document_title: Externality

question_text: an external cost or external benefit is also known as

root

text: Externality

text: History of the concept

text: Two British economists are credited with having initiated the formal study of externalities, or "spillover effects": Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900) is credited with first articulating, and Arthur C. Pigou (1877–1959) is credited with formalizing the concept of externalities.[5]

tag: p

text: Definition

text:
Suppose that there are

K

{\displaystyle K}

 different possible allocations and

N

{\displaystyle N}

 different agents, where

K
,
N
<
∞

{\displaystyle K,N<\infty }

 and

N
≥
2

{\displaystyle N\geq 2}

. Suppose that each agent has a type

θ

i

∼

F

i

[
0
,
1
]

{\displaystyle \theta _{i}\sim F_{i}[0,1]}

 and that each agent gets payoff

v

i

(

θ

i

,
k
)
+

t

i

{\displaystyle v_{i}(\theta _{i},k)+t_{i}}

, where

t

i

{\displaystyle t_{i}}

 is the transfer paid by the

i

{\displaystyle i}

-th agent. A map

f
=
(
κ
,

t

1

,
.
.
.
,

t

N

)

{\displaystyle f=(\kappa ,t_{1},...,t_{N})}

 is a social choice function if

text:
for all

θ
∈
[
0
,
1

]

N

.

{\displaystyle \theta \in [0,1]^{N}.}

 An allocation

κ
:
[
0
,
1

]

N

→
K

{\displaystyle \kappa \colon [0,1]^{N}\to K}

 is ex-post efficient if

text:
for all

θ
=
(

θ

1

,
.
.
.
,

θ

N

)
∈
[
0
,
1

]

N

{\displaystyle \theta =(\theta _{1},...,\theta _{N})\in [0,1]^{N}}

 and all

k
∈
K

{\displaystyle k\in K}

.

text:
Let

κ

∗

{\displaystyle \kappa ^{*}}

 denote an ex-post efficient allocation and let

κ

i

~

{\displaystyle {\tilde {\kappa _{i}}}}

 denote an ex-post efficient allocation without agent

i

{\displaystyle i}

. Then the externality imposed by agent

i

{\displaystyle i}

 on the other agents is

text:
where

θ

−
i

{\displaystyle \theta _{-i}}

 is the type vector

θ

{\displaystyle \theta }

 without its

i

{\displaystyle i}

-th component. Intuitively, the first term is the hypothetical total payoff for all agents

j
≠
i

{\displaystyle j\neq i}

 given that agent

i

{\displaystyle i}

 does not exist, and the second (subtracted) term is the actual total payoff for all agents

j
≠
i

{\displaystyle j\neq i}

 given that agent

i

{\displaystyle i}

 does exist.

text: Implications

text: Voluntary exchange is considered mutually beneficial to both parties involved, because buyers or sellers would not trade if either thought it detrimental to themselves. However, a transaction can cause additional effects on third parties. From the perspective of those affected, these effects may be negative (pollution from a factory), or positive (honey bees kept for honey that also pollinate neighboring crops). Neoclassical welfare economics asserts that, under plausible conditions, the existence of externalities will result in outcomes that are not socially optimal. Those who suffer from external costs do so involuntarily, whereas those who enjoy external benefits do so at no cost.

text: A voluntary exchange may reduce societal welfare if external costs exist. The person who is affected by the negative externalities in the case of air pollution will see it as lowered utility: either subjective displeasure or potentially explicit costs, such as higher medical expenses. The externality may even be seen as a trespass on their lungs, violating their property rights. Thus, an external cost may pose an ethical or political problem. Alternatively, it might be seen as a case of poorly defined property rights, as with, for example, pollution of bodies of water that may belong to no one (either figuratively, in the case of publicly owned, or literally, in some countries and/or legal traditions).

text: On the other hand, a positive externality would increase the utility of third parties at no cost to them. Since collective societal welfare is improved, but private providers would have no way of monetizing the benefit, less of the good will be produced than would be optimal for society as a whole in a theoretical model with no government. Goods with positive externalities include education (believed to increase societal productivity and well-being, though some benefits are internalized in the form of higher wages), public health initiatives (which may reduce the health risks and costs for third parties for such things as transmittable diseases) and law enforcement.

text: Positive externalities are often associated with the free rider problem. For example, individuals who are vaccinated reduce the risk of contracting the relevant disease for all others around them, and at high levels of vaccination, society may receive large health and welfare benefits; but any one individual can refuse vaccination, still avoiding the disease by "free riding" on the costs borne by others.

text: There are a number of theoretical means of improving overall social utility when negative externalities are involved. The market-driven approach to correcting externalities is to "internalize" third party costs and benefits, for example, by requiring a polluter to repair any damage caused. But in many cases, internalizing costs or benefits is not feasible, especially if the true monetary values cannot be determined.

text: Laissez-faire economists such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman sometimes refer to externalities as "neighborhood effects" or "spillovers", although externalities are not necessarily minor or localized. Similarly, Ludwig von Mises argues that externalities arise from lack of "clear personal property definition."

text: Examples

text: Negative

text: A negative externality (also called "external cost" or "external diseconomy") is an economic activity that imposes a negative effect on an unrelated third party. It can arise either during the production or the consumption of a good or service.[7] Pollution is termed an externality because it imposes costs on people who are "external" to the producer and consumer of the polluting product.[8] Barry Commoner commented on the costs of externalities:

text: Many negative externalities are related to the environmental consequences of production and use. The article on environmental economics also addresses externalities and how they may be addressed in the context of environmental issues.

text: Examples for negative production externalities include:

text:
Air pollution from burning fossil fuels. This activity causes damages to crops, (historic) buildings and public health.[10][11]
Anthropogenic climate change as a consequence of greenhouse gas emissions from burning oil, gas, and coal. The Stern Review on the Economics Of Climate Change says "Climate change presents a unique challenge for economics: it is the greatest example of market failure we have ever seen."[12]
Water pollution by industries that adds effluent, which harms plants, animals, and humans.
Noise pollution during the production process, which may be mentally and psychologically disruptive.
Systemic risk: the risks to the overall economy arising from the risks that the banking system takes. A condition of moral hazard can occur in the absence of well-designed banking regulation,[13] or in the presence of badly designed regulation.[14]
Negative effects of Industrial farm animal production, including "the increase in the pool of antibiotic-resistant bacteria because of the overuse of antibiotics; air quality problems; the contamination of rivers, streams, and coastal waters with concentrated animal waste; animal welfare problems, mainly as a result of the extremely close quarters in which the animals are housed."[15][16]
The depletion of the stock of fish in the ocean due to overfishing. This is an example of a common property resource, which is vulnerable to the Tragedy of the commons in the absence of appropriate environmental governance.
In the United States, the cost of storing nuclear waste from nuclear plants for more than 1,000 years (over 100,000 for some types of nuclear waste) is, in principle, included in the cost of the electricity the plant produces in the form of a fee paid to the government and held in the nuclear waste superfund, although much of that fund was spent on Yucca Mountain without producing a solution. Conversely, the costs of managing the long term risks of disposal of chemicals, which may remain hazardous on similar time scales, is not commonly internalized in prices. The USEPA regulates chemicals for periods ranging from 100 years to a maximum of 10,000 years.

text: Examples of negative consumption externalities include:

text:
Noise pollution Sleep deprivation due to a neighbour listening to loud music late at night.
Antibiotic resistance, caused by increased usage of antibiotics. Individuals do not consider this efficacy cost when making usage decisions. Government policies proposed to preserve future antibiotic effectiveness include educational campaigns, regulation, Pigouvian taxes, and patents.
Passive smoking Shared costs of declining health and vitality caused by smoking and/or alcohol abuse. Here, the "cost" is that of providing minimum social welfare. Economists more frequently attribute this problem to the category of moral hazards, the prospect that parties insulated from risk may behave differently from the way they would if they were fully exposed to the risk. For example, individuals with insurance against automobile theft may be less vigilant about locking their cars, because the negative consequences of automobile theft are (partially) borne by the insurance company.
Traffic congestion When more people use public roads, road users experience [(congestion costs)] such as more waiting in traffic and longer trip times. Increased road users also increase the likelihood of road accidents.[17]
Price increases Consumption by one consumer of goods in addition to their existing supply causes prices to rise and therefore makes other consumers worse off, perhaps by preventing, reducing or delaying their consumption. These effects are sometimes called "pecuniary externalities" and are distinguished from "real externalities" or "technological externalities". Pecuniary externalities appear to be externalities, but occur within the market mechanism and are not considered to be a source of market failure or inefficiency, although they may still result in substantial harm to others.[18]

text: Positive

text: A positive externality (also called "external benefit" or "external economy" or "beneficial externality") is the positive effect an activity imposes on an unrelated third party.[19] Similar to a negative externality, it can arise either on the production side, or on the consumption side.[7]

text: Examples of positive production externalities include:

text:
A beekeeper who keeps the bees for their honey. A side effect or externality associated with such activity is the pollination of surrounding crops by the bees. The value generated by the pollination may be more important than the value of the harvested honey.
The construction and operation of an airport. This will benefit local businesses, because of the increased accessibility.
An industrial company providing first aid classes for employees to increase on the job safety. This may also save lives outside the factory.
A foreign firm that demonstrates up-to-date technologies to local firms and improves their productivity.[20]

text: Examples of positive consumption externalities include:

text:
An individual who maintains an attractive house may confer benefits to neighbors in the form of increased market values for their properties.
An individual receiving a vaccination for a communicable disease not only decreases the likelihood of the individual's own infection, but also decreases the likelihood of others becoming infected through contact with the individual. (See herd immunity)
Driving an electric vehicle charged by electricity from a renewable source, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving local air quality and public health. Although this may increase emissions from power plants burning fossil fuels, this is usually more than offset by reduced vehicle emissions, especially where hydroelectric, nuclear and renewable sources are prevalent.[21]
Increased education of individuals, as this can lead to broader society benefits in the form of greater economic productivity, a lower unemployment rate, greater household mobility and higher rates of political participation.[22]
An individual buying a product that is interconnected in a network (e.g., a smartphone). This will increase the usefulness of such phones to other people who have a video cellphone. When each new user of a product increases the value of the same product owned by others, the phenomenon is called a network externality or a network effect. Network externalities often have "tipping points" where, suddenly, the product reaches general acceptance and near-universal usage.
In an area that does not have a public fire department, homeowners who purchase private fire protection services provide a positive externality to neighboring properties, which are less at risk of the protected neighbor's fire spreading to their (unprotected) house.

