Case Studies

Twenty years ago sponsorship of the arts developed as a way of funding tours, performances and exhibitions. If it had not been for corporate...

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

Businesses must respond to change in order to remain competitive. Developing appropriate strategies which allow them to move forward is essential. Wilkinson is a...

Philips was established in 1891 and made lightbulbs - a simple product. Throughout the years the company increased its portfolio into technology products that...

Life in Western economies today is often said to take place in ‘a consumer society.’ The beginning of the ‘age of the consumer’ is...

Amway is a global company which has built its success on direct selling. Direct selling is different from the more traditional distribution channels: customers...

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...

The Internet is a rapidly growing medium which enables people all over the world to share information, communicate, be entertained and conduct business. It...

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

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...

Differences can come from individual characteristics and life experiences, such as where you went to school or where you live. Being married or in...

The external environment in which businesses operate is continually changing. Businesses must respond to these changes to remain competitive and continue to meet the...

Effective communications is a key element of any business’s operations. How well a business communicates with its stakeholders, both internal or external, will have...

Wincanton's mission is 'delivering supply chain solutions across Europe'. The company is customer focussed: its aim is to help its customers become more efficient...

In the business environment, nearly all individuals within an organisation will belong to one or more groups or teams. A team is a set...

Although they might not know it, when people are at work they engage in the process of communication all the time. For example, they...

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...

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...

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

Zurich Insurance Group is a leading global provider of insurance services. Zurich’s mission is to help customers understand and protect themselves from risk. The...

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

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

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

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...

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

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...

McDonald's is one of only a handful of brands that command instant recognition in virtually every country in the world. It has more than...

“Roy, the first shipment has just arrived, I thought you might like to see one.” Gary Maughan passed Roy Doughty a handset across the...

Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK Limited (NMUK) is the UK's largest car manufacturing plant which is located near Sunderland. In terms of the number of...

One of the most significant economic developments is the internationalisation and globalisation of commerce. Almost every type of business is influenced by global events...

When customers buy a product or service they are increasingly aware that they are also buying an element of service that goes with it....

The Burton Group is one of the largest fashion retailers in the UK, operating nearly 1,500 outlets and 92 department stores in high streets...

The Chiefs of Air Staff of Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom signed an agreement to develop a new European fighter aircraft in...

Adding value to a product involves making it more desirable and better for the final consumer. Ways of adding value to a product or...

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...

Barclays is a major global financial services provider. It operates in over 50 countries and employs more than 156,000 people. In 2008, Barclays had...

The Coca-Cola Company is truly global, and its main product is recognised and consumed worldwide. The Company organises and structures itself in a way...

Aldi is one of the world’s leading grocery retailers with more than 7,000 stores across 70 countries. The company originates from Germany, where it was founded...

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

Go-Ahead is one of the UK's leading providers in the fields of bus, rail and aviation support services. The company employs over 24,000 people...

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

Amway is one of the world's largest direct sales companies. It is a global enterprise and is privately owned by the families that started...

Information technology has become increasingly important in the life of all organisations in providing effective communication systems, serving all members of an organisation. At...

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

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) helps people to understand the law and, if necessary, helps them to gain their rights under the law. The...

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

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....

The term utility is widely used today to include those public services which supply water, sewerage, electricity, gas, telecommunications and waste disposal. All of...

Ethics and business aims Vodafone has grown rapidly since it was originally formed in 1984. It has responsibilities to its 60,000 staff and 151 million...

Consumers have higher expectations than ever before. They want products to match these expectations. They also want accurate, up-to-date and useful information about what...

UNISON is Britain and Europe's biggest public sector trade union, representing more than 1.3 million members working in public services. Job roles they represent...

Today, we are aware of the close links between business growth and protection of the environment. The emphasis is on sustainable development; on creating...

The role of the accountant In today's increasingly competitive and uncertain business environment, organisations fighting for customers face a number of factors and issues which...