CBE

Assessment 1: A CASE STUDY
(2000 words case study

This assessment requires you to meet the following Knowledge, understanding and learning outcomes required for this piece of work:
Knowledge and understanding outcomes:
K1. Understand the impact of the economic environment on business
K2. Know how political factors affect business

Learning Outcomes:
A1. Explain how changes in economic and political factors may affect a specific organisation
A2. Analyse how political factors impact on organisations
A3. Analyse how economic factors impact on organisations
A4. Evaluate how future changes in economic and political environment may impact the startegy of organisations
A5 Recommend strategies for organisations to undertake in response to their external environment.

Assessment LO�s to be met Type of assessment Weighting Word count or equiv. if appropriate
1 K1, K2
A1-A5

CASE SCENARIO:

Bianchi is an Italian company which specialises in the manufacturing of bicycles. See more about the company at

Bianchi designs, develops and produces solutions for cycling fans of all ages and has Roadbikes, Mountain bikes (MTB), City Trekking bikes and a �Junior� range for kids.
Unfortunately the Italian economy is suffering a deep recession and this has negatively affected business, with sales in decline. The Management Team of Bianchi wants to look at pushing sales and business in other markets. They have heard that the UK might be a good market to go into. A part of the The Tour de France, the famous international cycling race was held in the UK in 2014 and Mr. Bianchi noted that lots of people turned along the route to watch it.

https://www.letour.com/le-tour/2014/us/

The Bianchi team are not sure what the competitive business environment is like currently in the UK for the bicycle business.

You are working for an international management consultancy firm based in London. You are sent on a project to Bianchi to help the management team to make this decision. You decide that a good way to analyse the situation is to prepare a PEST analysis about the UK market.

The managers in Bianchi don�t know what a PEST analysis is! You will have to explain it to them first €¦as well as present your findings and make recommendations to them as to what strategies they might put in place to be competitive if they do then decide to go into the UK market. You prepare a plan for your report for Bianchi in separate sections as follows:

Section 1 (15 marks)
(This part of the task is about knowledge � show what you know about PEST)

– Explain what the external environment is and why it is important for all businesses to analyse the external environment regularly.
– Explain what is a �PEST� analysis is and why it might be a useful tool to for Bianchi to use to analyse the external environment not just regading this decision but as a regular reporting activity in the company.
– Explain what the 4 dimensions are in the P-E-S_T analysis and explain what kinds of things are examines in each dimension and give some examples of how a change in some of these things mighty affect a business.

Section 2 (25 marks)
(This part of the task requires application ability � show you can apply it!)

– Report findings of PEST analysis of UK market for Bicycle Business.
(Set out in a clear format � with a clear section for each P-E-S-T dimension and a sub-paragraph for each factor you find in that area that might be relevant for this business analysis.)
– Explain how the information found in the PEST analysis could impact positively or negatively Bianchi�s business opportunities in the UK.

Section 3 (10 marks)
– In conclusion, looking at findings from the PEST analysis make a recommendation as to whether this might be a good time for Bianchi to push more business in the UK. Make any other suggestions as to what strategies Bianchi might implement in response to factors in the external environment in order to be competitive in the UK market.