Explain two advantages and two disadvantages of VP's Restaurant Managers delegating tasks to their Assistant Managers.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2023). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] (a) (Advantage) Restaurant Managers cannot carry out every job themselves/reduce workload - they can then focus on the most important tasks at the fast-food restaurant and make better decisions
2. [1] (a) (Advantage) Restaurant Managers are less likely to make mistakes – as they can focus on specific tasks such as marketing new menus
3. [1] (a) (Advantage) Gives the Restaurant Managers time to assess employees performance below them in the hierarchy – they can then identify where employees need more support/training in developing/cooking new recipes
4. [1] (a) (Advantage) May increase motivation/feel more trusted for Assistant Managers – improved speed of serving fast-food
5. [1] (a) (Advantage) Assistant Managers may develop new skills
6. [1] (a) (Disadvantage) Restaurant Managers could lose some control over subordinates – mistakes may be made leading to worse reputation if food is served longer than 5 minutes after ordering
7. [1] (a) (Disadvantage) Restaurant Managers may be reluctant to give up some control – if Assistant Managers do a good job carrying out the delegated tasks such as ordering new ingredients for the meals
8. [1] (a) (Disadvantage) The Assistant Manager may not have the skills to carry out the tasks that have been delegated to them/may need additional training – may lead to poor decisions being made such as unskilled chefs being employed at the restaurant
9. [1] (a) (Disadvantage) Assistant Managers may not like having tasks delegated to them/feel overloaded with work by Restaurant Managers
10. [1] (b) (Country A Benefit) Gross profit is $14, and Country B is $8
11. [1] (b) (Country A Benefit) Highest price per meal at $20 – possibly highest revenue if demand remains high
12. [1] (b) (Country A Benefit) Many competitors may indicate that there is high demand for fast-food restaurants
13. [1] (b) (Country A Drawback) There are many competitors so demand may be lower - may have to reduce price to attract customers – possibly reducing revenue
14. [1] (b) (Country A Drawback) May have to spend more on marketing as there are many competitors in the market in order to enter the new market abroad - increasing costs
15. [1] (b) (Country A Drawback) Higher wage costs at twice the cost of Country B – may lead to higher costs overall
16. [1] (b) (Country A Drawback) Harder to recruit new workers as unemployment is low - may have to offer more fringe benefits to attract employees from their many competitors
17. [1] (b) (Country B Benefit) Lowest variable cost per meal at $2 rather than $6 in country A – makes it easier to charge the lowest price of $10 per meal
18. [1] (b) (Country B Benefit) High unemployment makes it easier to recruit new employees for the restaurants – more likely to remain with VP as few alternative employment opportunities in country B – lowering recruitment costs/training costs in the future
19. [1] (b) (Country B Benefit) Lowest wage costs at $5 per hour – reducing total labour costs
20. [1] (b) (Country B Benefit) Low price at $10 per meal may attract many customers – possibly increasing revenue
21. [1] (b) (Country B Drawback) Lower gross profit between price of $10 and costs of $2 = $8, whereas it is $14 in country A
22. [1] (b) (Country B Drawback) Few competitors may indicate that demand for vegetarian fast-food in country B is low - VP needs to spend on market research to be sure there is a market in country B – investment could be wasted if there is not a sufficient demand to make the expansion successful
23. [1] (b) (Justification) VP should choose country A as it can charge the highest price of $20 per meal which may lead to higher revenue and costs are likely to be lower as variable costs are lower at $6 which gives a higher gross profit, so after expenses have been paid, it may lead to higher profit. Country B should not be chosen because it has a lower price per meal and unemployment is high and there may be lower demand.
24. [1] (b) (Justification) VP should choose country B as it has the lowest wage costs, and it will be easy to recruit new employees as there is high unemployment there.