Business Case Study Analysis: Contemporary Themes and Challenges

This document presents a series of five case studies examining contemporary business challenges and opportunities. The first case study explores Debenhams' potential expansion into a food division, suggesting primary and secondary research methods, including focus groups and questionnaires, along with ethical considerations. The second case study conducts a SWOT analysis of Facebook, highlighting its strengths in marketing, weaknesses in privacy, opportunities in smartphone sales, and threats from ad-blocking technology. The third case study focuses on Streets Ahead estate agency, addressing issues of staff motivation and leadership, using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to analyze employee needs. The fourth case study examines how Budgens can adopt an equality and diversity policy similar to Tesco's, detailing various schemes and their benefits. The fifth case study analyzes Robert's corner shop, addressing cash flow problems and suggesting solutions related to stock control, ordering, and store management. This document offers valuable insights into marketing, leadership, finance, and business development.

CASE STUDY CONTEMPORARY THEMES ASSIGNMENT
CASE STUDY 1
Primary research
Debenhams is a department store that sells mainly homeware and clothing. They should look into opening a food
division of their shop in order to boost profits. I would suggest that Debenhams creates a food department, which
should hopefully ensure they remain competitive in the same way that it helped M&S. The following is a suggestion on
how Debenhams could conduct their market research if they planned to open a food division in their department
stores.
First of all, Debenhams should employ primary research methods, namely, they should carry out focus groups with
participants that reflect diverse sections of society. Although it is expensive to carry out a focus group, as it involves
having to give participants a financial incentive to attend, focus groups are very useful in that they provide rich data:
they reveal unexpected needs and suggestions by potential customers that the researcher may not have thought of.
Furthermore, Debenhams should design a questionnaire for their current clients. This will allow them to obtain relevant
and current data which will help with planning the development and marketing strategies for the food division.
The following questions should be asked in the department stores by sensitive and polite interviewers who would
ensure that all of the participants give their consent prior to completing the questionnaire.
Questionnaire
1. 1. How often do you shop at Debenhams?
a. Once a week
b. Once a month
c. Once every 3 months
d. Occasionally
2. 2. Would you be interested in buying your groceries at Debenhams?
a. YES
b. NO
3. 3. What type of food products would you like to buy at Debenhams?
a. Everyday groceries
b. Healthy food for busy people
c. Specialities from around the world
d. Other (please specify
e. __________________________________
4. 4. How much would you be ready to spend on weekly groceries in Debenhams?
a. Under 50 pounds
b. 50-70
c. 70-100
d. Over 100
1. 5. Would you be willing to spend more money for…
a. YES
b. NO
Does this questionnaire have to be in a box? No, don’t worry, it does not. Does it have to be 5 questions? No, make
it as long or as short as you need for your word count.
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Ethical concerns with primary research
Other ethical issues Debenhams would need to consider are anonymity, objectivity in their interpretation of data, and
sensitivity in which groups they target.
Secondary research
Apart from the questionnaire, Debenhams should invest some time into conducting secondary research. They should
analyse the groceries market by looking at case studies, and financial reports published by leading supermarkets.
Additionally, they should observe CCTV footage collected by market research companies that analyse consumer
behaviour.
To conclude, Debenhams needs to conduct primary and secondary research methods before they plan the launch of
their food division. This way they will have all the necessary information which will inform their decisions – they will be
able to choose the correct segment of the market share, decide on the range of products, and ensure the new venture
will yield a return and be profitable.
(484 words)
CASE STUDY 2
SWOT analysis of Facebook
Facebook’s strength as a marketing platform is primarily its integration with other applications and websites:
everything users want to post can easily be shared onto this social networking platform, including advertisements of
products they have purchased and liked. They can also ‘like’ products, which will show up on their friends’ pages,
which is a personalised way for products to be seen by potential new customers.
Facebook’s weaknesses are its attitude towards privacy, its weak protection of users’ data, and the fact that too many
adverts have saturated it. Users have complained that their pages have been used for market research without their
consent, there have been stories about Facebook making users appear to have ‘liked’ a product when in fact they
haven’t (e.g. a vegan supposedly ‘liked’ McDonalds, which appeared on her friends’ feeds and made them ask her if
she was eating meat again!), and there are now so many adverts on there that its users are less likely to pay them any
attention.
Facebook’s main opportunity, which still attracts many advertisers, is that the sale of smartphones is constantly on the
increase, meaning users are constantly plugged in to the site via these small, portable computer screens. Constant
exposure attracts marketing revenue, so Facebook has benefitted from this increase in smartphone sales that is
external to itself.
Another area that is beyond Facebook’s direct control, but that affects is negatively, is related to technological
advances that enable users to block ads. This threat means users can use the free social networking platform without
being exposed to those who pay for it to exist, i.e. advertisers.
(271 words)
CASE STUDY 3
Streets Ahead estate agency: David’s problems with Motivation and Leadership
Streets Ahead has a few problems with motivating their staff. These will be explored one by one in the following
analysis. Firstly, staff are ignored by managers, which leads them to waste time on social networking or online
shopping websites such as Ebay or Facebook. The bosses should get more involved in the work their staff do, set
deadlines, and perhaps encourage targets to be met by offering various incentives or simply praise for work well done.
