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Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

Cambridge International AS and A-level Business 9609
(Paper 3)
ANSWERING STRATEGY
__________________________________________________________________________________

First Authored June 2021

All Rights Reserved
...
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___________________________________________________________________________

DISCLAIMER:
1
...

2
...
However, the marking scheme included in this set of notes is not exactly extracted
from the marking scheme released by CAIE
...
The author shall bear no responsibility and consequence if you do not score well in
your examination after referring to the marking scheme in this set of notes
...
Readers shall not blindly follow the answering techniques in this set of notes and instead do
more practices on your own to strengthen your basic and to develop your own answering
technique(s)
...


___________________________________________________________________________

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

INDEX
1
...
Common Questions in Unit 1
3
...
Common Questions in Unit 3
5
...
Common Questions in Unit 5
7
...
Author’s recommendations

ISSACG/A-level

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

Understand the ways to gain marks in Paper 3
1
...
Following the
most recent marking scheme provided by CAIE, the evaluation and analysis parts occupy 59
marks out of 100
...

Knowledge

2-3 marks

To get knowledge marks,
students need to write
whatever
they
have
learned
...


Application

2-3 marks

To get Application marks,
students need to include
some relevant information
provided in the context
...


Analysis

4-6 marks

Instead of identifying the
issue, students need to
explain the issues &
knowledge that they have
identified
...
This can
sometimes be benefits and
drawbacks
...
, etc
...
However, I have
provided some typical
‘trigger’ phrases leading to
Evaluation
...
/ the most

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

important / I recommend /
in the short term…,
however in the long term /
before they can consider
this, they should… etc
...
After understanding the components in each question, we then have to go through some
common questions by units
...

3
...


* As different sets of paper involve different case studies, questions will be modified and ABC will be
used as company involved in the case study
...

* For student’s convenience, in the reference part, our team have included the year, season and zone
of paper
...

* The words in red colour will be author’s interpretation on that question
...
[16]
Similar Questions: Evaluate the extent to which ethics should influence the activities of
ABC
...
Defines ethics or any
related phrases in the sentence, perhaps relate it to Corporate Social Responsibility (this would
give the examiner an impression that you have good knowledge and thus, help you to gain more
marks)
...

Reference: Summer 2016/3/2 + Summer 2017/3/1
Definition (Knowledge marks)
Facilitating payments are payments made to officials with the intention to smooth the process
of a service that the payer is legally entitled to
...
If they can get the contract, surely the sales will increase
significantly since this creates a demand for goods from governments
...

With this, the business would be able to keep the profits for future expansion or this will
increase the dividends given to the shareholders
...
If there is no such rules
and regulations, ABC could always give this facilitating payment to ensure that they will get
the contracts, as they will not be fined nor imprisoned for such behavior
...
This is because even though a business is trading profitably, if they do not have enough
money, then this may lead to liquidation because of poor management of cash flow
...
Paying below minimum wage – help to
improve profit / Lower quality – increase added value and thus profit
...
If the behavior is
publicized, this will affect ABC’s business reputation
...
Customer might recognize ABC as
unethical business so they will no longer support ABC business anymore, perhaps they don’t
want to have any link with unethical business likes ABC
...
Hence, it may not be worth
to do so
...
Although it can be very expensive, and
the shareholders might lose faith in short-term, it seems to us that this is a new route for
business to attract more ethical customers, as well as workers to increase their sales and quality
of goods
...
Thus, in long-term, ABC will loss its customers
...
In addition, there might be protest from pressure groups, business will
be perceived as ‘unethical, depriving people’s rights and so on’
...
For instance, even though doing
something unethical can help ABC to get more sales, in long-term, this may cause poor image
...

- Identification of how adopting this ethics could have impact on business and its shareholders
...

- Identification of how likely all this unethical behavior will be publicized or leaked out
...

- A conclusion is important based on the evaluation
...
For example, by saying that
ABC should not act unethically, as in long-term, this will cause them to suffer more
...
Evaluate the impact to ABC of implementing a corporate social responsibility policy
[16]

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

The techniques of answering are very similar to the question above, explain and evaluate the
positive and negative impact, then make a conclusion as to whether ABC should implement
CSR
...

After identifying the impact, always try to elaborate it as a way to get more analysis marks
...
(Impact →
Consequences → The other consequences)
...
Students can
always elaborate in their own ways, the answer provided below is only a sample
...

Negative impact
- Some customers do not care about ethics, but the price, they think that business should spend
the money to give promotion/discount/price reduction instead of promoting CSR
...
), this reduces ABC’s
profits
- Shareholders feel disappointed and possibly leave because they focus on short-term profits
instead of long-term profits that ABC may get by promoting CSR
...
So, you may want to evaluate in this way…

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

Although CSR could be expensive to ABC, it is still important as it will help them to get the
long-term benefits
...
It seems like the positive factors prevail the negative one
...
Weighing all the factors, then you will get a
conclusion
...

___________________________________________________________________________
3 Evaluate the impact to ABC of publishing a social audit
...
The same idea of answering can apply to question asking impact of
publishing an environmental audit
...

Note that knowledge marks are not only limit to definition
...

Positive impact
- Reduce pressure groups’ intervention if there is social credit
...
All these could influence ABC’s sales revenue and profit
...
Thus, good reputation → higher sales (short-term + long-term)
- Attracts ethical customers → build customer loyalty → word of mouth (a way of marketing)
→ increase sales
- Attracts ethical and better-qualified workers → higher productivity/efficiency/quality
- can be used as Corporate Social Responsibility → can then be used as Unique Selling points
to differentiate themselves from competitors → get competitive advantage → charge their
product for higher price
- attract government’s contract (as government favour those with higher CSR) → ensure that
there is work → ensure profit

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

Negative impact
- It is not a legal requirement yet
...

