Case Studies

The Football Association is a unique organisation. It has no shareholders, it is not tasked with making a profit, it does not manufacture a...

What do the words ‘National Trust’ mean to you? Historic houses? Gardens? An organisation that older people join? All of these are accurate, but...

ASOS.com is the UK's market leader in online fashion retailing. It offers own-label, branded fashion and designer goods. Its headquarters are in Camden Town...

It is easy to think of global products and brand names: Coca-Cola, Mars, and Nestlé are obvious examples in the food and drink line,...

Today we live in a global community as global citizens where we have become increasingly conscious about sharing the planet with people from other...

There is a substantial ice cream market in the UK. In recent years it has been transformed by the development of new product lines...

Over recent years, the changing political, social and economic environment has created a different type of competitive situation for European companies. The pace of...

In the modern business world, an organisation’s brand image can be as important as the goods or services it produces. A strong brand image...

Marketing is about making sure that a business is providing the goods and services that customers want. It involves identifying and anticipating what consumers...

In the modern world, brands are as important as the products they represent. Customers only trust reputable brands, so maintaining their brand's reputation is...

What is insurance? Life is full of risks. Insurance can provide security against some of these risks. For example, motor insurance provides cover for certain...

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...

British Gas is part of the Centrica Group. It is the country”s best recognised energy brand. Centrica is a multinational company, with businesses in...

In a social world, businesses are social organisations. Within any organisation, there is a maze of pathways along which communications travel. Imagine the endless...

Today, we have moved well beyond the time when decisions were made at the top of an organisation and then passed ‘down the line’...

Marks & Spencer’s leading position in the highly competitive market-place depends on its ability to stay one step ahead of other retailers, both in...

National Grid is one of the world's largest utilities. It focuses on the delivery of energy (gas and electricity) safely, reliably, responsibly and efficiently....

The term 'learning organisations' has become widely used in recent years. This is applied to businesses that best adapt and change so that the...

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

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...

How much is the business worth? Are sales growing or declining? What about cash flow? These and many other vital questions are regularly tackled...

Every morning millions of people in the UK have a bath or shower, make a cup of tea and wash the dishes before they...

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

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

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

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

This case study examines the importance of futures trading and focuses more specifically on commodity futures trading. The futures market plays a key role...

What would happen if Christmas trees were not available until Easter? How would you feel if you tried to buy a coffee at your...

With a proven track record in supplying the highest quality accommodation, Portakabin hires and sells permanent and relocatable buildings. Clients include hospitals and schools,...

Changing customers expectations The 1980s were marked by a growth in consumer spending and a housing boom. Easy access to credit made it possible for...

Stretching from Cape Town in South Africa, across the Sahara Desert, to the Mediterranean Sea in the north, Africa is the world's second largest...

Information technology is causing fundamental change in almost every organisation and market-place. The effective application of such technologies has become a key resource central...

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

Consumers’ buying habits reflect their personality, income, age, lifestyle and aspirations. What people want to buy changes over the years. Many consumers constantly seek...

British Steel Engineering Steels is committed to Total Quality Management. Many customers perceive the quality of the product or service as being of equal...

The business world is a moving target. It has changed rapidly over the last 20 years and is continuing to do so at an...

The virtuous circle of mutuality In recent times there has been much debate in the financial services sector as to whether Building Societies should remain...

OPITO The Oil & Gas Academy is the focal point for skills, learning and workforce development in the industry, delivering the right skills for the...

Modern society depends on prosperous communities that care for all of their members. Business organisations can play an important role in creating and developing...

which it manages its economic and social role. For example, it now owns very few manufacturing or service industries as many public corporations have...

In a world in which young people follow the National Curriculum and then prepare for examinations, it is easy to ignore some of the...

Vodafone is a mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire. In 2006 its income was just over £5 billion. This made it the largest...

Making sure that government, businesses and households have secure supplies of energy is a huge commitment. Engineers working for energy supply companies must make...

Web opportunities By exploiting opportunities offered by both the Internet and intranet, Cummins has pioneered some innovative methods to enhance communications with its employees and...

A business will not become the market leader by chance. It takes careful planning to build an organisation that outperforms its competitors. In business,...

There are a number of ways of developing new business opportunities and one of the most important of these is that of “recognising a...

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...

Vodafone is a leading international mobile communications company with interests in 27 countries and partnership agreements with a further 40 countries, including Safaricom in...

When people think of rail travel they think of trains. They do not think about the infrastructure of the train network. This consists of...

There is little doubt that energy is central to our lives. Indeed, it is impossible to imagine our offices, schools or homes without energy....

With the discovery of a previously unknown planet, one of the first things we would want to know is its capacity for supporting any...

An Office of Fair Trading case study We live in an economic system that is generally good at channelling scarce resources towards meeting consumers' needs....

Many of the goods we use in our everyday lives are based on “threads.” For example, the room in which you are sitting whilst...

Many people perceive the construction industry as towering cranes over a city skyline or a pile of bricks and cement in a backyard. In...