AQA A-Level Business: Strategic Methods and Managing Change

Read the following case study and answer the question that follows.

The following case study was written for this exercise.

Selwyn Retail Group Ltd is a UK chain of 140 mid-market department stores employing around 9,000 people, many with long service. After three years of falling like-for-like sales and a gross margin squeezed by online competitors, a newly appointed chief executive has launched a major change programme: closing 30 underperforming stores, moving most buying and customer-service functions to a single digital hub, and retraining store staff as "omnichannel advisers" who fulfil online orders from the shop floor. The board expects roughly 1,200 redundancies and significant changes to the daily work of those who remain.

The reaction inside the business has been hostile. Long-serving store managers, whose autonomy the new central hub removes, have lobbied regional directors to slow the plan; the recognised trade union has warned of industrial action over the redundancies; and an internal survey found many shop-floor staff fear they lack the digital skills the new roles demand. The chief executive, however, points to other obstacles: the £40 million capital cost of the digital hub, two competing IT projects already underway, a winter trading peak that limits when stores can be re-fitted, and a long-standing "this is how we have always done it" culture that predates any individual employee. The HR director argues that with the right communication, involvement and support, employee resistance can be managed, and that the real risks lie elsewhere.

Question: Evaluate the view that resistance from employees is the main barrier to successful strategic change at Selwyn Retail Group Ltd. [25 marks]

Read the following case study and answer the question that follows.

The following case study was written for this exercise.

Tor Brook Manufacturing Ltd makes specialist industrial pumps for the water and energy sectors. It has grown steadily for fifteen years through organic growth - reinvesting profits, opening one new factory and developing its own products - and now holds about 8 per cent of the UK market. The board wants to double the size of the business within four years to win larger contracts and spread its fixed costs over more output. Organic growth alone, the directors fear, will be too slow to hit that target.

The finance director has identified a possible target for a takeover: Calder Valves Ltd, a rival of similar size whose ageing owners wish to sell. Acquiring Calder would immediately roughly double Tor Brook's market share, add an established customer base and a second product range, and remove a direct competitor. It would, however, cost around £25 million, most of which Tor Brook would have to borrow, sharply raising its gearing. Calder operates very differently - a more hierarchical culture, older equipment and a separate IT system - and several of Tor Brook's directors worry about the disruption of integrating two firms while continuing to serve existing customers. One director favours instead a slower route of organic growth supported by a joint venture with an overseas distributor.

Question: Assess whether growth by takeover is the best way for Tor Brook Manufacturing Ltd to grow. [16 marks]

Read the following case study and answer the question that follows.

The following case study was written for this exercise.

Marlow Foods Ltd is a chilled ready-meals producer that has grown very rapidly, tripling its workforce to 600 in just two years after winning supply contracts with two large supermarkets. The founders have noticed problems emerging: the single factory is running close to full capacity with frequent overtime, communication between departments has become slower and more confused as new layers of management have been added, and cash is unexpectedly tight even though sales are rising fast, because the firm is paying suppliers and new staff well before the supermarkets settle their invoices.

Question: Analyse two problems Marlow Foods Ltd might experience as a result of its rapid growth. [9 marks]

Pendle Engineering Ltd is planning a project to install a new automated production line as part of a major change programme. The project has been broken down into six activities. The duration of each activity and the activities that must be completed before it can start are shown in the table below.

Activity	Duration (weeks)	Preceded by
A	4	None
B	5	None
C	6	A
D	3	B
E	4	C and D
F	2	E

Calculate the total project duration and identify the critical path (the sequence of activities). Support your answer with a forward pass showing the earliest start time (EST) of each activity. (6 marks)

Ravensworth Events Ltd has won a contract to design and build a large exhibition stand that must be completed in time for a trade show on a fixed date. The project involves many interdependent activities and the managing director has decided to use critical path analysis to plan it.

Explain why critical path analysis could help Ravensworth Events Ltd manage this time-sensitive project. (5 marks)

In a project network for Bewley Logistics Ltd, one activity has the timings shown below.

Quantity	Value (weeks)
Earliest start time (EST)	8
Duration	5
Latest finish time (LFT)	17

Calculate the total float for this activity. (4 marks)

(Total float = LFT - duration - EST)