Oct/Nov 2025

Define what is meant by the term public sector.

Enterprise

Define what the term liquidation means.

Sources of finance

Define what is meant by labour productivity.

Human resource management (HRM)

Analyse one benefit that low labour turnover can bring to a business.

Human resource management (HRM)

Either option

Enterprise

Alternatively

The marketing mix

Define what is meant by triple bottom line.

Enterprise

Define the term on-the-job training

Human resource management (HRM)

Define the term break-even analysis.

Costs

Analyse one reason why a business might keep inventory levels low.

Inventory management

OR

Sources of finance

Alternatively

The marketing mix

Define market growth.

The marketing mix

State the meaning of the term employee morale.

Motivation

Define hostile takeover.

Business objectives

Analyse a single impact that outsourcing can have on a business.

Capacity utilisation and outsourcing

Section B - Respond to only one question.

Market research

Alternatively

Costs

CB is a public limited company running a network of coffee shops across several countries. It was set up in 2010 by two friends, Shopra and Ben, who both love coffee and aim to provide customers with top-quality products. CB began with a single coffee shop in country Q and then grew gradually, choosing locations in high-income districts of major cities. The firm works in a fast-moving business setting. Competition is intense from other famous coffee shop chains. Its coffee beans come from fair trade suppliers who cultivate them in an environmentally friendly manner. CB sells a broad range of coffee products for the mass market. It also provides other drinks and a selection of food items, including sandwiches and cakes. Recent research indicates that customers are now seeking healthier food choices. CB’s main customers are young professionals, students and tourists. Customers like its welcoming atmosphere, comfortable seating, free Wi‑Fi access and music. Its employees are trained to be friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Table 1.1 gives some financial data for CB for 2023 and 2024. Shopra thinks CB ought to stay focused on the mass market. Ben, however, believes that using market segmentation more extensively will bring better results.

The nature of marketing

NN is Natalia’s small business. It makes and sells a variety of natural skincare products. In 2020, Natalia began preparing her own skincare products at home with natural ingredients. She noticed that there was demand from friends and family for what she made. Natalia then chose to turn her hobby into a business and set up NN in 2021. She runs the business from a rented workshop with restricted space, where the products are made by hand. Her ingredients come from local suppliers who share her commitment to environmentally friendly production. NN has expanded steadily and has built up a loyal customer base. Beauty magazines have given NN favourable reviews. Natalia sells her skincare products through her own website, social media platforms and local retailers that specialise in natural products. Natalia is creating a new face cream. Table 2.1 gives the price and cost estimates for the new face cream. The skincare market is extremely competitive. Many established brands sell similar products to NN, but they have wider distribution channels. Natalia has to divide her time between production, order handling, delivery, marketing and other administrative work. She works long hours and feels stressed and exhausted. Natalia is thinking about outsourcing in order to raise NN’s production capacity.

The marketing mix

TRA is a quaternary-sector business. It leads the market in supplying social media data to food manufacturers in country F. Over the last year, TRA’s market has expanded by 40%. DF is a multinational business specialising in non-alcoholic drinks. DF has requested data from TRA about a new bottle of water with pod attachments. The pods provide a fruity flavour that is mixed with sparkling water. TRA has surveyed 8000 potential consumers on social media to identify their preferred fruity flavour (see Fig. 1.1). TRA employs 65 researchers. Since 2020, all of these employees have worked from home. They are given all the required IT equipment and a high-speed internet connection. However, motivation is low, and this has caused high labour turnover. The Human Resource Director has received some feedback from employees. Fig. 1.2 presents some of this feedback.

The nature of operations

Drake holds a law degree and spends the daytime working for a lawyers’ partnership. He also owns a website that offers free legal advice. In the evenings and at weekends, he works on the website. It began as a hobby, but it has expanded to more than 20 000 users, and he now sells advertising on his videos and on the website. Drake uses outsourcing for some parts of his website. He has recently received a report showing budget variances from the previous month (see Table 2.1). Drake has now resigned from his job and is concentrating full time on the website. He has rebranded the website as Law Advice Forum (LAF). Drake’s business plan for LAF included: operating as a sole trader; continuing to develop and grow the website to offer legal advice and paid legal services; leasing an office in city G where all employees would work; employing five fully qualified lawyers; employing three administrators; leasing IT equipment. However, Drake is worried about the drawbacks LAF will encounter as a labour intensive operation.

Organisational structure

PD is a mass-market fizzy drinks producer in country Z. The fizzy drinks market in country Z is controlled by a small number of familiar brands. Total market value stands at $5.3bn and the PD brand holds 17% of that market. Pablo was appointed as PD’s Marketing Director in 2022. He introduced a fresh promotional campaign built around trending music on social media. He chose to use social media influencers to target this market. The campaign attracted poor online feedback. Many of PD’s customers did not wish to be linked with trending music. National news reported the negative reactions and PD’s sales volume fell by 20% in a week and kept dropping. As a result, PD’s warehouses held too much stock. The adverse publicity also pushed down PD’s share price and hurt cash flow. Fig. 2.1 presents responses from a recent questionnaire in which former PD customers were asked for their views of the promotional campaign. Pablo has arranged an emergency meeting with PD’s marketing managers to fix the harm caused to the PD brand by this latest promotional campaign.

