Business Studies for the confused

Quality - Qantas: why quality matters

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:08:00 +0000

Qantas - the gift that keeps on giving: this time - from early Nov 2011.

Instructions:

What the video below, then read this article . Then post an answer to this question:

Q What do these news items have to do quality management at Qantas?

<a href="http://video.news.com.au/2164293909/Engine-trouble-diverts-Qantas-flight">VIDEO: Engine trouble diverts Qantas flight</a>

Hints for your post:

Check the Blog Posts for background on Qantas (the industrial dispute mush have some effect on quality hmmmm?)

Click here for a easy to understand prediction for Qantas expected profits
The following would be a pretty good intro to your post (and for HSC answer or intro to Ops strategy....

Operations strategies describes the work done by the Operations department to contribute to long term business survival through profit maximisation. These strategies include work relating to

New product design and development
Outsourcing
Quality Management

Businesses such as Qantas measure the effectiveness of their Operations Strategies using metrics called Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) for the quality, cost, flexibility, speed, customisation, and dependability of each strategy - for example .

New product design and development

KPIs may be COST (to design), SPEED (to develop)

Outsourcing

KPI's may be FLEXIBILITY (to meet demand changes), DEPENDABILITY (levle of service provided by external suplier)

Quality Management

KPI's may be CUSTOMISATION (how well Qantas is able to meet specifc neeeds of its passengers)

Quality is defined as products 'fitness for purpose', and Quality Management refers to the work done by a business to ensure the reliability, safety and consistency of its product.

What is a Marketing plan, and why is it important

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:53:00 +0000

D = Definition. A plan is a strategy (set of steps or activities) that will achieve an objective. Therefore, a marketing plan, is a set of marketing activities to achieve marketing objectives

I = Importance. If a business does not plan, it ends up reacting to events only when they occur, which can cause the business to fail to achieve the business objectives it has set

E = Example. For example, a marketing department that does not plan will be slow to act on changing customer wants and needs.

As competitors respond to market changes and produce popular products, a business that has not planned is stuck making products that become harder to sell, which results in falling sales and less profits.

What is branding and why is it important?

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:05:00 +0000

D = Definition. A brand is a name or image used to differentiate a product or business from its competitors.

Brands are included in the range of Product features in the marketing mix.

What do you think when you see the Nike Swoosh?

I = Importance. Brands are important because they are used to quickly identify a business and its products in competitive markets.

For example, you will instantly form an impression about the features, quality, pricing and so on of the products offered by this brand?

E = Example. Firms take branding very seriously. For example, Gap, the US clothing business got so much bad feedback from customers on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook when it tried to make changes to its branding recently that it abandoned its new brand image after only 1 week.

Have a look at this BBC link if you want to find out more about branding.

What are Business Ethics and why are they important?

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:48:00 +0000

D = Definition. Ethics is the study of what is generally accepted by society as being right or wrong.

I = Importance. It is important for a business to behave ethically – if it does not - that is – it behaves unethically – then
its reputation with customers may be damaged….

which may lead to reduced sales and falling profits…
which may in the long term threaten the long term survival of the business
which of course if the most important business objective!

E = Example These 2 articles give examples that can be used in an exam.

In this first article Ralph Norris, the Australian Commonwealth Bank’s CEO (Chief Executive Officer) has just received an 80% pay increase. His salary package of $AUD 16,000,000 (approx $USD 16 million) has received lots of criticism.

Is it ethical for businesses to pay such large salaries? Ist is it right for anyone to receive so much money, regardless of the success of the business?

In this second example, many of Chinas super-rich business bosses have been accused of being ‘stingy’ by not attending a Charity event with 2 of the worlds richest men – Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Chinas richest man. What do you think of this argument from the article?

"Zong Qinghou, named by the Hurun Rich List as China's richest man with a $12bn fortune, told Phoenix television he had a previous engagement and said real philanthropy was creating wealth and jobs.’

