Practise IB Business Management HL 1.1.1 by identifying business functions and explaining how human, physical and financial resources work together.
A hotel combines human resources such as managers, receptionists, housekeeping and catering staff with physical resources such as the building, rooms, beach, restaurant, equipment and ICT, and financial resources such as investment, revenue and working capital. Martin read statistics and secondary market data, conducted a marketing audit and constructed a position map; he realized that The Imperial could attract travellers interested in safaris or cultural tourism. Jomo Kimathi moved from Kenya to the UK for a work permit and hotel career before returning to Kenya; Martin was born in London, studied and worked across cultures before returning to Kenya; Craig Chapman moved from Liverpool to Kenya to run an orphanage and remained there. These examples show domestic and international labour mobility driven by work permits, careers, personal heritage, family and humanitarian motivations.
Describe how a hotel such as The Imperial combines human resources, physical resources and financial resources for its business activity.
The "human resources" correspond to the staff employed (not just the workers but the managers too, middle managers such as Susan and even Martin as manager of the entire hotel), the "physical resources" correspond to the hotel itself (the building with the rooms), the "financial resources" correspond to current assets, liabilities and even retained profit (simply put: the money in the bank that the manager can use). As in any business, the three types of resources are combined, ie not taken in isolation: they are interrelated, as for example the financial resources may make it possible to improve the human resources (by hiring more staff) and the physical resources (by renovating the rooms), which in turn may lead to more financial resources.
Award [1 mark] for a basic answer showing some limited knowledge of what "human resources", "physical resources" or "financial resources" are.
Award [2 marks] for an adequate answer showing knowledge of "human resources", "physical resources" and "financial resources" by applying them to a hotel (for example the fact that "physical resources" correspond to the premises and that "human resources" are the staff employed in the hotel).
Award [3 marks] for a satisfactory answer which partially describes how the resources (human, physical and financial) are combined in a hotel (for example how the main revenue comes from the physical resources); such an answer shows the integration of any two types of resources.
Award [4 marks] for a good answer which correctly describes how the resources (human, physical and financial) are combined in a hotel (for example how the financial resources may make it possible to improve the human resources, by hiring more staff); such an answer shows the integration of the three types of resources.