UNIT 2 PRACTICAL EXCERSISES | Diapositivas de Fundamentos del Negocio

Unit 2: The company and the employer (practice2)

1. Article: Boinas (Berets) Elósegui Berets, the most international company in Toulouse, which

distributes berets around the five continents, has turned 150 years of history. Although this company

employed 260 people in 1888, today only employs 21. Its manager recalls that initially, the daily

production was 50 berets per day, for which 50 workers were needed. In 1888 they managed to produce

3000 and nowadays the figure has reached 700 berets produced daily.

This decline is not only due to competition from the Asian market or disuse of this product in the Spanish

military uniform. Elósegui Berets is also fighting the fashion that is making the traditional “txapelas”

(berets) disappear from the heads of the new generations of Basque people, and tries to compensate for

these losses in the domestic market by directing their product to the military and security forces of many

countries (Mozambique, Nigeria, Venezuela, Mexico, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece and

Latvia wear Elósegui Berets). According to Federico González, managing director, despite the “debacle”

in the textile industry, "we remain stable in the market because we try to offer the best quality and

because we have a good brand loyalty."

In this sense, the company is working with many of the machines that were used 100 years ago, because

"we get high quality products that the Asian market cannot compete with”. Almost the whole process is

handmade, from the fabric to the overlock, the milling, shaping, sizing and finishing operations.

Despite this handcrafted manufacture, the company plans new future challenges: "Two years ago we

started to introduce various articles in the field of civil berets, as angora wool berets, hats, scarves,

caps... with our brand name, and so far, things are going well". Moreover, celebrities such as the tennis

player René Lacoste, the film director Billy Wilder, the composer Richard Wagner or the ever innovative

singer Madonna have made this garment popular over the years, so it has never been out of

fashion. Perhaps this was one of the great strengths that enabled the company to stay in business for

150 years: a loyal customer base attached to traditions, but also to new fashions that are reinvented and

do not leave this popular hat behind.

Answer the following questions:

a) According to the test, the Basque firm has increased its labour productivity over time. Calculate how

daily labour productivity has evolved over time (when it was founded, in 1888 and now).

50/50=1

3000/260=11.54

300/21=33.33

b) Which school of Business Administration put emphasis on the importance of increasing productivity to

improve business results? Describe the main characteristics.

Scientific management. Created by Taylor.

c) Indicate what type of risks the entrepreneur takes according to Knight (explain briefly each of them)

and explain which risk has had more impact on the Elosegui business model.

The risk the Elosegui business takes is a risk of economic uncertanty. There is no risk of technicality

because their production method is sound.

d) Analyse if system model approach could be suitable in this case.

Yes, it has been suitable for them already.

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Unit 2: The company and the employer (practice2)

1. Article: Boinas (Berets) Elósegui Berets, the most international company in Toulouse, which

distributes berets around the five continents, has turned 150 years of history. Although this company employed 260 people in 1888, today only employs 21. Its manager recalls that initially, the daily production was 50 berets per day, for which 50 workers were needed. In 1888 they managed to produce 3000 and nowadays the figure has reached 700 berets produced daily. This decline is not only due to competition from the Asian market or disuse of this product in the Spanish military uniform. Elósegui Berets is also fighting the fashion that is making the traditional “txapelas” (berets) disappear from the heads of the new generations of Basque people, and tries to compensate for these losses in the domestic market by directing their product to the military and security forces of many countries (Mozambique, Nigeria, Venezuela, Mexico, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece and Latvia wear Elósegui Berets). According to Federico González, managing director, despite the “debacle” in the textile industry, "we remain stable in the market because we try to offer the best quality and because we have a good brand loyalty." In this sense, the company is working with many of the machines that were used 100 years ago, because "we get high quality products that the Asian market cannot compete with”. Almost the whole process is handmade, from the fabric to the overlock, the milling, shaping, sizing and finishing operations. Despite this handcrafted manufacture, the company plans new future challenges: "Two years ago we started to introduce various articles in the field of civil berets, as angora wool berets, hats, scarves, caps... with our brand name, and so far, things are going well". Moreover, celebrities such as the tennis player René Lacoste, the film director Billy Wilder, the composer Richard Wagner or the ever innovative singer Madonna have made this garment popular over the years, so it has never been out of fashion. Perhaps this was one of the great strengths that enabled the company to stay in business for 150 years: a loyal customer base attached to traditions, but also to new fashions that are reinvented and do not leave this popular hat behind. Answer the following questions: a) According to the test, the Basque firm has increased its labour productivity over time. Calculate how daily labour productivity has evolved over time (when it was founded, in 1888 and now). 50/50= 3000/260=11. 300/21=33. b) Which school of Business Administration put emphasis on the importance of increasing productivity to improve business results? Describe the main characteristics. Scientific management. Created by Taylor. c) Indicate what type of risks the entrepreneur takes according to Knight (explain briefly each of them) and explain which risk has had more impact on the Elosegui business model. The risk the Elosegui business takes is a risk of economic uncertanty. There is no risk of technicality because their production method is sound. d) Analyse if system model approach could be suitable in this case. Yes, it has been suitable for them already.

