Case Studies

We are all familiar with Coca-Cola, Nike, Heinz, Shell and many other strong global brands. But what is a brand? Someone once described brands...

Travis Perkins plc is one of the leading UK building and plumbing merchants. The company operates using a number of different brand names. These...

Global marketing has become a reality, the product most representative of this process is Coca-Cola's Robert Woodruff, former chairman of The Coca-Cola Company stated...

In May 2001, at the Sony Radio Awards, Radio 2 was named Station of the Year for the second time in 3 years. This...

Portakabin designs and delivers modular buildings. It provides clients with inspiring buildings of outstanding quality. Its original market was the construction industry, with its portable...

Consumers make many different buying decisions every day. It is important that large companies developing products for the consumer market-place understand the many factors...

Levi’s is the best known jeans name on the planet. The business was founded by the Strauss family in 1875 and produced jeans for...

The Mars bar is part of our cultural heritage. Our parents and grandparents were brought up with Mars, and instantly recognise the product by...

Decision-makers within organisations need to look into the future. As they do so, their thinking should focus on their customers. These should include existing...

Training and innovation The Group aims to be Europe's most innovative, profitable and customer focused printing company. It is constantly looking for ways to enhance...

The Arcadia Group Limited is one of the UK's largest fashion retail companies with over 25,000 employees, 2,000 outlets throughout the UK and a...

In the past, many people would expect to undertake the same job for the whole of their working lives. However, today it is widely...

Organisations ought to consist of people working together in an atmosphere of open co-operation. At first glance there doesn’t seem to be any commonality...

A critical issue in the development of a successful working relationship is whether we believe we are treated differently from someone else, not because...

Asda is the UK’s second largest supermarket. It was founded in 1949 under the name of Associated Dairies and Farm Group but shortened this...

The New Deal Unemployment is one of the worst social evils. It saps the self-confidence and motivation of those it affects directly and has knock-on...

The Forestry Commission is a government department, making it a public sector organisation. Its mission is 'to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands...

OPITO The Oil & Gas Academy is the focal point for skills, learning and workforce development for the oil and gas industry. Its role is...

CIMA is the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Its members are trained and qualified in the vital area of management accountancy. Businesses can only...

Limited companies (those owned by shareholders) are required by law to produce Financial Statements. These statements must be published and made available to shareholders...

The development of a transportation system which links up places both within the UK and across the world has enabled people, goods and services...

PricewaterhouseCoopers was created in July 1998 by the merger of two firms - Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand - each with historical roots...

Investment decisions involve weighing up the risk and the likely rewards of various options. It is often the riskiest alternatives that yield the highest...

It was the European Commission that first coined the term ‘small and medium enterprise’ (SME) to describe businesses which employ less than 500 workers. This...

What is a budget? A budget is a financial plan that sets out, using figures, an organisation's expected future results. For planning purposes, organisations can...

When we think about the cost of an aircraft, we tend to think of the cost of buying the product rather than the costs...

Britannia is the third largest UK building society, with group assets exceeding £16 billion. Following the conversion to plc status of a number of...

This case study describes the relocation in 1994 of the Marks & Spencer store in Kendal. The situation presented is a relatively unusual example...

Portakabin is an international company. It produces some of the most advanced building systems available. The company is part of the £700 million turnover Shepherd...

Anybody who has bought a car will tell you that there are tangible points of difference which affect their decision to make a purchase....

Most businesses operate in competitive markets: they have to 'take on' and 'see off' rivals. Each organisation must decide for itself how best to...

When you run a large organisation, you are likely to have a large number of employees. The Singapore Airlines Group has more than 29,000...

For businesses to survive and prosper, they must listen to and fulfil the needs of their customers. Businesses are harnessing the advantages of developments...

AstraZeneca is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, producing a powerful range of medicines designed to fight disease in important areas of medical...

For any business, becoming and staying the market leader is a huge task, even for household names such as McDonald's. Keeping ahead involves continuous...

The steel manufacturing company Corus focuses on meeting the needs of its worldwide customers and providing innovative solutions. It manufactures, processes and distributes steel...

Building societies are mutual organisations.  This means that they have no shareholders and operate solely in the interests of their members. A member is...

Within all types of organisations, managers need to constantly ask themselves ‘Where do we go from here?’ This is because, in a changing and...

One approach to business is to develop a product and then look for customers. However, for many businesses the customers come first. They adopt...

This case study looks at how Jaguar, one of the world's most prestigious car manufacturers, has been involved in a culture change programme to...

The Kellogg Company is the world’s leading producer of cereals. For more than 100 years, Kellogg’s has been a leader in health and nutrition...

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is the lead UK government department in foreign affairs. Its mission is to formulate and deliver foreign policy and...

Revolutions are only revolutionary when they are new. Nowhere is this more true than in the e-business revolution. Five years ago few students were...

A business aims to generate value for its owners, customers and other stakeholders. It must decide how to combine valuable resources – typically buildings...

Returning publicly owned enterprises to the private sector is a process known as privatisation. The effects of privatisation are highly significant as organisations, which...

Today, more than ever, we have come to appreciate and value the relationships that can be forged between individuals, organisations and the wider community....

The Overseas Trade Services (OTS) network is a partnership between the major Government departments involved in exporting and promoting British industry abroad. The key...

Everybody faces a degree of uncertainty within his or her daily lives. No matter how well people plan, it is impossible to get rid...

The immense pressure on the world's environment means that measures must be taken today to safeguard natural resources for tomorrow. This is the challenge...

In recent years, there has been a radical transformation in the way in which stocks and shares are traded. At one time, if a...

No business today operates in a complete vacuum unaffected by market forces. By their very nature business activities are competitive. Within a dynamic, rapidly...

One of the biggest challenges for business organisations in the UK is learning how and where to trade overseas. In an interdependent world, international...

All business organisations operate within an external environment of change. The success of each business very much depends on its ability to adapt and...

Primark is a subsidiary company of the ABF (Associated British Foods) Group. The company was launched in 1969 in Ireland trading as Penny's. By...