Paper 1: Influences of operations and HRM on business activity

Which one of the following is a benefit of being a sole trader?

Which type of production makes one-off products to a customer's specification?

What is meant by 'just in time' (JIT) stock control?

Which one of the following stakeholders is not a shareholder?

What are fixed costs?

Which one of the following is a non-financial method of motivation?

Which recruitment method fills a vacancy with an existing employee?

A flat organisational structure usually has:

Define 'economies of scale'.

A business produces 2,000 units at a total cost of £9,000. Calculate the average unit cost. Show your working.

Explain one benefit to a business of using e-commerce.

Explain two ways the Equality Act 2010 affects how a business recruits staff.

Case study (fictional business written for this paper): Bramble & Bean Ltd roasts speciality coffee in Leeds and sells to cafés and online. It employs 14 staff and uses batch production, roasting one origin at a time. In 2025 it sold 48,000 bags at £6 each. Variable costs were £2.50 per bag and fixed costs were £120,000. Its beans come from four farms in Colombia and Ethiopia; the managing director, Aisha Rahman, is considering using a single importer to cut costs. A fully automated roaster would cost £85,000 and could double capacity, but staff fear job losses. Define 'batch production'.

Calculate Bramble & Bean's profit in 2025.

Explain one way Bramble & Bean could improve customer service for its café customers.

Analyse the impact on Bramble & Bean of using a single importer for its coffee beans.

Evaluate whether Bramble & Bean should buy the automated roaster.

Bramble & Bean wants to grow. Option 1: open its own café in Leeds city centre. Option 2: sell its coffee through a national supermarket chain. Justify which option Bramble & Bean should choose.

Case study (fictional business written for this paper): Tidewell Bikes hires and repairs bikes from five shops in Cornwall. It has 40 staff on average; 12 left in the last year. Demand is seasonal, so many staff are on part-time or zero-hours contracts. The business has a tall structure: shop assistants report to shop supervisors, then shop managers, an area manager and the owner, Tom Pascoe. Staff say they are rarely asked for their ideas. Tom needs a new regional manager. Calculate Tidewell Bikes' labour turnover. Show your working.

Explain one reason why Tidewell Bikes uses zero-hours contracts.

Explain two benefits to Tidewell Bikes of training its staff.

Analyse how Tidewell Bikes' tall organisational structure affects communication.

Evaluate whether financial or non-financial methods would be better at motivating Tidewell Bikes' staff.

Option 1: promote a current shop manager to regional manager. Option 2: recruit an experienced regional manager externally. Justify which option Tidewell Bikes should choose.