text: The existence or management of externalities may give rise to political or legal conflicts.[citation needed]

text: Collective solutions or public policies are implemented to regulate activities with positive or negative externalities.

text: Positional

text: A position externality "occurs when new purchases alter the relevant context within which an existing positional good is evaluated."[23] Robert H. Frank gives the following example:

text: Frank notes that treating positional externalities like other externalities might lead to "intrusive economic and social regulation."[23] He argues, however, that less intrusive and more efficient means of "limiting the costs of expenditure cascades"—i.e., the hypothesized increase in spending of middle-income families beyond their means "because of indirect effects associated with increased spending by top earners"—exist; one such method is the personal income tax.[23]

text: Inframarginal

text: Inframarginal externalities are externalities in which there is no benefit or loss to the marginal consumer. In other words, people neither gain nor lose anything at the margin, but benefits and costs do exist for those consumers within the given inframarginal range.

text: Technological

text: Technological externalities directly affect a firm's production and therefore, indirectly influence an individual's consumption; and the overall impact of society.

text: Supply and demand diagram

text: The usual economic analysis of externalities can be illustrated using a standard supply and demand diagram if the externality can be valued in terms of money. An extra supply or demand curve is added, as in the diagrams below. One of the curves is the private cost that consumers pay as individuals for additional quantities of the good, which in competitive markets, is the marginal private cost. The other curve is the true cost that society as a whole pays for production and consumption of increased production the good, or the marginal social cost. Similarly there might be two curves for the demand or benefit of the good. The social demand curve would reflect the benefit to society as a whole, while the normal demand curve reflects the benefit to consumers as individuals and is reflected as effective demand in the market.

text: What curve is added depends on the type of externality that is described, but not whether it is positive or negative. Whenever an externality arises on the production side, there will be two supply curves (private and social cost). However, if the externality arises on the consumption side, there will be two demand curves instead (private and social benefit). This distinction is essential when it comes to resolving inefficiencies that are caused by externalities.

text: External costs

text: The graph shows the effects of a negative externality. For example, the steel industry is assumed to be selling in a competitive market – before pollution-control laws were imposed and enforced (e.g. under laissez-faire). The marginal private cost is less than the marginal social or public cost by the amount of the external cost, i.e., the cost of air pollution and water pollution. This is represented by the vertical distance between the two supply curves. It is assumed that there are no external benefits, so that social benefit equals individual benefit.

text: If the consumers only take into account their own private cost, they will end up at price Pp and quantity Qp, instead of the more efficient price Ps and quantity Qs. These latter reflect the idea that the marginal social benefit should equal the marginal social cost, that is that production should be increased only as long as the marginal social benefit exceeds the marginal social cost. The result is that a free market is inefficient since at the quantity Qp, the social benefit is less than the social cost, so society as a whole would be better off if the goods between Qp and Qs had not been produced. The problem is that people are buying and consuming too much steel.

text: This discussion implies that negative externalities (such as pollution) are more than merely an ethical problem. The problem is one of the disjuncture between marginal private and social costs that is not solved by the free market. It is a problem of societal communication and coordination to balance costs and benefits. This also implies that pollution is not something solved by competitive markets. Some collective solution is needed, such as a court system to allow parties affected by the pollution to be compensated, government intervention banning or discouraging pollution, or economic incentives such as green taxes.

text: External benefits

text: The graph shows the effects of a positive or beneficial externality. For example, the industry supplying smallpox vaccinations is assumed to be selling in a competitive market. The marginal private benefit of getting the vaccination is less than the marginal social or public benefit by the amount of the external benefit (for example, society as a whole is increasingly protected from smallpox by each vaccination, including those who refuse to participate). This marginal external benefit of getting a smallpox shot is represented by the vertical distance between the two demand curves. Assume there are no external costs, so that social cost equals individual cost.

text: If consumers only take into account their own private benefits from getting vaccinations, the market will end up at price Pp and quantity Qp as before, instead of the more efficient price Ps and quantity Qs. These latter again reflect the idea that the marginal social benefit should equal the marginal social cost, i.e., that production should be increased as long as the marginal social benefit exceeds the marginal social cost. The result in an unfettered market is inefficient since at the quantity Qp, the social benefit is greater than the societal cost, so society as a whole would be better off if more goods had been produced. The problem is that people are buying too few vaccinations.

text: The issue of external benefits is related to that of public goods, which are goods where it is difficult if not impossible to exclude people from benefits. The production of a public good has beneficial externalities for all, or almost all, of the public. As with external costs, there is a problem here of societal communication and coordination to balance benefits and costs. This also implies that vaccination is not something solved by competitive markets. The government may have to step in with a collective solution, such as subsidizing or legally requiring vaccine use. If the government does this, the good is called a merit good. Examples include policies to accelerate the introducing of Electric vehicles[24] or promote Bicycling[25] which benefit Public health.

text: Possible solutions

text: There are several general types of solutions to the problem of externalities:

text:
Pigovian taxes or subsidies intended to redress economic injustices or imbalances.
Regulation to limit activity that might cause negative externalities
Government provision of services with positive externalities
Lawsuits to compensate affected parties for negative externalities
Mediation or negotiation between those affected by externalities and those causing them
Ecological economics, if more widely known and applied, would shift the economic paradigm from the current reductionist, strictly financial view to something more cognizant of externalities, and thus more extensible and sustainable over time.

text: A Pigovian tax (also called Pigouvian tax, after economist Arthur C. Pigou) is a tax imposed that is equal in value to the negative externality. The result is that the market outcome would be reduced to the efficient amount. A side effect is that revenue is raised for the government, reducing the amount of distortionary taxes that the government must impose elsewhere. Governments justify the use of Pigovian taxes saying that these taxes help the market reach an efficient outcome because this tax bridges the gap between marginal social costs and marginal private costs.[26]

text: Some arguments against Pigovian taxes say that the tax does not account for all the transfers and regulations involved with an externality. In other words, the tax only considers the amount of externality produced.[27] Another argument against the tax is that it does not take private property into consideration. Under the Pigovian system, one firm, for example, can be taxed more than another firm, even though the other firm is actually producing greater amounts of the negative externality.[28][full citation needed]

text: However, the most common type of solution is a tacit agreement through the political process. Governments are elected to represent citizens and to strike political compromises between various interests. Normally governments pass laws and regulations to address pollution and other types of environmental harm. These laws and regulations can take the form of "command and control" regulation (such as setting standards, targets, or process requirements), or environmental pricing reform (such as ecotaxes or other Pigovian taxes, tradable pollution permits or the creation of markets for ecological services). The second type of resolution is a purely private agreement between the parties involved.

text: Government intervention might not always be needed. Traditional ways of life may have evolved as ways to deal with external costs and benefits. Alternatively, democratically run communities can agree to deal with these costs and benefits in an amicable way. Externalities can sometimes be resolved by agreement between the parties involved. This resolution may even come about because of the threat of government action.

text: Ronald Coase argued that if all parties involved can easily organize payments so as to pay each other for their actions, then an efficient outcome can be reached without government intervention. Some take this argument further, and make the political claim that government should restrict its role to facilitating bargaining among the affected groups or individuals and to enforcing any contracts that result. This result, often known as the Coase theorem, requires that

text:
Property rights be well defined
People act rationally
Transaction costs be minimal

text: If all of these conditions apply, the private parties can bargain to solve the problem of externalities.

text: This theorem would not apply to the steel industry case discussed above. For example, with a steel factory that trespasses on the lungs of a large number of individuals with pollution, it is difficult if not impossible for any one person to negotiate with the producer, and there are large transaction costs. Hence the most common approach may be to regulate the firm (by imposing limits on the amount of pollution considered "acceptable") while paying for the regulation and enforcement with taxes. The case of the vaccinations would also not satisfy the requirements of the Coase theorem. Since the potential external beneficiaries of vaccination are the people themselves, the people would have to self-organize to pay each other to be vaccinated. But such an organization that involves the entire populace would be indistinguishable from government action.

text: In some cases, the Coase theorem is relevant. For example, if a logger is planning to clear-cut a forest in a way that has a negative impact on a nearby resort, the resort-owner and the logger could, in theory, get together to agree to a deal. For example, the resort-owner could pay the logger not to clear-cut – or could buy the forest. The most problematic situation, from Coase's perspective, occurs when the forest literally does not belong to anyone; the question of "who" owns the forest is not important, as any specific owner will have an interest in coming to an agreement with the resort owner (if such an agreement is mutually beneficial).

text: However, the Coase theorem is difficult to implement because Coase does not offer a negotiation method.[29] Additionally, firms could potentially bribe each other since there is little to no government interaction under the Coase theorem.[30] For example, if one oil firm has a high pollution rate and its neighboring firm is bothered by the pollution, then the latter firm may move depending on incentives. Thus, if the oil firm were to bribe the second firm, the first oil firm would suffer no negative consequences because the government would not know about the bribing.