- Preparing it is time-consuming, as it requires many information
...
→ The contracts on ABC’s hands might lost
...

Again, the way of evaluating is more or less similar to the two questions above since the nature
of question is same (All about ethics and CSR)
___________________________________________________________________________
4 Analyse the advantages and disadvantages of ABC’s privatisation for any two
stakeholders’ group
...

Question requires you to discuss two sides for two stakeholders’ group
...

Define privatisation + stakeholders (give examples and focus on the two you want to discuss)
...

Summer 2018 3/1
Definition (Knowledge marks)
- Privatisation means selling the state-owned and controlled business to investors in private
sectors
...
This can include employees, shareholders, owners, local communities,
governments, lenders, suppliers, and the list goes on
...

Advantages and disadvantages (A & D)
Employees
A: When a business is privatized, its objective will change from social objective to profit
motive, this will motivate the employees to work harder, because they have a target now as
compared to previous
...


Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

A: When privatized, it is likely that workers might become more motivated
...

D: However, it is also likely that when a business is privatized, there may be redundant of
workers
...

When it is privatized, it will aim to cut cost, or increase the efficiency (by delayering), so some
extra workers will then be made redundant for this reason
...
The remaining workers may fear of their job security too
...
Thus, the money raised
from here can be used to finance the more important state projects
...

A: Government can pass the unprofitable business to private sector, that could be the result of
inefficiency operation, to the business in private sector
...

D: However, this means that government has less control over the important industry
...
For example, the privatized business decision of using capital intensive method that
reduce the number of employees would goes against with government’s intention of reducing
the unemployment
...
For example, it is likely that the privatized business would charge higher
price for the use of water to enhance their profit (the commercial reason)
...
This is because the marks for each part could be
gained from other part
...

___________________________________________________________________________
5
...
[12]
Similar Questions: Analyse the possible disadvantages for ABC of taking over XYZ
...

Extra points about advantages of taking over other company – Advantages (You don’t
need to include this part in the essay if it is only 10 marks question asking disadvantages)
- Taking over other companies in the same industry means that there would be greater
economies of scale
...

- Taking over other companies from the same industry could help the business to reduce one
competitor
...
(Unlikely when takeover has already formed)
- In addition, when takeover happens, problems always occurs when there is duplication of
workers
...
Surely this will not affect ABC as they are just dismissing their workers, but
substantial redundance can lead to protest of workers and pressure groups that would ultimately
lead to industrial action or bad reputation
...
To minimize this problem, appropriate compensation
must be given
...

- When there is integration of two business, surely there would be culture clash
...
In this situation, it would
need a lot of time for there to be a complete integration to form a synergy
...

-Even though the issue is solved, when a business operates in large scale, there is also a chance
of diseconomies of scale resulting from poor communication and alienation
...

- Also, there could be an issue of marketing problem
...

This would then create another cost
...
If a business does not have
enough cash flow, then this will lead to failure of achieving the objectives
...

- Lack of experience in managing another company in different industry (conglomerate
integration)
- Poor communication (as company become large) as stated above
- Paid too much (not only the cost of taking over) as stated above
___________________________________________________________________________
6 Assess the usefulness of the forecasts in Appendix 1 to any two functional departments
of ABC
...
[16]/// Discuss the extent to which the data in Appendix 5
and other external factors could influence ABC’s success in country B
...
[16]

Reference: Summer 2016/3/2 + Winter 2016/3/2 + Summer 2018/3/2 + Summer 2019/3/2
Definition
External factors are factors outside the control of the business which can include political, legal,
economic, social, technological, demographic and other factors
...

(Identify each external factor – Apply the information + explain what the results mean +
elaborate how it could affect the business + further elaboration + small conclusion)
Economic growth
- Economic growth is the increase in a country’s productive potential measured by real GDP,
which is the total value of goods and services produced in a year
...
This result shows to us that the demand of
goods is high, perhaps because the customer’s income is high, so their living standard is also
high
...

Inflation
Inflation is the increase in the average price level of goods and services
...
However, they would only benefit from this,
provided that they are selling but not producing there
...
Even if ABC could benefit from high inflation, they
must consider, whether the government is likely to pursue fiscal policy (to increase tax rates
and reduce government spending) or monetary policy (to increase interest rate) that could as a
result, cause MF to suffer from low demand as consumer disposable income decrease
...

Firstly, workers could be easily recruited at lower pay, so business do not have to worry about
recruitment
...

Exchange rate
When there is exchange rate appreciation, meaning the value of the currency is higher than the
currency in other countries
...
This is because they could import it at a lower price
...

Evaluation
- There are other factors that need to be taken note such as the government likely policy – fiscal
policy and monetary policy
...
If a business could identify this
earlier, they could take action earlier, and benefiting from the government action
...
Recommend an appropriate organisational structure for the business ABC
...

Identification of the current organisation structure used by ABC
- The current organisational structure used by ABC is hierarchical structure based on function
...
However, we can see that there is no coordination
between different departments (perhaps lack of horizontal communication), and this leads to
inefficiency of work, workers making duplication of work
...
This will decrease the productivity, complicate the
processes and delay the completion of task
...

To solve this problem, we have to recommend some other organisational structure to ABC
...
Perhaps, the geographical
structure may be useful here because it may allow quicker decision-making, especially when
we know that ABC is controlling so many branches, and it is less likely for them (the head
management) to react to any questions from below so quickly
...
Its advantages can also be explained by looking at the regional differences,
which allows the local firms to make decision based on the culture or external factors there
...
Chance of differences in image and quality may occur
across divisions
...
However, looking at the good side, this
should be a good decision as it allows development of staff in some sense to prepare them for
higher position in future
...
So, a product-based
structure could perhaps be used as it allows the managers to focus on special needs of different
divisions
...
If there are too many divisions, coordination becomes complex and difficult
...

