IB Business Management SL 6.1.3 Steeple Analysis Questions

PU is having a challenging year because of recent major developments in the external environment. The university has had to make significant changes to how it operates. Throughout 2020/21 there was an economic recession in the country (Country A), and it may continue for several years. In addition, in September 2021 there was a catastrophic accident at a nearby chemical plant. The impact on the surrounding area was severe. The explosion caused a large amount of damage to nearby buildings, including to student accommodation, lecture theatres and other university buildings. In addition, part of the teaching campus was contaminated by harmful chemicals. Many of the teaching facilities became unusable and will remain so for at least two years as the clean-up operation takes place. Local water supplies have also been contaminated, and the water is still not safe to drink. Fortunately for PU, most of its research facilities are on a separate campus several kilometres away and were not affected by the accident. In September 2021, all on-site teaching stopped for two months while some very limited classroom accommodation was found elsewhere in the city and on a separate campus. For the rest of the academic year, efforts were made to ensure courses continued to be delivered in these temporary classrooms and by providing lectures online. However:
• The university had insufficient IT equipment for the lecturers.
• Many of the lecturers had inadequate IT skills to prepare and deliver high-quality online courses.
• Many lecturers found it very difficult to teach without face-to-face contact.
• Many students lacked the necessary IT equipment or internet connection to attend online lectures.
• Some international students had to return to their home countries, as their accommodation had been damaged.
• Some students demanded compensation because the courses did not meet their expectations.
• Some employees were made redundant.

Some of the research at PU’s teaching campus was suspended until the end of the 2021/2022 academic year. However, the Faculty of Medicine received a large amount of funding from the government to research medicines for reducing the impact on people and animals of exposure to dangerous chemicals, and the Faculty of IT received funding from the founder of one of the world’s largest software companies to research the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in detecting contamination.

Other operating cost savings were made. However, Adriana decided to maintain PU’s aggressive marketing strategies in contrast to most other universities, which were cutting marketing budgets because of the economic recession. Adriana saw marketing expenditure as a worthwhile investment. The promotion emphasized PU’s achievements both in research and teaching, its services for students, its high levels of student satisfaction and its competitive fees.

Failure to achieve some of these articles has recently been alleged in social media and is now appearing in national newspapers:
• A recent appointment as a trustee of the university, Di Jones, is causing controversy. Di is a director of a multinational computer company that is funding some of PU’s IT research. Political activists have discovered that Di is descended from a family that used slaves on their sugar plantation in the 19th century. The activists want her removed from her role.