text: Criticism

text: Ecological economics criticizes the concept of externality because there is not enough system thinking and integration of different sciences in the concept. Ecological economics is founded upon the view that the neoclassical economics (NCE) assumption that environmental and community costs and benefits are mutually canceling "externalities" is not warranted. Joan Martinez Alier,[31] for instance shows that the bulk of consumers are automatically excluded from having an impact upon the prices of commodities, as these consumers are future generations who have not been born yet. The assumptions behind future discounting, which assume that future goods will be cheaper than present goods, has been criticized by Fred Pearce[32] and by the recent Stern Report (although the Stern report itself does employ discounting and has been criticized for this and other reasons by ecological economists such as Clive Spash).[33]

text: Concerning these externalities, some like the eco-businessman Paul Hawken argue an orthodox economic line that the only reason why goods produced unsustainably are usually cheaper than goods produced sustainably is due to a hidden subsidy, paid by the non-monetized human environment, community or future generations.[34] These arguments are developed further by Hawken, Amory and Hunter Lovins to promote their vision of an environmental capitalist utopia in Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution.[35]

text: In contrast, ecological economists, like Joan Martinez-Alier, appeal to a different line of reasoning.[36] Rather than assuming some (new) form of capitalism is the best way forward, an older ecological economic critique questions the very idea of internalizing externalities as providing some corrective to the current system. The work by Karl William Kapp explains why the concept of "externality" is a misnomer.[37] In fact the modern business enterprise operates on the basis of shifting costs onto others as normal practice to make profits.[38] Charles Eisenstein has argued that this method of privatising profits while socialising the costs through externalities, passing the costs to the community, to the natural environment or to future generations is inherently destructive[39] As social ecological economist Clive Spash has noted, externality theory fallaciously assumes environmental and social problems are minor aberrations in an otherwise perfectly functioning efficient economic system.[40] Internalizing the odd externality does nothing to address the structural systemic problem and fails to recognize the all pervasive nature of these supposed 'externalities'.


document_title: Tabula rasa

question_text: learner as tabula rasa is a presumption in

text: Tabula rasa

text: History[edit]

text: Tabula rasa is a Latin phrase often translated as "blank slate" in English and originates from the Roman tabula used for notes, which was blanked by heating the wax and then smoothing it.[1] This roughly equates to the English term "blank slate" (or, more literally, "erased slate") which refers to the emptiness of a slate prior to it being written on with chalk. Both may be renewed repeatedly, by melting the wax of the tablet or by erasing the chalk on the slate.

text: Philosophy[edit]

text: In Western philosophy, the concept of tabula rasa can be traced back to the writings of Aristotle who writes in his treatise "Περί Ψυχῆς" (De Anima or On the Soul) of the "unscribed tablet." In one of the more well-known passages of this treatise he writes that:

text: Haven't we already disposed of the difficulty about interaction involving a common element, when we said that mind is in a sense potentially whatever is thinkable, though actually it is nothing until it has thought? What it thinks must be in it just as characters may be said to be on a writing-tablet on which as yet nothing stands written: this is exactly what happens with mind.[2]

text: This idea was further developed in Ancient Greek philosophy by the Stoic school. Stoic epistemology emphasizes that the mind starts blank, but acquires knowledge as the outside world is impressed upon it.[3] The doxographer Aetius summarizes this view as "When a man is born, the Stoics say, he has the commanding part of his soul like a sheet of paper ready for writing upon."[4] Diogenes Laërtius attributes a similar belief to the Stoic Zeno of Citium when he writes in Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers that:

text: Perception, again, is an impression produced on the mind, its name being appropriately borrowed from impressions on wax made by a seal; and perception they divide into, comprehensible and incomprehensible: Comprehensible, which they call the criterion of facts, and which is produced by a real object, and is, therefore, at the same time conformable to that object; Incomprehensible, which has no relation to any real object, or else, if it has any such relation, does not correspond to it, being but a vague and indistinct representation.[5]

text: In the eleventh century, the theory of tabula rasa was developed more clearly by the Persian philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina in Arabic). He argued that the "...human intellect at birth resembled a tabula rasa, a pure potentiality that is actualized through education and comes to know," and that knowledge is attained through "...empirical familiarity with objects in this world from which one abstracts universal concepts," which develops through a "...syllogistic method of reasoning; observations lead to propositional statements, which when compounded lead to further abstract concepts." He further argued that the intellect itself "...possesses levels of development from the static/material intellect (al-‘aql al-hayulani), that potentiality can acquire knowledge to the active intellect (al-‘aql al-fa‘il), the state of the human intellect at conjunction with the perfect source of knowledge."[6]

text: In the twelfth century, the Andalusian-Islamic philosopher and novelist, Ibn Tufail, known as "Abubacer" or "Ebn Tophail" in the West, demonstrated the theory of tabula rasa as a thought experiment through his Arabic philosophical novel, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, in which he depicted the development of the mind of a feral child "from a tabula rasa to that of an adult, in complete isolation from society" on a desert island, through experience alone. The Latin translation of his philosophical novel, entitled Philosophus Autodidactus, published by Edward Pococke the Younger in 1671, had an influence on John Locke's formulation of tabula rasa in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.[7]

text: In the thirteenth century, St. Thomas Aquinas brought the Aristotelian and Avicennian notions to the forefront of Christian thought. These notions sharply contrasted with the previously held Platonic notions of the human mind as an entity that preexisted somewhere in the heavens, before being sent down to join a body here on Earth (see Plato's Phaedo and Apology, as well as others). St. Bonaventure (also thirteenth century) was one of the fiercest intellectual opponents of Aquinas, offering some of the strongest arguments toward the Platonic idea of the mind.

text: The writings of Avicenna, Ibn Tufail, and Aquinas on the tabula rasa theory stood unprogressed and untested for several centuries.[citation needed] For example, the late medieval English jurist Sir John Fortescue, in his work In Praise of the Laws of England (Chapter VI), takes for granted the notion of tabula rasa, stressing it as the basis of the need for the education of the young in general, and of young princes specifically. "Therefore, Prince, whilst you are young and your mind is as it were a clean slate, impress on it these things, lest in future it be impressed more pleasurably with images of lesser worth." (His igitur, Princeps, dum Adolescens es, et Anima tua velut Tabula rasa, depinge eam, ne in futurum ipsa Figuris minoris Frugi delectabilius depingatur.)

text: The modern idea of the theory, however, is attributed mostly to John Locke's expression of the idea in Essay Concerning Human Understanding (he uses the term "white paper" in Book II, Chap. I, 2). In Locke's philosophy, tabula rasa was the theory that at birth the (human) mind is a "blank slate" without rules for processing data, and that data is added and rules for processing are formed solely by one's sensory experiences. The notion is central to Lockean empiricism. As understood by Locke, tabula rasa meant that the mind of the individual was born blank, and it also emphasized the freedom of individuals to author their own soul. Individuals are free to define the content of their character—but basic identity as a member of the human species cannot be altered. This presumption of a free, self-authored mind combined with an immutable human nature leads to the Lockean doctrine of "natural" rights. Locke's idea of tabula rasa is frequently compared with Thomas Hobbes's viewpoint of human nature, in which humans are endowed with inherent mental content—particularly with selfishness.[citation needed]

text: The eighteenth-century Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau used tabula rasa to support his argument that warfare is an advent of society and agriculture, rather than something that occurs from the human state of nature. Since tabula rasa states that humans are born with a "blank-slate", Rousseau uses this to suggest that humans must learn warfare.

text: Tabula rasa also features in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis. Freud depicted personality traits as being formed by family dynamics (see Oedipus complex). Freud's theories imply that humans lack free will, but also that genetic influences on human personality are minimal. In Freudian psychoanalysis, one is largely determined by one's upbringing.[citation needed]

text: The tabula rasa concept became popular in social sciences during the twentieth century. Early ideas of eugenics posited that human intelligence correlated strongly with social class, but these ideas were rejected, and the idea that genes (or simply "blood") determined a person's character became regarded as racist. By the 1970s, scientists such as John Money had come to see gender identity as socially constructed, rather than rooted in genetics.

text: Science[edit]

text: Psychology and neurobiology[edit]

text: Psychologists and neurobiologists have shown evidence that initially, the entire cerebral cortex is programmed and organized to process sensory input, control motor actions, regulate emotion, and respond reflexively (under predetermined conditions).[8] These programmed mechanisms in the brain subsequently act to learn and refine the ability of the organism.[9][10] For example, psychologist Steven Pinker showed that—in contrast to written language—the brain is "programmed" to pick up spoken language spontaneously.[11]

text: There have been claims by a minority in psychology and neurobiology, however, that the brain is tabula rasa only for certain behaviours. For instance, with respect to one's ability to acquire both general and special types of knowledge or skills, Howe argued against the existence of innate talent.[12] There also have been neurological investigations into specific learning and memory functions, such as Karl Lashley's study on mass action and serial interaction mechanisms.

text: Important evidence against the tabula rasa model of the mind comes from behavioural genetics, especially twin and adoption studies (see below). These indicate strong genetic influences on personal characteristics such as IQ, alcoholism, gender identity, and other traits.[11] Critically, multivariate studies show that the distinct faculties of the mind, such as memory and reason, fractionate along genetic boundaries. Cultural universals such as emotion and the relative resilience of psychological adaptation to accidental biological changes (for instance the David Reimer case of gender reassignment following an accident) also support basic biological mechanisms in the mind.[citation needed]

text: Social pre-wiring[edit]

text: Twin studies have resulted in important evidence against the tabula rasa model of the mind, specifically, of social behaviour.

text: The social pre-wiring hypothesis refers to the ontogeny of social interaction. Also informally referred to as, "wired to be social." The theory questions whether there is a propensity to socially oriented action already present before birth. Research in the theory concludes that newborns are born into the world with a unique genetic wiring to be social[13].

text: Circumstantial evidence supporting the social pre-wiring hypothesis can be revealed when examining newborns' behaviour. Newborns, not even hours after birth, have been found to display a preparedness for social interaction. This preparedness is expressed in ways such as their imitation of facial gestures. This observed behaviour cannot be contributed to any current form of socialization or social construction. Rather, newborns most likely inherit to some extent social behaviour and identity through genetics[13].

text: Principal evidence of this theory is uncovered by examining twin pregnancies. The main argument is, if there are social behaviours that are inherited and developed before birth, then one should expect twin fetuses to engage in some form of social interaction before they are born. Thus, ten fetuses were analyzed over a period of time using ultrasound techniques. Using kinematic analysis, the results of the experiment were that the twin fetuses would interact with each other for longer periods and more often as the pregnancies went on. Researchers were able to conclude that the performance of movements between the co-twins were not accidental but specifically aimed[13].