‘"If I want to donate, I will; if I don't want to, I won't be persuaded to either. I don't think donating a lot of money is real philanthropy. It is just a way to get around the high inheritance tax and other taxes," he said.’

What is marketing and why is it important?

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:38:00 +0000

Definition: Marketing is the work done by the business in

Identifying customer wants and needs

Informing the customer about the forms products
Persuading customers to purchase the firms products

By its definition, we can see that marketing is focussed on actual and potential business customers.

Importance: We study marketing because it is an important business process. Marketing is important to the business it
Provides the business with information on the products that customers will want to purchase

informs customers about the products offered by the business that will satisfy their wants and needs
persuades customers to buy the products offered by the business that will satisfy their wants and needs

Effective marketing supports the most important business objective of business survival as follows

Effective marketing means that a business produces products that will meet customer wants and needs

Effective marketing informs and persuades customers to buy these products

this increases sales for the business
this increases business profits (assuming of course that the increase in sales are greater than any increase in costs to product and promote the new products!)
increased profits help a business to survive in the long term – the most important long term objective of any business

For Example: For example, Apples iPad meets customer needs for a multi-featured portable wireless device. Those needs were identified by thr careful study of existing and potential customers by Apples marketing department. In addition the marketing department has promoted the devide (to inform and persuade) customers to buy it.

The iPad has sold amazingly well – leading to increased profits for Apple. Apple can use those profits to ensure its long term survival (e.g.by investing in new markets, new products etc)

Funny Market Research: Diamond Shreddies

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:15:00 +0000

Shreddies are a breakfast cereal sold in UK, Canada and New Zealand.

This link to an award winning ad campaign for the Canadian market has some very funny ideas, including great primary market research spoof videos!

In the comic “‘New’ Diamond Shreddies” campaign, , the square Shreddie was turned 45 degrees to become diamond shaped! The videos show how real people felt about the “new” Shreddies.

How to solve digital piracy

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:12:00 +0000

You should know the basics of E-commerce from the IB course

Advantages to businesses include – possibility of wider customer base, the ability to update product information quickly, the ability to offer a wider product range etc
Disadvantages to businesses include - possibility that so called 'aggregate sites' drive prices down to the 'lowest common denominator' etc

Advantages to customers include – increased convenience of online shopping, a wider range of products and stores to choose from etc.

Disadvantages to customers include the possibility of credit card fraud, sites that download harmful spyware to computers etc.

A related topic is the problems of illegal downloading and filesharing faced by music and film producers. This Guardian file sharing link is worth checking out: there are arguments for and against digital file sharing. You will see that there is still no agreement on how business can preoct its products from illegal copying

Ex-Morgan Stanley boss jailed for insider trading

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:48:00 +0000

1) Who or what is Morgan Stanley?
2) What does the term 'insider trading' mean?
3) What does Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) do?

Read this Guardian article

4) What was Du Jun found guilty of - what sentance has he received?

If you get time...read this more detailed analysis of the case and answer these more detailed questions.

5) Explain how SEC overcame the difficulties it faced in getting a conviction in this case
6) Can you explain what "Tiger Asia Management" did to be put under investigation from the SEC?

Happiness is a warm gun?

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:02:00 +0000

Glocks Secret Path to Profits
Gaston Glock, an Austrian manufacturer of shovels and knives, has made a fortune selling handguns in America. Starting in the early 1980s, Glock, a self-taught firearm designer, produced a new innovative pistol for the Austrian military.

Watch this Business week video - how many product features can you identify?

Glock's marketing strategy to enter the world's richest gun market - the USA was simple: persuade American police they needed a lightweight gun with more ammunition than traditional revolvers...then use the success of selling to law enforcement to promote his guns to private gun buyers.

Today the company claims 65% of the American law-enforcement market, an amazing success for a privately owned manufacturer based in tiny a tiny town in Austria.

