Thursday 19 November 2009

Examination Practice - Page 29.

(a) One job being specifically advertised in figure 3 i the role of senior manager.

(b) Expansion is the main reason why global resources are recruiting in the UK because with expansion the company will gain a much largr annual income.

(c) (i) "Areyou Ex Management" suggests some applicants left other jobs.
(ii) ''Ready for a change?'' suggests some applicants may be with another business.

(d) Its could be hard for some recruits to work abroad because for a starter there will be an obvious language barrier and i may be difficult to some who have families etc as there may be commitments or other reasons why a recruit may need to stay in the UK.

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Examination Practice - Page 47.

(a) Identify TWO decisions by Sainsbury that are likely to de-motivate staff. Explain why each could de-motivate.





- One thing that will definatly de-motivate staff would be the fact that they aren't getting their christmas bonus. This will de-motivate them because obviously they aren't getting their christmas bonus which has been given out for 25 years and this will make the outraged and feel less important and therefore will not work as hard as they would if they were getting paid bonus for their work. Another reason would be that instead of the bonusthey get a 5% extension on their store discount which is not exactly as good as a bonus so this might make the employees feel like they aren't being appreciated for their efforts during the year.





(b) Explain likely effects that these decisions might have on general staff at the business in terms of:

i) Production - With the staffs bonuses being taken away they will most probably feel less imporant to their employers and will feel de-motivated and therefore won't be working as hard as usual which will result in poorer quailty or quantity of products.

ii) The working environment - The working envrironment at Sainsburys would be no where near as good as it would usally be because the staff have had their christmas bonus taken away, people working there would feel degraded and wouldn't be as motivated to keep their environment joyful and perhaps even clean.

iii) Absenteeism - As result of the bonus being cut from employees people may begin to feel less important and feel as if they are not being valued as a member of staff and because of this they may not attend work as regulary because they might feel that if the company can't be bothered with them then they can't be bothered with the company

(c) Whether or not the decisions mad would cost the company more than it saves all comes down to how de-motivated the staff are. If they became offendended by the decision then production among other vital things could decrease and this could cost the company money as they aren't up to their usual level of production etc... However if the staff were not to bothered by the decision then the company would save money.

Thursday 8 October 2009

Pinnacle Wash - Celebrity Car Wash.

This idea seems like the kind of idea that could make Paul Dalton very rich. The reason i say this is because When he's charging $11,500 per car, and reportedly he has alot of customers then he should surely be making alot of money. He uses methods of washing the cars which are supposed to be absolutely amazing, such as the rare Brazillian wax he uses called Zymol Royale wax, which Dalton claims the wax finish lasts up to a year. The only problem i can see with this product is if his prices are actually to high... $11,500 is alot of money just to have your car washed, but then again celebrities can most probably afford this so fair play to Paul Dalton for making his prices high for what seems to be a very good car was.

Wednesday 7 October 2009

U-boatworx 'affordable' recreational submarine.

The idea thaty people can own their own submarine and us it to explore the wonders of the under water world is brilliant i think. The website for this product is well set out but dosen't say how much the submarines cost on the website how much the cost, however the approximate price is apparently around $130,000 and i personally think this isn't affordable at all. Thats about the same price as a fairly expensive sports car and they aren't exactly affordable. I think this is a good idea and would most probably make alot of money selling to people who have a fairly decent amount of money, however the downside is the fact that this product is apparently affordable and yet the price isn't exactly affordable to those who are on a more standard salary.

Wednesday 30 September 2009

Water Purifying Drinking Straw.

Unfortunatly i couldn't get onto the website to get further information about this product but from what i do know this product seems like a very good one. This idea is brilliant to help those places where it is unsafe to drink water as it could be infested with diseases, the straw helps prevent things such as shigella, salmonella, staphyloccus aureus and E .Coli. So this straw could be one way to help stop the deaths of thousands of people due to drinking dirty water. So i think Vestergaard Frandsen has come up with a genius idea that will surely make him a well deserved profit.

Tuesday 29 September 2009

Practise Exercise.

1. Define the term 'enterprise'...

- Almost any business or organisation can be called an enterprise but the term usually refers to the process by which new businesses are formed and new products and services created and brought to the market. Enterprises are usually led by an entrepreneur.

2. What is an entrepreneur?

- Entrepreneurs are individuals who have an idea that they develop by setting up a new business and encouraging it to grow. They take the risk and the profits that come with success or the losses that come with failure.