text: The social pre-wiring hypothesis was proved correct, "The central advance of this study is the demonstration that 'social actions' are already performed in the second trimester of gestation. Starting from the 14th week of gestation twin fetuses plan and execute movements specifically aimed at the co-twin. These findings force us to predate the emergence of social behaviour: when the context enables it, as in the case of twin fetuses, other-directed actions are not only possible but predominant over self-directed actions."[13].

text: Computer science[edit]

text: In computer science, tabula rasa refers to the development of autonomous agents with a mechanism to reason and plan toward their goal, but no "built-in" knowledge-base of their environment. Thus they truly are a blank slate.

text: In reality autonomous agents possess an initial data-set or knowledge-base, but this cannot be immutable or it would hamper autonomy and heuristic ability.[citation needed] Even if the data-set is empty, it usually may be argued that there is a built-in bias in the reasoning and planning mechanisms.[citation needed] Either intentionally or unintentionally placed there by the human designer, it thus negates the true spirit of tabula rasa.[14]

text: A synthetic (programming) language parser (LR(1), LALR(1) or SLR(1), for example) could be considered a special case of a tabula rasa, as it is designed to accept any of a possibly infinite set of source language programs, within a single programming language, and to output either a good parse of the program, or a good machine language translation of the program, either of which represents a success, or, alternately, a failure, and nothing else. The "initial data-set" is a set of tables which are generally produced mechanically by a parser table generator, usually from a BNF representation of the source language, and represents a "table representation" of that single programming language.


document_title: Breakfast Television (City Toronto)

question_text: who is the new girl on breakfast television

text: Breakfast Television (City Toronto)

text: History[edit]

text: Breakfast Television debuted on September 6, 1989, with host Ann Rohmer and news anchor David Onley; for its first few years, the program ran for two hours from 7-9 a.m. In 1994, Onley left the show to focus on CityPulse, being replaced by Kevin Frankish, who up to that point was BT's traffic specialist and previously was a reporter for Barrie's CKVR. Liza Fromer replaced Ann Rohmer in 2001, but then left the show in July 2006 to prepare for the birth of her child. Kevin Frankish blogged that her departure from the show was "on the absolute best of terms." On October 13, 2006, Dina Pugliese became the new co-host of the show, after a summer of guest co-hosts.

text: Jennifer Valentyne (née Peck) was previously the singing weather girl; she replaced Steve Anthony on the Live Eye segment after he left the station. Valentyne was let go in April 2016 after a Rogers decision to cut the Live Eye reports segments. Hugh Burrill presented the sports segment and also took part in early morning host chats before being assigned to a later time slot.

text: With the absence of Hugh Burrill, Nalini Sharma joined the BT team as a weather presenter. She went on maternity leave in 2005 and returned that September, before being reassigned to a different time slot. Frank Ferragine, the fill-in presenter during her maternity leave, returned.

text: Roger Petersen was a news reporter on BT before moving to Citytv Vancouver in 2004 (he has returned to City Toronto as weekend anchor starting October 2008 after a stint at CFTO-TV). His replacement, Dave Pinton, left in 2005. Meanwhile, Tracy Moore held the same post until she went on maternity leave in 2007. She was slated to return to the show full-time but eventually became the new host of Cityline in September 2008.

text: Sharon Posius had been the morning news anchor on BT for A-Channel News until September 5, 2008, when A Barrie owned by CTVglobemedia as of 2007 and (Bell Media as of 2011) dropped its simulcast of BT and launched its whole new morning show A Morning on September 8, 2008.

text: BT also aired on Citytv's spinoff all-news channel CablePulse24 from its launch in 1998 until March 25, 2009, when the cable channel dropped its simulcast of BT and launched its whole new morning program (CP24 Breakfast). BT was the last remaining programming connection between the two channels since the cable channel abruptly preempted its simulcast of all CityNews programming in December 2008, which had fallen under separate owners (Citytv by Rogers Media, CP24 by CTVglobemedia now Bell Media) in 2007. Some hostility had become apparent in the weeks running up to the final split; BT had begun using the Citytv logo heavily in its graphics directing viewers to watch on that channel (e.g. BT only on Citytv Cable 7), while CP24 began to edit the program with its own news inserts known as More on CP24.

text: On September 5, 2011, Citytv's Breakfast Television program expanded to 3½ hours, pushing its start time a half-hour earlier from 6 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. The move was part of Citytv's systemwide expansion of its owned-and-operated stations' local editions of the Breakfast Television franchise to the 3½ hour time length.[1] The 5:30 half-hour, which is broadcast from the newsroom at CITY-DT's 33 Dundas Street East studios, is more news-focused than the remainder of the program, and follows a general news/weather/traffic format.

text: When it launched on October 3, 2011, CityNews Channel, a 24-hour regional news channel for the Greater Toronto Area operated by CITY-DT, began simulcasting the program (along with Citytv Toronto's local evening news programs). On that date, a half-hour extension of Breakfast Television began airing exclusively on CityNews Channel weekdays from 9-9:30 a.m. (the program continues to run from 5:30-9 a.m. on Citytv Toronto). The 9 a.m. extension on CityNews Channel includes fewer references to being part of the main BT program itself and is formatted similarly to the previously-added 5:30 a.m. half-hour; though, "Live Eye" reports are included as with the 6-9 a.m. portion of the main program.[2]

text: Set[edit]

text: Like CTV-owned MuchMusic, the Breakfast Television studio had windows facing Queen Street West. The same is true in the new studio BT moved to in September 2009 at Yonge-Dundas Square. As a result, passers-by are shown on camera, behind the hosts and guests. While many American morning shows now have similar storefront studios, City was the first to have such a layout[citation needed]. As a result, area employees are repeatedly seen, as well as people marketing nearby businesses while wearing chicken costumes. A topless street performer, "Zanta", was so much of a visual distraction that CHUM filed court documents to have him banned from the building's area. Sixty minutes after BT ends, the studio is used for another series, Cityline.

text: On October 22, 2007, Rogers Media announced plans to move its television stations in Toronto (Citytv, OMNI.1 and OMNI.2) to 33 Dundas Street East, the former Olympic Spirit building on Dundas Square. The move is scheduled for September 8, 2009. Citytv has indicated that the program will continue with its traditional street-front studio format in its new location. On January 18, 2008, BT held its first-ever live broadcast from that location. On June 4, 2012, a new streetfront studio set for the program was unveiled.

text: Events[edit]

text: Every August since 2005, BT has organized a "Viewer Appreciation Day", held in the BT parking lot. Gates open at 6 a.m., and closed due to capacity crowds early into 7 a.m. Some people began camping out at BT at 5:30 p.m. the day before.

text: The BT team also holds an annual Christmas party, in support of the Daily Bread Food Bank, at the Sheraton Centre.

text: Presenters[edit]

text:
Main anchor: Kevin Frankish (1994–present)
Co-host: Dina Pugliese (October 13, 2006–present)
Weather: Frank Ferragine (September 26, 2005–present)
Digital media correspondent: Winston Sih
Anchor/Reporter: Melanie Ng

tag: ul

text: Past presenters[edit]

text:
Ann Rohmer (host, 1989–2001; now with CP24)
David Onley (news, 1989–1994; later Lieutenant Governor of Ontario) from 2007-2014
Jennifer Valentyne (Live Eye host, 1993-2016); cut from the show after a decision was made to cut Live Eye segments in favour of less expensive local news segments. Now with W Network
Steve Anthony (Live Eye; now with CP24 and CP24 Breakfast)
Roger Petersen (top story reporter, LiveEye; still with CityNews as a reporter/weekend anchor)
Hugh Burrill (former news producer and sports reporter; still with CityNews as weekend sports specialist)
Liza Fromer (host, 2001 – July 2006; later on Slice TV), CFRB Newstalk 1010 radio, and now hosts The Morning Show at Global Toronto News.
Tracy Moore (Top story reporter 2005–2008), now hosts Cityline.
Francis D'Souza, (top story reporter, fill-in for Kevin Frankish, now anchorman on CityNews at Five weekday show)

text: Guest co-hosts[edit]

text:
Test co-hosts: Kathryn Humphreys (July 2006), Traci Melchor (July 2006), Frank Ferragine (31 July-4 August 2006), Merella Fernandez (5–8 September 2006), Melissa Grelo (September 2006), Dina Pugliese (September 25–28, 2006)
Jennifer Valentyne (fill-in for Dina Pugliese, Frank Ferragine)
Tracy Moore (fill-in for Dina Pugliese)
Frank Ferragine (fill-in for Jennifer Valentyne)

text: Crew[edit]

text: Note that this list is purposely incomplete, and only includes crew that Frankish's "Inside BT" blog has devoted an entire post to.

text: Producer: Kevin Forget. Kevin's last day at BT Toronto was Friday, November 1, 2013.

text: Past crew[edit]

text:
Floor director: Jessica Vander Kooij who appeared semi-regularly on camera. Jessica did take a position at BT Vancouver in a production role and now works as a series producer for the Property Brothers [3]
BT Diner operator, BT contest line operator: Angelica Montesano (Off BT, Montesano is a singer and actress,[4] who has a lead role in The Adventures of Fuming Chu.)

text: Notes[edit]

text:
In July 2006, Frankish blogged that producers were considering facilitating a studio audience.
Just as many people within the CityNews team started off on the CHUM phoneline, both Jennifer Valentyne and producer Kevin Forget started by working at "the BT Diner"
Kevin Frankish has publicly discussed his panic attacks with viewers, on air.
Frankish lives in Barrie with his family. He generally wakes up at 2 am to get to the studio on time for the early morning show, often filming early morning incidents along the way.


document_title: Optical Carrier transmission rates

question_text: the transmission rate of an optical carrier oc-24 is

text: Optical Carrier transmission rates

text: Optical Carrier specifications[edit]

text: This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (February 2016)

tag: table

text: Optical Carrier classifications are based on the abbreviation OC followed by a number specifying a multiple of 51.84 Mbit/s: n × 51.84 Mbit/s => OC-n. For example, an OC-3 transmission medium has 3 times the transmission capacity of OC-1.

