Business Case Studies by Edition - 15

The Times 100: Edition 15

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  Aims and objectives: This case study shows how Anglo American, through its aims and objectives, is driving forward its approach to sustainable development.

  Social responsibility - using resources more efficiently

  1. Introduction
  2. Aims and objectives
  3. SMART objectives
  4. Strategy
  5. Tactics
  6. Conclusion
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  Market research: The case study shows how market research enabled Barclays to improve its student account offer.

  Discovering customer needs through research

  1. Introduction
  2. Purpose of market research
  3. Types of market research
  4. Research findings
  5. Implementation and evaluation
  6. Conclusion
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  Organising people: This case study explores how British Gas manages the recruitment and selection of new employees.

  Workforce planning at British Gas

  1. Introduction
  2. The role of human resource management
  3. Training
  4. Workforce planning
  5. Recruitment
  6. Selection
  7. Conclusion
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  Business cycle: This case study illustrates how building societies manage theirbusiness during the various phases of the business cycle.

  Working within the business cycle

  1. Introduction
  2. The business cycle
  3. Boom
  4. Downturn and recession
  5. Recovery
  6. Conclusion
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  cash flow: This case study looks at how management accountants forecast, monitor and control cash flow in order to maintain the ongoing financial health of businesses.

  Controlling cash flow for business growth

  1. Introduction
  2. The importance of cash flow
  3. The cash flow cycle
  4. Managing cash flow
  5. Benefits of effective management accounting
  6. Conclusion
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  Organising people: This case study looks at the theoretical basis behind CMI's highly regarded practices and shows how CMI ensures its members have the practical skills to make an impact in business.

  The importance of effective management

  1. Introduction
  2. Leadership and management
  3. People-focused management
  4. Management styles
  5. Developing management skills
  6. Conclusion
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  Managing change: This case study focuses on how Corus Strip Products UK has overcome barriers to change in order to secure a more prosperous future for the business.

  Overcoming barriers to change

  1. Introduction
  2. Reasons for change
  3. Barriers to change
  4. Overcoming barriers
  5. Measuring the outcomes of change
  6. Conclusion
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  budgeting: This case study shows how the development and use of budgetscontribute to Davis Service Group meeting its objectives.

  Planning a budget

  1. Introduction
  2. Building a budget
  3. Making assumptions
  4. Using budgets
  5. The benefits and drawbacks of budgeting
  6. Conclusion
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  Marketing mix: This case study looks at how Diesel promotes its products and the brand.

  Live, breathe and wear passion

  1. Introduction
  2. Product
  3. Promotion
  4. Place
  5. Price
  6. People
  7. Conclusion
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  Motivation: This case study looks at ways in which Enterprise Rent-A-Car (Enterprise) managers find out about what motivates their staff.

  Motivation in action

  1. Introduction
  2. What is motivation?
  3. Culture and motivation
  4. Motivating people in the workplace
  5. Overcoming barriers
  6. Conclusion
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  Organising people: This case study looks at why the FCO needs people with transferable skills who can adapt easily and undertake many different roles and responsibilities within the organisation.

  Meeting business needs through workforce planning

  1. Introduction
  2. Workforce planning
  3. Recruitment
  4. Selection
  5. Developing people
  6. Conclusion
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  Organising people: This case study shows how the important roles played by people who work for the Commission are structured. It outlines how this structure helps the Forestry Commission in its vital role in protecting Britain's forests.

  Factors affecting organisational structure

  1. Introduction
  2. Organisational structure
  3. Roles within the organisation
  4. Flat organisation structures
  5. Factors affecting structure
  6. Conclusion
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  External influences: The role of the IPO is to help manage intellectual property rightsto encourage innovation and creativity. Like all businesss, it needs to take account of and respond to influences in the external environment.

  Intellectual property and the external environment

  1. Introduction
  2. The external environment
  3. Social factors
  4. Legal and economic factors
  5. Political and technological factors
  6. Conclusion
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  Market research: This case study focuses on the importance of market research during the development and launch of Crunchy Nut Bites, a more recent extension to the Crunchy Nut brand.

  New products from market research

  1. Introduction
  2. Why carry out market research?
  3. Types of research
  4. Information gathering - discovery to selection
  5. Information gathering - development to launch
  6. Conclusion
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  Business organisation: This case study looks at why and how a number of HR activities have recently been centralised at the Legal Services Commission and the benefits these changes have brought to staff, the public and the organisation.

  The advantages of centralisation

  1. Introduction
  2. Reasons for change
  3. Centralisation
  4. Decentralisation
  5. Managing the change
  6. Conclusion
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  Marketing mix: This case study shows how McCain combines all four parts of the marketing mix to develop its marketing strategy.

