Unit 9

Question 1

Retrenchment

Answer 1

-Means cutting down the size of a business.
- Likely involves the idea of job losses and reduction in capacity.

Question 2

Reasons why retrenchment may occur ?

Answer 2

-Changes in the market

-Failed takeover

• Economic downturn with the reaction with the economy the business is in
• Businesses also may retrench to restore their core competencies

Question 3

Internal types of growth

Answer 3

• Selling more or new products
• targeting a new or wider market
• Mainly uses retained profit
• Slower but less risky

Question 4

External growth

Answer 4

• Achieved through takeovers or mergers
• Quicker but more risky to issues

Question 5

Economies of scope

Answer 5

Are the reduction of unit costs because of the production of wider variety of goods and services.

Question 6

What factors influences the economies of scope

Answer 6

• Joint use of production facilities and other inputs
• joint marketing
• A product providing a by-product e.g. bread manufacturer making sandwiches

Question 7

Overtrading

Answer 7

Which may occur when a business grows to quickly due to cash more likely to leave the business more often then coming back in which may cause liquidity.

Question 8

What is Greiner’s growth model

Answer 8

Describes a framework of growth in which businesses can assess the best organisational method will be best suited for them.

Question 9

Phase 1 of Greiner’s model

Answer 9

• Growth through creativity which can evolve to a leadership crisis.

This occurs due to the business growing rapidly from the start and the leader will have to be innovative with new methods of their business to compliment their growth.

Question 10

Phase 2 of Greiner’s model

Answer 10

-Growth through direction leads to autonomy crisis.

This occurs due to the business expanding with different sub departments which management need to look over. Therefore greater autonomy is needed as well as control.

Question 11

Phase 3 of Greiner’s model

Answer 11

-Growth through delegation: As a response to the autonomy crisis, clear hierachy would be made. This would offer new roles such as middle managers. Therefore potential control problems may occur due to senior managers not knowing day to day operations and may lose control of them.

Question 12

Phase 4 of Greiner’s model

Answer 12

-Growth through coordination: With greater effort being asked to be put in reporting and communication it may make the business too centralised which in turn becomes bureaucratic and causes a crisis of red tape

Question 13

Phase 5 of Greiner’s model

Answer 13

-Growth through collaboration: Encourages greater collaboration and more focused on organisational goals. Reward systems may be put in place to allow team success to occur and reduce focus on individual performance.

Question 14

Phase 6 of Greiner’s model

Answer 14

• Growth through alliances: problems that have occurred internally may need to be resolved externally e.g. mergers or takeovers.

Question 15

Vertical takeovers

Answer 15

Vertical integration is where a business can takeover a business in the same chain of production but at a different stage. E.g. backward integration will be a wheat farm and forward integration will be a baker store.

Question 16

Horizontal intergration

Answer 16

Where a business integrates with the same stage of production with another allowing to gain greater market power in the industry.

Question 17

Conglomerate intergration

Answer 17

Occurs when a business mergers or takes over with a unrelated business which creates diversification.

Question 18

Reasons why takeover or mergers fail

Answer 18

• Lack of detailed research
• Clashes of culture
• Financial pressures
• over-optimistic assessment of the benefits

Question 19

Franchising Pros

Answer 19

• Relatively quick
• Finance is provided by the franchisee
• The franchisee is highly motivated
• The organisational structure is less complex

Question 20

Intrapreneurship

Answer 20

The act of acting as an entrepreneur in their own organisation. Companies can act on this and allow innovation to occur with the talent of the workforce.

• Also part of culture of an individual business

Question 21

Benchmarking

Answer 21

The process of measuring performance against the best performer in your industry. Which allows to learn from others.

But it is not about copying each other its about adapting the best practices to your organisation.

Question 22

Patents

Answer 22

Gives the inventor rights for 20 years to not let others copy or sell the invention.

• This is done to encourage the industry to have innovation.
• However, a patent does not come effective in the long term as businesses will introduce their own version of the product.

Question 23

Reasons for operating in international markets

Answer 23

-Growth and profit
- Economies of scale
-Diversity risk- Can allow potential greater opportunities
-Tax- tax rates may be in favour of a business in a different country

Question 24

Factors to consider in an international market

Answer 24

-Risk
-Competition
-Market potential and how beneficial the reward is to the risk
- Legal and political environment
- Economical factors
-Culture
- How they enter the new market

Question 25

Bartlett and Ghosal’s international strategies

Answer 25

It identifies 4 international strategies according to the pressure of local responsiveness and the pressure of integration which is measured either high or low.

Question 26

What is international strategies in the Bartlett and Ghosal’s key model

Answer 26

(low pressure and low integration for change)

• Based on the home countries expertise.
• Produces products with little adaptation with only marketing and pricing done at a lower level.

Question 27

What is Multi-domestic strategy in the Bartlett and Ghosal’s key model

Answer 27

(low pressure for integration and high pressure for responsiveness)

• Each market is treated independently with products adapted to the local needs.
• With development taking place in another country.

Question 28

What is Transnational strategy in the Bartlett and Ghosal’s key model

Answer 28

(high pressure for integration and low pressure for responsiveness)

• The strategy tries to maximise both throughout the organisation where knowledge and innovation are sought.

Question 29

What is Global strategy in the Bartlett and Ghosal’s key model

Answer 29

(high pressure for integration and high pressure for responsiveness)

• Involves a highly centralised business where pressures for efficiency and cost reduction are high.
• Although products are made overseas they’ll be little to no adaptation.

Question 30

Pros of e-commerce for consumers

Answer 30

• Allows cheaper access to customers
• Information is available instantly
• It enables participation at auctions

Question 31

Cons of e-commerce for consumers

Answer 31

• Unable to fully examine the products
• They are dependent on system reliability
• Their personal info can be stolen by hacking
• Not many people are connected to the internet

Question 32

pros of e-commerce for a business

Answer 32

• Provides opportunities 24/7 across the whole year
• Offers a global outreach, potential cost reductions and supply chain movements

Question 33

What is data mining

Answer 33

The process of an organisation trying to turn huge amounts of data into useful information a business can use e.g. promotional methods or customer profiling.

Question 34

What is enterprise resource planning

Answer 34

Business management software where an organisation manages and integrates the important aspects of their business.

Therefore before ERP many implications had occurred such as:
- Duplication
- A lack of sharing data
-Increased not needed costs
- And inconsistency

Question 35

The impact that digital technology has on functional areas of a business

Answer 35

-Financial: Monitoring and analysis are both quicker and easier to undertake

-Marketing: Digital technologies have allowed new markets to open up with targeted promotions and social media which have reduced costs

-Operation management: Have enabled greater automation of production and more efficient inventory control leading lower costs, less wastage and improved quality

-Human resources: Has enabled the development of more flexible, multi-skilled workforces who can work in better quality conditions and can be managed well. Such changes can affect recruitment and training negatively.