A Mars A Day The Original Recipe Way

Six thousand complaints within a week has forced Masterfoods to do a U-turn on its decision to use ingredients which contain traces of animal enzymes.

Is this a business responding to the wishes consumers?

Led by the Vegetarian Society, and armed with a petition signed by forty MPs, the successful campaign means that vegetarians will once again be able to enjoy Mars Bars, Maltesers, Galaxy and a host of other Masterfoods products. 

Depending upon who you believe this could be used as an example of a business which is customer focused, or alternatively it could be used to prompt a discussion on the influence of pressure groups and stakeholders on a business.

Of course the more cynical amongst us might argue it’s a case of a business worried about the impact on profit levels.

Whatever your view, this is a useful example which can be brought into a number of topic areas that feature on the new GCSE Specifications.  This video might be a useful summary for the classroom.

Rising to the top of the milk [22 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Measuring and Increasing Profit [17 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Calculating and Measuring Profit [13 May 2012]
Shareholders join the Pressure Groups as Banks Feel the Heat from Stakeholders [27 Apr 2012]
Vodafone and Cable and Wireless Worldwide [25 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Mission, Aims, Objectives and Stakeholders [7 Apr 2012]
Business legislation, Sunday trading, stakeholders and the Olympics [18 Mar 2012]
BUSS4 - Bullet point 5 the impact on stakeholders [17 Feb 2012]
Glenstrata - Glencore proposes merger with Xstrata [3 Feb 2012]
Leadership - Tough decisions to turn Starbucks around [29 Jan 2012]
Still more praise for the “John Lewis model” [17 Jan 2012]
Online marketing at children [19 Dec 2011]
Empty Shelves at Sainsbury’s - You Decide! [27 Nov 2011]
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Gerald Ratner [27 Nov 2011]
Stakeholders argue over executive pay [23 Nov 2011]
Cut price cup cake deal goes wrong…... [22 Nov 2011]
Unilever hit by rising costs [6 Nov 2011]
Banana Smoothies & Interest Rates [5 Nov 2011]
Car Wars - VW v Greenpeace [17 Oct 2011]
Profits dive and put pressure on liquidity - the Distress Monitor [29 Sep 2011]
Lesson activity - the Dyson Debate [29 Sep 2011]
Stakeholders gripped by the bad news coming from BAE Systems [28 Sep 2011]
CSR - 40 Years of Upsetting Big Business [15 Sep 2011]
Revision Presentation - Risks and Rewards to Enterprise [7 Sep 2011]
Revision Presentation - Adding Value [7 Sep 2011]
The puzzle of rising profits [5 Sep 2011]
The Case for Transformation [29 Jul 2011]
Shareholder power at Tesco [31 May 2011]
Does reform of corporate governance only mean ticking a list of boxes [5 May 2011]
Stakeholders - Every Little Helps [2 Apr 2011]
CSR - All Change at BP: New Era, New Responsibilities [12 Mar 2011]
Partners in profit - the JLP way [10 Mar 2011]
Introducing a new kind of business organisation - the benefit corporation [17 Feb 2011]
CSR - What is “Creating Shared Value”? [16 Feb 2011]
Michael Porter - Shared Value and the Limitations of CSR [15 Feb 2011]
CSR - The Classic Milton Friedman Clip [5 Feb 2011]
The Year of Corporate Philanthropy [31 Jan 2011]
Q&A - What is “profit quality”? [7 Jan 2011]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 3) - Smart Marketing [26 Nov 2010]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 2) - Innovation, Service and Smart Operations [26 Nov 2010]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 1) - Driving Competitive Advantage [26 Nov 2010]
Cash flow Clue-doh! The Mystery is Revealed… [2 Nov 2010]