text: OC-1 is a SONET line with transmission speeds of up to 51.84 Mbit/s (payload: 50.112 Mbit/s; overhead: 1.728 Mbit/s) using optical fiber.

text: OC-3 is a network line with transmission data rate of up to 155.52 Mbit/s (payload: 148.608 Mbit/s; overhead: 6.912 Mbit/s, including path overhead) using fiber optics. Depending on the system OC-3 is also known as STS-3 (electrical level) and STM-1 (SDH).

text: OC-3c / STM-1[edit]

text: OC-3c ("c" stands for "concatenated") concatenates three STS-1 (OC-1) frames into a single OC-3 look alike stream. The three STS-1 (OC-1) streams interleaved with each other such that the first column is from the first stream, the second column is from the second stream, and the third is from the third stream. Concatenated STS (OC) frames carry only one column of path overhead because they cannot be divided into finer granularity signals. Hence, OC-3c can transmit more payload to accommodate a CEPT-4 139.264 Mbit/s signal. The payload rate is 149.76 Mbit/s and overhead is 5.76 Mbit/s.

text: OC-12 / STM-4[edit]

text: OC-12 is a network line with transmission speeds of up to 622.08 Mbit/s (payload: 601.344 Mbit/s; overhead: 20.736 Mbit/s).

text: OC-12 lines are commonly used by ISPs as Wide area network (WAN) connections. While a large ISP would not use an OC-12 as a backbone (main link), it would for smaller, regional or local connections. This connection speed is also often used by mid-sized (below Tier 2) internet customers, such as web hosting companies or smaller ISPs buying service from larger ones.

text: OC-24 is a network line with transmission speeds of up to 1244.16 Mbit/s (payload: 1202.208 Mbit/s (1.202208 Gbit/s); overhead: 41.472 Mbit/s). Implementations of OC-24 in commercial deployments are rare.

text: OC-48 / STM-16 / 2.5G SONET[edit]

text: OC-48 is a network line with transmission speeds of up to 2488.32 Mbit/s (payload: 2405.376 Mbit/s (2.405376 Gbit/s); overhead: 82.944 Mbit/s).

text: With relatively inexpensive interface prices, and being faster than OC-3, OC-12 connections, and even surpassing gigabit Ethernet, OC-48 connections are used as the backbones of many regional ISPs. Interconnections between large ISPs for purposes of peering or transit are quite common. As of 2005, the only connections in widespread use that surpass OC-48 speeds are OC-192 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

text: OC-48 is also used as transmission speed for tributaries from OC-192 nodes in order to optimize card slot utilization where lower speed deployments are used. Dropping at OC-12, OC-3 or STS-1 speeds are more commonly found on OC-48 terminals, where use of these cards on an OC-192 would not allow for full use of the available bandwidth.

text: OC-192 / STM-64 / 10G SONET[edit]

text: OC-192 is a network line with transmission speeds of up to 9953.28 Mbit/s (payload: 9510.912 Mbit/s (9.510912 Gbit/s); overhead: 442.368 Mbit/s).

text: A standardized variant of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE), called WAN PHY, is designed to inter-operate with OC-192 transport equipment while the common version of 10GbE is called LAN PHY (which is not compatible with OC-192 transport equipment in its native form). The naming is somewhat misleading, because both variants can be used on a wide area network.

text: OC-768 / STM-256[edit]

text: OC-768 is a network line with transmission speeds of up to 39,813.12 Mbit/s (payload: 38,486.016 Mbit/s (38.486016 Gbit/s); overhead: 1,327.104 Mbit/s (1.327104 Gbit/s)).

text: On October 23, 2008, AT&T announced the completion of upgrades to OC-768 on 80,000 fiber-optic wavelength miles of their IP/MPLS backbone network.[3] OC-768 SONET interfaces have been available with short-reach optical interfaces from Cisco since 2006. Infinera made a field trial demonstration data transmission on a live production network involving the service transmission of a 40 Gbit/s OC-768/STM-256 service over a 1,969 km terrestrial network spanning Europe and the U.S. In November 2008, an OC-768 connection was successfully brought up on the TAT-14/SeaGirt transatlantic cable,[4] the longest hop being 7,500 km.

text: OC-1920 / STM-640[edit]

text: OC-1920 is a network line with transmission speeds of up to 99,532.8 Mbit/s.

text: OC-3840 / STM-1234[edit]

text: OC-3840 is a network line with transmission speeds of up to 200 Gbit/s.[5]


document_title: Marks & Spencer

question_text: when did marks and spencer start accepting credit cards

question_tokens: when did marks and spencer start accepting credit cards

text: Marks & Spencer

text: History[edit]

text: Establishment[edit]

text: The company was founded by a partnership between Michael Marks, a Polish Jew[10][11][12] from Słonim (Marks was born into a Polish-Jewish family, a Polish refugee living in the Russian Empire, now in Belarus), and Thomas Spencer, a cashier from the English market town of Skipton in North Yorkshire.[13][14] On his arrival in England, Marks worked for a company in Leeds, called Barran, which employed refugees (see Sir John Barran, 1st Baronet). In 1884 he met Isaac Jowitt Dewhirst while looking for work. Dewhirst lent Marks £5 which he used to establish his Penny Bazaar on Kirkgate Market, in Leeds.[13] Dewhirst also taught him a little English. Dewhirst's cashier was Tom Spencer, a bookkeeper, whose second wife, Agnes, helped improve Marks' English. In 1894, when Marks acquired a permanent stall in Leeds' covered market, he invited Spencer to become his partner.[15]

text: In 1901 Marks moved to the Birkenhead open market where he amalgamated with Spencer. The pair were allocated stall numbers 11 & 12 in the centre aisle in 1903, and there they opened the famous Penny Bazaar. The company left Birkenhead Market on 24 February 1923.[16]

text: The next few years saw Michael Marks and Tom Spencer open market stalls in many locations around the North West of England and move the original Leeds Penny Bazaar to 20, Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester.[13][17]

text: Domestic growth[edit]

text: Marks and Spencer, known colloquially as "Marks and Sparks",[18] or "M&S", made its reputation in the early 20th century with a policy of only selling British-made goods (it started to back down from this policy in the 1990s.[19]) It entered into long-term relationships with British manufacturers, and sold clothes and food under the "St Michael" brand, which was introduced in 1928. The brand honours Michael Marks. It also accepted the return of unwanted items, giving a full cash refund if the receipt was shown, no matter how long ago the product was purchased, which was unusual for the time.[12]

text: M&S staff raised £5,000 to pay for a Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft called The Marksman in 1941.[12]

text: By 1950, virtually all goods were sold under the "St Michael" label. M&S lingerie, women's clothes and girls' school uniform were branded under the "St Margaret" label until the whole range of general merchandise became "St Michael". Simon Marks, son of Michael Marks, died in 1964, after fifty-six years' service. Israel Sieff, the son-in-law of Michael Marks, took over as chairman and in 1968, John Salisse became the company Director. A cautious international expansion began with the introduction of Asian food in 1974. M&S opened stores in continental Europe in 1975 and in Ireland four years later.[12]

text: The company put its main emphasis on quality, including a 1957 stocking size measuring system.[12] For most of its history, it also had a reputation for offering fair value for money. When this reputation began to waver, it encountered serious difficulties. Arguably, M&S has historically been an iconic retailer of 'British Quality Goods'.[12]

text: The uncompromising attitude towards customer relations was summarised by the 1953 slogan: "The customer is always and completely right!"[12]

text: Energy efficiency was improved by the addition of thermostatically controlled refrigerators in 1963.[12]

text: M&S began selling Christmas cakes and Christmas puddings in 1958. In an effort to improve the quality of their Swiss rolls, they hired the food expert Nat Goldberg, who made a major improvement across their entire cake range, which had lost the public's favour a few years earlier. As a later measure to improve food quality, food labelling was improved and "sell by dates" were phased in between 1970 and 1972.[12]

text: Smoking was banned from all M&S shops in 1959 because of the fire hazards it posed.[12]

text: In 1972, Marcus Sieff became Chairman, remaining in place until 1984, and emphasising the importance of good staff relations to the tradition of the store, while extending staff benefits to areas such as restaurants and chiropody.[20]

text: International expansion[edit]

text: M&S opened its first Asian store in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1960.[21] The company expanded into Canada in 1973, and at one point had forty-seven stores across Canada. Despite various efforts to improve its image, the chain was never able to move beyond its reputation there as a stodgy retailer, one that catered primarily to senior citizens and expatriate Britons. The shops in Canada were smaller than British outlets, and did not carry the same selection. In the late 1990s, further efforts were made to modernise them and also expand the customer base. Unprofitable locations were closed. Nonetheless, the Canadian operations continued to lose money, and the last 38 shops in Canada were closed in 1999.[22]

text: Expansion into France began with shops opening in Paris at Boulevard Haussmann and Lyon in 1975, followed by a second Paris shop at Rosny 2 in 1977. Further expansion into other French and Belgian cities followed into the 1980s. Although the Paris shops remained popular and profitable, the Western European operation as a whole did not fare as well and eighteen shops were sold in 2001.[23] However, in April 2011, M&S changed directions again with an announcement to reopen a store that will not only sell clothing but food as well. In addition the group will also open several food outlets throughout the French capital. The first branch opened on 24 November 2011 at the Champs-Élysées in a ceremony attended by the company's CEO Marc Bolland, the model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and the British Ambassador to France, Sir Peter Westmacott.[24] The Daily Mail reported that 1,000 customers queued outside for over 2 hours at the opening of the 1,400 m2 (15,000 sq ft) store.[24]

text: In 1988, the company acquired Brooks Brothers, an American clothing company[25] and Kings Super Markets, a US food chain.[26]

text: In 2016 M&S expanded to sell through European marketplace Zalando on their German, French, Dutch, Belgian and Austrian sites with a range of kidswear and lingerie.[27]

text: Financial decline[edit]

