Intro to business exercise
- 1. Intro to Business Exercise 2.0 1. What is a niche market? Provide TWO (2) examples (other than from the lecture notes) of a niche market? Why would a business want to target a niche market? Give ONE (1) reason. 2. What would motivate some people to start their own business? Provide TWO (2) possible motivations/reasons. 3. What is limited liability? Is this an advantage or a disadvantage to the business owner? How (i.e. illustrate with an example)? 4. What is a franchise? Explain and provide TWO (2) examples of franchises. Why would the parent company of a franchise choose to sell licenses to franchisees instead of expanding their own chain of stores? 5. How can internet help a recently-started small business? Provide TWO (2) suggestions. 6. If you are a banker and Gabriel wants to apply for a loan from you to start a business, under which circumstances would you be more likely to lend – a) he wants to buy an existing business or b) he wants to start a brand new business? Why? 7. Discuss TWO (2) advantages and TWO (2) disadvantages of a partnership. 8. What are shares? Where are shares traded in Malaysia? How is the price of a company’s share determined in a share market?
- 2. Intro to Business Exercise 3.0 1. Define the term “ethics”. Does everyone view ethics or morality in the same way? Why or why not? Can you give an example to illustrate this? 2. What is the difference between doing something “illegal” and something “unethical”? What (example of) behaviour is considered both illegal and unethical? Legal but unethical? Illegal but ethical? 3. What is global warming? Suggest ONE (1) negative effect that may arise from global warming. If you are a business owner, what are some of the measures you can take to counter it? Suggest TWO (2) strategies. (Note: you need to conduct research for this question) 4. What is greenwashing? Explain and provide ONE (1) example (other than the BP case). 5. Aman, Christian and Alice are the only sellers of architectural drawing materials in the market, and they recently agreed to raise the price of their products together by 25%. Describe the behaviour they are engaging in. Also, why is it illegal and unethical for them to do so? 6. Explain the term “insider trading”. Also, provide ONE (1) example of your own to illustrate your explanation. 7. Sabrina has recently written a set of employee code of conduct for her business. Is the code alone sufficient to ensure ethical behaviours of her employees? Why or why not? If not, what can she do about it? Suggest TWO (2) solutions. 8. If you are running a business, which social responsibility approach would you adopt (obstructionist, proactive, etc.)? Why?
- 3. Intro to Business Exercise 4.0 1. What are the main components of the management process? Identify and describe them briefly. 2. What are goals, strategy and tactics? Explain and provide one business- related or one personally-related (e.g. studies, career, relationship, etc.) example regarding them. 3. You have recently started a business with a group of your best friends. While in the planning stage, they think that setting goals is simply a waste of time. Provide TWO (2) reasons to convince them otherwise. 4. Leaders are necessary in various areas of our lives e.g. business, politics, and family. What would happen if there are no leaders or the leaders are ineffective? Choose one area above and discuss TWO (2) negative consequences that may result from lack of effective leadership. 5. Who are managers? Under which form of business (i.e. sole trader, partnership and company) are managers and owners most likely to be the same person? And under which they are not? Why? Discuss. 6. What does a public relations manager do on a daily basis? (Note: You need to conduct research to find the answer.) 7. Identify TWO (2) managerial skills that are important regardless of a person’s (low or high) managerial status and justify your answers. 8. What is control? What are the steps involved in control? With an appropriate example, illustrate how you can use control to help you achieve your goals.
- 4. Intro to Business Exercise 4.1 1. What is an organizational chart? What is its purpose? Explain. 2. Kristoph and Joseph have both started their own architectural firms. However, they both came up with very different organizational charts. How is this possible? Provide TWO (2) possible reasons. 3. Ruth works for the marketing department of a multinational company. Due to a poorly-designed organizational chart, she now has 2 superiors of equal rank to whom she reports to. Explain TWO (2) problems that she may experience in this reporting structure. 4. The company that you have founded 5 years ago is currently suffering from poor performance due to intense rivalry and politicking from the various departments. What can you do to make them work together again as a team? Suggest TWO (2) strategies. 5. What is a functional structure? What type of business would adopt this organizational structure? Also, explain ONE (1) advantage and disadvantage of this structure. 6. What is a divisional structure? What type of business would adopt this organizational structure? Why is this organizational structure more costly to operate? 7. What are committees? What are some of the reasons for setting up a committee? Provide THREE (3). 8. Many committees are set up for different purposes. For example, some students for the Introduction to Business module are members of the calendar project team/committee in the previous semester. What type of committee is this? Why do you say so? Discuss.