Ethics? Well Glock's success has come at a price - he was the victim of an unsuccessful asssasination attempt in 1999, and the company is currently under investigation by the IRS (US tax authorities) for tax avoidance

Asias best young entrepreneurs - 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:44:00 +0000

We talk about entrepreneurship in the first few weeks of our IB DP course when we describe the reasons for starting a business.

This Businessweek Asia article and slideshow describes Asias best Young entrepreneurs.....

Maybe you could be on next years list??

Wot? No Google??

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:11:00 +0000

Errr...where is Google??

This short video from Businessweek magazine lists the top 5 global brands in 2009...err....no Google....so what do they mean by best global brands?

You can more on Businessweeks reports on the top brands in 2009 by clicking here

Executive pay rising: 'It really beggars belief'

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Top bosses are again being criticised for earning huge salaries even during the current economic crisis. Also, the gap between the tap of top bosses and workers continues to rise. For example:

a) The highest-paid boss on the London FTSE in 2008 was Bart Becht. He received the same pay as 1,374 average workers at his business (Reckitt Benckiser). Becht received about £37m last year.

b) Vladimir Kim, chairman of Kazakhmys, the FTSE 100 mining and metals conglomerate, is paid 183 times the average salary of his workforce, who face what the company admits is a 'higher than usual' fatality rate.

c) The boss at UK supermarket giant Tesco - Sir Terry Leahy - was paid more than 900 times as much as Tesco's average worker,

Instructions
Is this fair? As you listen to this link,

a) write dwn as many internal and external stakeholders as you can

b) Now use Johnson and Scholes stakeolder mapping model to map these stakeholders

c) ) Does your mapping model explain how executives can get their pay increases aproved by company shareholders?

Lehmans' last day

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:34:00 +0000

US bank Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008.

Lehmans was the biggest bankruptcy in US corporate history having incurred billions of dollars of losses in the US mortgage market.

The collapse triggered falling share prices around the world, with other financial companies coming close to the same fate as Lehmans'.

This BBC slideshow is a great summary of that time:

How to earn $50 Million in 6 years!

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:18:00 +0000

A TRUE EXAMPLE OF UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICE
US drugmaker Pfizer will pay a massive $USD 2.3bn (£1.4bn) fine in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice. A subsidiary of the firm was found guilty of illegally promoting four drugs for uses which had not been approved by medical regulators.

This link is an amazing interview with John Kopchinski - the Pfizer employee who 'blew the whistle' on Pfiser. In it he describes the unethical and illegal practices used by the firm to sell its products.

Mr Kopchinski's decision to tell the authorities what his bosses asked him to do cost him his job... but this article tells you that it all ended OK for him!

Pfizer agrees record fraud fine

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:46:00 +0000

This article is a good example to use as support for various important BaM topics –

a) An example of the dangers of poor marketing strategy. Pizer has been fined for off-label promoting – that is – for promoting its products for uses that had NOT been approved by its external regulator (the US Federal Drugs Agency)

b) An example of possible diseconomies of scale – Pizer is the worlds largest drug producer: as such the business hay have suffered communication problems in making sure that the ruling by the FDA clearly prevented the firm from promoting its products for non- approved usage

c) An example of effective contingency planning – Pizers share price has remained unaffected by this news because the company had already put aside money to cover any fines in its 4th quarter in 2008

Disney to buy Marvel in $4bn deal

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:30:00 +0000

EXTERNAL GROWTH - Good and Bad

This article is a nice example of expected external (inorganic) growth . Look at this associated article, to see a reason why Disney has spent $4billion to acquire Marvel Comics.

It is also a great excuse to sing.... 'Spiderman...Spiderman...does whatever a spider can..."

In this second example we see why Ebay has decided to sell off SKYPE - an example of how Ebay's planed external growth strategy has failed. This related article may identify one of the reasons for the spin off of SKYPE.