Matrix structure improves communication between departments allowing better decisions to
be made
...
Where there are conflicts
of interests, the quality of decision-making is enhanced by matrix structure
...
It combines the advantages of

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

different alternative structures
...
Under this structure, there could be confusion regarding job and task
responsibilities
...

Span of control – Larger or smaller, this will have an effect on the supervision and thus
motivation
...

Decentralize or centralize
...

___________________________________________________________________________
2
...
Justify your recommendation
...

Identification of current HR strategy used and the problems that could result
...

- This can be seen when ABC use the flexible employment, provide less training, pay l ower
wage, involve no employee in making decision,
- We can see the problem result from this approach, including high labour turnover, low
motivation, low quality of service and low products…
- Thus, this shows that some changes must be made
...

Solution 1
Greater delegation, this can be done by decentralizing, so larger span of control, less
supervision– current problem: no employee involvement – consequence of current approach:
worker demotivated and they do not feel involved – Consequence of demotivation: low
productivity and quality, which then cause unsatisfaction
...
– Strength (S): This will help

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

ABC to improve their staff motivation, which then solve current problem, develop the staff and
prepare them to future leaders – Weaknesses (W): However, take note that if only little
delegation is given, problem will still exist
...

Solution 2
Training (non-monetary rewards) – current problem: training less than industrial average –
consequence: quality issues/ demotivation – S: think that business care about them, so they
work harder + high quality because they become multiskilled now
...

Solution 3
increase the pay (monetary rewards) – current problem: high labour turnover – Consequence
– increase cost of recruiting (especially when unemployment is low), training, there may be
bad reputation as a result of low pay – S: reduce labour turnover – W: cost increase,
competitiveness reduces, profit reduce…
Solution 4
- changing employment contract to full-time to improve the motivation – current problem:
low motivation – S: Help to give more motivation as they are involved, allow easy
communication, ensure low labour turnover – W: there might be cost, extra benefits that have
to be paid, reducing profitability
Solution 5
The use of MBO – dividing the aim to departmental, managers and employees – S: sense of
direction, know the aim, help to achieve business objective – W: costly to use, does not
guarantee success, and needs to be updated whenever business in in fast-changing market
...

Evaluation
- It is true that the soft approach above can reduce the problems ABC faced currently
...
For example,
providing more training means there will be increased fixed cost but reduced profits
...
This could be one
of the issues ABC would face (opposition to change of structure and culture)
- HR director do not have to power to change the leadership style (if they want to change
from autocratic to democratic), only recommendation could be made
...
Discuss whether introducing Management by Objectives (MBO) is the most effective
way for ABC to solve its human resource problems
...
– When they know
the objective, they are now able to work hard towards the objective, thus lead to achievement
of goal in the end
...
This will then
motivate the staff as they are given proper work to do, with a target to work towards
...

Usefulness 3: It is important as a control and review process
...

Why MBO is insufficient (Limitation)
Limitation 1: It is costly and time-consuming to prepare
...

In this case, MBO for a group of workers need to be updated, imagine how much efforts need
to be put
...
Although
it comes with some limitations, introducing it is still important, but we shall not overlook other
factors
...
– able to meet the demand
and customer needs/wants
...
[16]
Summer 2018/3/1
Definition

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

- Organisational structure is the internal, formal framework of a business that shows the way
in which the management is organized and linked to each other and how the authority is passed
down from the top
...

Advantages
- Delayering means some level of hierarchy will be removed, which means that some
employees will be made redundant – This reduces the cost of ABC, increase its profitability
...
Also, job security could be affected as workers
feared that they are the one being made redundant
...
Although there might be one cost at the time, it helps ABC to reduce the
cost for a long time, so this is good
...
The
shorter the hierarchy is, the shorter the chain of command
...
Thus, this will improve the speed and easiness of
communication between different levels of hierarchy
...
Also, it reduces the chances of distorted messages
...
When span of control becomes broader, this means that there will be more delegation
to workers as there are less control by managers
...
Thus, improve the work performance of them
...

Disadvantages
- The ‘one-off’ redundant cost mentioned above
- The job security – fear of being dismissed
...

- Those remaining staffs will have to work more as they have to do the work of those left
...
That would be a greater issue then
...

- Although there might be cost, or issues of job security, this issue would not be a problem after
a period of time, so long-term benefits can be seen as delayering would allow greater
communication, motivation and reduction of more cost
...

- However, delayering itself is not sufficient, and we have to look at other issue such as
decentralisation, training etc
...

6
...
[16]
Winter 2017/3/3
Definition
Workforce planning means identifying the number of workers and skills of employees needed
in a business to achieve its overall objective
...

Importance of workforce planning → (could always include importance to different
departments)
Importance 1: prevent insufficiency of labour – maintain the productivity to meet the demand
– thus profit could still be made – If insufficient labour, low productivity, could not meet the
demand, loss customer in short-term and long-term
...

In long-term, labour turnover could be a problem, because they feel stress for low pay
...

Importance 3: workforce planning is also important for a business to meet its objective
...
On the basis of this, employees with different skills may be
needed, such as when new technologies are adopted
...

Importance 4: workforce planning gives a chance of workforce audit
...

Importance 5: it prevents the case whether excess labour are being employed
...
This
then leads to reduction of profit
...

- However, as sometimes it relies on sales forecast, which could be inaccurate, it still needs
the business’s ability to react to changes in external environment quickly
...