3. Give three examples of successful entrepreneurs...

a) Levi Roots - Reggae Reggae Sauce
b) Sir Alan Sugar - Amstrad
c) Bill Gates - Microsoft

4. Identify four characteristcs of successful entrepreneurs...

i) Passion & determination
ii) Ability to realise and take advantage of opportunities.
iii) Vision & creativity
iv) Being able to take risks

5. Explain why the ability to take risks is important in developing a successful buisness...

- Taking risks can be a very vital part of a businesses success. It's important for a business to take certain risks because if they don't take these risks then they might not progress further into success. So taking risks could be the only path for some businesses to succeed even more in making profit.

6. Define the term 'opportunity cost' and gives examples of how it might apply to you as a student, to your school or college, and to a business...

- The 'real cost' of taking a particular action or the next best alternative forgone. This could apply to a student because they could have decided to take a certain subject but didn't get into the class and instead of choosing a subject they are good at they chose a class with their mates in it. This could apply to a school by letting one of their best teachers go over something stupid such as being late to lessons. This could apply to a business by loosing an outstanding applicant for a job role and giving it to the next person they thought ws right for the job, with time another outstanding applicant would have surely turned up for the job.

7. Suggest three reasons why an individual might become an entrepreneur...

-
i) Because they feel they have a genually good idea that will make money and they want to sell it.
ii) Because they feel their product can help people/the environment and they want to sell this to help those people or the environment.
iii) They want a quick way to make alot of money.

8. Why are an enterprising culture and people with entrepreneurial skills important for the UK economy?

- These kinds of thing are important for our economy because they contribute towards our country getting out of recession. If more entrepreneurs step forward to start up an enterprise then the rates of unemployment would decrease and then more people would have money to spend on products to help start to rebuild Britains economy.

9. Explain 3 ways in which government supports enterprise and entrepreneurs.

i) Holding enterprise weeks to raise awareness about enterprise
ii) Cutting down corperation taxes.
ii) Improving support for new & small businesses

10. State two organisations other than central government that provide support new businesses...

i) Enterprise Insight
ii) Young Enterprise

Monday 28 September 2009

6 Questions For Discussion.

1. To what extent are passion and determination sufficient for business success?

- Passion & determination are very important values to have to make a business successful. Without these attributes a business cannot drive itself to become it's full potential and make a decent profit. The more passion and determination a business has the harder it can push to become as successful as possible and this is surely one of the most important goals of any business. So i personally believe these two attributes are very vital to any business wanting to go far and become successful.

2. Are there certain characteristics that all successful entrepreneurs have?

- Characteristics vary between successful entrepreneurs. Some are greedy and just care about how much money they earn whereas others such as Levi Roots have great personalities and seem to be great company. So all of these characteristics are important if your an entrepreneur because if the persons main goal is to make as much money as possible then they have the determination to reach this goal (most probably) and those who seem more enthusiastic about their work do well because it's their passion and they enjoy what they do.

3. What appear to be the main reasons for becoming an entrepreneur?

- There are a few reasons why people become entrepreneurs. One being it is somebodies passion to run their own business selling a product the came up with or providing a service they thought up. Another reason is people want an easy route to success and by producing a product they invented and trying to get people to invest and help sell your product is one way this is possible. Another reason could be the fact someone has come up with helpful idea and want to sell it to help people.

4. Is the ability to cope with uncertainty, make mistakes and take risks an essential characteristic of a successful entrepreneur?

- Yes, because if somebody who is trying to sell their product can't cope with making a mistake then they wouldn't be able to handle the business because they could panic and the business could completely collapse. Also if they aren't willing to take risks this could be costly because this could stop the businesses successfulness progressing but also if an entrepreneur took too many risks this could be costly to the business because it could make a huge loss if the risk turned into a mistake.

5. Should the government provide more money to support start-up businesses?

- At this time i think they should because with the recession causing mass numbers of unemployment in the UK this would perhaps convince more people to start up businesses and this could cause numbers of unemployment to decrease. If the government was to use more money to support business i think they should split the money equally between big & small businesses because this way more big business can recruit staff and smaller ones can set-up.

6. Can government agencies ever be really effective in providing advice for entrepreneurs?

- The agencies could be effective in the fact they know whats going on in the economy and can give reccomendations on what they shoud do financially but otherwise i don't see how they could be of much help because any successful entrepreneur should know how to run their business themselves and new entrepreneurs should speak to more experienced people for advice.