The nature of marketing

Analyse two probable effects on PPP arising from the changing external influences.

External influences on business activity

Analyse two advantages to PPP of using quality assurance.

Quality management

From the data in Table 1.3, calculate PPP’s payback period for the proposed new machine.

Investment appraisal

Using the information in Table 1.2, calculate the monthly revenue earned from classic pie sales after the price increase.

The marketing mix

Evaluate how important emotional intelligence is in Pedro’s leadership of PPP.

Leadership

Analyse one advantage and one disadvantage of delegation for KTJ.

Organisational structure

Analyse two impacts on KTJ that result from its commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Stakeholders in a business

Refer to Table 1.2 and Table 1.3 in the case study.

Investment appraisal

Calculate the four period centred moving average for Quarter 1 2025 using the data in Table 1.4.

Forecasting and managing cash flows

Evaluate the probable effect on KTJ of changes in the exchange rate of country B’s currency.

External influences on business activity

Analyse two advantages to the government of country G that could arise from the nationalisation of LBM.

External influences on business activity

Analyse one benefit and one limitation of sales forecasting for LBM as it starts its mining operations.

Forecasting and managing cash flows

The questions use the information shown in Table 1.1.

Investment appraisal

Look at Figure 1.1:

The nature of operations

Evaluate LBM’s decision to adopt two different approaches to HRM.

Human resource management strategy

Refer to the Fashion Market (FM) case study, the timeline, the appendices and the selected financial and marketing data supplied.

Business strategy

Kelp Kings (KK). Kelp (or seaweed) farming means growing and collecting seaweed. Farmers take the kelp from natural beds in the sea. This type of farming has a low environmental impact. KK holds a licence to harvest and exploit a section of seabed in country W. After harvesting, the kelp is dried and packaged at KK’s premises before being sold to food manufacturers. KK is a labour intensive social enterprise with a mission to ‘benefit the planet by the most efficient use of natural resources’. In 2020 KK chose to build a kelp refinery. The estimated cost was $5 million and KK would have to borrow most of this amount. The refinery would use kelp as a raw material to produce a pulp that can be used in the manufacture of biodegradable plastics. Timeline of KK: 2021 - The Operations Director introduces Just in Time (JIT) inventory management to cut costs and reduce wastage; worker representatives meet management to discuss poor employee motivation; construction of the outer walls of the new kelp refinery is finished after only 15 months. 2022 - Training for employees for the new kelp refinery starts six months late because of a skills shortage in country W; KK’s Managing Director is interviewed by a local newspaper; KK’s sales of kelp rise by 200%; average lead time for customer orders lengthens from one week to one month. 2023 - The new kelp refinery opens; 50% of KK’s kelp production is now processed in the refinery; the refinery is running at 40% capacity. 2024 - KK begins to import kelp from lower-income countries to be processed in the refinery. Future business strategies: In 2025 a new government was elected in country W with policies designed to improve the economy. KK’s directors are thinking about the probable effect of the government’s policies on KK’s business strategies. Appendix 1 gives a network diagram of the kelp refinery project in 2020 using simultaneous engineering with purchasing, construction and human resource teams. Appendix 2 compares operations before and after JIT was introduced in 2021. Before JIT: kelp harvested each week; harvested kelp put into a large drying facility for five days; dried kelp packed in bags ready to be stored; bags stored in a secure warehouse. After JIT: kelp harvested each day; harvested kelp sent straight to manufacturers with no processing or packaging; costs are much lower because the kelp is unprocessed. Appendix 3 includes an interview with the Managing Director in 2022 saying the refinery is state-of-the-art, employees put forward ideas through an employee suggestion scheme, and the refinery aims for zero waste through recycling and renewable energy. Appendix 4 lists the new government’s policies in 2025: using monetary policy to stabilise inflation; government grants to support carbon-efficient businesses; minimum wage to be increased by 40% by 2028; reform of country W’s education system including government-funded university tuition; removal of trade barriers for businesses in the primary sector.

Inventory management

Use the Kelp Kings (KK) case study and Appendices 1-4, together with the details on the kelp refinery project, JIT implementation, the Managing Director interview and the new government policies in 2025.

External influences on business activity

Sarah's Headsets (SH) produces and develops a selection of gaming headsets. SH is a private limited company located in country D. It hires specialist technology staff to create innovative products. SH's gaming headsets are distributed through specialist computer game stores across country D. SH's competitive advantage is innovation. SH was founded by Sarah 20 years ago. She began the business with five employees. By 2017 SH employed over 520 people and had customers across country D. Sarah is worried about the fall in SH's profitability and is putting together a new business strategy.

Marketing strategy

Refer to the case study, the appendices and the consultant’s PEST analysis on Sarah's Headsets (SH).

Business strategy