1

1 Alkin is a multinational company. It manufactures breakfast food products including many leading brands
of cereal. Alkin plans to start selling in country Z, which is a fast-growing market. Alkin plans to form a joint
venture with a local business, based in country Z. ‘Effective communication will be important to our success
but I think there are many advantages in expanding this way’ said Alkin’s Managing Director. The Government
of country Z is worried about the effect of multinational companies like Alkin on consumers.

Identify and explain two reasons why effective communication might be important for Alkin.

Reason 1: .................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation: ............................................................................................................................................

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Reason 2:..................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation: ............................................................................................................................................

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[Total: 4]
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2 ReBag is a social enterprise. Asha started the business three years ago using micro-finance. ReBag employs
30 women in four small towns in different parts of the country. They work from home and make a range of
bags from pieces of old fabric (cloth). Last year ReBag’s revenue was $700. Asha said: ‘Our external
stakeholders want ReBag to employ women in five more towns. Getting a bank loan to expand the business
will be a problem. What will I do about management? How will I communicate? I cannot keep visiting
everyone.’

Explain two possible methods Asha could use to communicate with ReBag workers. Recommend which
method she should choose. Justify your answer.

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[Total: 6]
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3 TKF makes furniture such as beds and tables using job production. TKF has 3 part-time office employees,
8 production workers and 1 manager who is expected to carry out quality control. As the factory is busy,
most communication is by email. After a number of customer complaints, the manager thinks TKF has some
communication barriers. He believes good internal communication can help TKF be more efficient.

Identify and explain two possible communication barriers for TKF.

Barrier 1:..................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

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Barrier 2:..................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................. [4]

[Total: 4]
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4 TKF makes furniture such as beds and tables using job production. TKF has 3 part-time office employees,
8 production workers and 1 manager who is expected to carry out quality control. As the factory is busy,
most communication is by email. After a number of customer complaints, the manager thinks TKF has some
communication barriers. He believes good internal communication can help TKF be more efficient.

Identify and explain two ways in which good internal communication can help TKF be more efficient.

Way 1:.......................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

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Way 2:.......................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

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[Total: 6]
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5 TKF makes furniture such as beds and tables using job production. TKF has 3 part-time office employees,
8 production workers and 1 manager who is expected to carry out quality control. As the factory is busy,
most communication is by email. After a number of customer complaints, the manager thinks TKF has some
communication barriers. He believes good internal communication can help TKF be more efficient.

Identify and explain two possible communication barriers for TKF.

Barrier 1:..................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

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Barrier 2:..................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................. [4]

[Total: 4]
 6

6 TKF makes furniture such as beds and tables using job production. TKF has 3 part-time office employees,
8 production workers and 1 manager who is expected to carry out quality control. As the factory is busy,
most communication is by email. After a number of customer complaints, the manager thinks TKF has some
communication barriers. He believes good internal communication can help TKF be more efficient.

Identify and explain two ways in which good internal communication can help TKF be more efficient.

Way 1:.......................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

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Way 2:.......................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

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.................................................................................................................................................................. [6]

[Total: 6]
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7 ReBag is a social enterprise. Asha started the business three years ago using micro-finance. ReBag employs
30 women in four small towns in different parts of the country. They work from home and make a range of
bags from pieces of old fabric (cloth). Last year ReBag’s revenue was $700. Asha said: ‘Our external
stakeholders want ReBag to employ women in five more towns. Getting a bank loan to expand the business
will be a problem. What will I do about management? How will I communicate? I cannot keep visiting
everyone.’

Explain two possible methods Asha could use to communicate with ReBag workers. Recommend which
method she should choose. Justify your answer.

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[Total: 6]
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8 BGN sells furniture such as beds and tables. It started as a partnership but is now a private limited company.
BGN has expanded quickly and has 10 shops located in different cities. Each shop manager is responsible
for recruitment and decisions about inventory levels. They send the Board a monthly report. The Managing
Director has a laissez-faire leadership style. There has been an increase in customer complaints and employees
think internal communications need to be improved.

Explain two ways BGN could try to improve internal communication. Recommend which way BGN should
choose. Justify your answer.

