SL Business

concerned with providing the right products in the right quantities and quality level in a cost-effective and timely manner 

1. Method of production 

2. Size, scope and timing of production 

3. Quality control 

4. Research and development innovation

Operations method used to provide a good/service will affect both the quality and the individuality of the product

• exclusive product can be marketed at a premium price

• Promotional strategies executed by high sales volume (ex. supermarkets) rely on aggressive tactics to gain market share and profit 

• Production methods can determine workforce size 

  • Ex. dependence on automated machines → less workers

Capital intensity and lean production require heavy investment in machinery and equipment

The resources needed to produce a good or service, namely land, labour, capital, and enterprise

The method of turning inputs into outputs by adding value in a cost-effective way

Occurs during the production process when the value of output is greater than the costs of production. Firms earn profit if value added exists in the production process.

Customizing an individual product from start to finish, tailor made
Benefits: Quality, Flexible, Unique, Motivates, Choice

Drawbacks: Labour Intensive, Time consuming, Expensive, few economies of scale, order irregularity

Producing a set of identical products. For businesses that make a range of products and when demand is estimated
Benefits: Economies of scale, specialization, variety
Drawbacks: High amount of inventory, inflexible, repetitive and boring

Large-scale manufacturing of a standardized product

Form of mass production that uses continuous and progressive processes, carried out in sequence.

Benefits: large value of output, cost effective, low defect rate, low labour cost
Drawbacks: monotonous, limited choice, expensive, inflexible

1. Size - larger markets tend to use capital intensive technology

2. Cost of labour and capital 

3. Aims and objectives of business - for profit, economies of scale 

1. Availability, suitability and cost of land 

   HIGH demand but LIMITED supply =HIGH cost 

2. Availability, quality and cost of labour 

3. Proximity of the market (customers) 

   Bulk-increasing

4.  Proximity and access to raw materials

   Bulk-reducing

5. Government incentives and regulations

6. E-Commerce

1. management preferences

2. local knowledge

   Potential competitive advantage

3. Infrastructure

4. Political Stability 

   No corruption, Stable exchange rate

5. Government restrictions and regulations 

   economic freedom, anti-corruption measures, tax rates 

6. Ethical issues

7. Comparative shopping (clustering) 

1. Outsourcing

2. Offshoring

3. Inshoring

4. Reshoring

Hiring a third-party contractor to carry out specific work.(recruitment, office cleaning)

Benefits: efficient, cost control, reduce labour costs as outsourced workers are not employees of organization

Drawbacks: Subcontractors may not align with business aim, Quality management must be monitored, unethical practices

Getting business activities or functions done in a different country

Benefits: avoid import tax or trade restrictions, Cheaper labour, Abundance of natural resources, job creation

Drawbacks: Unethical to exploit cheap labour , Vulnerable to economic instabilities (exchange rate fluctuations), Political unrest

Use of an organization’s own people and resources to accomplish a certain function 

Benefits: Greater control over business functions, cheaper overall, increased productivity 

Drawbacks: training, Employees feel overworked, Less focus on core activities

Transfer of business operations to country of origin 

Because: Product recalls, unethical practices, Improving/monitoring quality, consistent output

Benefits: lower transportation cost, created jobs

Products that increase in weight during the production process, so need to be located near their customers in order to reduce costs

locate near the source of raw materials that are heavier and costlier to transport than the final product

Does not gain any cost-reducing advantages from locating in a particular location. Can locate anywhere

Reluctance to relocate due to the inconvenience of moving even when the competitive advantages for the location no longer exists

Financial enticements offered by the state to businesses to locate in a particular area or region, perhaps due to high unemployment 

Outsourced firms that undertake non-core activities for an organization due to their expertise and the cost advantages

• make realistic sales, costs,profit predictions 

• decision making, risk assesment in a simple and quick way 

• Works well for single product analysis, standardized product and operation in a single market  

• Predicting impacts of changing costs and prices 

• Costs and revenue are not linear

  • unpredictability of economies of scale affecting fixed and variable costs  

  • Businesses offer bulk discounts. Prices are not constant 

• Assumes business will sell all output

• Obsolete or unrealistic data will affect the validity

• Only useful to firms selling one product 

• Ignore dynamic changes. Like staffing, motivation and productivity

Deploying and developing people within an organization to meet its business objectives

Adds value to its output by:

• Increasing labour productivity

• Improving product quality

• Creating new ideas

• Providing better customer service

Management process of anticipating and meeting an organization’s current and future staffing needs

Looks at:

• Historical Data/Trends

• Sales and income levels

• Labour turnover rates

• Flexibility/workload of employees

• Demographic changes

Recruitment, Resources, Reservations, Returns, Reputation

Demographic Change, Changes in labour mobility, Immigration, Flexitime, Gig economy

Caused by: net birth rate, migration rate, retirement age, females in the workforce

Ageing population effects: Increased dependent population, reduced labour mobility, changes in consumption patterns, change in employment patterns

The extent to which people can move to different locations and their flexibility in changing jobs

More mobile workers → higher the supply of labour

Depends on: age, mobility of the job, discrimination

Contribues to production, consumption and payment of taxes.