- 5. Intro to Business Exercise 5.0 1. What is the difference between performance behavior and corporate citizenship behavior? Explain with suitable examples. 2. Samuel, the manager of your department, is mentally disturbed. He enjoys bullying his male subordinates and is known to have sexually harassed all the female workers under his supervision. Discuss TWO (2) negative consequences on the department and company if action is not taken against him. 3. What are the Big 5 personalities? Are these personality traits trainable? Why or why not? How can a business ensure its employees have the big 5 personalities? 4. What are attitudes? Are job attitudes changeable? If yes, how can businesses play a part in fostering good work-related attitudes? 5. After having been fired from his job, Joe currently lives in the store room of his parents’ home. He is quite depressed with his situation for he has been unemployed for the past 6 months. To spend his time, he goes out with his drinking buddies every night. Referring to Maslow’s theory, what unmet needs does Joe have right now? Why do you say so? 6. Scarlett recently started a law firm and hired several lawyers to help run her business. The firm specializes in complex cases involving patents and copyrights. However, no one (including Scarlett) possesses the full technical knowledge and expertise necessary to take on a legal case alone. Under this situation, which leadership style is appropriate? And why do you say so? 7. What do you think are the top THREE (3) qualities of an effective leader? And why do think each of them is important? Discuss.
- 6. Intro to Business Exercise 6.0 1. What is marketing? Define. Also identify the 5 Ps of marketing. 2. What are features and benefits? Explain and provide one feature and benefit for a product you are familiar with. 3. Explain the consumer buying processes by using a product you have personally purchased as an example. 4. In which life cycle stage is the iPhone ver. 1.0 currently under? Why do you say so? And what about the iPad Air? 5. Harris is a highly-trained Om Beatles Yoga instructor (this form of yoga involves the trainee adopting a yoga pose while singing the Beatles song “Yesterday’ backwards) and he plans to open a yoga school in Malaysia. What pricing strategy should he adopt for her class? Why? 6. What is the advantage of selling products through a non-direct distribution channel? Disadvantage? Provide ONE (1) example. 7. What is product placement? Provide TWO (2) examples (other than the ones already provided in the lecture notes) to illustrate. 8. You are the marketing manager in charge of selling women’s lingerie products to various international markets. What concerns would you have regarding the packaging for such a product? Provide THREE (3).
- 7. Intro to Business Exercise 7.0 9. What is accounting? Explain. 10.One of the purposes of accounting is to evaluate business performance. Explain what this means and provide a suitable example to illustrate your answer. 11.Janice is the owner of an architectural firm but she has no rudimentary knowledge in accounting (she has an accountant who looks after everything for him). Is this acceptable? Why or why not? 12.Sean needs to borrow $50,000 from the bank to renovate his house. Discuss briefly what information the bank would need from Sean before deciding whether to grant him the loan. 13.What information can you obtain from a Profit and Loss Statement? How can you use this report to assist you in making business decisions (use an example to illustrate)? What is the other name of P&L statement? 14.For the year 2014, Company A has provided you with the following information: - Sales $146,000 - General Expense $17,300 - Salary Expenses $32,000 - Cost of Goods Sold $55,130 - Rental Revenues $7,200 - Interest Expense $2,800 Based on the data given above, prepare a 2014 income statement for the company. 15.Besides writing and keeping every receipt dutifully, what else can you do to keep a close eye on the funds (so they don’t go missing) during the charity drive? Suggest TWO (2) solutions.