Profits up at Amazon - but so are costs [22 Oct 2010]
Google, Profits and Diversification [16 Oct 2010]
The Frost Report does Stakeholders [9 Oct 2010]
Lesson Worksheet - Aims & Objectives of Business [29 Sep 2010]
Who ate all the pies? [17 Sep 2010]
Lesson Worksheet - Adding Value [10 Aug 2010]
Lesson Worksheet - Gross Profit Basics [5 Aug 2010]
Silence is Golden for the Tesco Nuns [2 Jun 2010]
Airlines founder plans a shareholder revolt [16 May 2010]
Profit seeking paradoxes in an oblique world [15 May 2010]
Sustainable sourcing - Unilever and the Palm Oil Problem [27 Mar 2010]
BUSS4 and British Airways - a marriage made in heaven [1 Mar 2010]
Management pay is squeezed during the recession [27 Feb 2010]
Cash management becomes a strategic priority during the recent recession [22 Feb 2010]
Marketing in a recession: more focus on brand advertising and product enhancements [20 Feb 2010]
AQA BUSS4 Section B Practice Question - BAA & the Heathrow Third Runway [7 Feb 2010]
Revision Presentation - Profit and Cash [30 Jan 2010]
Revision Presentation - Improving Profit [30 Jan 2010]
Stakeholders in action - the Bournville demonstration [28 Jan 2010]
Product, pricing and profitability in a changing market [20 Jan 2010]
Revision Quiz - Profitability & ROCE [6 Jan 2010]
Stakeholders in the Trump Golf Battle [5 Jan 2010]
Revision Presentation - the Basics of Profit [30 Dec 2009]
Video case study - technology transforms the checkout [27 Dec 2009]
Outdoor Ice-skating heads firmly down the product life cycle [3 Dec 2009]
High street trends - pop-up shops and Poundland niche [28 Nov 2009]
BOGOF becomes BOGOFL (or BNFNT) [18 Nov 2009]
Advertising Coming To A Windows 7 Desktop Near You [18 Nov 2009]
Innocent Drinks - Teaching Accounts Exercise [9 Nov 2009]
Entrepreneur takes advantage of the postal strike [24 Oct 2009]
The Decline of Newspapers Creates a Surge in Local Startups [4 Oct 2009]
V-Water - from start up to exit [4 Oct 2009]
The dramatic slump in advertising revenue continues [18 Sep 2009]
Todd Stitzer’s Strategic Test [14 Sep 2009]
Product life cycle - end of the line for Teletext [17 Jul 2009]
How to improve profitability? - give customers a “staff appraisal” [12 Jul 2009]
Coffee Republic struggles with the daily grind [6 Jul 2009]
What makes a profitable menu? [6 Jul 2009]
Spare capacity prompts a fall in business investment [4 Jul 2009]
Q&A - Outline the main costs and benefits of inflation [1 Jul 2009]
Q&A - Explain the causes of inflation [1 Jul 2009]
Q&A - Explain the role of corporate objectives in business strategy [1 Jul 2009]
Nationalisation Again - National Express Taken into Public Ownership [1 Jul 2009]
Recession Bites - new food shopping habits [29 Jun 2009]
Budget Hotel Chain Now Feeling the Squeeze [17 Jun 2009]
A stunning example of how wage costs can differ for the same job [10 Jun 2009]
Porter’s Five Forces hits the fish counter [10 Jun 2009]
How to improve a profit margin through a hidden price increase - the Snickers way [4 Jun 2009]
Britain’s Got Talent - Extending the Brand [1 Jun 2009]
Sources of finance - the bank overdraft rip-off [28 May 2009]
Q&A - Why are start-ups vulnerable to cash flow problems? [26 May 2009]
Q&A - How can a business handle a loss? [26 May 2009]
Q&A - How is profit used by a business? [26 May 2009]
Why businesses fail - an interview with Pepita Diamand [24 May 2009]
Video case study - subsidy boosts demand for small cars [23 May 2009]
Q&A - What is meant by Social Enterprise? [22 May 2009]
Television suggestion - Blood Sweat & Takeaways [20 May 2009]
AQA AS Business Unit 1 - Possible Evaluation Questions [17 May 2009]

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