Read each situation or case carefully. Answer all the questions. Expected word count for each answer is provided along with specific question.

Case 1:

Nestle is a well-established multinational brand selling packaged foods and beverages manufacturer headquartered in Switzerland. It is widely considered to be the world’s largest food manufacturer, with more than 2000 brands and operations in 197 countries. It has a strong relationship with distributors. Though Nestle reported revenues of $99.09 billion on December 31, 2015, its weakness lies in the fact that much of its sales was only from well recognised brands because some of its products are seen as old fashioned by customers. There is a high cost for launching new brands to supplement older, less -fashioned food products. Nestle’s biggest strength was that it is a highly diversified company which operates segments of the consumer products market, including baby foods, bottled water, cereals, candy, coffee, prepared and pre-packaged foods, dairy, drink, food service, healthcare and nutrition, ice cream and pet care. This was possible because of its strong research and development capabilities. Nestle company is heavily dependent upon advertising to increase its sales. Though opportunities due to changes in lifestyles, such as longer work hours, more women in the workforce, and more single-person household, increase the demand for pre-packaged foods lead to dependence on pre-packaged foods, the company faces a threat of growing suspicion about pre-packaged foods as unnatural and unhealthy in Europe and North America is becoming common and it is also facing threats of high competition from retailers such as Walmart, Kroger and Aldi . Online shopping sites such as Amazon Prime and dollar stores are planning to open up a new distribution channels for products of Nestle. Lastly, increased government regulations in some markets, such as India happen to be a big threat for the company.

In view of Case 1 :

Question – 1

(i) Why is conducting a SWOT analysis important for companies. [20-30 Words] (1 Mark)

(ii) Develop a SWOT analysis for Nestle, and explain each part in detail. [50-100 Words] (4 Marks)

Question – 2

(i) Explain the various dimensions of any business environment. [40-80 Words] (3 Marks)

(ii) Analyse the business environment dimensions discussed in the above case. [30-40 Words] (2 Marks)

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Case 2: Ahmed is the Regional Manager of one of the multinational Grocery and general merchandise seller company. He delegates to the store manager, Anas. Anas delegates to the departmental managers; food trading manager, Khaled, non-food trading manager, Omran and personal manager, Hashim. Safa the fresh food section manager and Mohammed the Ambient food section manager all report to Khaled. Roma who is the manager of clothing section and Sohail who is the manager of Electrical section are accountable to Omran but Hashim is responsible for his Assistant Saif.

In view of Case 2:

Question – 3

(i) Draw horizontal organisational chart for the store. [30-40 Words] (2Marks)

(ii) Discuss the responsibilities associated with each of the levels in this business. [40-80 Words] (3 Marks)

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Case 3:

Mr. Asaad owns a Toyota car, few days before he realises that his car has become obsolete and is no use of repairing it and he should go for a new car within a week. He contacted his friend Mr. Said working as manager in Honda Motors and took information about the new model cars in the market. Latter with the discussion and extensive research and information, he finally decided to purchase the Honda Car. After purchasing the car and using it for almost one month he felt dissatisfied with brand and the service provider of the car.

In view of Case 3:

Question – 4

(i) What type of buying behaviour Mr. Asaad is passing through? Identify and explain the first two stages of buying decision process of Mr. Asaad. [30-40 Words] (1+1 Marks)

ii) From the above case identify and explain the last three stages of Mr. Asaad’s buying decision process. [40-80 Words] (3 Marks)

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Case 4:

Adam’s Sons Jewellery Co. LLC has established guidelines to ensure fair treatment toward employees. First, it provides safety training for the employees who make the jewellery. Second, it communicates to all employees that any sort of nuisance will not be tolerated and has established a procedure so that any employees who feel that they have been pressurized or harassed can file a complaint. Third, the hiring process focuses on finding the best person for each position and emphasizes equal opportunity for all races and genders. As a result of its excellent treatment of its employees, Adam’s Sons Jewellery Co. LLC has very little employee turnover, which is one of the main reasons for its success.