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[Total: 6]
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9 Gino owns a fast-food restaurant selling fried chicken and potato fries. He employs 5 full-time chefs and 12
part-time workers to serve the food. Communication is important and Gino has regular meetings with his
part-time employees to keep them informed about any changes in the menu. It took 3 years before Gino’s
business was able to break-even. He aims to achieve a Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) of 10%. Gino
is always looking for ways to increase the number of customers. Inflation may be a problem for Gino’s
business.

Do you think having regular meetings is a better way for a business to communicate with part-time employees
than using text messages? Justify your answer.

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[Total: 6]
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10 DCN is a large chemical company. It has 8 000 employees across its 3 factories. DCN has agreed to set up
a joint venture with a glass making business to develop a new type of environmentally friendly packaging.
DCNs Managing Director said: There are disadvantages to a joint venture. The companies have different
leadership styles and business objectives. We will need to look at ways to overcome possible communication
barriers.

Identify four examples of communication barriers.

Example 1:................................................................................................................................................

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Example 2:................................................................................................................................................

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Example 3:................................................................................................................................................

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Example 4:................................................................................................................................................

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[Total: 4]
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11 SWB is in the secondary sector. It produces 150 000 wooden bookcases each week using batch production.
SWB sells all its output to one customer. Quality control is important. SWB has 240 employees, of which
100 are part-time workers. SWB’s managers use noticeboards around the factory and meetings with employees
every month to help reduce communication barriers. The Operations Manager is considering introducing
just-in-time inventory control to reduce the amount of waste.

Explain two possible communication barriers that might exist at SWB.

Communication barrier 1:........................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

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Communication barrier 2:........................................................................................................................

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Explanation:.............................................................................................................................................

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[Total: 6]
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12 BEF is a large business based in country X. It uses flow production to manufacture a wide range of products
including toothpaste and shampoo. All BEF’s products are currently sold in country X. BEF knows that
having effective methods of internal communication are important. The Operations Director is analysing
production data. An extract is shown in the table below. BEF is considering exporting its products to country
Y.

Extract of BEF’s production data for one of its products

2019 2020

Average number of production workers 240 250

Total output per week 300 000 310 000

State four factors a business should consider when selecting an appropriate method of internal communication.

Factor 1: ...................................................................................................................................................

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Factor 2: ...................................................................................................................................................

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Factor 3: ...................................................................................................................................................

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Factor 4: ...................................................................................................................................................

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[Total: 4]
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13 BGR is a private limited company. It operates 6 cinemas in different towns. Effective internal communication
is important for BGR. The Finance Director has been analysing BGR’s accounts and an extract is shown in
the table below. BGR plans to open another cinema and will need to recruit 10 new employees. The new
cinema will cost $8m. The Finance Director has to decide whether BGR should issue new shares or use a
bank loan to finance the expansion.

Extract from BGR’s Income statement for year ending 2020 ($000’s)

Revenue X

Cost of sales 180

Gross profit 720

Expenses Y

Profit 400

Explain two reasons why effective communication might be important to BGR.

Reason 1: .................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation: ............................................................................................................................................

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Reason 2: .................................................................................................................................................

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Explanation: ............................................................................................................................................

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[Total: 6]
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14 MBH is a business organisation in the public sector. It controls 5 hospitals and has 5600 employees including
440 doctors. External recruitment is used when recruiting skilled employees. The Human Resources Director
uses ideas from Herzberg’s theory to improve employee motivation. He is worried about communication
barriers within MBH. The business has a tall organisational structure and a long chain of command. Most of
MBH’s internal communication is by email and phone calls.

Explain how MBH might reduce or remove each of the following communication barriers:

Message lost: ...........................................................................................................................................

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Explanation: ............................................................................................................................................

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Use of jargon: ..........................................................................................................................................

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Explanation: ............................................................................................................................................

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[Total: 6]
 15

15 DNG provides electricity to 16 million customers. It is a limited company which means DNG’s shareholders
benefit from limited liability. DNG is planning to stop using coal to produce its electricity. Pressure groups
had an influence on this decision. The Managing Director knows there will be an opportunity cost to making
this change. She is considering the best way to communicate this important information to DNG’s 6500
employees. DNG provides electricity to 16 million customers.

Explain two methods of internal communication a large business could use to share important information
with its employees. Justify which method should be used.

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[Total: 6]