BUSS4 Essay Technique - PEEing throughout the Paper
In this part of our guide to BUSS4 essay technique, I’ll suggest an acronym (PEE) which students may find effective in helping them build a well-constructed and argued essay.
read more...»Strategy in the UK Recession - What 69 UK CEOs Did About It
There are some fascinating surveys coming out at the moment, and another one has just landed in my inbox from my former colleagues at PricewaterhouseCoopers. This one - the UK Snapshot from the 13th Annual Global CEO Survey - is a fantastic research resource for students preparing for BUSS4 in June 2010 and January 2011.
read more...»BUSS4 Essay Technique - Big Mac or Hamburger & Fries?
Which two of these images represents the best format for an effective essay in the BUSS4 exams?
read more...»BUSS4 Essay Technique - An Invitation to an Argument
When a board of directors meets to discuss an important business decision, they might as well be answering a typical question in Section A or Section B of the AQA BUSS4 paper. For an “item on the agenda”, read “essay question”. The subsequent introduction by the Chairman, discussion and analysis of the issue, followed by a concluding vote is a great structure to remember as you get to grips with practising some BUSS4 essay questions.
read more...»Marketing in a recession: more focus on brand advertising and product enhancements
Here is another example to add to Jim’s blog entries this week about the value of increasing marketing spend during a recession: according to Flexnews, Kellogg’s reported that it is increasing its spending on advertising this year as a means of re-investment in its brands. Its spending in 2009 was already a massive 9% of its $12.6 billion in global net sales revenue, compared to an estimate of only 5% for its nearest competitor, and the company also reports that, with ‘deflation’ in media (ie reduced costs for using the media) then the value that they can get from that spending is enhanced. Chief Operating Officer John Bryant also said that, having tripled their spending on advertising in social media such as Facebook, they will continue to focus on this area. In order to convince customers of the added value from Kelloggs’ products there is also strong emphasis on renovating their portfolio of products to reflect the importance of nutrition and health. The company is working to reduce trans fatty acids, salt and sugar in foods and also identified the need to add fibre in its breakfast cereals, with studies showing that 9 out of 10 children in the US do not eat enough fibre in their diets.
Top ten brand values
For those who love lists, the Daily Telegraph features the top ten most valuable brands in the world, headed by Walmart which is valued at $41.4bn. The top ten does feature two British brands - HSBC and Vodafone - and you have to wonder how long Toyota will be able to remain at number ten, with the constant drain on their reputation of more and more recalls.
The list is compiled by BrandDirectory, which is “an online encyclopedia of brands where financial results, visual identities, trademark histories and the latest marketing news will be compiled and shared” - you can use it to research thousands of brands, by name, by country and by sector. Brand values are calculated as “the net present value of the estimated future cash flows attributable to the Brand”. For example a look at their record for M&S shows that their brand value is reckoned to have risen over the last year from $3,640 to $4,285, and the website gives their market capitalisation for the last 2 years as well. This could be worth using for students researching the recent experience of particular brands in relation to their preparation for the BUSS4 unit.
Business strategies as we emerge from the recession
A quick heads up on a five-part, daily series in the FT this coming week which examines the strategic options for UK businesses as they emerge from the recession.
It starts with a look at how business and marketing planning has been made harder for B2C firms by the increasingly unpredictable nature of UK consumers.
“In a series of investigations over the next five days, the Financial Times will examine the dilemmas companies face – from how to get finance to what to do about supply chains and opportunities for green business”
People without a subscription to FT.com will probably hit the FT’s paywall with this link, but here it is anyway. Might be worth getting the FT print edition this week for this series though.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/54ac38da-1406-11df-8847-00144feab49a,s01=1.html
AQA BUSS4 Section B Practice Question - Dyson
During 2002 and 2003, entrepreneur Sir James Dyson transferred all of his business’ manufacturing activities to factories located close to hsi firm’s main suppliers in Malaysia. The decision resulted in the loss of over 800 jobs in the UK. However, the research & development activities of the business remained in the UK along with sales and marketing functions supporting the growing global brand. The decision seems to have paid off for Sir James. He controls the bulk of shares in his main holding company, which is unquoted and highly profitable and his net worth is valued at more than £500m by rich list compilers.
To what extent should strategic decision-making be mainly determined by the interests of shareholders rather than the broader range of stakeholders. Justify your answer with reference to Dyson or other businesses that you know. (40 marks).
read more...»AQA BUSS4 Section B Practice Question - ITV & News Corp
In August 2009, ITV plc sold website Friends Reunited for just £25m - four years after buying the social network site for £175m. Created by the merger of Carlton and Granada in 2004, ITV’s acquisition was similar to deals done at the same time by other traditional media companies looking to expand into emerging digital markets in order to bolster weak advertising revenues. In July 2005, News Corp, the company run by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, paid £550m to buy social networking site MySpace. However, in recent years, websites such as Friends Reunited and MySpace have experienced declining traffic and revenues as they have been overtaken by innovative sites wuch as Facebook and Twitter.