In view of Case 4:

Question – 5

(i) Can Adam’s Sons Jewellery Co. LLC responsibility toward employees result in better business performance? Justify your answer. [40-80 Words] (2.5 Marks)

(ii) Should Adam’s Sons Jewellery Co. LLC’s hiring policy allow family members of existing employees to be hired? [40-80 Words] (2.5 Marks)

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Case 5:

Hayman Food LLC is a food manufacturing company based in Ibri run by Mr. Saif Aziz who is the CEO of the company. Mr. Mir is the Managing Director of the company whose main responsibility is planning for long term basis including setting company targets and overseeing the department functioning. The Production Manager makes sure to keep a continuous supply of work flowing to all production staff and also for organizing manpower to meet the customers’ orders. The Finance Manager is responsible for managing the financial dealings of the company including investments and other profitability accounts and financial reports. The Sales Manager has set a target of 15% for the coming month. Each of 25 sales executives share a personal bond with each other, maintain personal interactions with each thus helping one another to achieve targets much easily. The company is doing well because of timely achievement of goals along with the presence of a clearly defined authority, and responsibilities assigned for all employees of the department.

In view of Case 5:

Question – 6

(i) Explain the difference between formal and informal organization, and which is the most effective in your opinion. [40-80 Words] (1+1+.5 Marks)

(ii) Explain how informal organization influences the working of the formal organization as highlighted in the case above. [40-80 Words] (2.5 Marks)

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Case 6:

Yaqoob is a growing business man. He has a couple of small businesses. Most of his business transactions are cash based and hence he manages himself to keep record of all the transactions. He also exposed to credit-based transactions. He spends most of the time to check the receivable balances from his clients. Therefore, he plans to hire an accountant to manage his accounting related activity. He also feels dealing with cash is always risky, he would like to do most of the business transactions through the bank. Moreover, he plans to expand his business network and start a new line of export-oriented businesses.

In view of Case 6:

Question – 7

i) Discuss the concept of accounting and its benefits to Yaqoob’s business. [40-80 Words] (2.5 Marks)

ii) Discuss the services of commercial bank that could support him in dealing with various financial transactions. [40-80 Words] (2.5 Marks)

Question – 8

i) Explain the difference between an accountant and a financial manager, and which is best for Yaqoob to hire in relation to his business, and why? [40-80 Words] (2.5 Marks)

ii) How are commercial bank services different from other financial institutions such as a finance company? Provide an example. [40-80 Words] (2.5 Marks)

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Case 7:

Zulfa LLC is a large-scale manufacturing company from Oman. It is a socially responsible organization and they have very good name in the market. It provides quality products with reasonable price. For the last seven years the company has been earning good profit and its owners are happy with the business performance. It strictly follows the various applicable rules in the country.

In view of Case 7:

Question – 9

i) Identify the social responsibility of Zulfa LLC towards various stakeholders discussed in the above case. Explain any two points. [40-80 Words] (2.5 Marks)

ii) Do you think Zulfa LLC needs some responsibilities towards society along with focusing on profit maximization? Justify your answer. [40-80 Words] (2.5 Marks)

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Case 8:

EAGLE LLC is a private corporation manufacturing toys. It has around 250 employees with different experiences and skills. Most of the workers are on daily wages therefore they lack commitment towards the organisation. The employment of permanent workers needs a fixed salary which the management feels it is a kind of additional burden to the company and the company does not follow any appropriate strategy to employee workers. For the past three years the company could not produce any new product with attractive design as the employees were not getting required new skills. Of late, the management realized that the human resource is one of the core elements for the organisational success and hence appropriate developmental activities should be offered to keep them updated at their field

. In view of Case 8:

Question – 10

i) Discuss elaborately the importance of providing training and development activities for the success of EAGLE LLC. [30-40 Words] (2 Marks)

ii) Identify and explain the various strategies used in training and development that EAGLE LLC. could employ or use. [40-80 Words] (1+2 Marks)