Reasons for immigration: Pay, opportunities, seasonal factors, domestic instability, standard of living

Requires employees to work for a core period, but the rest of the time is flexible

Benefits: improves firm image, reduces overtime, freedom and balance

Teleworking or Homeworking

Benefits: Flexible hours, lower cost of technology, low absenteeism, reduced overheads

Drawbacks: Workers exceed work hours, social isolation, management is more difficult, technological breakdowns

Workers are short-term, flexible, and temporary contracts. Includes freelance workers/independent contractors

Benefits: greater flexibility, lower cost, workers are more in control of work balance

Drawbacks: No job security or benefits, no regular income, higher burnout rate, risk

People involved in a number of different jobs carried out simultaneously, often temporary

Self interest, low tolerance, misinformation, different assessments of the situation

1. education and communication

2. participation and involvement

3. facilitation and support

4. negotiation and agreement

5. manipulation and co-option

6. explicit and implicit coercion

Decision-making power is kept in the hands of a few people or shared among the workforce.

Benefits: rapid decision making, better control, better sense of direction, efficiency

Drawbacks: added pressure/stress for senior staff, inflexibility, possible delays in decision making, demotivating

Decision making authority is shared with others

Benefits: input from workforce, faster decision making, improved morale, improved accountability, teamwork

Drawbacks: costly, inefficiencies, greater chance of mistakes, some loss of control, communication issues

Size of organization, importance of decision, level of risk, corporate culture, management attitudes

Removing one or more structures in the hierarchy to flatten the organizational structure

Benefits: reduces cost, improves communication, encourages delegation

Drawbacks: creates anxiety, increased workload, slower decision making

Flexible method of organizing employees from different departments to temporarily work together

Benefits: improved communication, maximizes skill set, cost-effective

Drawbacks: added workload, difficult to coordinate, time consuming

Exist in cultures that foster creativity and innovation

Benefits: more opportunities, better communication, cheaper, eliminates hierarchy

Traditional approach

Benefits: quicker and more effective communication in small teams, easier to control, more productive, greater promotional opportunities

Drawback: bureaucratic

Autocratic, Paternalistic, Democratic, Laissez-Faire, Situational

Makes all the decisions and prefers not to delgate responsibility

Benefits: quick decision making, workers opinions ignored

Guides employees through the consultation process and acts in the best way of their subordinates

Involves employees in the decision making process

Benefits: better morale and job satisfaction, improved decisions
Drawbacks: delays decision making, not suitable for large workforces

Allow subordinates to make their own decisions and complete tasks their own ways

Benefits: higher motivation, promotes creativity

Drawbacks: delays decision making, relies heavily on teamwork and goodwill of employees, encourages slack

Depends on: CLOTS

culture, leader, organizational structure, task, subordinates

Taylor, Maslow, Herzberg

Employees are motivated by money, productivity is improved by setting output and efficiency targets related to pay

Division of labour and differentiated piecework

Differentiated piecework: workers are paid a standard level of output and receive overtime

Drawbacks: ignores the non-physical contribution of workers, difficult to measure physical output (like teaching)

Focused on the psychological needs of workers. People need to be satisfied with their lower level needs first.

Needs: psychological needs, safety, love/belonging, esteem needs, self-actualization

Level of needs are difficult to measure, assumes everyone is motivated in the chronological order

Focused on the sociological and psychological aspects of work

Hygiene factors (security, pay, conditions, relationships) and motivators (achievement, advancement, personal growth, recognition)

Limitations: does not apply to low-skilled/payed jobs, some employees do not want enriched jobs

Salary, wages, commission, performance related pay, profit-related pay, employee share ownership schemes, fringe payments

Job enrichment, job rotation, job enlargement, empowerment, purpose, teamwork

Induction, on the job, off the job

Outward looking. Focuses on making products that they can sell, rather than selling products that they can make.
Benefits: meets wants and needs, greater flexibility, lower risk

