Marks & Spencer Chairman Calls the Shots as Amazon Looms

Marks & Spencer Group Plc Chairman Archie Norman broke with convention when he arrived at the U.K. retailer’s London headquarters last year, turning down a private office and positioning his desk prominently out in the open. From his perch in the engine room of a once-proud British institution that’s fallen on hard times, Norman quickly started asking questions about things he didn’t like: Why was it selling hoity-toity venison steaks but not the humble shepherd’s pie? “Our middle name is ‘false dawn,’” Norman, 64, said at a media briefing.