text: M&S's profits peaked in the financial year 1997/1998.[6] At the time it was seen as a continuing success story, but with hindsight it is considered that during Sir Richard Greenbury's tenure as head of the company, profit margins were pushed to untenable levels, and the loyalty of its customers was seriously eroded. The rising cost of using British suppliers was also a burden, as rival retailers increasingly imported their goods from low-cost countries, but M&S's belated switch to overseas suppliers undermined a core part of its appeal to the public. Another factor was the company's refusal until 2001 to accept any credit cards except its own chargecard.[28]

text: These factors combined to plunge M&S into a sudden slump, which took the company, its shareholders, who included hundreds of thousands of small investors, and nearly all retail analysts and business journalists, by surprise. The company's share price fell by more than two thirds, and its profits fell from more than a billion pounds in 1997 and 1998 to £145 million in the year ended 31 March 2001.[29]

text: Marks & Spencer launched an online shopping service in 1999.[30]

text: In 2001, with changes in its business focus such as accepting credit cards, the introduction of the "Per Una" clothing range designed by George Davies, and a redesign of its underlying business model, profits recovered somewhat.[31]

text: In 2004, M&S was in the throes of an attempted takeover by Arcadia Group and BHS boss, Philip Green.[32] On 12 July a recovery plan was announced which would involve selling off its financial services business M&S Money to HSBC Bank plc, buying control of the Per Una range, closing the Gateshead Lifestore and stopping the expansion of its Simply Food line of shops. Philip Green withdrew his takeover bid after failing to get sufficient backing from shareholders.[32][33]

text: In February 2007, M&S announced the opening of the world's largest M&S shop outside the UK at Dubai Festival City.[34] On 2 October 2008, M&S opened its first mainland China shop in Shanghai. Problems with the supply chain for the first few months of opening led Stuart Rose, M&S chairman, to describe failures in "basic shopkeeping".[35]

text: Restructuring[edit]

text: Twenty-two unprofitable and minor food stores, such as the ones at Ripon and Balham, were closed in early 2009 as part of a cost cutting measure.[12] In August 2010, it was confirmed that the Grantham branch of M&S would close, along with two other Lincolnshire branches in Skegness and Scunthorpe due to low sales in these older format stores. The closures were met with protests from the local communities and petitions were signed in support of retaining the stores, although they went ahead.[36]

text: The Retail Knowledge Bank conducted an audit of the company's brands in August 2010, and revealed that sales of womenswear were at a 10-year low. The audit covered both the Limited Collection, Autograph, Autograph Weekend, Classic Collection, Per Una, Portfolio and Indigo.[37][38] Draper magazine claimed that Per Una was the only clothing brand not at risk of being axed while Marc Bolland considered which brands would be retained.[39] Per Una was planned to stay due to its successful and distinctive flair, but Portfolio and Indigo were planned to go due to poor sales.[37][38] Both the Limited Collection, Autograph, Autograph Weekend, Classic Collection brands were being considered for the cull during mid-2010, but were later given a reprieve.[40]

text: On 9 November 2010, chief executive Marc Bolland revealed plans to strengthen the company’s overall brand image and targeting sales of between £800m and £1bn for which company will increase capital expenditure to £850m to £900m over the next three years to fund the plans.[41] The plan also involved the discontinuation of its 'Portfolio' fashion brand and the sale of electrical products. The company also announced a new marketing strapline, 'Only at M&S', and that it would revamp its website.[42]

text: Bolland ordered a new store design in May 2011, and it was announced that the company would spend around £600 million between 2011 and 2014 on its UK stores, involving the launch of a range of different store formats based on the age, affluence and demographics of people in those areas. The design also included the trial of a new in-store "navigation scheme", which followed research showing that shoppers found M&S store layouts confusing and "difficult to shop [in]". It also confirmed that the amount of money-off promotions and deals offered would be increased, and that it would replace the Marks & Spencer label on clothing with "M&S Woman" and "M&S Man".[43]

text: By 2013, M&S's clothing division had an 11% market share in the UK.[44][45][46]

text: In May 2013 saw the launch of the Best of British range as well as the overhaul of Per Una and Indigo.[47] Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne became the new marketing director, succeeding Steven Sharp in July. Mark Bolland also vowed to bring "quality and style back" [45][46] M&S also stated it intended to increase its number of UK suppliers from the 20 it had at the time.[47]

text: In November 2013, it was revealed that Bill Adderley, founder of homeware chain Dunelm Group, had amassed a £250m stake in M&S over the past 18 months. This disclosure was made as stock market rules mean that any holding over 3 per cent share must be made public.[48]

text: On 7 January 2016 it was announced that Marc Bolland, who has been CEO since 2010 would step down on 2 April 2016, and be replaced by Steve Rowe, head of clothing, and previously head of the food business.[49]

text: 2015–16 store cull[edit]

text: Stores identified for closure in July 2015 included Woolwich, Walsall, Erdington, Aldershot (which was there since 1922), Pontypridd in Wales, Hounslow in west London, and Royal Quays in North Shields, the three full-line stores in Stevenage, Wood Green in north London, and The Fort shopping park in Castle Bromwich and the Simply Food in Castle Bromwich.[50][50][51][52][52] The Lewisham store also lost a floor.[50][50][51][52][52] The closures in 2015 also included three traditional food and clothing shops, one Simply Food store and four Outlet stores that sell end-of-season clothing.[50] Some 430 workers were affected by the closures.[50] The cull cost up to £200m to implement; the closure included loss-making stores in European markets such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as outposts in China.[50][50][51][52][52]

text: 2017–18 store cull[edit]

text: Several were smaller stores identified for closure in November 2017.[53][54] On 31 January 2018, fourteen stores were identified for closure. Stores due for closure in April included one of their oldest presences, that in the town centre of Birkenhead. Other stores due for closure, in the same month, were those in Bournemouth, Durham, Fforestfach, Putney and Redditch.[55] Meanwhile, eight other stores were earmarked for closure at a later date, pending consultation; those in Andover, Basildon, Bridlington, Falmouth, Fareham, Keighley, Stockport and an outlet store in Denton, Greater Manchester.[55][56]

text: Corporate affairs[edit]

text: Head office locations[edit]

text: The headquarters of M&S was for a hundred years at Michael House, 55 Baker Street, London. In 2004 the company moved to a new headquarters designed by mossessian & partners at Waterside House, in the new Paddington Basin, London.[57]

text: As well as the main offices in London, there are a number of other head office sites across the UK; Stockley Park (IT Services), Salford Quays and Spinningfields, Greater Manchester (Marks & Spencer Shared Services Ltd. which provides human resources, and finance administration)[58][59] and Chester (HSBC's M&S Money and Retail Customer Services).[60]

text: The company has overseas sourcing offices in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, China, Italy, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.[61]

text: Financial performance[edit]

text: M&S is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Financial performance has been as follows:[1]

text: Until 1999 M&S's financial year ended on 31 March. Since then, the company has changed to reporting for 52- or 53-week periods, ending on variable dates.

text:
Year ended
Turnover (£ M)
Profit before tax (£ M)
Net profit (£ M)
Basic eps (p)

1 April 2017
10,622.0
613.8
115.7
7.2

2 April 2016
10,555.4
488.8
404.4
24.9

28 March 2015
10,311.4
600.0
481.7
29.7

29 March 2014
10,309.7
580.4
506.0
32.5

30 March 2013
10,026.8
564.3
458.0
29.2

31 March 2012
9,934.3
658.0
489.6
32.5

2 April 2011
9,740.3
780.6
598.6
38.8

3 April 2010
9,536.6
702.7
523.0
33.5

28 March 2009
9,062.1
706.2
506.8
32.3

29 March 2008
9,022.0
1,129.1
821.0
49.2

31 March 2007
8,588.1
936.7
659.9
39.1

1 April 2006
7,797.7
745.7
520.6
36.4

2 April 2005
7,490.5
505.1
355.0
29.1

3 April 2004
8,301.5
781.6
452.3
24.2

29 March 2003
8,019.1
677.5
480.5
20.7

30 March 2002
8,135.4
335.9
153.0
5.4

31 March 2001
8,075.7
145.5
2.8
0.0

1 April 2000
8,195.5
417.5
258.7
9.0

31 March 1999
8,224.0
546.1
372.1
13.0

31 March 1998
8,243.3
1,155.0
815.9
28.6

31 March 1997
7,841.9
1,129.1
746.6
26.7

31 March 1996
7,233.7
965.8
652.6
455.8

text: While underlying sales of food rose 1.7%, sales of general merchandise - which includes clothing - fell 4.1% between May 2012 and May 2013. Chief executive Marc Bolland described the current market as "challenging".[44]

text: Social and environmental policy[edit]

text: "Look Behind the Label"[edit]

text: In 2006, the Look Behind the Label marketing campaign was introduced.[62] The aim of this campaign was to highlight to customers the various ethical and environmentally friendly aspects of the production and sourcing methods engaged in by M&S including: Fairtrade products, sustainable fishing and environmentally friendly textile dyes. All coffee and tea sold in M&S stores is now Fairtrade.[63] In addition, the company offers clothing lines made from Fairtrade cotton in selected departments.[64]

text: At Christmas, the company introduces a range of food products to support the housing charity Shelter.[65]

text: "Plan A"[edit]

text: On 15 January 2007, M&S launched an initiative, known as "Plan A",[66] to dramatically increase the environmental sustainability of the business within 5 years and expected to cost £200 million.[67]

text: The plan covers "100 commitments over 5 years to address the key social and environmental challenges facing M&S today and in the future" with the tag-line "Because there is no Plan B". The commitments span five themes: climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, 'fair partnership' and health,[66] with the aim that, by 2012, it will:[68]

text:
Become carbon neutral
Send no waste to landfill
Extend sustainable sourcing
Help improve the lives of people in their supply chain
Help customers and employees live a healthier life-style

text: Despite an 18% fall in the share price in January 2008, following publication of their latest trading statement, the company confirmed that they would be continuing with the plan, saying that there were 'compelling commercial — as well as moral — reasons to do so'.[69]

