(b) What are the advantages and disadvantages of using franchising to develop La Familia Amable budget hotel

chain? (8 marks)

3 Mark Howe, Managing Director of Auto Direct, is a victim of his own success. Mark has created an innovative way

of selling cars to the public which takes advantage of the greater freedom given to independent car distributors to

market cars more aggressively within the European Union. This reduces the traditional control and interference of the

automobile manufacturers, some of whom own their distributors. He has opened a number of showrooms in the

London region and by 2004 Auto Direct had 20 outlets in and around London. The concept is deceptively simple;

Mark buys cars from wherever he can source them most cheaply and has access to all of the leading volume car

models. He then concentrates on selling the cars to the public, leaving servicing and repair work to other specialist

garages. He offers a classic high volume/low margin business model.

Mark now wants to develop this business model onto a national and eventually an international basis. His immediate

plans are to grow the number of outlets by 50% each year for the next three years. Such growth will place

considerable strain on the existing organisation and staff. Each showroom has its own management team, sales

personnel and administration. Currently the 20 showrooms are grouped into a Northern and Southern Sales Division

with a small head office team for each division. Auto Direct now employs 250 people.

Mark now needs to communicate the next three-year phase of the company’s ambitious growth plans to staff and is

anxious to get an understanding of staff attitudes towards the company and its growth plans. He is aware that you

are a consultant used to advising firms on the changes associated with rapid growth and the way to generate positive

staff attitudes to change.

Required:

(a) Using appropriate strategies for managing change provide Mark with a brief report on how he can best create

a positive staff response to the proposed growth plans. (12 marks)

3 Joe Lawson is founder and Managing Director of Lawson Engineering, a medium sized, privately owned family

business specialising in the design and manufacture of precision engineering products. Its customers are major

industrial customers in the aerospace, automotive and chemical industries, many of which are globally recognised

companies. Lawson prides itself on the long-term relationships it has built up with these high profile customers. The

strength of these relationships is built on Lawson’s worldwide reputation for engineering excellence, which has

tangible recognition in its gaining prestigious international awards for product and process innovation and quality

performance. Lawson Engineering is a company name well known in its chosen international markets. Its reputation

has been enhanced by the awarding of a significant number of worldwide patents for the highly innovative products

it has designed. This in turn reflects the commitment to recruiting highly skilled engineers, facilitating positive staff

development and investing in significant research and development.

Its products command premium prices and are key to the superior performance of its customers’ products. Lawson

Engineering has also established long-term relationships with its main suppliers, particularly those making the exotic

materials built into their advanced products. Such relationships are crucial in research and development projects,

some of which take a number of years to come to fruition. Joe Lawson epitomises the ‘can do’ philosophy of the

company, always willing to take on the complex engineering challenges presented by his demanding customers.

Lawson Engineering now faces problems caused by its own success. Its current location, premises and facilities are

inadequate to allow the continued growth of the company. Joe is faced with the need to fund a new, expensive,

purpose-built facility on a new industrial estate. Although successful against a number of performance criteria, Lawson

Engineering’s performance against traditional financial measures has been relatively modest and unlikely to impress

the financial backers Joe wants to provide the necessary long-term capital.

Joe has become aware of the increasing attention paid to the intangible resources of a firm in a business. He

understands that you, as a strategy consultant, can advise him on the best way to show that his business should be

judged on the complete range of assets it possesses.

Required:

(a) Using models where appropriate, provide Joe with a resource analysis showing why the company’s intangible

resources and related capabilities should be taken into account when assessing Lawson Engineering’s case

for financial support. (12 marks)

(b) What research techniques could Mark use to get an accurate assessment of staff attitudes to the proposed

changes? (8 marks)

(b) What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a balanced scorecard to better assess the overall

performance of Lawson Engineering? (8 marks)

4 Chris Jones is Managing Director of Supaserve, a medium-sized supermarket chain faced with intense competition

from larger competitors in their core food and drink markets. They are also finding it hard to respond to these

competitors moving into the sale of clothing and household goods. Supaserve has a reputation for friendly customer

care and is looking at the feasibility of introducing an online shopping service, from which customers can order goods

from the comfort of their home and have them delivered, for a small charge, to their home.

Chris recognises that the move to develop an online shopping service will require significant investment in new

technology and support systems. He hopes a significant proportion of existing and most importantly, new customers,

will be attracted to the new service.

Required:

(a) What bases for segmenting this new market would you recommend and what criteria will help determine

whether this segment is sufficiently attractive to commit to the necessary investment? (10 marks)

(b) Assess the likely strategic impact of the new customer delivery system on Supaserve’s activities and its ability

to differentiate itself from its competitors. (10 marks)

4 Graham Smith is Operations Director of Catering Food Services (CFS) a ￡1·5 billion UK based distributor of foods to

professional catering organisations. It has 30 trading units spread across the country from which it can supply a

complete range of fresh, chilled and frozen food products. Its customers range from major fast food chains, catering

services for the armed forces down to individual restaurants and cafes. Wholesale food distribution is very much a

price driven service, in which it is very difficult to differentiate CFS’s service from its competitors.

Graham is very aware of the Government’s growing interest in promoting good corporate environmental practices and

encouraging companies to achieve the international quality standard for environmentally responsible operations. CFS

operates a fleet of 1,000 lorries and each lorry produces the equivalent of its own weight in pollutants over the course

of a year without the installation of expensive pollution control systems. Graham is also aware that his larger

customers are looking to their distributors to become more environmentally responsible and the ‘greening’ of their

supply chain is becoming a real issue. Unfortunately his concern with developing a company-wide environmental

management strategy is not shared by his fellow managers responsible for the key distribution functions including

purchasing, logistics, warehousing and transportation. They argued that time spent on corporate responsibility issues

was time wasted and simply added to costs.

Graham has decided to propose the appointment of a project manager to develop and implement a company

environmental strategy including the achievement of the international quality standard. The person appointed must

have the necessary project management skills to see the project through to successful conclusion.

You have been appointed project manager for CFS’s ‘environmentally aware’ project.

Required:

(a) What are the key project management skills that are necessary in achieving company-wide commitment in

CFS to achieve the desired environmental strategy? (15 marks)

(b) Using the information provided in the case scenario, strategically evaluate the performance of the company

up to 2004, indicating any areas of particular concern. (20 marks)

(b) How could pursuing a corporate environmental strategy both add to CFS’s competitive advantage and be

socially responsible? (5 marks)