CORK INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INSTITIÚID TEICNEOLAÍOCHTA CHORCAÍ

Summer Examinations 2016

Module Title:

Business Principles and the Business Environment

Module Code:

MGMT8021

School:

School of Business

Programme Title:

Bachelor of Business (Honours) Bachelor of Business in Marketing (Honours)

Programme Code:

BBUSS_8_Y4 BBUSN_8_Y4 BMRKT_8_Y4

Sitting

Summer 2016

Duration:

2 Hours

External Examiner(s):

Mr. Mike Wilman

Internal Examiner(s):

Mr John Meyler, Miss Vivienne Griffin Dr John Barrett, Mr Kenneth Sheehy

Instructions:

Students must answer a total of THREE questions as follows:

Students must answer TWO questions in either Section A OR Section B – both questions must be from the same section. In addition students must also answer ONE question from either Section C OR Section D. Requirements for this examination: Note to Candidates: Please check the Programme Title and the Module Title to ensure that you have received the correct examination paper. If in doubt please contact an Invigilator.

Please Read Carefully Instructions

You are required to answer a total of three (3) questions as follows:  Answer a total of two (2) questions in either Section A OR in Section B;  Answer one (1) question from Section C OR Section D;  You must use separate answer book for each of the sections you answer –Section A or B and Section C or D;  Please write the relevant section and the lecturer’s name on top of the answer books.

Section A Mr John Meyler Students answering this section MUST attempt ANY TWO questions. Q1 Offensive business strategies involve taking proactive, often aggressive action in the market. This action can be focused directly at competitors or aimed at securing market share regardless of the existing competition. Critically Analyse your Organisations approach to the above statement. To Illustrate your answer, use the Case Studies presented on the Course, Aldi, Lidl, Dunnes Stores,Tesco, Laya Healthcare, Stryker, Depuiy, Dairygold, SWS, Voxpro etc plus specific examples from your own Organisation plus General Examples from the world of Business Today. (33 Marks) Q2

In today’s world where everyone wants to be noticed and recognized for their work –

employees are motivated to achieve to remain relevant. As such, employees are in search of new ways to learn, improve their skills and invest in themselves. This is an opportunity for leaders to get involved and understand how to build the depth and breadth of their employee’s skill sets and aptitudes. Discuss in detail the efforts your Organisation is using to elevate employees’ high-potential status taking into account the theories of motivation presented on the course. (33 Marks) To Illustrate your answer, use the Case Studies presented on the Course, Aldi, Lidl, Dunnes Stores,Tesco, Laya Healthcare, Stryker, Depuiy, Dairygold, SWS, Voxpro etc plus specific examples from your own Organisation plus General Examples from the world of Business Today.

Q3 A value chain is a model used to disaggregate a firm into its strategically relevant value generating activities, in order to evaluate each activity's contribution to the firm's performance. Through the analysis of this model we can gain insight as to how a firm creates their competitive advantage and shareholder value. Discuss in detail the main activities of your Organisation and how they contribute to the companys overall competitive advantage. (33 Marks) To Illustrate your answer, use the Case Studies presented on the Course, Aldi, Lidl, Dunnes Stores,Tesco, Laya Healthcare, Stryker, Depuiy, Dairygold, SWS, Voxpro etc plus specific examples from your own Organisation plus General Examples from the world of Business Today.

Q4 Understanding, measuring and managing critical success factors, is increasingly important to ensuring the survival and future prosperity of organizations, in these times of economic recession and uncertainty. (33 Marks) Critically Evaluate your organisations approach to managing their critical success factors. To Illustrate your answer, use the Case Studies presented on the Course, Aldi, Lidl, Dunnes Stores,Tesco, Laya Healthcare, Stryker, Depuiy, Dairygold, SWS, Voxpro etc plus specific examples from your own Organisation plus General Examples from the world of Business Today.

Section B Miss Vivienne Griffin Students answering this section MUST attempt ANY TWO questions.

Q1. Montouri’s concern for the long-term wellbeing of organizations inspired many theorists to divert their attention away from factors leading to organizational demise and towards the concept of organizational longevity. Examine the path to achieving organizational longevity as identified by Montouri with reference to 2 organizations of your choice. (33 marks)

Q2. Traditional financial measures used to track organizational performance worked well for the industrial era, but they are out of step with the skills and competencies companies are trying to master today. a) Discuss Kaplan and Norton’s work on the Balanced Scorecard with regard to its usefulness in performance management (20 marks) b) Examine how Doyle’s work on ‘Tolerance Zones’ supports the need for non-financial objectives with regard to performance management (13 marks)

Q3. According to Christopher (2011), we are now entering the era of ‘supply chain competition’ where organizations have come to recognize the vital impact that logistics management can have in the achievement of competitive advantage. Critically analyse this statement with reference to the competitive measures Christopher recommends in order to achieve success. (33 marks)

Students must Answer ONE question from either Section C OR Section D. Section C (Mr Kenneth Sheehy) Students attempting this Section are required to answer all parts

Part A. Given the following sequential process.

Process

A

B

C

D

E

Time Per Unit (Seconds)

75

100

50

75

50

Operators

1

1

1

1

1

Assume that each process time is divisible into sub elements of 25 seconds per unit. This process has a demand of 1,350 units per week. The shift pattern in operation for the week is 5 x 8 hour shifts. There are scheduled break times of 1 hour per shift.

1. Graphically represent the above process on a Work Content versus Takt time chart and discuss the implications for the process. 2. Calculate the balance to Takt and balance to constraint percentages. 3. Highlight any potential improvements that could be made. 4. Determine the impact of any changes on the performance metrics. (17 marks)

Part B. Briefly describe how a basic Material Requirements Planning (MRP) system works using a product of your choice. (10 marks) Part C. Explain the difference between Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRPII) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and how they have evolved. (7 marks)

Section D (Dr John Barrett) Students attempting this Section are required to answer all parts

(a) Moore’s Law has sustained continuous high levels of revenue growth in the Microelectronics Industry for over 50 years. In terms of the industry’s business model, products and market sectors, discuss why following Moore’s Law was a sound business strategy for the industry. (12 marks) (b) With Moore’s Law coming to an end, discuss ways by which the Microelectronics Industry can continue to financially sustain its core business model of fast innovation cycles without Moore’s Law as its underlying driver. (11 marks) (c) It has been said that, if the Microelectronics Industry views the Internet of Things (IoT) simply as an opportunity to sell only very large additional volumes of silicon technology, it is going to miss out on the much larger economic opportunities of the IoT. If this is true, what are the larger economic opportunities of the IoT and what should the Microelectronics Industry be doing to take advantage of them? (11 marks) -------------------------------------