Business (AS & A Level) · Oct / Nov 2022 · Paper 21 · Question 1

Drone Development (DD) DD produces a range of drones, which are unmanned aircraft flown by remote control. These drones are used to help farmers identify whether their fields have enough water. They can also help farmers to see how fast crops are growing on large farms. The drones are individually designed using Computer Aided Design (CAD). DD’s mission statement is: ‘To be the leading company in drone technology’. DD’s employees are skilled and highly motivated. This has enabled DD’s managers to use a laissez-faire style of leadership. The Research and Development (R&D) team at DD has developed a drone designed for high-volume production for the consumer market. The new drones will be called Robodz. Secondary research indicates that these drones can be used for taking aerial photographs and videos of sporting and other events, such as cycle races and outdoor parties. The drones will send photographs and videos directly to a user’s smartphone. There are few competitors in this market even though demand is growing particularly from consumers in the 30– 45 years age group. The Marketing Director has done primary research into the consumer market for drones. The results are shown in Table 1.1. Table 1.1: Important features of a drone for the consumer market (number of responses) Important Quite Important Unimportant Price 16 4 10 Performance 30 0 0 Colour 15 5 10 Ease of use 18 2 10 Durability 12 11 7 Producing Robodz will mean changes in operations at DD: • greater cooperation between the design, production and marketing departments • each designer will have less opportunity for individual design • more automation will be involved. The Board of Directors has agreed to produce Robodz. 5 10 15 20 25

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