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Another problem is that the managers do not consult employees for ideas or input of any kind. This is because they
decide the best course of action alone. They should consult team members, who otherwise feel stunted in their growth
and demotivated. Instead of seeming unavailable, clear leadership should be established. This can simply be done by
making the managers’ duties clear: when David goes to see Tom to share an idea, he is sent to Alice, who sends him
back to Tom. Employees need to know which employer is in charge of what aspect of the business. A further problem
concerns deadlines: it is said in the case study that Alice would not communicate deadlines to the team, then blame
them when work was not complete and distance herself from them. This is very bad managerial practice: instead, she
should set clear deadlines and at least take the blame when she fails to do so. David also states that he feels no
personal growth is possible at Streets Ahead.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Analysing David’s situation according to this famous theory is useful to understanding which needs the job meets and
which it does not. His physiological needs are met, as we are told he makes an excellent salary, especially in
comparison to his previous job. His security needs are also met: he gets paid holidays and commission. As for his
social needs, these are arguably not met. Although his colleagues seem friendly at first, they soon ignore each other
to go on social media and shopping, after explaining to him that there is no point in making any effort at work. His
managers also seem to prefer to ignore the staff. His esteem needs are met at first, as we are told he can add ‘digital
content specialist’ to his job title: this gives him a higher perception of himself. However, he then claims to have
deteriorated from a person with enormous potential to ‘another mediocre estate agent’, which suggests his esteem
needs are ultimately not met. Finally, his self-actualising needs (i.e. whether or not he finds his job challenging) are
clearly not met either. When he has good ideas to fix the mobile app, his employers are not even interested in hearing
them.
(463 words)
CASE STUDY 4
How Budgens can learn from Tesco in terms of equality and diversity.
Budgens should adopt an equality and diversity policy similar to Tesco’s for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, all
businesses in the UK have to respect the Equality Act 2010 as legal action can be taken if employees are
discriminated against. Diversity means visible and non-visible differences including disability, work style, personality,
background and of course race, gender, and age. Everyone feels valued in an environment that values and represents
these differences and where each person’s talent is allowed to be fully utilised. Budgens, like Tesco, needs to make
sure that they encourage people from a diverse range of backgrounds to apply in order to make the staff more
representative of the population. They need to ensure racial and gender equality for example in staff and
management, while also putting talent first.
There are many ways to implement a diversity policy: they have to be willing to offer flexible working arrangements
and have to apply positive action when recruiting. Positive action means giving preference to equally qualified
members of an under-represented group. For this to happen, senior management and line managers must commit to
positive action as well as raising awareness about diversity.
Tesco has many interesting schemes that Budgens could use to inspire their own initiatives: for example, Tesco Asian
Network could be implemented in Budgens too. It would mean having events like careers fairs and parents’ evenings,
where Asian employees can share experiences and parents are told about career opportunities their children could
one day enjoy at Tesco. ABC Network, which grew out of Tesco’s Asian Network, aims to make the business
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particularly appealing to African, Black British and Caribbean colleagues. Budgens could do the same by providing
training opportunities for black people to reach senior positions within the supermarket business. This would
encourage more people from a diverse range of backgrounds to apply, while making sure merit (talent) is still the
criteria for appointment into jobs.
Similarly, in order to ensure gender and sexual preference equality in management, Budgens could again follow
Tesco’s example by starting schemes like Out at Tesco, which represents 1000 LGBT members and also hosts
events for these employees to share experiences, as well as Women in Business, which raises the profile of women
and supports them to develop their careers through training and career sponsorship. Similar schemes for disabled
staff would also be highly beneficial for Budgens’ diversity policy. With such schemes, Budgens would improve
employee retention, fill skills shortages, increase employee productivity, and be considered an employer of choice.
(429 words)
CASE STUDY 5
Cash flow case study: Assets, liabilities, expenses and gains
Robert’s assets are his corner shop, his existing stock, his cash register, and everything else he owns in his shop. His
liabilities are anything he owes: the rent he has to pay for both of the stores and the stock he continually buys to fill the
shelves. His expenses are whatever he owns that he can claim as an expense and get a tax return for: for example,
some merchandise, and perhaps equipment that is essential for the corner shop. Finally, his gains are all of the profits
he makes from goods sold.
Cash flow problems and solutions
At the moment, Robert is having cash flow problems for various reasons, and there are a few potential solutions to
improve his business. Firstly, he buys too much stock ahead of time. This makes little sense when considering his
seller is walking distance from him. A solution would be for Robert to have better stock control, and only purchase
items when they are needed as it is easy for him to re-stock regularly. Linked to this problem is the identical standing
order each week. Products should evolve based on customers’ needs. Robert would benefit from observing
customers’ buying patterns and adjust his order accordingly. A further point in relation to stock is the fact that he buys
the stock in cash rather than taking advantage of the interest free payment plan: again, making smaller payments over
time would alleviate financial pressure.
As for the store itself, changes could include increasing display space. By cutting down on unpopular items, potential
customers would quickly find what they need. Also, he pays rent for two separate rooms but makes no profit from one
because he only keeps stock in it. Instead, he should expand the shop or rent out the spare unit.
As for his dealings with customers, Robert should not allow them to pay on credit without a clear payment plan. He
should agree on terms of payment or stop doing this altogether, as he often does not get his money back. He
suspects theft occurs, and should also install cameras or mirrors as well as recording transactions properly.
Furthermore, he should register for online banking for greater flexibility, since his current arrangement is not practical:
going in person to the bank frequently takes time out of running the shop. Finally, he should hire a professional
accountant rather than try to do the bookkeeping himself, since the money he has in the bank does not correspond to
how much he should be making!
(434 words)
Please add up your total word count:
word count 484 + 271 + 463 + 429 + 434 = 2081 words total
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