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GCE MAY 2007 : (A2 1) Objectives and The Business Environment, People in Organisations, Accounting and Finance, Marketing and Operations Management

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ADVANCED General Certificate of Education 2007 Business Studies Assessment Unit A2 1 Modules 4 and 5: Objectives and The Business Environment, People in Organisations, Accounting and Finance, Marketing and Operations Management A2T11 assessing [A2T11] TUESDAY 29 MAY, AFTERNOON TIME 1 hour 40 minutes. INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Write your Centre Number and Candidate Number on the Answer Booklet provided. Answer any two questions out of four. INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES The total mark for this paper is 60. Quality of written communication will be assessed in all questions. Figures in brackets printed down the right-hand side of pages indicate the marks awarded to each question or part question. ADVICE TO CANDIDATES You are advised to take account of the marks for each part question in allocating the available examination time. A2T1S7 2967 Answer any two questions. 1 Read the information below and answer the questions that follow. Motivation Flightneeds plc is a manufacturer of aircraft seating. Over the last five years they have had three redundancy programmes due to the general downturn in the aircraft industry. Existing workers are worried about their jobs and morale is very low. This has resulted in poor delivery and inferior quality of products. More than 50% of deliveries are over 14 days late and poor quality output is costing the company 500 000 per year. Samuel Jackson has recently been appointed as the new Managing Director of the company. His first announcement when he arrived was a reassurance to staff that there would be no further redundancies. He claimed that he could improve company performance by motivating staff using non-monetary methods. He was aware that the previous Managing Director had been a strict believer in McGregor s Theory X. He suspected that this had demotivated the workforce. Samuel has advised his management team that jobs need to be redesigned. He has suggested that they should consider the principles of job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment as part of this process. However, some managers are very uncertain about this new approach to managing the workforce. (a) Explain two reasons why a motivated workforce is necessary for a company such as Flightneeds plc. [4] (b) Discuss the implications for the employees of Flightneeds plc of the previous Managing Director adopting a Theory X approach. [8] (c) Evaluate Samuel Jackson s idea of using job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment to increase staff motivation. A2T1S7 2967 2 [18] 2 Read the information below and answer the questions that follow. Final Accounts/Ratio Analysis Conswater Ltd is a food manufacturer. Extracts from its final accounts for 2005 and 2006 are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Conswater Ltd Profit and Loss Account Extracts 2005 2006 Sales 450 000 556 000 Purchases 144 000 190 000 Cost of Sales 140 000 186 000 Gross Profit 310 000 370 000 90 000 136 000 411 000 531 400 7 000 11 000 Debtors 60 000 62 600 Creditors 20 000 24 000 Bank Overdraft 28 000 20 000 Long Term Loan 70 000 65 000 Net Profit Balance Sheet Extracts Fixed Assets Stock (a) Explain two reasons why a business such as Conswater Ltd prepares final accounts. [4] (b) Discuss three limitations of using ratio analysis for a firm such as Conswater Ltd. [8] (c) Evaluate, using Ratio Analysis, Conswater Ltd s financial position in 2006 compared to that in 2005. [18] A2T1S7 2967 3 [Turn over 3 Read the information below and answer the questions that follow. New Product Development/Computer Aided Design (CAD) Sofa So Good Ltd manufactures sofas and armchairs and sells them direct to the public through its extensive network of retail outlets. The company has operated since 1981 and has a good reputation for providing quality products that are value for money. When the company began operating, it was the only specialist sofa outlet in Northern Ireland and it quickly expanded. However, in recent years there has been an increase in competition and other similar organisations have begun to operate in Northern Ireland. This has resulted in Sofa So Good Ltd needing to constantly develop the products that it sells. The firm s new product development process is very time consuming and costly. This has resulted in a decline in the company s profit margins. The Managing Director of Sofa So Good Ltd has recently returned from an international trade show in China and is impressed by technological developments that have taken place since his last visit. He believes that the new Computer Aided Design (CAD) packages available would greatly enhance the firm s new product development process. (a) Explain two reasons why Sofa So Good Ltd should continue with its policy of new product development. [4] (b) Discuss the new product development process that a firm such as Sofa So Good Ltd might follow. [8] (c) Evaluate whether introducing Computer Aided Design would benefit a company such as Sofa So Good Ltd. [18] A2T1S7 2967 4 4 Read the information below and answer the questions that follow. Price Elasticity and EU Membership Emily O Boyle is a manufacturer of goats cheese. She began producing the cheese in 1950, selling it at local markets throughout Northern Ireland. Emily gained a good reputation for her products and demand grew. The business expanded throughout the 1960s although her target market remained within Northern Ireland. It was not until 1998 that she considered further expansion into European Union markets. Emily appointed an assistant who was responsible for marketing the cheese to European supermarkets and this resulted in contracts in many countries. Recently Emily has become concerned that the costs associated with marketing the products to other EU countries have increased and she has asked her accountant to investigate the possibility of raising prices to take account of this. Although Emily realises that the costs need to be covered she is worried that the demand for goats cheese might be price elastic. Her accountant has told her that this can be calculated from market research information. (a) Explain what is meant by Price Elasticity of demand. [4] (b) Discuss how a knowledge of cross and income elasticity of demand might be useful to a business such as Emily s. [8] (c) Evaluate the effect of EU membership on Northern Ireland businesses such as Emily s. [18] THIS IS THE END OF THE QUESTION PAPER A2T1S7 2967 5 Permission to reproduce all copyright material has been applied for. In some cases, efforts to contact copyright holders may have been unsuccessful and CCEA will be happy to rectify any omissions of acknowledgement in future if notified. SP (NF) T35517/4

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Additional Info : Gce Business Studies May 2007 Assessment Unit A2 1 Modules 4 and 5: Objectives and The Business Environment, People in Organisations, Accounting and Finance, Marketing and Operations Management
Tags : General Certificate of Education, A Level and AS Level, uk, council for the curriculum examinations and assessment, gce exam papers, gce a level and as level exam papers , gce past questions and answer, gce past question papers, ccea gce past papers, gce ccea past papers

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