Business Studies · May / June 2026 · Paper 22 · Question 1
0450
As printed in the paper
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1(a)[8]
Explain four ways to measure the size of KE. Award 1 mark for each way of measuring size (max 4). Award a maximum of 1 additional mark for each explanation of the way which must be applied to this context.
Number of people employed – it employs a large number of people at 10 000Value of sales – it has a large current value of output at $90m per yearCapital employed – it is a public limited companyVolume of output– it has an output of 20 million units produced each year For example: Number of people employed (1)KE has at a high number at 10 000 employees (app). Notes:
Do not award number of factories, profit, type of business. amount of machinery or value of shares. Application might include: cooking pots/equipment;employs 10 000 people;
public limited company;
output of 20 million cooking pots;
value of output is $90m/$180m;
sells in the home country;
competitive market;
numerical information from Appendix 1 and 3.
1(b)[12]
Consider the following three methods of primary market research KE could use for its new product. Which method should KE use? Justify your answer.
interviewsfocus groupsquestionnaires Level Description Sound application of knowledge and understanding of relevant business concepts using appropriate terminology. Detailed discussion of two or more methods. Well justified recommendation. Candidates discussing all three methods in detail, in context and with a well-justified recommendation, including why the alternative methods were rejected, should be rewarded with the top marks in the band. 9–12 Sound application of knowledge and understanding of relevant business concepts using appropriate terminology. Detailed discussion of at least one method. Judgement with some justification / some evaluation of choice made. Candidates discussing two or more methods in detail and applying them to the case should be rewarded with the top marks in the band. 5–8 Limited application of knowledge and understanding of relevant business concepts. Limited ability to discuss the methods with little/no explanation. Simple judgement with limited justification / limited evaluation of choice made. Candidates outlining all three methods in context should be rewarded with the top marks in the band. 1–4 No creditable response. Notes:Answers should focus on research methods.Do not award mirror arguments (the advantage of one research method may be a disadvantage of another, but this should only be credited once). Relevant points might include: Advantages Disadvantages InterviewsThe interviewer can explain any questions that are not clear, and the interviewee does not understand – so the answers are more likely to be reliable and accurateDetailed information can be gathered about the interviewees likes and dislikes about cooking equipment – this data can be included in the new designsThe interviewer could lead the interviewee into answering in a certain way – resulting in inaccurate results due to interviewer bias – so wrong designs for the kitchen equipment may be made – leading to lower salesInterviews are very time- consuming to carry out – which makes them an expensive way to gather information about consumer preferences in the very competitive market Focus groupsQualitative data so opinions on different cooking pots can be gathered – may make the data more useful to the businessInteraction between members of the group can help the business understand the reasons for people’s opinions – making them better able to meet their needsQuestions can be explained – so opinions on which pots to produce is more reliableExpensive and time- consuming to collectDiscussion could be biased if some panel members have strong opinions on which cooking pots are best – making the results less reliableCan be dominated by just a few people – so the researcher will need to be experienced in running focus groups to be able to deal with this – to ensure the results are not affectedNo numerical data is collected – which makes statistical analysis difficult Advantages Disadvantages Focus groupsThey provide detailed information about consumers tastes and preferences for cooking equipment – so new designs will better meet customer needs – increasing salesQuicker and cheaper than individual interviews QuestionnairesFaster with quicker replies than other forms of primary researchCheaper to collect quantitative data about customer purchases of cooking pots than interviewsOnline questionnaires can automatically collate results about customer purchases of cooking equipment – hence saving KE timeWith no interviewer present the questions may not be understood – answers may be less valid/inaccurate about the low-priced productsMay not gain a wide range of views if only a random sample is used– they may not be customers of KE or be the main people who cook in the household – making their responses of little use Recommendations Justification might include:Interviews will be the best method to use as it can gather detailed qualitative data about the opinions of customers. It is better than focus groups which can take longer to set up and arrange for all the members to attend the focus group. Questionnaires do not necessarily gather detailed opinions on the designs for cooking equipment most wanted by customers and may not even ask the right target group of people unless careful sampling is undertaken. RecommendationsFocus groups will be the best method to use as the questions can be more focused on the likes and dislikes of customers or potential customers. The data is more likely to be useful in helping KE design equipment that will closely meet the customer needs for the meals cooked.Questionnaires will be the best method to use as they are a lot cheaper to carry out than the other two methods and can gather a large amount of data about cooking habits of consumers, therefore designs will meet their customers’ needs and requirements.
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