Steve Jobs's new trick: the Apple tablet

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:24:00 +0000

Apple - is reportedly just about to launch a tablet computer – small enough to carry in a handbag or briefcase but big enough to comfortably surf the web, read newspapers and watch films. It could be Apple's latest billion-dollar jackpot.

This article mentions some of Apples strengths - in summary you should realise that

1) Apples very loyal Customer base actually generates word of mouth promotion for new apple products
Feverish speculation all over the internet, gadget shoppers nearing mass hysteria and pundits predicting our lives will never be the same. It must mean that an Apple product launch is on the way.

2) Customers (employees too?) are strongly supportive of the charismatic leadership style of Apple CEO Steve Jobs
“Apple product launches are celebrated rituals where the talismanic Jobs, in black sweater and jeans, stands on a stage in San Francisco and unveils the company's latest innovation, cheered by adulatory crowds with near religious fervour. The Californian giant has sold more 200 million iPods since their launch in 2001.

3a) Apples strong customer base allows it to set a Premium Pricing Strategy for the Tablet (or any other new product).

Gene Munster, a technology research analyst estimated that an Apple tablet, with an onscreen keyboard like the iPhone, would cost around $600 (£363), putting it between the highest-end iPod Touch at $399 and the MacBook, which starts at $999. At $600, Munster calculated that sales of 2 million tablets could add $1.2bn (£727m) to Apple's sales next year.

3b) This pricing strategy allows Apple to increase sales revenues even at a time when its laptops may be in the the maturity stage of their product life cycle
Sales of Apple laptops are stalling as they face competition from netbooks, the smaller and lighter laptops that have proved popular among students. Rival companies have also introduced tablets but lack the hype that guarantees Apple mountains of free publicity

Its all about money??

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:31:00 +0000

Some background:
THE UK FTSE 100 is a list of the UK’s 100 most ‘highly capitalised’ public limited companies – i.e. the ‘largest’ businesses trading on the London Stock Exchange where the “economic size” of the business is measured by Share price * number of shares issued by the business.

Companies on the FTSE 100 include worldwide brands such as Shell, HSBC and Vodafone , and WPP (run by Martin Sorrel - see picture)

This BBC post from Robert Peston (the BBC business and economics reporter) has some amazing data on the salary packages for FTST 100 CEO’s.

This article states that FTSE 100 CEO salaries have risen 295% in the 10 years to 2008, while the value of the FTSE 100 FELL 23% over the same period!

In 2008,
• The median pay for a FTSE 100 boss was £2.6m. (average pay was a little under £4m) (*)
• The average cash bonus paid to FTSE 100 CEO’s was £514,000.
• The average CEO pay is now 128 times greater than that of the average employee.

(*) for the non-mathematicians –median pay is salary earned by the boss right in the middle of the 100 businesses ranked according to size of pay packet. The average is simply the total of all the CEO salaries divided by 100.

2 questions to think about before asking your teacher….

Q1) Regardless of company performance, it is all about money – why should we take motivational theories any of the motivational theories we study as being relevant in the real world?

The second part of the article on WPP (an FTSE 100 company - one of the worlds largest advertising compaies) describes the very generous "third leadership equity acquisition plan" put forward by the companies directors and recently accepted by its shareholders

Q2) Why do you think the owners of FTSE 100 companies (shareholders) continue to accept such generous packages for their CEO’s?

Some ideas for web based Secondary Research

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Some ideas for web based Secondary Research

I've been working on collecting a set of suitable IA online resources recently. They may be a starting point for IB Business and Management students for various tasks - such as
• IA (HL and SL) Secondary research
• Choosing a suitable IA SL topic
• Choosing a suitable EE topic

It’s NOT a comprehensive list, but I hope this helps if you are stuck on getting a start on suitable secondary sources…....