text: M&S introduced a reusable hessian bag in 2007 as part of the plan, aiming to reduce the number of plastic bags used within five years. This was followed in May 2008 by the introduction of a 5p charge for standard sized carrier bags used for food purchases (before this charge became compulsory).[66][70] All profits from the sale of food bags originally went to the charity Groundwork UK;[71] M&S launched the "Forever Fish" campaign in June 2011 and switched funding to that campaign to promote protection of marine wildlife in the UK.[72]

text: In becoming carbon neutral the company has committed to only use carbon offsetting as a last resort,[73] restricted to cases "where it is required by government or where the technology for green air or road transport will not be available for the foreseeable future".[74]

text: As of August 2008, M&S had three wind turbines in operation, one at Methlick and two near Strichen, generating enough power to supply three stores via the National Grid.[75] In April 2009 the company began purchasing 2.6 TWh of renewable energy (wind and hydroelectric) from Npower, enough to power all Marks & Spencer stores and offices in England and Wales.[76]

text: In 2012 the company was awarded European Business Award for the Environment (Management category) by the European Union for Plan A.[77]

text: Charity work[edit]

text: M&S has sold a wide range of charitable women's clothes for Breakthrough Breast Cancer[78] for many years and the Ashbourne store collected a total of £2,000 for a local Derbyshire hospital's new ECG machine in 2010.[79] In 2011 M&S launch Oxfam's clothes recycling initiative.[80]

text: On 29 July 2015, the company organised their first 'Spark Something Good' event as part of the 'Plan A' initiative. Hundreds of volunteers worked for "...24 hours on 24 projects" at a variety of charities across the UK.[81]

text: Senior management[edit]

text: The following have served as the Chairman of the company since it was founded:

text:
1884–1907: Michael Marks (set up first stall in Leeds in 1884)
1907–1916: William Chapman.[82]
1916–1964: Simon Marks (Lord Marks)
1964–1967: Israel Sieff (Lord Sieff)
1967–1972: Edward Sieff
1972–1984: Marcus Sieff (Lord Sieff)
1984–1991: Derek Rayner (Lord Rayner)
1991–1999: Sir Richard Greenbury
2000–2004: Luc Vandevelde
2004–2006: Paul Myners
2006–2009: Lord Burns
2009–2010: Sir Stuart Rose
2011 – present: Robert Swannell

text: Stores[edit]

text: UK and Ireland[edit]

text: The largest shop is at Marble Arch, on Oxford Street in London, which has around 16,000 square metres (170,000 sq ft) of shop floor. The second largest is in Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port, which is the largest outside London.[83] The third largest shop is at the Gemini Retail Park in Warrington. In 1999 M&S opened its shop in Manchester's Exchange Square, which was destroyed in the 1996 Manchester bombing and rebuilt. At re-opening, it was the largest M&S shop with 23,000 m2 (250,000 sq ft) of retail space, but half was subsequently sold to Selfridges, the company's second site in Manchester. The smallest branch is an outlet located in the Grainger Market in Newcastle upon Tyne.[84]

text: M&S has opened a number of stores at out of town locations since the trend to build shopping centres away from town centres became popular in the 1980s. The first was at the MetroCentre, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, which opened in 1986. Another notable example is the store at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre at Brierley Hill, West Midlands. This store opened on 23 October 1990 shortly after the closure of stores in the nearby town centres of Dudley and West Bromwich; the Merry Hill store was not originally intended to replace these two town centre stores, but both the Dudley and West Bromwich stores had experienced a downturn in trade as the opening of the Merry Hill store loomed, and both stores were closed on 25 August 1990.[85]

text: Before Christmas 2006, twenty-two M&S shops were open for 24-hour trading including the recently opened new retail park stores at Bolton Middlebrook and at the Abbey Centre, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.[86][87]

text: The company's website has received criticism for having its prices in Pound sterling and not in euro, and for providing a search for its Irish stores through a "UK Store Finder".[88] The Irish Times pointed out that M&S failed to explain why the company is in a position to deliver goods ordered from its website to Brazil, Argentina, Iraq and Afghanistan but not to Ireland. M&S did not comment.[89]

text: International[edit]

text: The company reopened its store in Paris on 24 November 2011, following the launch of a new French website on 11 October 2011.[90] In the Philippines there are 18 M&S shops, the largest of which is located in Greenbelt Mall. A new store opened on 17 April 2013 in Kalverstraat in Amsterdam, Netherlands, more than 10 years after closure of the previous store. On 17 September 2013 the British ambassador to the Netherlands, Sir Geoffrey Adams, opened the first Dutch Marks & Spencer Food pilot store at a BP petrol station in Bijleveld beside the A12 motorway.[91][92] There are over 300 stores in some 40 overseas locations.[93]

text: On 11 November 2013, Marks & Spencer announced "that it is set to have about 80 stores open in the region by 2016 as part of its strategy to become a leading international, multichannel retailer" with partner Reliance Retail.[94] It opened a flagship store in Bandra in Mumbai.[94] M&S sales of lingerie accounts for more than a fifth of the sales in the Indian market, with total lingerie sales increasing by a third during the last six months of 2013.[94] In May 2014 Marks & Spencer announced that their intention was now to open 100 stores in the country by 2016.[95]

text: In the Netherlands, as of 2015, M&S have a supermarket in the expensive Kalverstraat shopping street in Amsterdam, as well as a larger store including clothing in The Hague. A number of BP gas stations in the Western area of the Netherlands include M&S convenience food stores.[96] In 2016, M&S is due to open a much larger store in Amsterdam, with a direct underground link to a new metro station.[97]

text: Number of Marks & Spencer stores, as of 14 January 2016.[98]

text:
Africa

 Egypt: 4
 Libya: 2
 Morocco: 1

Oceania

 Australia: Online store only.
 New Zealand: Online store only.

Asia

 India: 58
 Hong Kong: 24
 Philippines: 24
 Saudi Arabia: 22
 Thailand: 17
 United Arab Emirates: 13
 Indonesia: 11
 China: 10
 Singapore: 9
 Malaysia: 8
 Kazakhstan: 4
 South Korea: 4
 Kuwait: 3
 Bahrain: 2
 Jordan: 2
 Macau: 2
 Qatar: 2
 Azerbaijan: 1
 Georgia: 1
 Oman: 1
 Pakistan: 1

Europe

 United Kingdom: 852
 Turkey: 48
 Russia: 37
 Greece: 27
 Czech Republic: 20
 Ireland: 17
 France: 14
 Cyprus: 13
 Poland: 12
 Ukraine: 10
 Slovakia: 8
 Finland: 6
 Hungary: 6
 Romania: 6
 Croatia: 5
 Spain: 5
 Malta: 4
 Bulgaria: 3
 Armenia: 1
 Estonia: 2
 Netherlands: 2
 Belgium: 1
 Gibraltar: 1
 Guernsey: 3
 Jersey: 1
 Latvia: 1
 Lithuania: 1
 Montenegro: 1
 Slovenia: 1
 Norway: 1

text: Store formats[edit]

text: Core shops[edit]

text: M&S core shops typically feature a selection of the company's clothing ranges and an M&S food hall. The range of clothing sold and the space given to it depends on the location and customer demographic (an example would be that some London shops do not stock the Classic Collection, but stock Limited Collection and a full Autograph range). Most core shops feature a Food hall.

text: New store format[edit]

text: A new store format designed by Urban Salon Architects was introduced in 2009.[99]

text: M&S Foodhall[edit]

text: All the St Michael Food hall supermarkets were renamed M&S Food hall when Marks & Spencer dropped the St Michael brand in 2000. Each M&S Foodhall sells groceries, which are all under the Marks & Spencer brand. However, in 2009 the company began selling a limited range of other brands, such as Coca-Cola and Stella Artois, without reducing the number of M&S goods they sold. This marked the first time in its 125-year history that Marks & Spencer had sold any brands other than its own.[100]

text: M&S introduced self check-out tills in the food-halls of a small number of trial stores in 2002. Self check-out was implemented in the general merchandise sections in three trial stores in 2006.[101]

text: Hospitality[edit]

text: Many large shops, such as Lisburn Sprucefield, Westfield, White City, Cribbs Causeway and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, also offer other hospitality outlets, such as a modern Deli Bar (champagne, canapés, seafood), Restaurant (table service—the first of which was opened in Newcastle) M&S Kitchen (traditional home cooking & lunches) or Hot Food To Go (burgers, chips, soups). Many of these outlets are run in conjunction with Compass Group under franchise arrangements.[102]

text: Home stores[edit]

text: In 2007, M&S announced that new, dedicated shops for home furnishings were to be launched. Shops have now been opened in Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, Tunbridge Wells in Kent, Lisburn Sprucefield in Northern Ireland[103] and in the Barton Square section of The Trafford Centre, Manchester.[104]

text: Outlet stores[edit]

text: As of 2010, M&S have 50 outlet stores and growth expansion plans for future.[105] The Outlet division offers M&S products with the majority of them discounting at least 30% from the original selling price.[106] The first of these stores opened at Ashford in Kent in 2000. Many of the Outlet shops are in locations such as retail parks and outlet centres, though some, including the shop in Woolwich, South London[107] and Newton Abbot, Devon were previously main M&S shops which converted to the Outlet format. Meadow Bank Outlet Store in Edinburgh became the model for all the Marks and Spencer Outlet shop in the early months of 2010. There are now also stores which combine a mainline M&S store and an Outlet store to create a store which offers both the main current full-price M&S ranges and the discounted Outlet ranges: one such store is at the Lewisham Shopping Centre, where the previously closed upper level of the M&S store was reopened in January 2009 as an Outlet format sub-store;[108]

text: M&S Simply Food[edit]

text: M&S launched a convenience format, branded Simply Food in 2001, with the first stores opening in Twickenham and Surbiton. The stores predominantly sell food but also carry a small selection of general merchandise.[109]

text: A number of these are run under franchise agreements:

text:
SSP Group runs the stores at mainline railway stations and airports.[110]
Moto has stores at 37 of its motorway service stations.[111]
BP has over 120 petrol stations with Simply Food offerings.[112]

text: Orders from M&S accounted for more than half of Uniq's food product supplies to UK retailers in 2010 after several years service as a major M&S food product supplier.[113]

