CAIE A-Level Business A2 6.2.2 Corporate Planning Questions

Z branch.

AO1 Knowledge and understanding

Knowledge □ (max 1 mark) can be awarded for any relevant business knowledge about a corporate plan / corporate planning, including, including:

- Knowledge of the contents of a corporate plan, including:

- mission/vision

- objectives

- strategic planning

- external influences on a business: social, legal, economic, environmental, ethical, political, technological

- functional data: marketing, operations management, human resources management, financial management

- contingency planning, risk management

- Knowledge of the process of corporate planning, including:

- a corporate plan is similar to a strategic plan

- used for businesses with multiple business units or subsidiaries/parts

- defines business direction

- and business strategy to get there

- usually refers to the broader business as a whole, not individual parts/functions

- steps involved in corporate planning, such as assess your current strategy/position, identify objectives, develop your strategic plan and determine performance metrics, implement and share plan, revise and amend.

Award ${ }^{[\mathrm{DEV}}$ for any explanation of relevant business knowledge, up to a max of 2 marks.

2

AO2 Application

Application ${ }^{[m]}$ (max 2 marks) can be awarded for applying knowledge of a corporate plan or corporate planning, to CA and/or the city Z branch, including:

- Nala has experience as a cleaner, Operations Manager with CA and planning and management of a branch of CA.

- Nala has contacts that she built up (employees, customers, local information) in her role with CA.

- Data from the timeline.

- Data from the appendices.

- A corporate plan is required by the bank to finance her new start-up.

AO3 Analysis

Analysis is likely to be based on the elements of a corporate plan or corporate planning ( A and ${ }^{\mathrm{A} 2}$ and ${ }^{\mathrm{A} 3}$ ) for CA and/or the city Z branch.

Arguments of what should (or should not) be included in Nala's corporate plan for a new cleaning business, including:

- Mission/vision - to give the business direction - important for a new business and to convince the bank to provide finance for the new business - however this might not be useful as the separate business has not been set up yet.

- Objectives - likely to be Nala's own objectives, unless she is planning to bring in shareholders - a new business is likely to focus on survival and/or providing Nala with enough income to survive.

- Strategic planning - likely to be one of the most important elements of Nala's corporate plan as this will give the bank an idea of how she plans to achieve her objectives and repay any finance loaned - Nala may have more experience of her strategy than many start-up businesses as she has managed the city Z branch for the past four years (she has expertise).

- External influences on a business - may be less important to inform the bank/Nala as these will be common to all businesses in city Z and/or market. However, Nala may need to provide evidence to the bank (and other stakeholders) that she has recognised these influences.

- Functional data:

- Marketing - to prove that Nala understands the cleaning market in city Z and to show that she has a plan to reach her target market in sufficient numbers to meet her objectives.

- Operations management - Nala's area of expertise (as a previous Operations Manager of CA) and important to show that she is able to deliver a service sector product.

- Human resources management - as a business offering a service in city Z, the management of people will be important to allowing Nala to meet her objectives and implement the business strategy.

- Financial management - important as Nala's main purpose in preparing a corporate plan is to raise finance to fund her business.

2

AO4 Evaluation

Evaluation $\left({ }^{\mathrm{N} 1}\right.$ and ${ }^{\mathrm{N} 2}$ and ${ }^{\mathrm{N} 3}$ ) including:

Evaluation will largely depend on the points raised in the analysis.

- A judgement over what Nala should include in a corporate plan for her new cleaning business.

- What the judgement may depend upon;
further data about the market in city Z for cleaning services, external influences, such as the economy, legal issues, fashions/trends, demographic changes, ethical influences, environmental influences, political influences, technological influences, the prior history of Nala with CA and other stakeholders whom she may need to interact with in her new business.

- Weighing up of the relevant pieces of data needed for Nala's corporate plan and its use in financing the new business.

- Weighing up of the relevant arguments for the use of other data instead of (or in tandem with) the corporate plan.

Accept all valid responses.

2

Exemplars for awarding evaluation

L □

including: (limited supporting evidence)

L2 □ including: (developed supporting evidence)

(developed supporting evidence with context)

No credit

The most

important

element to be

included in a

corporate plan for

the future of the

city Z branch is

the objective.

\end{tabular}

The most important element to be
included in a
corporate plan for the future of the city
Z branch is the objective to survive the first few months.

The most important element to be
included in a corporate plan for the future of the city Z branch is the objective to survive the first few
months. Without this, Nala is unlikely to be able to make the branch successful.

The most important element to be
included in a corporate plan for the future of the city Z branch is the objective to survive the first few
months. Without this, Nala is unlikely to be able to make the branch successful because she is too inexperienced.

It is important to
include all of the sections such as
marketing, production, HRM and finance.

It is most important to include all of the sections such as
marketing, production, HRM and finance.

It is most important to include sections on marketing, production, HRM and finance, because they all
influence one another and the business as a whole.

It is most important to include sections on marketing, production, HRM and finance, because they all
influence one another and the business as a whole so it is the best way to get finance from the bank.