JS is a public sector organisation in country X. The mission statement of JS is in Fig. 1.1. To match up businesses that need workers with workers who need jobs [Figure 1.1] JS is one of the largest businesses in country X. It benefits from many economies of scale but also suffers from some diseconomies of scale. There is an outlet of JS in every main town and city in country X. Each outlet must cooperate with the others to provide the best service to those looking for new employment and businesses looking for new employees. The employees of JS are all highly trained and skilled. They work in three different departments (see Table 1.1). Table 1.1: Employee data for JS Department | Main functions | Total number of employees | Number of employees who left in 2018 ---|---|---|--- A | Dealing with people looking for jobs | 25000 | 6250 B | Dealing with businesses looking for workers | 5000 | 550 C | Paperwork and general administrative duties | 10000 | 600 The management team at JS are concerned about the poor motivation in Department A, which has led to high labour turnover. They interviewed those leaving Department A to ask for their reasons for leaving (an exit survey). The results are shown in [Figure 1.2].

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2019). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [2] Organisations that are owned/controlled by the government.
2. [1] A mission statement is a visionary aim for a business of the direction/purpose.
3. [1] An objective is a specific target that should have a time period in which to achieve it.
4. [1] Objectives should be in line with the mission statement and move the business towards the mission statement.
5. [1] Correct formula (Number of employees who left / Total number of employees × 100) (Formula can be implied through the correct use of figures)
6. [2] Identification of correct figures from Table 1.1 used in formula ((6250 + 550 + 600) / (25000 + 5000 + 10000))
7. [3] Correct answer with or without correct working or % (18.5%)
8. [1] Identification of a disadvantage (e.g., Increased recruitment costs / Loss of productivity / Cost of training/induction / Poor reputation / Lowers motivation/demotivates)
9. [2] Explanation of a disadvantage (e.g., Increased costs because workers who leave need to be replaced, adding to recruitment costs)
10. [3] Explanation of a disadvantage in context (e.g., Because the workers are highly skilled and trained, JS will have high recruitment costs when they leave)
11. [K] Managerial economies of scale – for example personnel managers who may be able to deal with JS labour turnover issue.
12. [K] Marketing economies of scale – many outlets in every main town and city means that marketing costs can be averaged out over a large number of outlets.
13. [K] Purchasing (allow bulk buying) economies of scale - in terms of administration items (do not accept bulk buying of inventory unless it is in context as this is a service sector business).
14. [K] Technical (do not reward technological) economies of scale – better admin computer software/systems.
15. [K] Financial economies of scale – government backing likely to be more important than size but JS is still more likely to get favourable financial terms due to their size.
16. [APP] Because JS has an outlet in every major town and city. (Example for Marketing economies)
17. [AN] JS can use nationwide advertising campaigns which are likely to have less cost per potential customer who sees it.
18. [DEV] which means JS has more money to spend on finding people jobs.
19. [K] Communication problems – outlets must cooperate with each other to maintain good customer service.
20. [K] Poor leadership – 25% of labour turnover is due to poor leadership – too many workers to lead?
21. [K] Poor motivation – Is the high labour turnover and issues due to the size of the business?
22. [K] Bureaucracy – 10 000 admin workers suggest a great deal of 'red tape'.
23. [K] Duplication of effort – Each outlet likely to have the same job-role repeated.
24. [APP] Because JS is spread out over the whole of country X. (Example for Communication diseconomies)
25. [AN] This means that messages may not get properly communicated and some jobs might not get filled.
26. [DEV] meaning that JS does not get as many people out of unemployment.
27. [K] Increase pay/financial motivation – 30% of leaving employees are leaving for 'poor pay'. However, can the government of county X afford a pay increase?
28. [K] Non-financial motivation – 20% leaving because of a boring job (job enrichment/enlargement/rotation – improve motivating factors etc.), more delegation etc.
29. [K] Increase levels of hierarchy to improve promotion chances. 5% of workers leaving for this reason.
30. [K] Allow movement between outlets - 5% have moved to another town JS may be able to keep them in the business by offering them a job in another outlet.
31. [K] Improve leadership – is JS using the right leadership styles? Do the managers need training?
32. [K] Improve training – employees are highly skilled and trained, but maybe they could be offered more to keep them in the business. In particular, training on how to deal with customers as this is a major reason for the turnover.
33. [K] Make more social opportunities for staff.
34. [K] Improve recruitment and selection processes – are people leaving because they were not the right people in the first place?
35. [APP] (e.g., 30% of people who leave think that JS has poor pay)
36. [AN] This is likely to lead to less people leaving Department A.
37. [DEV] Which will decrease the recruitment costs of JS.
38. [EVAL] Overall pay could help to improve the motivation of the employees in Department A because it has the highest labour turnover rate and the biggest reason is poor pay.
39. [EVAL] However, it depends on whether JS can afford to increase pay enough to make a real difference to the motivation of the employees.