- Also, it is inaccurate to say that only workforce planning would influence future success
...
All must work together to lead to objective
...
Evaluate the use of flexible employment contracts/ the use of more flexible approach
for ABC’s future success
...
[16]
[16]
Spring 2017 3/2 + Winter 2016 3/1
Definition of flexible employment contracts
- When ABC use flexible employment contracts, this means that a mix of employees are
working under different types of contracts such as full-time permanent contracts, part-time,
zero hours, temporary, short-term and so on
...

- Permanent workers are the workers that work on an ongoing basis until the employees or
employer end the contract while temporary workers are the workers who work for a fixed time
period such as 6 months
...

- Zero-hours contract is the contract that allow the employer to call in the worker when there
is demand/ the work is available
...

For ‘Flexible employment contracts’
- It allows greater flexibility to ABC so it aids in workforce planning
...
Thus, the workers will only be recruited during
that period
...
This is because ABC could recruit them when
they are needed, but choose not to employ them when the work is unavailable
...
Thus, on one hand, it helps to reduce
the cost of employing excess employees when demand is low
...
On the other hand, it helps to ensure that demand can
be met whenever the demand is high
...
For example, the position that requires high skills
in doing something to ensure the quality of goods and services produced
...
Both of these ensures stability of workforce and
it also ensures customer satisfaction
...
For
instance, when ABC is planning to employ full-time workers, they could first employ them on
temporary basis to check about their skill, attitude to work, way of handling issues and so on
so forth
...

Against ‘Flexible employment contracts’
- However, when workers are employed on temporary, part-time or short-term basis, there is
always a concern of motivation issues
...
Firstly, they do
not have job security because they would not be reemployed when they are not doing well
previously
...
This is especially the case when they worked for
many businesses
...
In this situation, they perhaps need to pay
more to attract workers so that they would not loss their sales
...

- There could be conflict between full-time workers and part-time workers
...
For other example, when they are treated differently, such as, more benefits given to
full-time, in this situation, this might cause resentment of workers, lead to low motivation to
work
...

- Sum up good and bad side and see which one is more important
...
Recommend to Bo which candidate should be selected as HR manager for the SC Asian
factory
...
Potential contents:
- Elaboration on each point given, such as internal/external recruitment, age, experience, job
description, person specification, how he/she suits the business……
___________________________________________________________________________
9
...
[16]

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

Reference only (question above is amended): Winter 2018 3/1
Definition
- Trade union is an organisation of workers that aims to improve the pay and working condition
of its members, as well as providing legal support and advice to them
...

Advantages
A1 → help ABC to save the time, as they do not have to spend the time negotiating with each
worker about their matters
...

A2 → trade union can act as a good pipeline for ABC to communicate with its workers
...
Thus, they will
have high motivation
...
Productivity, Efficiency and Quality of goods/services improves, lead to
customer’s satisfaction
...
This is because the trade union will
itself impose discipline on their members, because they do not want their trade union have bad
reputation
...
In addition to this point, ABC could always sign a non-strike agreement
with the trade union they recognize, so that greater involvement will be given to workers in
return for no strike action
...
This will also save cost of
dispute
...
ABC might suffer substantial loss)
A4 → When trade union is recognized and involved, this will lead to fairer treatment of workers
...

Disadvantages
D1→ ABC could loss controls over their employees
...
Whenever the business did not agree with the suggestion by trade union,
they may bring out the strike action especially when the collective bargaining make them
become more powerful, with all the members of the business there
...
This is even the case during inflation
where the value of money increase substantially and making value of workers’ wage become
low, so they demand higher pay to maintain living standards
...
This is because the advantages outweigh the disadvantages
...

- Make a conclusion as to trade union recognition or not
...
Discuss whether improving internal communication will be enough to ensure ABC
overcomes its quality problems
...

- There are different ways of communication such as written, oral, IT and web-based
communication, as well as visual communication
...

Advantages of improving internal communication:
- Ensure that the messages are received, and the receiver (worker) clearly understand it
...
Clearly, if only
written communication is used, this could not be achieved, because it does not allow
communication
...
By improving
internal communication, such as allowing oral communication too, this may improve the
quality of goods
...
– Current methods of communication can be very
demotivating because it lacks the contact between employees and managers/supervisors
...
Thus, staffs do not feel involved, and will not work so hard
...
Contrast to the situation when they are able to contact with
staff, they would be able to report any issue to them directly, thus they will feel more valued
...

- Ensure that managers could identify potential quality issues in BSJ
...
This
will increase quality problem when it is already existed but left unsolved until the time when
the rejection rates become extremely high
...
Firstly, we
know that the staff are keen to communicate with each other
...
Next, while
allowing them internal communication, this could mean allow the informal communication
without banning
...
In addition,
the informal communication can be used to clarity the official message by talking them over
with friends
...

- In addition, when there is change, there might need to be some change or organisational
structure and culture
...

Other actions that might need to be taken
...
There
need to be some training + improvement of machines + others
...
Discuss the factors which will influence the method of entry into international markets
if Option A is chosen
...

Methods of entry
Exporting directly, exporting indirectly (using agent), joint venture, franchise, set up subsidiary
(or own store) in other country, take over existing business
Factors that influence method of entry
- Cost → identify the cost of each option: set up own business and taking over being the most
expensive
...
If
gearing ratio is high, can consider joint venture or franchise
...

- Control over the marketing, operations, finance and HR → Take marketing as an example,
using franchise allows control of (how it is presented to customers, the price, the style of house,
the arrangement, the use of suppliers, etc)
...
Buying out existing business allows high control because you
have the decision-making power when your shares > 50%
...
Using agents could be a problem as commission are
paid, they work for competitors too
...

