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Work-Life-Balance (WLB) Furniture is a manufacturer of furniture that enables a room in the home to be easily converted into a workspace. With changes in flexible working conditions that make it easier for workers to work from home, demand for furniture that can be used in a home office has rapidly increased. WLB Furniture’s main product line is a workstation (desk) that can be assembled and disassembled, and easily stored under a sofa or bed, reducing clutter in living spaces. The workstations can be customised to suit different requirements, allowing for increased functionality, comfort, and productivity for the user. The wood for these desks is sourced from environmentally friendly and sustainable forestry companies, and is considered a durable material that will give the desks a long lifetime.
Managers at WLB Furniture are experiencing difficulties running the business, due to uncertainties caused by constantly changing market factors resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as different problems that arise in business operations every day.
You may choose EITHER WLB Furniture OR a large business (more than 20 employees and/or with a national or regional significance) that you have studied in depth.
State a skill that is important for a business leader or manager to have.
Referring to the skill you have identified in (i), explain why leaders or managers should demonstrate this skill.
How would this leadership skill improve the ability of the business to operate in times of uncertainty?
Work-Life-Balance (WLB) Furniture is a manufacturer of furniture that enables a room in the home to be easily converted into a workspace. With changes in flexible working conditions that make it easier for workers to work from home, demand for furniture that can be used in a home office has rapidly increased. WLB Furniture’s main product line is a workstation (desk) that can be assembled and disassembled, and easily stored under a sofa or bed, reducing clutter in living spaces. The workstations can be customised to suit different requirements, allowing for increased functionality, comfort, and productivity for the user. The wood for these desks is sourced from environmentally friendly and sustainable forestry companies, and is considered a durable material that will give the desks a long lifetime.
WLB Furniture uses a flat organisational structure with a short chain of command and a wide span of control.
You may choose EITHER WLB Furniture OR a large business (more than 20 employees and/or with a national or regional significance) that you have studied in depth.
Explain why using a flat organisational structure could be an advantage to the business.
Explain why using a flat organisational structure could be a disadvantage to the business, and how it could restrict the business from operating effectively.
Justify, with TWO reasons, whether using a flat organisational structure would be better than another organisational structure for the business for dealing with uncertainty.
Work-Life-Balance (WLB) Furniture is a manufacturer of furniture that enables a room in the home to be easily converted into a workspace. With changes in flexible working conditions that make it easier for workers to work from home, demand for furniture that can be used in a home office has rapidly increased. WLB Furniture’s main product line is a workstation (desk) that can be assembled and disassembled, and easily stored under a sofa or bed, reducing clutter in living spaces. The workstations can be customised to suit different requirements, allowing for increased functionality, comfort, and productivity for the user. The wood for these desks is sourced from environmentally friendly and sustainable forestry companies, and is considered a durable material that will give the desks a long lifetime.
WLB Furniture is experiencing unpredictable levels of demand for its workstation desk. This is creating problems in the warehouse, with keeping stock levels up to ensure that demand can always be met. These capacity issues will impact on many different stakeholders of the business, including:
You may choose EITHER WLB Furniture OR a large business (more than 20 employees and/or with a national or regional significance) that you have studied in depth.
Select a stakeholder from the list above, and explain why capacity issues with the business can create problems for your chosen stakeholder.
How will capacity issues with the business impact on the stakeholder’s relationship with that business?
Because of the uncertain external environment, with rising prices and ongoing capacity issues, businesses need to prepare budget information to aid their decision-making. A budget is a detailed financial plan for the future.
In the box below, enter the details of a large business (more than 20 employees and/or having a national or regional significance) that you have studied in depth. Do not use WLB Furniture.
Name of the large business, AND good(s) sold or service(s) provided.
Explain why using a budget aids this business in its short-term decision-making.
Explain why budgets can be of limited use, and how this limitation could create long-term problems for the business.
Justify, with TWO reasons, whether preparing a budget will help the business achieve its objectives.