2. MERCADONA:

BACKGROUND:

CARNICERÍAS ROIG Mercadona's origins date back to the 1970s, with eight modest butcher shops in Valencia that the founder's son, Juan Roig, transformed into a neighborhood supermarket, until Mercadona became the main Spanish distributor, ahead of El Corte English. Mercadona came out of nowhere, its being a success story based on effort, competitiveness, ingenuity and modesty, qualities that we perceive in other Spanish references such as Zara (Inditex group). COUNTERCURRENT In the decades prior to the financial crisis, when Spaniards filled their carts in suburban hypermarkets and shunned distribution brands (considered to be of very low quality), Juan Roig chose to fill 80% of his shelves with its brand “Hacendado” and associating the “Mercadona” logo with the tagline “Always Low Prices” (similar to WalMart). At that time, many customers stopped buying at Mercadona. They wanted to choose the brand. But over time, Roig showed that "white label" is not synonymous with low quality. On the contrary, its products have become a benchmark in innovation and quality, with formats and packaging that reduce logistics costs while offering new experiences and consumption contexts. The assortment is constantly renewed, with up to 400 new references per year. If a manufacturer launches an innovative product, they quickly copy it, cutting back on everything that does not add value to the customer. COMPETITIVE KEYS

1. BEING: Location and proximity In 2019, Mercadona has 1,626 medium-sized establishments in Spain, so its penetration is very high. They also have 10 stores in Portugal, under an organic growth strategy, which although slow, is very solid and safe. 2. VARIETY: not too much, not too little Mercadona has everything, in terms of categories (food, perfumery, drugstore, etc.) and product assortment (not brands). Everything that a customer usually goes to look for in the supermarket, unlike the small neighborhood supermarkets, which do not allow the weekly shopping, and the large hypermarkets, which have too much, and whose size prevents them from getting into the neighborhoods (travel by car, lack of parking, queues and waiting, etc). In fact, Carrefour failed with its Planet format because it was excessively large and offered too much choice: "They are so large that I need a golf cart to get around and it is difficult for me to find what I am looking for or choose from so many references." Mercadona does not offer much or little, just what you are looking for, so that you are never forced to go

5. According to the reading, do you think that the Market Human Resources policy fits better with the Taylorist approaches or with those of the School of Human Relations? Why? 3.- Mario Moretti, GEOX and the concept of Entrepreneur. Read the text about Moretti and answer the following questions: a) With what characteristics seen at points 3 and 4 of this unit do you identify Moretti? Explain your answer. b) The five experts in fashion, production, R&D and marketing, what are they called according to the classification in point 3 of this unit and why? “Mario Moretti, GEOX and the concept of Entrepreneur”. Source: Iborra and others (2007). “Fundamentals of Business Management” Mario Moretti, an agricultural engineer descendant from an important Italian family of winemakers, revolutionized the footwear sector by solving an old problem: sweat. Moretti is one of the most popular men in Italy. Erns & Young even named him Entrepreneur of the Year. His entrepreneurial adventure began in 1993. After the Reno Wine Fair, he went to visit the Rocky Mountains and to solve the perspiration problem of his trainers, he took a knife and made a hole in the soles of his shoes. sneakers. That was the basis of the project: “GEOX, the shoe that breathes”. There was still one problem to be solved; a system had to be found to prevent water from entering. The answer was found in the NASA Museum: a membrane made up of millions of channels smaller than a drop of water, which allowed steam to escape without moisture entering. With these two elements - a rubber sole with holes and a membrane - he achieved success. Although he tried to find partners for his business venture, after three years of fruitless searching he decided to go it alone. He developed his own technology and set himself the challenge of extending it, even outside the field of footwear (for example, for his wineries he has created a bottle made up of two glass layers that allows the wine to be fresh). As he himself admits, he had no fashion culture, so he surrounded himself with a team of professionals to compensate for this lack: “I looked for five experts in fashion, production, administration, R&D and marketing to create the structure of the company and I have delegated the management to them”. In this way Moretti became the president of his company and the main bastion of his image. 4. IKEA (quoted from the book by Castro Díez, (2002) "Business Administration. Managing in the knowledge society", ed. Pyramid),

In 1950, Swedish Ingvar Kamprad began selling furniture in flat packages. Half a century after its system of low-priced furniture, which the customer carries and installs himself in exchange for reduced prices, has made the company a leader in its sector. In Spain, IKEA opened its first store in Barcelona in 1996 and thereafter, two additional locations in Madrid. The overwhelming success in Spain is in addition to that already enjoyed in Western Europe and the U.S.. Montserrat Maresch is the Spanish face of the Swedish multinational. She entered, as all the company’s employees, through the small door, the front desk. Whatever the position to hold in the company, all IKEA employees spend their first two months answering questions and ordering goods. IKEA saves costs in offices. They set them next to the shops in the city suburbs. No secretaries, no flowers, no carpets. Everyone serves their own coffee and organises their own appointments. Its directors go to cheap hotels and travel in tourist class. Furnitures have now changed its meaning. So there is a place for comfortable furniture, low cost, easy to clean, lightweight to carry and able to modify the space. Managers frequently visit homes in the cities where they locate their stores to identify the population’s problems and needs. Answer:

What do you think about the companies having a policy in which all employees start working from the base?
Why did the company not give importance to the office secretaries? Can a manager perform manual jobs?
Can Ingvar Kamprad be considered an innovator? Why?
What strategy did IKEA adapt to suit its environment needs? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhQt08zBVzw

5. Answer the following questions on Unit 2.

What do you mean by saying that the company anticipates the product to the factors of production?
Why does industrial capitalism believes that the company is a unit of production?
When did the autosufficiency economy exist? In Feudalism, industrial capitalism, finance capitalism?
Complete with these terms: legal, financial, decision-making, technical. The company is primarily a... ... ….and ………... unit, an entity or ………… unit and as exploitation is a... ... ... unit
Why is it necessary that the employer is a leader in today's economy? What does being a leader means?

UNIT 2 PRACTICAL EXCERSISES, Diapositivas de Fundamentos del Negocio

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Unit 2: The company and the employer (practice2)

1. Article: Boinas (Berets) Elósegui Berets, the most international company in Toulouse, which

2. MERCADONA:

BACKGROUND: