gives them an advantage since the products they offer are a variety for customers to choose from, and therefore they can shop for less than a roof (Cole, 1997). In the vertical integration strategy, the company will essentially deal in products from a single supplier and M&S will get exclusive rights to manage the product and its supply to the market. This is necessary when the company's objective is to serve an identified target market that is exclusive and has the potential to sustain and grow the company substantially. These employ a tar… half the paper… the cost cutting strategy is planned in the next one to two years by 2016. The target for online shopping which the company estimates will increase by 8 million people to reach by 2020.Product developmentThe product development phase is characterized by innovation. M&S employs four strategies; New products that are radically new or extend into the life cycle of the next product Innovation in the process that leads to reduced costs and is achieved through learning and experience Differentiation through marketing strategies, this is a form of necessity-driven innovation to create a superior brand (Sadler, 2003). Organizational changes that reduce costs. M&S has reduced its management levels to reduce costs. Retrenchment Retrenchment is a corrective action and is undertaken in times of strong competition, inefficiency and economic recession.