Developing BUSS2 Exam Skills - Application and Analysis

At the recent exam coaching workshops one of many case studies we looked at was Loake Shoes.Loake was established in 1880 and are known for their range of fine, handmade shoes. A pair of Loake English Brogues takes around 8 weeks to make from start to finish and involves over 135 craftsmen. The average price of a pair of Loake brogues is around £200 which is justified given the reputation for fine, handmade shoes.So, let us use the above information to look at how we can move from reasonable application and reasonable analysis to good.Lets assume that in order to reduce the time it takes Loake to make a pair of shoes the business is considering introducing more technology into its operations, automating some of the shoe making process.A typical question based around this might be:Analyse the consequences to Loake of introducing more technology into its operations Student A'Introducing more technology into the business could damage the business as the business is known for producing a handmade product which will result in fewer units being sold if products are not produced this way'From the above, we can see that this has been answered from a very theoretical perspective. There is no real application and the analysis is only reasonable in so much that the arguments aren't really developed and the argument doesn't really explain HOW or WHY fewer units will be sold.Student B'One consequence of introducing more technology into Loake is that Loake are known for producing fine, handmade shoes and as such have developed a unique selling point allowing the business to charge £200 for a pair of shoes (here, data has been combined). Consequently, the use of more technology may mean that the reputation that Loake has established since 1880 could be ruined which may result in Loake struggling to justify the £200 price tag in addition to the possibility of lower sales as fewer customers may want to buy their shoes if they aren't produced in the traditional way that Loake are famous for'Here, we can see that the answer is completely in context, combines data and has a coherent and multi-stage argument.Simples.....