Drawbacks: market research is expensive, future is uncertain

Inward looking. Focus on selling products that they make, rather than making products that they can sell.
Benefits: quality is assured, more control over operations, USP
Drawbacks: market needs are ignored, high failure rate, high risk

firms sales revenue/industrys sales revenue * 100

The rate which the size of a market is increasing.
(Current market size/original market size)/original market size * 100

A document outlining an organization's marketing objectives and the marketing strategies to be used to achieve these objectives.
Benefits: improves chances of success, identifies/deals with anticipated problems, better control of operations
Drawbacks: too expensive (money,time,resources) for small businesses, inflexible and outdated quickly

A review of the current position of an organization's marketing mix (SWOT)

Marketing objectives, s/w of competitors, methods of market research to find target markets, outline of marketing mix, details of marketing budget, anticipated difficulties

A distinct group of customers with similar characteristics (such as age or gender) and similar wants or needs
Benefits: Better understanding of customers, higher sales revenue, growth opportunities, support for product differentiation strategies

Each distinctive market segment having its own specific marketing mix.

Demographic and psychographic characteristics of consumers in different markets, such as their age, gender, occupation, religion.

Age, Gender, Language, Religion, Marital Status, Race, Income/Socio-economic class

climate, location

values, religion, status, culture, hobbies and interests

Targets a specific and well-defined market segment.

Benefits: better focus, less competition, high specialization encourages customer loyalty

Drawbacks: small customer base, less economies of scale, entrance of new competition

A broad range of market segments are targeted collectively to maximize sales.
Benefits: Economies of scale, same marketing strategies (saves time and resources), large customer base

Drawbacks: Not suitable for all businesses, high competition, lack of focues

Any aspect of a business, product or brand that makes it stand out from those offered by competitors

Distinguishing a business or its products from competitors in the market. Helps business thrive and compete effectively.
Business: Price advantage, brand recognition and loyalty, distribution advantage
Drawbacks: Expensive, economies of scale, choice is not always desirable

Discover the opinions, beliefs and preferences of potential and existing customers.
Continuous or Ad hoc (only when necessary)
Reduces risk of failure

Gathering new and first-hand data for a specific purpose
Benefits: Relevant, up to date, confidential and unique
Drawbacks: Time consuming, costly, validity

PR. Avoids bias, avoids jargon, has open and close ended questions, is tried and tested, objective
Benefits: qualitative and quantitative, simple
Drawbacks: costly, time consuming, bias or dishonest answers

PR. Small discussion groups to gain insight into opinions, attitudes and behaviours.

Benefits: particular group

Drawbacks: uneven participation, peer pressure, expensive

PR. 1-1 discussion to investigate personal circumstances and opinions.
Benefits: can be in-depth

Drawbacks: non-quantifiable info, difficult to analyze, time consuming, large scope of bias

PR. Watching how people behave and respond in situations.
Benefits: Record behaviour vs words
Drawbacks: Does not explain behaviour, bias in interpretation

Second-hand data and information that already exists.
Benefits: Cheap and fast, provides insight in the industry, large range, large sample size, valid
Drawbacks: outdated, inappropriate format, provides partial info, available to competitors

SR. Reveals the characteristics, trends and outlook for a particular product or industry, such as market size, market share and market growth rates.

Benefit: relevant, up-to-date, detailed
Drawback: expensive, outdated quickly

SR. Periodical publications from educational and research institutions.
Benefits: up to date, reliable

Drawbacks: not always relevant, outdated quickly

SR. Population census, social trends, trade statistics, unemployment figures, inflation rates.
Benefits: comprehensive, reliable, up to date, large range of topics

Drawbacks: identifying and locating info, fee required for special data

Benefits: up to date, easily accessible, wide range of info, free

Drawback: bias from reporters, out of date quickly, paid subscription

Benefits: Explores driving/restraining forces, valuable (flexible), inexpensive, detailed less bias

Drawbacks: not representative of the whole, time consuming, cost of hiring skilled interviewers, interviewer bias

PR. A small group of the population from a particular market for research.

A certain number of people from different market segments are selected
Benefits: representative, quick, reliable

Drawbacks: not always representative, sampling errors

Giving everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected

Benefits: easy, minimizes bias

Drawbacks: indiscriminate, time consuming, expensive

uses research subjects that are easy (convenient) to reach

Benefits: easy and quick
Drawbacks: highly skewed, unrepresentative of the population,

Tangible or intangible. Consumer or producer.

Shows different stages that a product is likely to go through.

Allows managers to identify necessary changes to improve marketing strategy.

R&D, Launch, Growth, Maturity, Decline.