text: In 2011 it was noted that M&S were operating express pricing; i.e., charging more in their Simply Food branches than in regular branches. A spokesperson stated that "prices are a little higher than at our high street stores but this reflects the fact that these stores are open longer and are highly convenient for customers on the move".[114]

text: The Simply Food brand has been phased out in all stand-alone larger stores since the rebrand in 2015 and the stores have now been branded as "M&S Foodhall."[115]

text: Online services[edit]

text: Products could be ordered online since the mid-2000s, in response to Tesco launching their pioneering Tesco.com home shopping delivery service in the early 2000s. Both Tesco, M&S and others are expanding rapidly into this new niche market.[116] The online flower service was accused of unfair trading and using Google to piggy-back advertise on online searches aimed at Interflora online in 2010.[117]

text: The John Lewis shopping chain beat M&S to the title of the UK's best high-street website by late 2010.[118]

text: As of May 2013, the Republic of Ireland now handles more than 50% of online trade.[44][45][46]

text: Product line history[edit]

text: The company's ranges include clothing for men, woman and children, as well as home products and food.[119] Within these ranges, M&S use a number of own brands, such as those used within its womenswear division, including Indigo Collection Junior, Indigo Collection and Portfolio. Indigo Collection is aimed at women over 30s, while Portfolio is aimed at those aged over 45. By 2010, M&S had 10 sub-brands within womenswear and 6 sub-brands within menswear, following a reduction in brands.[39]

text: Marks & Spencer were selling clothes under the St Margaret and St Michael label by the mid-1950s and launched their school uniforms in the early 1950s, but would be scrapped in the early 2000s as part of the corporate modernisation plan.[12]

text: Within Marks & Spencer's food ranges, it first pioneered boil-in-the-bag and sachet meals in 1972. The company also sells main meals, lunches, sweets and other savoury items. It launched its "Percy Pigs" sweets in 1995,[120] and the billionth "Percy Pig" sweet was sold by October 2007.[12] M&S also has an extensive wine and beer range,[121] which was first started in 1973.[12] In 2006 and 2007, M&S entered over a hundred of its own wines into two wine competitions, The Decanter World Wine Awards and the International Wine Challenge. Both years, almost every wine won an award, ranging from the 2005 Secano Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley, Chile (Best Pinot Noir in the world for under £10) to the Rosada Cava (Commended).[122]

text: M&S's relatively successful interior design 'Home' brand was launched in 2005 and featured products like vases, furniture and beds.[12]

text: The children's online only 'Living the Dream' range of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen memorabilia and merchandise was launched in September 2009.[123][124] Merchandise also relating to fellow racing driver Jenson Button was added to the range during April 2010.[125]

text: M&S launched its "Plus Fit" range for overweight children in selected stores in July 2010. It has proven to be a popular line.[126]

text: Per Una[edit]

text: "Per Una" was launched on 28 September 2001 as a joint venture between M&S and Next founder George Davies with the contribution of Julie Strang. The Per Una brand has been a major success for the company,[127] and in October 2004, M&S bought the brand in a £125 million, two-year service contract with George Davies.[128] Mr Davies was to stay on for at least two years to run the company, with 12 months notice required if he wished to leave.[127][128]

text: Old labels[edit]

text: The "St Michael" brand was introduced by Simon Marks in 1928 in honour of his father and co-founder of Marks & Spencer, Michael Marks. By 1950, virtually all goods were sold under the St Michael brand. M&S lingerie, women's clothing and girls' uniform were branded under the St Margaret brand, until the whole range of general merchandise became St Michael.[12] The synthetic fibre Tricell was first used in 1957 and lasted until the 1970s.[12] and another synthetic fibre called Courtelle was first launched, nationally, by Marks & Spencer during 1960 and also lasted well into the 1970s.[12] Machine washable wool first appeared in 1972 and Lycra hosiery first came in during 1986.[12]

text: M&S launched their own brands of domestic products, such as washing powder and aluminium foil in 1972, under the brand name of 'House-care'.[12] The 1996–1997 'Orient Express Tagged' brand was the first of numerous new brands, most of which were in feminine and children's clothes. The 'Orient Express Tagged' brand was part of the inspiration behind the 'Portfolio' brand.[12] The men's Autograph brand was then launched in 2000[12] and continues to this day.[129]

text: In 2004, Sir Stuart Rose axed a number of brands including the menswear brand "SP Clothing", the "View From" sportswear range, the David Beckham children's range "DB07" and several food lines as he thought the company's stock inventory management had become 'too complicated'.[37][38][130] A version of Per Una aimed at teenagers, "Per Una Due", was also discontinued, despite having launched earlier in the year, due to poor sales.[37][38][131]

text: The company also began to sell branded goods like Kellogg's Corn Flakes in November 2008.[4] Following a review by Marc Bolland in 2011, M&S confirmed it would begin to reduce the number of branded items on sale, instead offering only those that it did not have an M&S alternative for.[132]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: New logo[edit]

text: During the height of the company's troubles at the beginning of the 21st century, the St Michael brand used as the selling label for all M&S products was discontinued in favour of Marks & Spencer and a new logo in the Optima typeface was introduced and began to appear in place of St Michael on product packaging. The same logo was also applied to store fascias and carrier bags. The St Michael name was subsequently adopted as a 'quality guarantee' and appeared as the St Michael Quality Promise on the back of food products, on the side of delivery vehicles and on in-store ordering receipts. This has since been phased out, although receipts for made-to-order furniture still feature this 'seal of approval' on the bottom.

text: Your M&S[edit]

text: When Steve Sharp joined as marketing director in 2004, after being hired by new Chief Executive Sir Stuart Rose, he introduced a new promotional brand under the Your M&S banner, with a corresponding logo.[133]

text: High-profile media campaigns[edit]

text: M&S has always run newspaper and/or Magazine ads since the early 1950s, but the introduction of some famous stars such as Twiggy[134][135] and David Jason in various TV ads has helped raise the company's profile. Twiggy first appeared in 1967, returning later in 1995 and 2005. Anne Grierson[12] first featured in adverts during the late 1950s and most of the 1960s. In later years, Erin O'Connor,[134] Myleene Klass,[134] Tanja Nadjila, Peter Kay, David Beckham,[12] Antonio Banderas,[12] Claudia Schiffer,[12] Helena Christensen,[12] Tatjana Patitz,[12] Lisa Snowdon, Dannii Minogue, V V Brown and Carmen Kass have also featured in a few ads, along with many others.[12] John Sergeant, David Jason and Joanna Lumley have either appeared in or voiced over adverts since 2008.[12]

text: The new look has been instrumental in the company's recent resurgence, particularly with the success of a new clothing campaign featuring the celebrated model, Twiggy, and younger models associated with the bohemian styles of 2005–6, and the new TV ad campaign for its food range. These adverts have the tag-line "This is not just food, this is M&S food" and feature slow motion, close-up footage of various food products, described in a sultry voice-over by Dervla Kirwan, to an enticing instrumental song — most notably Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" as well as Santana's "Samba Pa Ti", Olly Murs' "Busy", Groove Armada's "At the River" or Spandau Ballet's "True". These adverts have been referred to by both fans and critics as being food porn, with a number of other companies copying the idea, such as Aldi and, most recently, Waitrose.[136]

text: The 2009 TV advertising campaign drew complaints, leading to national press coverage, regarding sexism.[137]

text: In 2010, it was confirmed that Dannii Minogue would be one of the new faces of Marks & Spencer. She filmed her first commercial in South Africa, which featured Cheryl Lynn's "Got to Be Real", for their Spring campaign that aired on 24 March.[138] Dannii travelled to Miami, Florida in January 2011 to shoot the commercial for M&S for the 2011 Spring collection, prior to her contractual termination. In August 2011, M&S announced the new faces of their campaigns would be Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Ryan Reynolds and David Gandy.[139]

text: Marks & Spencer dropped a series of planned television adverts in the July 2011, featuring Twiggy, Dannii Minogue and VV Brown as it started its corporate image revamp. It confirmed that Twiggy, Lisa Snowden and Jamie Redknapp would return for future advertising.[140]

text: On 31 March 2014, M&S launched the new iteration of its 'Leading Ladies' marketing campaign featuring figures including Emma Thompson, Annie Lennox, Rita Ora and Baroness Lawrence.[141]

text: Controversies[edit]

text: Israel[edit]

text: Marks & Spencer has been criticised by pro-Palestinian activists over what they claim is its past support for Zionism, and for fruit trading with Israel.[142] A shop in Brighton was vandalised in 2004 with pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist graffiti.[143]

text: The company states, "We deal with politicians and officials, in government and opposition. We do not support or align ourselves to political parties and make no political donations".[144]

text: Comprehensive Spending Review[edit]

text: In October 2010, chairman Sir Stuart Rose was a signatory to a controversial letter to The Daily Telegraph[145] which claimed that "The private sector should be more than capable of generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public sector, and the redeployment of people to more productive activities will improve economic performance, so generating more employment opportunities", despite recent job cuts of 1,000 staff.[146] This prompted calls for a boycott of Marks & Spencer and the companies represented by the other signatories to the letter.[147]

text: Contactless payment issues[edit]

text: Some Marks & Spencer customers claim that the chain's contactless payment terminals have taken money from cards other than the ones intended for payment. Contactless cards are supposed to be within about 4 cm of the front of the terminal to work. M&S investigated the incident and confirmed the new system had been extensively tested and was robust. It had recently rolled out the contactless payments system, provided by Visa Europe, to 644 UK stores.[148]

text: Muslim checkout-staff policy[edit]

text: In December 2013, Marks & Spencer announced that Muslim checkout staff in the UK could refuse to sell pork products or alcohol to customers at their till.[149] The policy was announced after at least one news outlet reported that customers waiting with goods that included pork or alcohol were refused service, and were told by a Muslim checkout worker to wait until another till became available.[150] The policy applied across all 703 UK M&S stores and prompted a strong backlash by customers.[151]

text: A company spokesman subsequently apologised and stated that they will attempt to reassign staff whose beliefs may impact their work to different departments, such as clothing.[152]