NEED TO BE LONG ANSWER OR SHORT ESSAY QUESTION

Section A: Long answer questions – Answer All questions (2 x 5 marks = 10 marks)

Q.1. These years, many countries have shifted from planned economies to market economies. Explain the previous statement and why do you think this has happened?

Q.2. Analyse the location of a local business (perhaps a restaurant, a supermarket, or a manufacturing company) where you deal with. What problems do you see with this location? What recommendations would you make to management?

Section B- Case Study – Answer ALL questions (2 x 5 marks = 10 marks)

Managing change through training

The railway is a vital part of Britain’s economy and infrastructure. Every day Network Rail gets three million people to their destinations. It also moves thousands of tons of goods around Britain. Rail is a greener and safer mode of transport than car so it is no surprise that passenger numbers have increased by more than 40% in the past ten years. These numbers are expected to double by 2034. Network Rail is the business responsible for the tracks, bridges and tunnels that make up the British rail network. These, along with signaling and level crossings, form the railway’s infrastructure. Its responsibility extends to 20,000 miles of track and 40,000 bridges and tunnels.

Network Rail faced huge challenges when it took on these responsibilities ten years ago. At the time, the rail network faced a number of problems. Trains were late, costs were high and there had been a lack of investment in both people and equipment. These issues meant that there was low public confidence in the rail network.

Since then, Network Rail has focused on a sustained programme to bring down costs. New ways of working have reduced costs by 28%, largely due to economies of scale. Track and equipment have been renewed and punctuality has risen to over 90%. Major projects have been delivered on time and to budget, leading to more public confidence in the service. Network Rail has changed its focus to ‘predict and prevent’ rather than the previous ‘find and fix’. This is both more cost-effective and efficient and helps to avoid delay or disruption to journeys for passengers.

Network Rail invests in people and, in so doing, invests in its future. It is one of Britain’s biggest employers, with 35,000 employees. It offers a broad range of roles, from maintenance and signaling engineers to project managers. There are opportunities in all functional areas. These include specialists in human resources (HR), information technology (IT), finance and customer service. To achieve its work programme Network Rail needs to recruit and retain talented engineers.

To maintain the quality of staff, Network Rail has put major investment into improving the knowledge and skills of its workforce. It operates a ‘learning for life’ policy and staff are expected to continue learning throughout their careers. It provides staff with new or improved skills so that they can carry out a role or task better. Training staff brings a number of benefits to a business. It makes staff more efficient and therefore they produce more output.

The UK is currently facing a shortage of young people with skills in technology and engineering. This is partly due to fewer young people taking qualifications in science and mathematics in further and higher education. Network Rail has recognised that it needs to fill this gap. It has therefore put in place high quality training to make sure that it has people with the right skills it requires in the future. There are two main types of training – ‘on-the-job’, which is training based in the workplace, and ‘off-the-job’ which is based at a college or other learning center. Network Rail has developed many such centers to fulfil its specific needs. It currently has 26 modern training centers across Britain. These allow it to train up to 100 frontline engineering and maintenance people at once. Examples of off-the-job training at the Walsall center include practical training on a purpose-built 60 meters stretch of internal track with signaling and 150 meters of outdoor track. Trainees learn how to practice procedures in controlled environments that they can then use when they return to the British Rail network. On-the-job training includes trainees accompanying mentors, for instance, when fixing signaling issues, and learning hands-on how to maintain the network effectively.

Reference:https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-times-100-business-case-studies-e40999159.html

Questions:

Q3. Summarise the case in your own words.

Q4. Evaluate the various methods that Network Rail uses to train its employees. Which do you think are most effective? Explain your answer.

Name: ____________________________________ ID_______________________

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