Remember … before you start surfing….
• The following links are respected, and are a good place to start, but DON’T trust something just because it’s on a website!
• You are expected to select a range of secondary research sources. As well as these external sources, you should look for internal sources of secondary research - company end of year reports etc
• ALL secondary research MUST be current (i.e. published in the last 2 years)

a) Tags for companies and IB Bam content
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/business-studies/tags/

b) Case studies
http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/information/index.php (various topic links and company information links)
http://www.afrbiz.com.au/page.asp?E_Page=416355 (Australian based company links)

c) Business theory links
http://www.bized.co.uk/learn/ib.htm (IB BaM theory)
http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/index.php (Business theory - be careful to select a BaM topic not one that is not in the syllabus)

d) Great research sites
a. www.ft.com – a monster site – you can go to UK, European, Asian, US and Middle Eastern versions). I click the ‘Companies’ tab and then use the search box to get research on a company I’m interested in
b. www.guardian.co.uk/business - I love this site because it is the easiest one to get lots of sources on a particular topic. Once you go to any of the links on this page, you should look for the “Related subjects” links down the right hand side of the page. Here are some of the links that may spark some ideas:

Business by Sector - examples
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/telecoms
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/theairlineindustry
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/retail
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/supermarkets
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/fooddrinks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/oilandgascompanies

Business by topic - examples
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/mergers-and-acquisitions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/executive-pay-bonuses
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/corporatesocialresponsibility
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/ethicalbusiness

Technology Businesses – examples
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/microsoft
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/google
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/youtube
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/facebook
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/apple

World trade fall hits Hong Kong shipping

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:11:00 +0000

Read this article and answer the following questions:

Level 1: Knowledge
1) Define the term ‘demand’. Give 3 determinants of demand for ships.

Level 2: Application
2a) Use a suitable diagram to explain this statement from the first section of this article: "There is less cargo moving around the world, so less need for ships. Hence dramatically lower rates for hiring large ships’

2b) Use your knowledge of different cost types to distinguish between the terms ‘hot lay up’ and ‘cold lay up’ that are mentioned in the 'Lay-up' section of the article

Level 3: Analysis
3) Examine the reasoning behind this statement from the article 'the surprising fact in Hong Kong is that, so far, no major ship-owning company is in dire straits'. As a Hong Kong student, what do you think of this

Level 4: Evaluation
4) Recommend a suitable medium term growth strategy for Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (the world’s largest shipping company). Hints – you may find relevant information in the “Order Book’ section of the article, an internet search on the company, and your knowledge of External Growth.

NOTE : Words in bold (define, explain…) have a specific meaning in the IB Diploma Program (DP). The meanings are in Glossary of Command Terms Section of the IBO DP Business and Management Guide available at the OCC .

The Bernard Madoff Scandal: Part 1 and 2

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:34:00 +0000

Inside the Madoff Scandal – Part 1
The Wall Street Journal explains how one of the largest financial scandals of our time went on for so long without being detected. Click here to watch the video

Inside the Madoff Scandal – Part 2
The Wall Street Journal explains how Bernard Madoff organised his business and predicts what will happen next as authorities get to the bottom of his alleged fraud. Click here to watch the video

Obama 'outraged' at AIG bonuses

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:15:00 +0000

AIG is a huge American based financial institution.

It has been in the news a lot recently, because the US Government has pumped a huge amount of money into it to help it survive the current financial crisis.

First, watch this video for the story.

Next, read each short article in turn and answer all questions

1) AIG- What does this giant do? (Background on AIG)
1a) Describe briefly what AIG does, and how many people it employs.
1b) How much was Robert Willumstad paid as AIG's Chairman in 2008?
1c) How much did the US Government set aside as a AIG's rescue package in September 2008?

2) AIG failure would hurt others (Why the US Government bailed out AIG)
2a) Explain why the US Government decided to bail out AIG in 2008.
2b) What criticisms of the US Governments decision can you find in this article?

