Module 2: Efficiency

Activities

Module 2.1 Enquiry 2: Leaders and businesses
Part 1 is a simple matching exercise with three business people and three leadership styles. This could be used to introduce leadership styles - no prior knowledge is required. Part 2 involves more subtle analysis. Students must consider the writing of Warren Bennis, the leadership guru and make some comparisons, discussing the questions that arise in groups.

Module 2.1 Enq 2 Leaders and business (, 48 KB)

Module 2.1 Enquiry 2: Richer motivation
This activity explores motivation issues in the context of a range of case studies. Richer Sounds provides in depth context. It might be useful to supplement this with Richer's own web site. Two short case studies provide contrasts with completely different businesses which nevertheless succeeded. Part 2 is all about a fictional scenario, something of a disaster area, for which students must produce a strategy. There is plenty of opportunity for group work and a detailed round-up at the end will ensure that lessons have been learnt.

Module 2.1 Enq 2 Richer motivation (, 55 KB)

Module 2.1 Enquiry 3: Leaner production
This two-part activity starts with a fictional story that requires students to explore the implications of changing stock requirements and their costs. There are no fixed answers but students should be able to suggest a reasonable strategy. The Perkins case study can be used to make comparisons and deepen understanding.

Module 2.1 Enq 3 Leaner production (, 46 KB)

Module 2.1 Enquiry 3: Productivity comparisons
The most recent version of this activity is included in Nuffield Investigations.

Module 2.1 Enquiry 3: Flexible efficiency at Peugeot
This activity is included in Nuffield Investigations.

Module 2.1 Enquiry 4: Costs of production
A cost calculation that can be used to cement cost relationships in the mind. It can either be photocopied from this pdf file, or the electronic version is in Nuffield Investigations.

Module 2.1 Enq 4 Costs of production (, 65 KB)

Module 2.1 Enquiry 5: The balance sheet
A painless way for students to get used to balance sheets, this activity relates to the case study used in Activity 1.2.6. It can be done with or without Excel; it could provide a useful introduction to the package. Extension work at the end suggests trawling some of the web sites for possible comparisons.

Module 2.1 Enq 5 The balance sheet (, 1.1 MB)

Module 2.2 Enquiry 1: Does the price matter?
Primary investigation and group discussion of the findings lead to an intuitive grasp of price elasticity of demand.

Module 2.2 Enq 1 Does the price matter? (, 35 KB)

Module 2.2 Enquiry 2: The UK car market
This activity is included in Nuffield Investigations.

Module 2.2 Enquiry 2: Less means more
The news story dates from 1998 but the situation could be any time. It provides the stimulus material for a discussion on how barriers to entry can affect the relevant stakeholders.

Module 2.2 Enq 2 Less means more (, 29 KB)

Module 2.2 Enquiry 4: Investigating equity, inequality and social needs
This activity provides a simple scenario for studying a Biz/ed page with data that sheds light on the difference between equity and inequality. It leads into discussion of government objectives. Printouts could be used or students can make notes direct from the screen. It could end in a short report being written, or in class discussion.

Module 2.2 Enq 4 Investigating Equity (, 15 KB)

Module 2.2 Enquiry 5: Investigating government priorities
Using this activity as an introduction to 'government provision' in Enquiry 4 leads into exploration of perspectives on government spending and taxation. Further investigation of the data will support discussion of the benefits of intervention. The Virtual Chancellor simulation on Biz/ed, which was the original basis for this activity, has still not been restored so the opportunity to explore the impact of changes on income distribution is much reduced.

Module 2.2 Enquiry 5: Investigating government priorities (, 91 KB)

Module 2.2 General: Waste disposal
This activity picks up the environmental focus of this module. It highlights issues relating to external costs, stakeholder perspectives and resource allocation. It can be adapted as a basis for a brief single-lesson investigation and discussion, or extended to take in wider issues relating to resource costs.

Module 2.2 General: Waste (, 64 KB)