Evaluation
- Market research is important to identify any potential markets before making any decision
...
For example,
Technological – equipment is needed
...

- Which factor is more important, perhaps money, if they do not have enough money (and they
are not possible to raise it) …
2 Evaluate the usefulness of the moving average method to forecast sales to ABC
...

Instead of only extrapolating the trend, it allows identification of underlying factors that are
expected to influence sales
...

Usefulness:
- When moving average method is used, it does not only mean to forecast the sales level and
trend by extrapolating the past sales, but it also considers the underlying factors that could
affect the demand
...
For instance,
taking into account the cyclical fluctuations, that can last for over periods longer than one year,
this enables the business to predict the potential sales level and make any changes according to
this
...

If business do not use moving average method, they may not be able to foresee the cyclical
fluctuations caused by business cycle, and other types of fluctuations
...
By analyzing all this information, it allows business to take some other action
...
For instance,
developing heater instead of air conditioner during winter period
...

- Moving average method is not only important for workforce planning, but it is useful for
other departments such as finance and marketing department
...
For marketing department, they
would need to make some changes, such as increasing promotional spending (after considering
the promotional elasticity of demand) to see whether they want to take that action in order to
increase sales
...
This is
because the sales data can become outdated quickly following the changes of market
...
Take note that the past
can be different from now
...
Thus, the business should also identify what
is likely to happen in future and link with to the potential fluctuations of sales level
...

- It does not consider the qualitative data such as salesforce composite, Delphi method, jury of
expert, consumer survey and so on
...

- Market research may need to be conducted to assess the demand too
...
g
...

Evaluation
- Although it comes with some limitations, it should be used, but with more caution, and with
combination with other methods stated above
...
[16]
Summer 2019 3/1
Definition
- Marketing strategy is the long-term plan made by the marketing department to achieve its
marketing objective, so that the overall aim could be met
...

- It must be based on marketing objective
How should ABC achieve its marketing strategy – By marketing mix which is the 4 key
decision that must be taken for effective marketing of product
...
For example,
if ABC is targeting exclusive market, high product quality + high price + exclusive
environment + promotion through appropriate channel
...
// Develop the unique selling point//
should always refer to the product life cycle
...

Emphasize the importance of integrating them
Evaluation
- Importance of checking the marketing budget
...

- Strategy must be relied on market research data, merely planning without considering what
might happen would increase the risk of failure the strategy
...

___________________________________________________________________________
4
...

Reference only: S2018/3/2
Definition
-Marketing planning is a detailed, fully researched report on marketing objective and marketing
strategy to be used to achieve them
...


Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

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- Situational analysis → It enables business to look at their current position, the product’s
position, the market, their competitors and so on
...
All these are important, planning without considering these factors would increase the
chance of failure
...

- Only after considering two factors above, marketing strategy can be formed
...

- Product → Price → Promotion → Place (Explain about each)
- Important as it integrates each of the elements
- Important as it allows consideration of marketing budget
- Important as it allows reviews of marketing strategy
Evaluation
In a word, marketing planning is very important for ABC as it allows ABC to think a range of
issues, consider the business environment, considers the potential strategy and tactics to take
place, as well as the marketing budget (which is essential to carry out their plan) and most
importantly, constantly review their plan when there is any problem or issue which cause the
plan to be unworkable
...

However, make sure that this will not cause inflexibility , it must also be updated
...
[16]
Winter 2018/3/1
Definition
Product development is the development and sale of new product, or new development of
existing products
...

Its role/ importance
- to ensure competitiveness of a business
...
Thus, help the business to retain its
customers, especially when the market is very competitive or consumer’s taste changed
quickly
...

-If ABC manage to develop some products that have its own Unique Selling Point, it could
even gain the competitive advantage though this product differentiation, and thus, charge for
a higher price, gain for profits
...
This means that product development is important to replace the existing product that loss
customer demand (balance the product portfolio), or perhaps their introduction is needed to
cover the loss occurred is old product
...
It requires the 7 steps from
generating the new idea, screening the ideas, concept testing, business analysis, product testing,
market testing and only it will be commercialized
...
For example, skipping market testing meaning company does not
take into account the chances of failure but producing its large scale without researching
whether their customer like it
...
However, even market is tested,
the company has to prevent that this information is spreading out, so that no competitors will
copy it
...
It does not guarantee success
...

This will need the research
___________________________________________________________________________
6
...
*This answer does refer to the information provided (APP), so you need to refer to the real question paper*
Summer 2016/3/1
Definition
Research and development means spending money on scientific research and technical
development of new products and services
...
This supports the view that
ABC should maintain XYZ’s level of R & D
...

Should not
- However, if we can take note about HA’s spending
...
This is true because R &
D could not guarantee success
...
The view above is true because as we can see in DEF’s spending, though the money spent is
high, the OPM is very low
...


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Consideration other factors (Looking at the quantitative data above – the competitors’
spending on R & D will not be sufficient and it requires us to discuss other factors too)
- Objective of ABC: ABC bought XYZ largely for innovative reputation and intangible
property it might seem unwise to cut back on R&D spending
...
They can always cut this
expense when the R & D development produce nothing for sale
...
So, cutting off may seem to be unwise
...

- Risk profile – If ABC is risk aggressive, they would wish to take the risk to carry out R & D
...

Evaluation
- Always important to note that facts that R & D does not guarantee success, so it would take
some risk
...

- Before R & D, and even during the R & D, market research should be carried out constantly
to ensure that the product development is not obsolete
...
Evaluate the benefits to ABC of the elasticity concept when developing the new
marketing plan
...
It is important in forming the marketing plan,
which is the detailed report on a marketing strategy containing research findings, objectives,
marketing mix and budget
...