3) AIG to cut further bonuses (Why AIG wants to pay the bonuses)
3a) How much has AIG received from the US Government so far?
3b) What is the key reason given by AIG's Chairman Edward Liddy to explain why AIG must pay the bonuses to its workers?
3c) What economy of scale can you identify in this article?

4) Obama wants to block bonuses (Why Obama is mad with AIG!)
4a) What actions has the US Government taken in response to AIG’s decision to pay bonuses?
4b) What is the value of bonuses owed to AIG executives?

Drug firms in $41bn giant merger

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:08:00 +0000

Level 1: Knowledge
1a) Describe the following words or terms

Merger

Inorganic Growth

Organic Growth

Pharmaceutical Company

Level 2: Application
2a) I own 10,000 shares in Schering Plough. Calculate what I can expect to receive as a result of the merger.
2b) What type of growth strategy does this merger represent? Use your textbook and/or my notes construct a table showing the advantages and disadvantages of such a merger.

Level 3: Analysis
3) Use the information in this article to analyse the statement made by Merck Chairman and CEO Richard Clark, who said "We are creating a strong, global healthcare leader built for sustainable growth and success"

Level 4: Evaluation
4) Should I buy shares in the merged business? Justify your answer!

Note Level 1 – Level 4 are questions based on IB standards where

Level 1: Knowledge
Level 2: Application
Level 3: Analysis
Level 4: Evaluation

Words in bold (define, explain…) have a specific meaning in the IB Diploma Program (DP). The meanings are in Glossary of Command Terms Section of the IBO DP Business and Management Guide available at the OCC and from my website

George Clooneys Favourite Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:57:00 +0000

Read this article that describes how Nestles ‘Nespresso’ coffee has been marketed and then answer the following questions.

Level 1: Knowledge
1) Define the terms ‘Marketing’ ‘Marketing Strategy’ and ‘Marketing Planning’

Level 2: Application
2a) Comment on the following statement (not in the article) “Nespresso” has been quite a successful product for Nestle”.
2b) Construct a table of the 4 marketing strategies you can identify in the case. Your table must include at least 2 examples of each of the 4P's!

Level 3: Analysis
3) At what stage of the Product Life Cycle is Nespresso? Examine the pricing strategy chosen by Nescafe based your analysis.

Level 4: Evaluation
4a) Advertising analyst Jim Boulton, says that while he personally thinks Nespresso is “consumerism gone mad", he admits its marketing has been "quite simply first class". To what extent do you agree with his comments?
4b) Evaluate Nescafes response to the criticisms made of its Nespresso product

Note Level 1 – Level 4 are questions based on IB standards where

Level 1: Knowledge
Level 2: Application
Level 3: Analysis
Level 4: Evaluation

Words in bold (define, explain…) have a specific meaning in the IB Diploma Program (DP). The meanings are in Glossary of Command Terms Section of the IBO DP Business and Management Guide available at the OCC and from my website

Wanted: Lousy job, low pay

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Hartnett) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:31:00 +0000

Read this CNN article on how businesses and job seekers are impacted by the current economic crisis

Level 1: Knowledge
Define the following terms
1a) Unemployment
1b) Recession

Level 2: Application
2a) Construct a demand and supply diagram to explain the article statement "Between the increase in overall job seekers and the reduction in the number of jobs available, competition for even the least desirable jobs has become much steeper".
2b) Explain the main problem currently faced by HR departments (Hint "We could write the ad in Russian and it wouldn't matter")

Level 4: Evaluation
4) Imagine that your friend is looking for a job. Advise him/her on the strategy they should take.

Note Level 1 – Level 4 are questions based on IB standards where

Level 1: Knowledge
Level 2: Application
Level 3: Analysis
Level 4: Evaluation

Words in bold (define, explain…) have a specific meaning in the IB Diploma Program (DP). The meanings are in Glossary of Command Terms Section of the IBO DP Business and Management Guide available at the OCC and from my website