Edexcel A Level Business Paper 1 (9BS0 01) - 23rd May 2023 [Exam Chat]

I just did the test aswell

Hi I just did the business test aswel today and I feel worried I may have messed up some questions. For the 20 marker on the last page, I focused on a change in organisational structure affected efficiency and motivation as stated in the question, but I was worried I should have focused on Matrix structure and flat structure instead.

My points for efficiency were:

Positive:
- Since Unilever got rid of many employees, the remaining employees have to work harder in order to fulfil the same quota. Therefore costs would decrease as the same output is achieved with less employees, therefore increasing efficiency.
- Additionally, Since each business group is in charge of their own strategy, each line manager can employ a lean production method such as Kaizen or JIT to reduce wastes and therefore increase efficiency. Which decrease costs and increase profits.

Negative:
- Since, each business group is in charge of their strategy each line manager may become stressed or tired due to the fact that they have to manage the huge workload of managing many employees, their span of control is larger. This increases the risk of mistakes and therefore may become costly for Unilever, this may also endanger any employees working below the line manager.

My points for motivation were:

Positive:
- Since many employees had been made redundant, remaining employees may see a potential to be promoted to a higher position, therefore they are motivated to work harder, which increases productivity and therefore output.
- Since there was a 5% increase in junior management positions, juniors in Unilever may decide to stay at the company as they can see a future working here as higher salaries may be awarded in the future. This reduces recruitment costs and therefore increases profit.

Negative:
- Since there was a 15% decrease in senior manager roles, seniors may not feel valued by the company and may decide to leave or not come in for work. This may decrease motivation and therefore reduce productivity.
- Furthermore, since the factory line is untouched by the change in organisational structure, they may feel left out by the business and may become demotivated to work. Therefore decreasing productivity and output, which decreases revenue and profit.

Conclusion:
In Conclusion, I believe that the change in organisational has affected Unilever's efficiency and motivation positively due to the large amount of opportunities it presented for employees.

Should I have focused more on organisational structure such as Flat and Matrix structures instead? Maybe mentioned communication is faster in a Flat structure which increases efficiency.

Sorry it may be a lot to read

Ok look, I'm not the best in business. It's definitely not my favourite. But here are some things I think is wrong:

For the positive point for efficiency, JIT and kaizen is for unit 2 so I don't think it's appropriate for this unit. And yes, you should have mentioned faster communication

For the positive point for motivation, promotion is supposed to decrease I think. Because there are fewer layers (flatter organisation)for employees to promoted into. So it should be a negative point that employees will get less promotion.

That's all I can think of. As I mentioned before, I'm not as good in business as my other subjects so consider these points with a pinch of salt. And try to not think about it too much because if you linked your points to the case study then you shouldn't worry much

Ok it was just that in my class they had doubts about who was right. But I guess I wasn't. I did 4.2/4.7 x100 and then did 100- that answer. I got 10.64 I think

I'll be doing it in 1 hour 15 mins. Where are you from tho? I'm in Bangladesh

Ok look, I'm not the best in business. It's definitely not my favourite. But here are some things I think is wrong:

For the positive point for efficiency, JIT and kaizen is for unit 2 so I don't think it's appropriate for this unit. And yes, you should have mentioned faster communication

For the positive point for motivation, promotion is supposed to decrease I think. Because there are fewer layers (flatter organisation)for employees to promoted into. So it should be a negative point that employees will get less promotion.

That's all I can think of. As I mentioned before, I'm not as good in business as my other subjects so consider these points with a pinch of salt. And try to not think about it too much because if you linked your points to the case study then you shouldn't worry much

Ok it was just that in my class they had doubts about who was right. But I guess I wasn't. I did 4.2/4.7 x100 and then did 100- that answer. I got 10.64 I think

Oh wow...i finished on time but how did manage to do the paper in 1 hour and 15 mins??? i mean, you've got 3 sections to complete

This is exactly how I answered the 20 marker. I focused more on the structure, rather than efficiency and motivation.

I got +10.90 %

Didn't you say you got +11.90%?

No I actually meant I was starting the exam in 1 hour 15 mins!! I finished the exam in 1 hour 50 mins I think.

ohhh right. Sorry...i misunderstood what you said.

any predictions for Edexcel paper 1?

plz let me know if you find out anything i've not got any yet

Market segmentation has never come up! And its very possible they ask a 20 marker on stakeholders or corporate objectives (short/long termism) because that has hardly come up