This is because by using PED, ABC would be able to identify whether the result is elastic or
inelastic
...

With PED, it allows DLR to reduce the risk of setting too high prices, that significantly reduce
the demand
...
Thus, could still make profit
...
If the results is elastic, this would mean that DLR’s
increase in promotional spending will get good response from the customers, which will then
increase their sales revenue and profit
...

YED: It helps to identify how the changes of consumers’ incomes could increase demand
...

If it is elastic and positive, this shows that customers are willing to spend more money, which
indicates to us that demand for luxury goods will increase
...
This is then reductionist, reducing its
usefulness
...

For example, in the PED, they think that customer would not respond significantly to increase
of price as the results show inelastic, but this may be because rivals quit the market
...

__________________________________________________________________________
8
...
’ Do you agree with this statement? Justify your
answer
...

Definition

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Sales forecast means predicting the sales level and trend
...

Importance of Sales forecast
- Sales forecast acts as a framework for the whole market plan
...
So, it avoids
them to set too high/too low expectations from the market, and thus miss the opportunity to
succeed
...
Without looking at the
potential demand in an area but decides to operate there would be a great risk, as customer may
not like your product
...
However, as
Sales forecast is based on the past data, if a business is to start a new market which they do not
have experience with, then this would then not be useful
...
In this case, using moving average
would not be accurate, market research or qualitative method must be used
...
It will help ADP understand its current
strengths, existing and potential competitors, consumer tastes and trends, the state of the market
that is being entered
...

- Other elements of marketing plan are important e
...
integrated marketing mix to ensure
consistency in message communicated to potential customers and therefore attract sales
- other elements: refer Question 3 & 4
...

___________________________________________________________________________
9
...
[16]
Winter 2017/3/3
Crux of this question: Discussing about marketing development will be insufficient, but
international marketing needs to be discussed
...
When a product is being sold
in a new country, this can also be known as international marketing, where business is selling
products to another country’s market
...

- When the older market is already become saturated or there are limitations in its own country,
targeting a new market can attract more customers
...
For example, it has high economic growth
...

Risks
- cultural difference – would people accept your products?
- economic difference – such as lower GDP, lower living standards
...

___________________________________________________________________________
10
...
Assume that ABC is planning to
expand
...

Likely good impact
- When there is globalisation, it will be easier for ABC to expand in other countries
...
This ABC is likely to expand its business to other
countries more successfully, because globalisation makes them more competitive, without
having to pay for the tax which make their goods become more expensive they would otherwise
be
...


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- When ABC is able to expand in other countries, this will make them more internationally
competitive
...
In longterm, this will benefit ABC
...

- Pan-global marketing strategies can be used, so that everything is standardised, and this would
help ABC to gain economies of scale
...
If business
operated in country with lower exchange rate able to sell their goods in domestic market, this
could then mean that, customer will go for the goods at lower price, so profit reduce
...

- This may lead to protest of pressure groups in other countries, as they fear of their own
business being shut down
...

- Communication problem and also transport problems
...

Evaluation
Make a conclusion → which factors are the most important
___________________________________________________________________________

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Common Questions in Operation chapters
1 Evaluate whether the introduction of lean production techniques would be enough to
improve ABC’s operational efficiency
...
It consists of some features such as simultaneous engineering, cell
production, flexible mechanism, Just-in-time (JIT) inventory control principle and Kaizen
Group
...
It is true that introduction of new
machines can be the one-off improvement to increase the productivity, but at the same time,
this will deskill the workers, as the work scope is largely being replaced by the machines,
making the jobs more boring in some sense
...

How Lean production techniques can solve the problem
- To solve this problem, lean production techniques will be useful, particularly when we look
at the cell production, which is a type of flow production where workers are arranged into self contained group that responsible for the whole work unit
...
By asking them to complete the whole work unit, this will only give them
more motivation from the job enrichment (as seen in Herzberg theory), but working in a team
will also help to motivate them, this improving the efficiency and productivity
...
In this TQM, other workers will be regarded as the workers’ ‘internal customer’, who
depended the work on quality of their works
...
Firstly, this will surely improve their motivation again, as
their work are being recognised as important for the whole product, item or project to be
completed perfectly
...
Hence, there will be lesser
defective products, which will reduce the cost of ABC because there will be less reject/return
of goods or reprocessing of the finished products
...
This is because it
will help ABC to reduce the supplies issues that is currently happen now
...
It is true that ABC is suffering the issue of supplies delay,
so they must ensure a good relationship with 2-3 suppliers so that other supplies could be

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

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ordered when another is in supplies disruption
...

Kaizen group should also be introduced here
...
This is essential in allowing the further
increase in operational efficiency
...

Perhaps, the use of quality circles is also useful
...
AS
this group encourage workers to speak out their opinion, this data is then useful for ABC, when
workers are very demotivated in that sense
...

- benchmarking
- TQM as stated above
Evaluation
- However, we must understand that the cost of introducing lean production is very expensive
...
This does not only include the purchase
of capital equipment (such as the change of batch production to flow production) but also the
training cost
...

- Problems can occur when employees do not prepare to change, perhaps because they are
not prepared to take so much responsibility
...
It also involves the
culture change there perhaps
...

- Potentially, lean production could increase the labour turnover problem as it puts more
responsibility on them
...

- However, lean production is still useful, though it can be high cost, but if the business is able
to finance it, then it should be introduced
...

Evaluation - ……
___________________________________________________________________________
2
...

[16]

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

Summer 2017/3/3
Definition
Objective is a specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time specific (SMART) target set
by a business to be achieved in a period of time
...
Lean production can be introduced and the quality
management system can be improved to solve the current problem
...
A number of principles and features associated with
this lean production includes Simultaneous engineering, cell production, flexible specialism,
Kaizen and so on
...