To what extent should large, established companies focus on organic rather than acquisitive growth as a way of exploiting opportunities in fast-growing markets? Justify your answer by reference to ITV, News Corp or other businesses that you know. (40 marks).
read more...»AQA BUSS4 Section B Practice Question - BAA & the Heathrow Third Runway
In January 2009 the Government gave the go-ahead to BAA building of a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Subject to meeting environmental criteria, the new runway should be built by 2020, adding an estimated 400 flights a day at Heathrow and increasing annual passenger numbers through the airport from 66 million to around 82 million. The decision was welcomed by British Airways, the Confederation of Business Industry and the Trades Union Congress, but is strongly opposed by environmental campaigners and some local community groups.
With reference to the main stakeholders in the construction of a third runway at Heathrow, to what extent do you believe that the decision is in the best interests of BAA? (40 marks).
read more...»AQA BUSS4 Section B Practice Question - Royal Bank of Scotland
In 2007 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and two other European banks (the Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis and Banco Santander of Spain) paid more than €71bn to acquire Dutch bank ABN Amro. The consortium paid three times the book value of ABN-Amro, which at the time was already expensive for a bank based in a mature European country. Two years later, RBS and Fortis were both nationalised as part of a bank bailout, partly due to the heavy losses incurred by ABN-Amro. Using the example of RBS or another business you know, discuss whether large-scale takeovers inevitably lead to a loss of value for shareholders of the acquiring company. (40 marks).
read more...»Government support for apprenticeships
Offering apprenticeships is one way that businesses can go about training new employees in practical skills. However they are also often criticised as simply a cheap way of hiring labour for a couple of years, with no guarantee of employment for the apprentice at the end of the training period. The government is trying to increase the number of apprenticeships on offer as one way of tackling youth unemployment and the skills gap that we have in the UK economy, by offering grants to small businesses who take on an apprentice. This video report looks at the history of apprenticeships, with some lovely footage from the sixties, and the benefits that the scheme could bring, along with the fact that there is still no guarantee of a full-time job at the end of it, and so could be useful for students of both unit 2, looking at recruitment and training, and unit 4 looking at the relationship between business and government.
read more...»UK Recession - Some Winners and Losers
Here’s a useful stimulus resource from the Telegraph that would be good scene-setter for students embarking upon their research for BUSS4 in June 2010 / Jan 2011. The article attempts to identify a series of winners and losers from the recent recession in the UK. Its a mixture of personalities, businesses and industries. But useful none-the-less
View Winners and Losers from the UK Recession
AQA BUSS4 - Research Theme for 2010 - UK Recession
The AQA BUSS4 research theme for the June 2010 and January 2011 sittings has been released. The theme is The Recent Recession in the UK.
read more...»Leadership sets the culture for a thriving retail brand
Wow - this article is just made for students who would appreciate an up-to-date, but definitely non-textbook example of how to use HRM effectively in a retail business…
read more...»Introducing business and the economic environment with Darling’s debt dilemma
I really like this cartoon version of the impossible task facing the Chancellor as he prepares his budget. How to solve the riddle of balancing out the need for spending with the need to raise revenue in order to repay the borrowing - which could be seen as a mega-version of how to cope with cash flow problems. This animated cartoon, which runs through the figures and the options, would be a good introduction to the issues and could start off a discussion about the impacts on businesses and their customers over the next few years. The BBC’s Recession Tracker gives up-to-date figures for all the key indicators of inflation, unemployment, gdp growth and so on, providing good back up, and the ‘UK Economy’ page has good coverage and comment on the latest developments.
BUSS4 Stakeholders Resource
There is loads and loads of material out there to teach stakeholders. However, I always aim to try and get a hook which the kids find relevant and can relate to.
There was a brilliant interview on BBC sport recently by Adam Pearson, the Chairman of Hull City football club about the previous mis-management of the finances and the subsequent need to ‘trim’ £8 million off the wage bill. Its an amazing interview and perfect for getting students thinking about possible stakeholder conflicts especially when he talks about the need to move lots of players out in the summer (for which he apologies to the supporters, a key stakeholder group).
The link can be found here.
