I have created a prezi presentation on blogging for teachers.
You can access it here.
Blogging for Teachers
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OCR Business f297 Case Study 2010- LCL
The most common questions that come up on the F297/2880 paper seem to be as follows:
- Recommend an action to meet an objective
- Assess the impact of some external factor or date
- Assess the usefulness of a particular tool or recommend a tool for making a decision eg critical path analysis if they need to meet a deadline
- How do stakeholders view the firm (is it successful)? What impact do stakeholders have? How are stakeholders affected by the firm?
- Should they or shouldn’t they implement some plan or other?
- How might they implement some culture change or change in practice involving employees. This comes up in a number of ways.
You should therefore think about the possible questions you might be asked in relation to LCL and how you might answer them. In particular think about how you might make a judgement.
I will attached a file with lots of past paper questions to this post.
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AS/A2 Business Evaluation Questions
Below are a list of question types that are typically found in AS and A2 questions. For a2 questions the type is not usually as clear and they are often a combination.
…IMPACT OF SOMETHING
Analyse by explaining the likely consequences of some change to the businesses situation or environment.
Evaluate by explaining
-
The importance of the size/duration/scale of the change in determining the extent of the impact
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How the situation prior to the change influences the impact of the change (resources, success etc)
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What other things might also change at the same time changing the expected impact
…RECOMMEND AN ACTION
Analyse by explain what the firm should do, why, and the consequences of it in relation to their objectives, constraints and resources
Evaluate by explaining
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The most important action that they should undertake
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What success of the different strategies will depend on and how likely to be successful
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The constraints they face in choosing what to do (resources/environment etc)
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short v long term actions
…ASSESS THE REASONS FOR
Analyse by explaining the possible causes of a situation or decision
Evaluate by explaining
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What you think the main cause is and why
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What is the biggest concern in the short/long term
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Possible solutions
…USEFUL/USELESS
Analyse by explaining benefits and limitations of a business tool.
Evaluate by explaining
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Main benefit in given situation
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What the usefulness might depend on (skill, implementation, data etc)
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More useful if…
…STAKEHOLDERS
Analyse by explaining importance/influence of/on different stakeholders
Evaluate by explaining
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Most important/significant group
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Different Perspectives, values and objectives
SRCL Model Answers – f292 Business Summer 2010
Below are two model answers to questions based on the SRCL case study.
Analyse the possible reasons for the change in the figures labour turnover figures
The change in the figures is very significant – 18.3% 2008-2009 compared to 4.9% in 2005-2006. The figure also doubled in the last year.
One factor is the aging workforce. 28% of the firm’s workforce are over 56. This makes it more likely that they will retire at some point and the work is also very physical increasing the likelihood of early retirement. The age profile of the workforce is getting older meaning that the numbers retiring will increase – increasing the the labour turnover figure. However, some employees do stay on past 65 (5), and retirements alone cannot account for such a big jump in the figures as only approximately 3% of the workforce will reach 65 in anyone year and 18.3% are leaving.
A factor is also attitude and skill of the workers being taken on. They lack the skill to complete the training and they lack the desire to do hard physical work in difficult conditions. These two factors combined will also increase the number leaving and therefore labour turnover. Although these factors would not explain the sudden jump in turnover as social factors such as these do not change so suddenly.
The final factor is the introduction of the new machinery. This has taken some of the job satisfaction out of the job and affected motivation of workers. This has been the key change in the last couple of years and therefore may be the reason for the jump combined with the aging workforce who feel threatened by the new technology and are perhaps choosing to retire rather than learn how to use the new equipment.
Analyse how SRCL might change the marketing mix if they decide to diversify and target the super rich.
The marketing mix shows the key factors that influence the consumers buying decision.
SRCL currently sell mainly business to business, and as a subcontractor. They have worked on Palaces and listed buildings. This suggests that in terms of the product that they offer they should appeal to the super rich who want the best that is available. It may be that they need to change some of the materials that they use to make them more appropriate for domestic dwellings (although the rich customers that they might target are likely to live in quite grand places) and they might need to look at what is fashionable at the moment in terms of home design. They should offer a discount service made from concrete. However their USP is likely to be their “heritage” service and they probably want to emphasize this to attract customers.