  The marketing mix in the food industry

  1. Introduction
  2. Product
  3. Price
  4. Place
  5. Promotion
  6. Conclusion
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  Developing people: This case study shows how NDA has put in place a training and development strategy to ensure it has the best people to help deliver its mission.

  Training and development at NDA

  1. Introduction
  2. Human Resources strategy
  3. The strategic role of training and development
  4. Training
  5. Development at NDA
  6. Conclusion
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  Sectors of industry: This case study shows the importance of primary sector activities in the oil and gas industry, highlighting the range of work and the skills required.

  Sectors of industry

  1. Introduction
  2. Sectors of industry
  3. Oil and gas activities in the primary sector
  4. Oil and gas roles in the primary sector
  5. Secondary sector and tertiary sector
  6. Conclusion
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  Marketing planning: This case study shows how Portakabin uses marketing to identify and anticipate customer needs and then meet them.

  How the role of marketing drives business forwards

  1. Introduction
  2. The purpose of marketing
  3. Market research
  4. The marketing mix: product and price
  5. Promotion and place
  6. Conclusion
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  Ethics: This case study shows how Primark sources the clothes it sells in its shops in an ethical and fair way, often at added cost to itself.

  Providing consumers with ethically sourced garments

  1. Introduction
  2. What are business ethics?
  3. Ethics in practice
  4. Why take an ethical approach?
  5. The costs of ethical behaviour
  6. Conclusion
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  Organising people: This case study shows how a dynamic and growing company needs to recruit new people with new skills to meet the energy challenges of the 21st century.

  Managing workforce requirements

  1. Introduction
  2. Workforce planning
  3. Reasons for workforce planning
  4. Attracting people
  5. Developing people
  6. Conclusion
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  Stakeholders: The case study examines how stakeholders influence the achievement of these aims and how Shell seeks to meet the needs of all of its stakeholders and balance the social, economic and environmental impacts of its work.

  Balancing stakeholder needs

  1. Introduction
  2. Internal stakeholders
  3. External stakeholders - customers and communities
  4. External stakeholders - interest groups
  5. Shareholders and resolving conflicts
  6. Conclusion
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  Motivation: This case study demonstrates how Siemens provides an innovative environment as part of its overall focus on motivating its people.

  Motivation within a creative environment

  1. Introduction
  2. Motivation
  3. Scientific management
  4. Hierarchy of needs
  5. Satisfiers and dissatisfiers
  6. Conclusion
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  Roles and responsibilities: The case study shows how different job roles are structured within the organisation and how they support Specsavers' business.

  Job roles at Specsavers

  1. Introduction
  2. Organisational structure and ownership
  3. Roles within the organisation
  4. Professional roles
  5. Retail and support roles
  6. Conclusion
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  Research and development: This case study shows how R&D is central to building Syngenta's product range.

  Product design through research and development

  1. Introduction
  2. New product development
  3. Research
  4. Development
  5. Challenges and benefits of R&D
  6. Conclusion
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  Organising people: This case study focuses on Human Resource Management within Tarmac. It looks at how workforce planning and other HR strategies enable Tarmac to meet its mission.

  Developing a Human Resource strategy

  1. Introduction
  2. Human Resource Management
  3. Workforce planning
  4. Getting the right people
  5. Building skills and capabilities
  6. Conclusion
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  Motivation: This case study looks at how Tesco motivates its employees by increasing their knowledge, skills and job satisfaction through training and development and providing relevant and timely reward and recognition.

  Motivational theory in practice at Tesco

  1. Introduction
  2. What is motivation?
  3. Taylor´s motivational theory
  4. The Mayo effect
  5. Maslow and Herzberg
  6. Conclusion
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  Protecting people: This case study shows how UNISON is working with employers to support and develop high quality apprenticeship schemes for young people in line with government policy.

  Negotiation and representation at work

  1. Introduction
  2. Representation at work
  3. External factors supporting apprenticeships
  4. Negotiation
  5. Benefits to members
  6. Conclusion
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  Vision: This case study looks at how the implementation of a new vision is transforming the culture and performance of Virgin Trains.

  Implementing a new vision at Virgin Trains

  1. Introduction
  2. What is a vision?
  3. Sharing the vision and values
  4. From vision to culture
  5. Reviewing the vision
  6. Conclusion
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  Supply chain: This case study focuses on how the second largest grocery brand inthe UK - Warburtons - manages its supply chain.

  Managing the supply chain to meet customer needs

  1. Introduction
  2. Sectors of industry
  3. Primary sector
  4. Secondary sector
  5. Tertiary sector
  6. Conclusion
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  Market research: This case study focuses on how Zurich has used market research to develop a business strategy of 'delivering help when it matters so that customers feel valued and taken care of'.

  Providing a customer-centric service

  1. Introduction
  2. Market research
  3. Secondary research
  4. Business strategy
  5. Implementation of a customer-centred strategy
  6. Conclusion