AQA BUSS 4 - Corporate Culture Discussion

Hey guys.
Thought we would make a thread where everyone would be able to discuss about their research.

The topic to be honest is not my favourite and I'm struggling to identify the types of culture each businesses have.

Anyone has any tip for starters.

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Reply 1

xxm

I'm struggling on what exactly I need to research. Do i need to research culture in specific companies or just organisational culture in general?

Reply 2

dan94adibi

Original post by xxm

I'm struggling on what exactly I need to research. Do i need to research culture in specific companies or just organisational culture in general?

Well the whole point is you pick 5-7 companies and you do a research on their culture and you kinds of go through those bullet points and answer the questions.

I did Mergers in Jan and it was so much easier and I ended up with a C. This one seems much harder!

Reply 3

xxm

Original post by dan94adibi

I see, well I don't find the content that hard but I'll have to find some websites on Handy and others! The companies that will be the issue. Is it best to do UK based companies or have a mixture?

What is the ratio of your own research to the unit content in the exam? For instance can you get the full 40 marks if you write about 80% of the content for unit 4 and 20% of your own research?

Reply 4

dan94adibi

Original post by xxm

To be honest I'm not really sure of that.

I think the theory is nice and simple but when you look into some real world examples you struggle to match their culture to what has been written in the book.

All of them talk about team work and how its a lovely place to work so ..... making a decision is really hard!

Reply 5

yaboy

Can someone tell me what the buss4 topics actually are?

we went through most of the theory in school already but I only that organisational culture is a topic because its mentioned in the pre release now Im not sure what the actual overall topics are that can come up in section B. What businesses did you lot research?

The tutor2u revision guide thing we got from the workshop just tells us to research stuff like tartar group, star bucks, huawei etc but im still stuck lol

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

Im-not-a-rapper

Hi, Has anyone got any actual business examples that are good for this topic?

Reply 7

dan94adibi

Original post by Im-not-a-rapper

Hi, Has anyone got any actual business examples that are good for this topic?

I think Apple, Nokia and Tesco/ASDA are good ones to chose!

Reply 8

Tom Richardson

Original post by Im-not-a-rapper

Hi, Has anyone got any actual business examples that are good for this topic?

Barclays are prime for this research task because of the new CEO changing the whole company

Reply 9

yaboy

Barclays mainly for their new leadership and possible changes in culture since bob diamond, Huawei, Starbucks, Tesco, Apple (obviously) new leader in tim cook blah blah blah, I threw a few in myself and decided to research Goldman sachs because that workshop advice for 1 or 2 (out of the ordinary) companies

Reply 10

dan94adibi

Quick question guys.
Was looking at how political factors effect the corporate culture and found this 'In October 2011 the Welsh Assembly Government introduced legislation that required retailers to charge 5p for single use bags to reduce bag usage in Wales. As well as working to reduce bag usage in Wales ASDA has decided to donate all the 5p’s charged for single use bags (after VAT) to local charities in Wales. Any retailer that does not comply with these rules will be fined around £100-£20,000'

I was wondering how that effects the culture of ASDA or 'how they do things' over there?

Reply 11

xxm

Is there any sites that focus on organisational culture? I'm looking at Asda, Nokia, Barclays, Apple and Tesco, do I need to look at anymore?

Reply 12

CoolStoryBroo

Ffs! I hate this unit, havn't even started researching yet

Reply 13

apple1992

Guys, we can make this exam easier if we help each other out. We can share research examples and general ideas related to the 5 bullet points.
I have only started this.

I will got first. This is for the first bullet point on the pre-release.

Factors affecting culture of an organisation.

first factor - type of owners

Companies who are owned by shareholders(PLC) will create a culture of short-termism. This will create a culture of maximising profits at any cost.
Any example of the banks such as Barclays - LIBOR rate fxing, mis-selling PPI

Second factor - leaders/founders
Leader will exert there personality on the business. This will create a new culture. #
Richard branson - Entrepreneurial culture virgin
Jobs -Apple - Innovative culture

Reply 14

dan94adibi

Original post by apple1992

The mission statement, government policy and the economy can play a big role too.

Reply 15

apple1992

Original post by dan94adibi

The mission statement, government policy and the economy can play a big role too.

yes they can. what other research have you done.

Reply 16

dan94adibi

Not much yet, will do more this week!

Reply 17

Jackabc

Does anyone have any idea or websites to start with? I am studying it by myself and have no idea how much research needs to be done?

Reply 18

dan94adibi

Original post by Jackabc

Does anyone have any idea or websites to start with? I am studying it by myself and have no idea how much research needs to be done?

You should look at the tutor2u website and learn how you should answer a 40 marker.

Reply 19

username818763

Our teacher gave us a list of companies to research:
Ikea, Royal Mail, Amazon/Zappos, Nokia, Sony, Starbucks, Tata Group, Samsung, John Lewis Partnership and Southwest Airlines.