Business (AS & A Level) · Oct / Nov 2024 · Paper 21 · Question 1

Farm Equipment (FE) FE is a public limited company based in country Z, where the primary sector accounts for 40% of all employees. Farm produce from country Z is sold to many other countries. FE manufactures a range of farm equipment such as tractors and machinery. It sells its products to large farms. Farmers have remained loyal despite the availability of lower-cost farm equipment. FE’s current market share in country Z is 8%. However, the market for farm equipment in country Z is growing and FE forecasts an increase in its market share, as shown in Table 1.1. Table 1.1 The market for farm equipment in country Z Year 2023 ($m) 2024 (forecast) ($m) Market size 285 310 FE’s revenue 22.8 29.45 Chuzi, FE’s Managing Director, would like to develop new types of farm equipment. Chuzi recently appointed Lin, an intrapreneur tasked with developing new products. FE’s employees would like to join a trade union as they have low morale. They believe that management do not consider the welfare of the workforce. The employees feel that they have a poor work-life balance. FE does not offer any training and development opportunities. The management style is autocratic. BL, a multinational farm equipment manufacturer, has recently located a factory close to FE. The management at FE is concerned about the impact of this on its human resource management (HRM). 5 10 15 20

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