Business Examination Questions Answered: for Marketing and Management Students PDF
Preview Business Examination Questions Answered: for Marketing and Management Students
BUSINESS EXAMINATION QUESTIONS ANSWERED BUSINESS EXAMINATION QUESTIONS ANSWERED for Marketing and Management Students Nicholas Boyce M © Niebolas Boyce 1975 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. First published 1975 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS L TD London and Basingstoke Associated companies in N ew York Dublin Melbourne Johannesburg and Madras SBN 333 14476 7 ISBN 978-0-333-14476-3 ISBN 978-1-349-01766-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-01766-9 This book is sold subject to the standard conditions of the Net Book Agreement. The paperhack edition of this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or other wise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. iv To my dear Father This modest book is here to show That one day I may truly go Along the path that you first found With tireless works that still abound. January 1975 N. D. J. BOYCE v Contents Preface viii Introduction ix 1 Marketing 2 Sales Aspects 7 3 Economics 13 4 Commercial Law 19 5 Accounting and Financial Control 26 6 Statistics 34 7 Marketing Research 41 8 Advertising 46 9 Marketing Case Studies 52 Index 149 vii Preface Almost four years at the Institute of Marketing and a fair degree of practical marketing experience and lecturing assignments left me with an impression of the need for a product in the 'preparation for management examinations' market. That product is this modest book. Much of the initial awareness of the need for this book was stimulated through my contact with Ted Jenner, F.lnst.M., Director of Diploma Studies at the Institute of Marketing. The acceleration of marketing education in the United Kingdom owes more to this totally dedicated professional than many of his contemporaries realise. My thanks are ex tended to the Institute of Marketing, who have allowed me to draw extensively from previous issues of the journal I once edited, Marketing Forum, in the presentation of certain specimen answers in this book. For a complete schedule see page 148. My thanks also go to Pat Nunn, formerly of the Institute of Marketing, for her determined efforts (always after 8 p.m.) at typing the final manu script. Any errors in either typescript or interpretation that may remain are entirely my own carelessness. London N. D.J. B. January 1975 viii Introduction Every year something like 40,000 management students in the United Kingdom, at various academic levels, enter an examination hall and try to sell themselves to an examiner by answering about five questions out of ten in three hours. In many cases the candidates will never meet the examiner, or group of examiners, and cannot therefore be expected to understand his personal likes and/or dislikes in assessing examination scripts. The candidate is thrown on the examiner's mercy with a script that starts with a zero 'mark' (total failure) and has to justify a Pass grade by the time the examiner reads the last page of the candidate's answer book. It is rather like French justice-the candidate is presumed a failure until he proves himself, or herself, passworthy. On this rests the student's future. A whole year's full-time study, gruelling attendance at night school or private study is put to the test in a few hours on an early summer's day (more often than not). That so much rests on so little is, to say the least, disturbing. What tends to bring home this stark reality is the fact that generally speaking very little time is devoted by tutors to the question of answer format, presentation of written examination answers, layout and general attitudes towards examination questions. Facts may be drummed into students all year long but instruction into the presentation of these vital facts on examination day is altogether sadly lacking. And this in a field (management) where presentation of one's company and one's self may be as important as the presentation of one's ideas and intellect. This little book attempts to help management students in their final weeks of revision by presenting answers to some of the more frequent questions asked by examiners. Although it is difficult to present 'specimen' answers to some management papers, in particular marketing, if candidates produced answers along the lines presented in this book, examiners would have difficulty in failing such examinees. Most professional bodies, including the Institute of Marketing, would not claim that having passed the final examinations, the candidate over night becomes fit to be placed in the echelons of a marketing hierarchy. Rather, that having passed its final examinations, the candidate has ix X INTRODUCTION achieved at least a minimum level of competence in marketing and should be able to progress to a responsible position in marketing management given time and experience. Some candidates inevitably fall by the way side because they are good at passing examinations but not so good at meeting the day-to-day problems of business. The difficulties of passing examinations, therefore, are with us from birth and have to be grappled with at some stage in our lives. This means that the student is stuck with the problem of selling himself to examiners. That the candidate may fail the examination does not imply that he or she will not become an efficient businessman or woman. However, the whole question of obtaining business qualifications has assumed a greater significance in the United Kingdom in recent years. Whether one is studying marketing or not, anyone wishing to achieve success in business today has to be able to market himself. The possession of a relevant, pro fessional/business qualification will undoubtedly create a more marketable product in the eyes of potential employers. The object of this book then has been first, to identify those areas of professional business study examinations that examiners are most fond of testing candidates knowledge of, and second, to present specimen answers to those areas that, by analysis, are most likely to appear in future examination question papers. Specimen answers are presented in a form that examiners like to read and candidates would do well to study them before going into the examination room. Hopefully, the book will be of especial value to candidates preparing to sit Diploma in Marketing (old and new syllabus), CAM examinations, HNC/HND/DMS papers. Other professional students should also find the book useful since most basic management subjects are covered. Tutors should find the book helpful in directing their own lecture notes to these areas that maintain a regular frequency in examination question papers. 1 Marketing Q.l. What is meant by the term 'the marketing concept'? What is the value of this concept to marketing personnel in their work? A. To fully explain the term 'the marketing concept' and its modern application it is first desirable to gain some appreciation of the development of marketing in the United Kingdom. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, all manufacturers were craftsmen tending to work on individual orders from local people. Nothing was made unless specifically ordered. During and after the mid 1800s, a completely revised approach was necessary for a variety of reasons. (a) the development of transportation systems; (b) greater national wealth with better production processes; (c) greater demand for goods and services as a result of (b); (d) a population explosion due to greater affluence and improved medical services. These were the principles on which marketing was founded. There was, however, no question of marketing as we know it today. British goods throughout the world were still supreme. Imports of manufactured goods were negligible. The seeds were sown for a marketing orientation in later years which meant that manufacturers could no longer produce what they liked knowing there would be a ready market for such products. The changing wealth and affluence of the country meant that consumers were becoming more selective about their purchases so that manufacturers, in turn, had to consider more carefully what they were offering for sale. Satisfying consumer needs implied more than merely supplying a product it extended into supplying a product of the demanded shape, size, colour, features, style and so on. The 'marketing concept' today therefore implies an understanding by the manufacturer or supplier of a service, that he is aware of the precise needs of his customers and is attempting to produce a product or service that matches this demand. To achieve this end the marketing orientated company is bringing together all the various specialist functions within marketing to quantify precisely consumer-and potential consumers-
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