Cell Production
PV is currently using the batch production which the worker specializes in one task and work
individually
...
Cell Production may then be useful, as it is a type of flow
production that organize the workers into self-contained group which they will be responsible
for whole work units
...
This will result in higher productivity, thus perhaps increase the current capacity
utilisation of 95%, and most importantly, helps to achieve the objectives by improving the
quality
...
With this TQM and cell production, workers will have to try their best in making the
products with zero defects, as the others workers are depended on the quality of goods they
produced (the internal customer)
...

JIT
Looking at the problems PV is currently facing; it holds a very high level of inventory so that
they can meet the demand from customers
...
This can be very useful in helping
PV to reduce its inventory, thus reduce its cost in storing the goods such as the storage cost,
security cost, insurance, or even the opportunity cost
...
However, while developing this JIT principle, PV should always
take note that there must build a good relationship with the suppliers, and if possible, they could
use 2 -3 suppliers to ensure that disruption of one supplier in sending goods would not cause
to suffer lost of sales, which can have both short-term impact (loss of current sales) and longterm impact (customer switch to other places) to them
...
In addition to this, PV must always ensure that the demand is at least accurate
to reduce the problem of unsatisfied demand
...
Indeed, this quality control may be useful, but only to a small extent if we compared it
to the quality assurance system
...
Hence, this will not actually achieve the objective of reducing
wastage
...
This would substantially
reduce problem of quality and also, it will help the business to identify the at which stage of
production quality need to be improved by taking action
...

Quality Circles
Quality Circles can perhaps be useful in achieving the objective of reducing the quality problem,
because it involved the workers in the issue of quality
...
Thus, using
quality circles by asking the workers to have discussion about work-related issues are very
useful in improving the quality of goods produced
...

Hence, they will be more committed, and are keener to work hard and stay with business,
helping the business to achieve its goal
...
To explain this,
the management will have to identify the best firm in the industry and comparing the
performance standards such as the quality standards with them so that the improvement can be
made
...

[12]
Definition
-Critical Path Analysis is a planning technique that identifies all projects in hand, arranges them
into sequence and identifies the critical path that is required to be completed on time
...

Benefits
Firstly, Critical Path Analysis (CPA) enables BSJ to identify the total project
duration by calculating the shortest possible time to complete the project
...
Hence, by conducting CPA, this enables the managers to predict the time, and thus, this
can be used to inform not only the staff responsible for the work (so that they know the limited
time and will work harder for everything to be completed on time), but it can also be used to
inform the customer, who insists to have a particular completion date
...
Hence, this will
increase the likelihood maintaining customer’s loyalty, thus increase their sales in long-term
...
Hence, they will able to order special equipment or materials needed for the
task at correct time
...
Hence, it will
ensure BSJ to have sufficient resources and materials to complete their work, but at the same
time, this can help them to control the level of inventory, so that it will not be too high or too
low
...

With CPA, BSJ could also identify the Latest Finish Time (LFT) so that they would
be able to know the latest time for a project be completed by agreed date
...
When 12 weeks are exceeded, this will
cause delay
...
If it is not, then
perhaps some actions need to be taken
...
For instance, accelerate and speed up the following
critical activities so that there will not be further delay that could cause the whole project to be
completed after the agreed date
...
Hence, this will prevent a business to face expensive
damage/penalty claims from the customer, which will not only reduce their profit significantly,
but possibly they will be brought to court for such breach of contract to complete on time,
which will damage their reputation, and strike down the sales revenue in long-term
...
This fits in well with the idea of simultaneous engineering so that this will helps
to save the time of producing it in sequence, which could possibly cause the developing
products obsolete if the business is located in a fast-changing market
...

Evaluation
However, we must not forget that, network diagram only gives a big picture for BSJ to
know the task and its sequence, so it does not guarantee the success
...
For instance, if there is a delay in one
activity but the managers do nothing, then it will ultimately lead to whole project delay
...
Although it may take
a lot of time to complete this, it is still worth to act as a guide for BSJ
...

[10]
Summer 2018/3/3
Definition
TQM is an effective approach to quality which involves all the employees in quality
improvement
...
K1 There are some
benefits to RW of introducing TQM now
...
A1 This means that the responsibility of checking
quality is no longer only on the hand of workshop manager, P1 but workers are encouraged to
take responsibility in producing the perfect goods with zero defect as they have to be
responsible to their own internal customers
...
This will actually
reduce the issue of assembly of bicycles had not been done well
...

Also, this will help to reduce the customer complaints, and save RW from bad reputation
resulting from poor quality
...

Next, introducing TQM idea to RW will motivate the workers A2 as they are now feels
involved in the business
...
So, this will increase their motivation, can give them a sense of job enrichment
...
P2 (max) As a result, this will not increase the labour
turnover rate and RW do not have to recruit new workers to replace those thinking of leaving,
saving their cost
...
As we know, RW is now practicing the quality control (QC)
which the workshop manager will check the bicycles that are under quality after being
assembled
...

In addition to this, it can be very boring
...
This is because workers are already involved in meeting the quality standards, so
there is lesser chance that quality will be a big problem at the end
...
With TQM, this problem is solved
...


Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

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In conclusion, TQM is benefiting RW so much after looking at all the benefits that RW
could get by introducing TQM
...
Discuss the value of implementing ERP in the new factory
...
We will identify whether ABC should introduce the ERP into their
business
...
This is because the ERP integrates information into one
system, making it easy for us to know the current status of the orders placed by customers
...
Hence, this
will also lead improved efficiency in the business as all the guesswork about condition of
inventory is removed
...
This will then create customer loyalty, as customer feels that the business could
remember what they want, increasing long-term sales revenue
...
To explain this, ERP incorporates the Just-In-Time inventory principles
which only requires to supplies to arrive when it is needed for production
...
As supply only arrives
when there is a demand, this also reduces the wastage of obsolete materials, so this will again
help to save the cost of wastage
...