SRCL already charge high prices that reflect the service that they offer as bespoke and of the highest quality. They should increase their prices because rich people will perceive it as better quality and buy more. They probably would not require any sort of discount strategy given that they will be targeting the super rich whose prime concern will be quality.
They will need to make their new target market aware of the product. The best way to do this might be by targeting firms of architects who would actually be doing the design work. Trying to target the end customer is likely to be too expensive, hit and miss and impractical. They should advertise on TV as this will reach their target market. They should advertise on in the national press as this will reach their target market. Promotion might be through specialist trade press and Trade Exhibitions. Good public relations through some celebrity receiving their service might also boost demand.
In terms of PLACE they are already located in an area with a large number of potential rich customers in the South-East. They should open up new branches in posh areas. They should establish whether there is profitable demand for the service before the think about relocation or new branches.
In the exam you would not want to try and cover every aspect of the marketing mix because your answer would therefore lack depth. Better to develop 2 or 3 points in depth.
F297 a2 business homework
The homework for this week is to complete the question:
Should George accept the order from Major (Retired) Rupert Doodes? Justify your view.
OR
Evaluate the factors George should consider when deciding whether or not to accept the order from Major (Retired) Rupert Doodes.
You should structure your answer by thinking about the following issues:
It is worth carrying out the order? – profit, growth etc
Can they carry it out? – resources, capacity etc
Should they do it? -objectives, ethics, identifying most important issues and constraints.
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Revision Questions for OCR BUSINESS F291
Below are some revision questions for F291.
1. Explain 2 benefits and 2 limitations of a partnership
2. Explain the impact of a shortage in supply of holidays abroad.
3. Identify the factors that would influence demand for Royal Mail Services
4. Explain the impact of demographic changes on demand for holidays
5. Explain how the objectives of different stakeholder in Tesco might conflict.
6. Define the term added value.
7. Explain how a business such as Levi Strauss adds value.
8. Identify 2 sources of finance for the post office
a. Short term
b. Medium term
c. Long term
9. What factors determine the most appropriate source of finance?
10. Which business would have the most serious cashflow issues – post office, thomas cook, tesco
11. Discuss how workforce planning might be of use to the post office.
[categories:
ASBUS, A2BUS}
Quality – f292 summer 2010
Homework
Homework for you first lesson next week is :
Recommend how SRCL might seek to protect its reputation for quality. [16]
You can find this question in your APT notes. Make sure you read around the issue before you attempt the question.
The approach to quality is not mentioned in the case study but we are told that there is “re-work”. This relates to the work that is returned for more work before it can be fitted on site. This might be because it was not to the required specification or that the specification was wrong. This is a quality problem because if you don’t properly understand what the customer wants you cannot deliver a quality product – in the customer eyes it will not be fit for purpose therefore not good quality. It could also be that because of the nature of the work that they do on old buildings etc. that it is impossible to exactly specify the exact measurements or requirements until the piece is in place alongside the existing stonework. The reason for the rework is not stated in the case though so we do not really know.
One of the factors that particular impacts quality is motivation.
Hertberg talks on the videos below about making workers responsible for self-checking. You would expect highly skilled craftsmen to check their own work so this might be the case at SRCL already.. The rework problem means that this might not be true.
Links
Great Q&A links on operations from Tutor2u
Learning Objectives
• Discuss quality in terms of what the customer demands
• It is important to be able to justify how and why a business might seek to improve quality in a given situation
• Assess different approaches to monitoring quality including the difference between traditional quality control techniques and modern methods of quality assurance (inspection v. Prevention)
• Consideration may be given to Jidoka as a tool for inspection
• Evaluate the benefits to efficiency of using continuous built-in quality techniques
• Quality Circles is just one example of a built-in technique that involves all levels of employees in a business
• Show understanding of the role of training and employee development in achieving quality objectives
• Discuss the impact on motivation of different quality approaches
• Demonstrate understanding of the different ways of measuring quality standards, including benchmarking, iso standards and uk/eu legislation
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