External influences - supermarkets reducing promotions on alcohol
The Grocer magazine reports that major supermarkets have fewer promotions on alcohol this January than they did a year ago. The trend was most noticeable at Asda, where alcohol makes up 13% of all promotions compared with 26% last year, and on average the proportion has fallen from 26% to 22%. Meanwhile promotions on fruit and vegetables have risen from 11.5% a year ago to 14% now (and in Morrsons, from zero to 2%). Last week the proposals to limit pubs in the number and type of promotions that they were allowed to offer to encourage drinkers (women drink free, all you can drink for £10 and so on) were criticised because they applied to pubs and clubs only and would have no effect on cut-price promotions from retailers of alcohol. Perhaps the supermarkets are opting to cut the number of price promotions that they offer in order to try to avoid regulation being applied to them - last week, Health Secretary Andy Burnham hinted the government was considering minimum pricing to tackle “ludicrously cheap booze”.
Revision Quiz - Inflation
Here is a revision quiz which tests business student understanding of inflation.
Launch interactive revision quiz on inflation
Download SCORM-VLE import file (zip)
Revision Quiz - Government Spending & Taxation
This revision quiz provides 10 questions drawn at random to help AQA BUSS4 students test their understanding of government spending and taxation
Launch interactive quiz on government spending and taxation
Download SCORM-compliant VLE import file
Revision Quiz - Interest Rates and Monetary Policy
This revision quiz tests student knowledge and understanding of interest rates and monetary policy
Launch interactive quiz on Interest Rates and Monetary Policy
Download SCORM-VLE Import file (zip)
Revision Quiz - Unemployment
This revision quiz tests business students on essential knowledge of unemployment:
Launch interactive quiz on Unemployment
Download SCORM-VLE download import file
Retrenchment and capacity cutting at Blacks Leisure - and then expansion again?
This could be a useful story for AQA unit 4. Blacks Leisure, who own the 208 Millets and 13 Freespirit stores as well as the 92 Blacks stores selling outdoor clothing and equipment, announced their results for the 6 months to 7 January yesterday. Although half-year sales fell 3% to £98.9m, the company had closed 87 loss-making stores in November and the sales figures excluding those stores - the like-for-like sales at the remaining stores – were up 12%, showing that a policy of cutting capacity can turn around business results very effectively.
read more...»Emerging Markets - How NOT to set up a business in China
This is hilarious - but also packed full with great insights for AQA (BUSS4) students or others wanting to learn more about the potential downsides and risks of setting up a business in China. The article describes the painful experiences of a UK entrepreneur who set out to make his fortune in China - making and then exporting scooters. Well worth a read, and a great source of discussion with students. Lots of scope for follow-up activities too - what could have been done differently?
On the road for BUSS1 & BUSS3
We’re on the road with visits this week to Fulham Broadway, Birmingham and Salford Quays as part tutor2u’s revision workshop programme for AQA Business Studies. Two packed screens today at Fulham where the students worked incredibly hard during 5 hours of intensive exam coaching for the BUSS1 and BUSS3 exams in January 2010. We return to the same venues in the last week of April 2010 + a day at Cribbs Causeway Bristol for one-day exam preparation on BUSS2 and BUSS4 (2010 pre-release).
Emerging Markets - Lessons from Four Success Stories
The FT ran a series of four short articles in early 2009 (now behind their paywall) describing the experiences of four businesses who had successfully entered emerging international markets.
In this streamed revision presentation, we have highlighted some of the key learning points from those articles - factors to for businesses to consider as they evaluate the opportunities and threats, risks and rewards from investing in emerging markets such as Brazil, India and China.
Launch revision presentation on Lessons from Four Success Stories
Emerging Markets Case Study - Mothercare International Expansion
Its sometimes quite tricky finding well-resourced examples of international expansion - but this is a good one. Mothercare has quietly adopted a strategy of repositioning its group by focusing on expansion into emerging markets like India, Russia and China using its two “global brands” (Mothercare and Early Learning Centre). It has set itself an objective of opening at least 100 international stores every year, using the franchise model of operation.
This streamed revision presentation provides a collection of stimulus materials which students could use to discuss Mothercare’s strategy. I have brought together some materials from a variety of sources, including press cuttings, annual reports and analyst presentations.
Launch streamed presentation on Mothercare’s International Expansion Strategy
Emerging Markets - 10 Tips on Successful Market Entry Strategy
PA Consulting’s head of emerging markets Dean White has contributed a recent article to The Times Business Section on how to expand into emerging markets. The article gives a ten point guide on how to overcome the risks that come with trying to expand overseas…
read more...»Diversification strategy : Tesco opts for own-label banking
An excellent article in The Guardian today would provide lots of scope for a good business strategy lesson for the Year 13s…
read more...»The agile business - what it takes to achieve successful change
Change management is an important feature of some A2 business specs and this piece of research from the CIPD provides a useful insight for students into what it takes for a business to achieve succesful change…
read more...»