Furthermore, ERP can aid in quick and accurate decision making by the manager
or senior management
...
This allows quick and critical decision being made
...
So, this allows
accurate decision being made using the valid statement and reports
...

When different departments are linked together more closely, this will allow good
communication, thus coordination between them, but reduce the organisational conflicts
between departments
...


Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

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However, ERP is very expensive as we have to take into account the cost of database
and computer systems
...
Even though a business
could raise finance from bank, this can surely increase their gearing ratio
...
Nevertheless, such an argument can be rebutted
by arguing that ERP can unify the IT costs and improve efficiency
...
Thus, in long-term, this will
surely benefit the business
...
It’s not unheard of for companies to get swept
up in all the potential of an ERP solution but fail to plan properly for its implementation
...
So, weighing up all the factors, there is still a need to introduce ERP despite the
high cost which impact the profit and training that have to be given to workers
...
This is because ERP is very effective in reducing the unit cost of goods
...

___________________________________________________________________________
6 Analyse how SWF might benefit from introducing a quality assurance system
...
First benefit – QA makes everyone responsible for the quality – OTF the quality checking
is now the responsibility of Q inspector thus workers might not care about the quality issues
...
– Thus, this will help to prevent the negative impact of long-term reputation,
which could affect sales and profits
...

2
...
Hence, they will be keen to work now, this then leads to increase of
productivity → profit →enable SWF to offer more competitive prices
...
Third benefit – As we know, the current QC system is expensive, and it normally includes
the final inspection only (so it is really hard to trace back the quality problems)
...
As product is checked at each stage, this will prevent the issue that problems are
only discovered at the end, so the product might need to be thrown away… Less rework of
goods produced leading to reduction of costs
...
– Fourth benefit – As QC is only checking sample of products, there might be some issues
that are not discovered (costly to check all and they might be lazy to do the same thing)
...
This does not meet

Cambridge A-level Business 9609 Common Question Reviews

ISSACG/A-level

the customer’s needs and wants
...
Or this prevents compensation being paid…
Always remember, as this is only a 10 marks question, no evaluation is needed, which means
that you don’t need to make a two-sided discussion, discussions on benefits are sufficient
...
[16]
Budget is a detailed financial plan for the future
...

By using budget, this allows GR to make a plan or else the realistic targets would
not able to be set
...
With this target, this will
give the sense of purpose and direction, because everyone knows what should they do and
how much effort they should pay, to lead to the goal
...

When the cost budget is calculated, this will ensure that there is more effective
management of cost
...
This will then help in more
accurate case flow forecasting and appropriate working capital, so that there will not be sudden
limited cash flow
...
For instance, sales budget has to
coordinate with labour budget to prevent the situation where sales budget is increased, but there
is less labour to produce the goods
...

Budget can also be used to monitor performance of employees in the restaurant
...
For instance, after
planning, if Leff realized that the financial objective is not within the reach, then he has to
make some amendment
...

Budget is also useful in allowing them to measure and assess the performance, by
calculating the budgets and actual performance, and most importantly, its reason
...
We then
need to identify the reason behind, and see whether the budget can really be useful to GR, since
even plan is made, this restaurant is under-performed
...
Although this will help Leff to save
the time, and Leff could always reduce the limit of cost budget, but increase the sales budget
to enhance the profit, this can lead to serious issue, that is failure to detect the future issue as
it is based on the past result
...
In this case, zero budgeting may be useful so that Leff, while considering the
budget, should allow the managers to justify their use of cost budget, so that this will reduce
the issue of more budget being spent
...
When this is the case, it is likely that this will not motivate,
but instead, demotivate the workers because the budget set may be unrealistic or too far for
them to achieve
...

Thus, I would recommend the use of delegated budget, where the managers who have better
knowledge of local conditions to be given some power to make more realistic budget, so that
it is likely to be achieved
...

Also, we can see the problem that budget is only focus on short-term, that is 3 months,
so when it only focusses on short-term, this may cause the long-term interest for business being
ignored
...
So, some consider of long-term is also needed while setting the budget
...
As this budget is
based on prior period information, when the actual expenses of a department are higher than
or equal to the previous period’s budget, then the limit for these expenses is increased in the
next period’s budget
...

Extra but not suitable here: Budgets can sometimes create conflict within departmental
managers as the manager of every department will want to have the most of these resources
...

Nevertheless, setting budgets are still an important and essential activities to control
the expenditure within GR
...
It is true that there are
some limitations, but these limitations can be overcome by giving more time and thought to
preparing budgets, inviting positive and constructive suggestions from subordinates, not
relying too heavily on past estimates, seeking help of analysts in predicting future and setting
standards capable of being achieved
...
To fully understand this part, our team has prepared another
note
...
Time management is very significant to candidates in their exams
...
Students must do more practices before the exam so that they could well allocate their
time
...

Students are encouraged to
allocated appropriate time
to each question
...

Apparently, students don’t
have time to read through
everything they have
written in the exam, but
allocate sometimes to
complete the important
details
...
Usually, there will be 14 marks for calculation problem, so it is worth for students to spend
some time and understand how to calculate all the details
...
So, skipping
all those calculation part will cost you about 30 marks
...

3
...
Don’t skip any question, at least write something that you think might be the answer
...


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Author’s recommendation
1
...
Unit 6 essay questions answering strategies and model answer



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