Case Studies

Research Market and product research lie at the heart of any successful business. Market research involves talking to customers to find out what they want...

Businesses both shape and respond to changes in the competitive environment. In the early 1980s, the impact of information technology was changing the nature...

In 1950, Bernard Matthews bought 20 turkey eggs and an old incubator - a total investment of £2.50. Today, Bernard Matthews is a multi-national...

A story of global success No study of business success in the twentieth century would be complete without mentioning Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is the product which...

All organisations face an external business environment that constantly changes. Sometimes these changes are slight eg minor amendments to regulations or a new firm...

United Biscuits (UB) is an international foods business operating in 24 countries. The company manufactures, markets and distributes biscuits, savoury snacks and frozen and...

Few markets remain in the same state for long. In some cases consumers needs change with some companies choosing to respond. Depending on the...

Branding of a product is important for both buyers and sellers. For buyers, branding reduces the random nature of product selection. It helps them...

Since it was established in Germany in 1949, by Adolf Dassler, Adidas has been synonymous with the sporting industry. Today, Adidas is a global...

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

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

The Forestry Commission has a huge responsibility. It cares for 827,000 hectares of sustainably-managed woods and forests and plants more than 17 million trees...

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

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 1985 the first mobile phone call was made on the Vodafone network. This is now one of the largest telecommunications companies in the...

Businesses need to recruit and select the best people. This helps them achieve their aims and objectives. This is particularly relevant in the fast-moving...

Harrods is a brand that is recognised all over the world. Its Knightsbridge store has 1 million square feet of selling space with over...

The importance of recruitment For McDonald's, people are its most important asset. This is because customer satisfaction begins with the attitudes and abilities of employees...

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

British Aerospace is a world leader in aerospace and defence with annual sales exceeding £8 billion and an order book of more than £22...

Davis Service Group is a large public limited company employing around 17,000 people. Its shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange. The business is...

The capital market enables individuals and organisations with spare capital (money which they want to invest) to channel these funds to businesses and other...

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

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

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

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

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

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...

Cities are not just concentrations of people, they are also centres of economic activity and decision-making. Many European cities now face a transportation crisis....

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

primary - gifts of nature such as extracting or developing natural resources including farming, forestry, mining or fishingsecondary – manufacturing and the construction industries...

BSI was the pioneer in creating standards. It is the UK's National Standards Body - the world's first. It also plays a prominent role...

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

With the changing expectations of customers, organisations constantly need to adapt to remain competitive. When faced with such pressures for change, managers may look...

The importance of Health & Safety Health and Safety lies at the heart of an organisation's commitment to the people that work for it and...

This case study focuses on the way in which Britannia Building Society has continued to place its customers at the centre of all its...

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

The products and services that an organisation produces are the reason why it exists; timber merchants exist to sell timber, china factories to produce...

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...

The textile manufacture and clothing distribution industry has seen dramatic changes in recent years. Consumers’ expectations are higher today than ever before, they expect...

Building societies date back to the late eighteenth century. The first known building society was set up in 1775. This was to enable people...

This case study shows how and why Spillers Petfoods acquired Quaker European Petfoods for £465m in April 1995 to create Europe’s second largest petfood...

NATS is the world’s leading provider of a range of air traffic services. This includes providing air traffic control (ATC) services for some of the world’s...

This case study outlines ways in which it is possible to change the culture of an organisation so that it retains what it sees...

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

Suppose that every person in the world were to demand goods and services in the same quantities as people in western industrialised nations demand...

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...

Governments markets are made up of the spending of National and Local governments. Each year the government spends billions of pounds on a range...

The importance of ethics in business Ethics concern an individual's moral judgements about right and wrong. Decisions taken within an organisation may be made by...

The first decade of the 21st century has been a rollercoaster ride for economic activity. Business confidence was high at the start of the...

This case study focuses on the HSBC Group, which, as one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world, is able...

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

Primary industries include farming, forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying and oil supply. They are the starting point for nearly all production. Mined raw materials include...

Businesses operate in markets that are constantly changing. Consumer tastes and expectations are always on the move. This case study examines a market-focused innovation...