Business Cafe - Easter 2011 Now Available

The Easter 2011 edition of Business Cafe - our digital case study magazine for all Business Studies courses - is now available to subscribing schools and colleges. Details of the Easter 2011 case studies and a sample download below…

Here is a sample article from the latest edition of Business Cafe. A whole-school subscription to Cafe is just £75 per 12 months and can be ordered here.

Service with a smile
The need for good customer service and high staff morale is always important, but particularly so in times of difficult economic trading like those the UK is experiencing at present. These are issues that have been raised in recent television programmes by Mary Portas and Michel Roux.

A Questioning Time
March 8th is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. Speaking in a House of Lord’s debate ahead of Women’s Day, Lord Alan sugar of Apprentice fame, said that women should tell potential employers if they plan to become mothers.

Chocolate ‘Shrink Ray’
VAT increases, rises in the world price of cocoa and sugar, how can confectioners maintain their profit margins? The solution, lose a couple of chunks!

Interest rates and the Bank of England
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) consists of nine members from the business and academic world, together with Bank of England representatives and with the Governor of the Bank as its chairman.

How much does a product cost to make?
Break even analysis suffers from several limitations and a serious one is concerned with the actual calculation of total cost.

Not in the Public Interest – Banning Adverts
The ASA invites members of the public or the industry to complain if they find an advert misleading. According to their website, 2397 adverts were altered or withdrawn in 2009, following 28,929 complaints. 62% of the complaints were about misleading claims within an advert.

High oil prices. Why do they matter and what can be done?
The price of a barrel of oil (which is about 159 litres) has been steadily rising for the last few months. This has meant that the price of petrol in a typical garage hit £1.30 a litre last month and there are dire warnings of further rises to come. Why?

What sort of a business is John Lewis?
It is known as John Lewis plc but it is actually owned and managed by its staff (who are called ‘partners’)- in other words, like the Co-operative Group. So what sort of business is it? Is it a company, a partnership or a co-operative.