LB170 Core Skills For Employability: 1546563

Question:

1. Read the case carefully and complete the proposal by filling in the correct sentence NUMBERS. (Some parts of the proposal will have more than one sentence) Do not copy the sentences; do not add your own ideas.

Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza

1. Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza is a medium-sized chain of fast-food restaurants. Its branches are predominantly based in the north-west and Midlands of the United Kingdom and, until lately, this regional concentration and profile has enabled the chain to compete with the larger, international fast-food brands in these areas (many of whom have outlets near to a Zinn’s restaurant).  2. However, in recent years, many of Zinn’s restaurants have begun to struggle; they are losing both customers and staff.  3. The décor and furniture look tired, cooking equipment needs replacing; the menus require updating.  As with all fast-food businesses, the chain’s sales have been threatened by the recent trend towards ‘healthy eating’ and concerns over the environmental impact of the fast-food sector.  5. The recent recession has boosted sales slightly as customers look for cheap opportunities to eat out. 6. Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza should move to healthy combination of meals along with healthy drinks that needs careful planning with the help of food dieticians. 7. Various contests like ‘the happy family moments’, ‘coast to coast’, ‘Full of care’ are to be introduced. 8. Direct marketing as the term suggests, is a method of directly marketing to your consumers by means such as telephone marketing, Online marketing, E-mail based marketing, etc. which Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza needs to tap especially now.  9. The working hours and pay scale of the staff must undergo revision. 10. Lugo furniture manufacturers, situated in Midlands, use the extremely attractive Candi Tube Collections that attracts all ages. The company has quoted very reasonable charges for refurnishing. 11.  By introducing the contests there will be a boost in sales and market share by creating an awareness of the brand and instilling it in the minds of the consumers. 12. The telephone, online marketing that offers direct information to the consumers on their diverse products and services will giving the consumers sufficient knowledge about the products and deals of Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza. 13. Good décor and furniture attract the eyes naturally.   And the rule goes if the staff is happy, the customers are also happy. 14. There is threat that Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza may be labelled as JUNK FOOD SUPPLIERS and POOR SERVICE PROVIDERS, if changes are not made. 15. No business wants to close down because customers do not trust.

• Read the sentences below and decide the function of each sentence by specifying which states a claim and which states a support. Fill your answers in the blank boxes.

PART II (50 marks)

In well written essay of around 300 words, answer the following question.

1. Team working is one of the core skills for employability. According to Schein (1980), teams form for both functional and psychological reasons. Write an essay discussing the functional and psychological reasons according to Schein theory. (This question will test your essay writing and paraphrasing skills.)

Answer:

1. Read the case carefully and complete the proposal by filling in the correct sentence NUMBERS. (Some parts of the proposal will have more than one sentence) Do not copy the sentences; do not add your own ideas.

Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza

1. Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza is a medium-sized chain of fast-food restaurants. Its branches are predominantly based in the north-west and Midlands of the United Kingdom and, until lately, this regional concentration and profile has enabled the chain to compete with the larger, international fast-food brands in these areas (many of whom have outlets near to a Zinn’s restaurant).  2. However, in recent years, many of Zinn’s restaurants have begun to struggle; they are losing both customers and staff.  3. The décor and furniture look tired, cooking equipment needs replacing; the menus require updating.  As with all fast-food businesses, the chain’s sales have been threatened by the recent trend towards ‘healthy eating’ and concerns over the environmental impact of the fast-food sector.  5. The recent recession has boosted sales slightly as customers look for cheap opportunities to eat out. 6. Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza should move to healthy combination of meals along with healthy drinks that needs careful planning with the help of food dieticians. 7. Various contests like ‘the happy family moments’, ‘coast to coast’, ‘Full of care’ are to be introduced. 8. Direct marketing as the term suggests, is a method of directly marketing to your consumers by means such as telephone marketing, Online marketing, E-mail based marketing, etc. which Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza needs to tap especially now.  9. The working hours and pay scale of the staff must undergo revision. 10. Lugo furniture manufacturers, situated in Midlands, use the extremely attractive Candi Tube Collections that attracts all ages. The company has quoted very reasonable charges for refurnishing. 11.  By introducing the contests there will be a boost in sales and market share by creating an awareness of the brand and instilling it in the minds of the consumers. 12. The telephone, online marketing that offers direct information to the consumers on their diverse products and services will giving the consumers sufficient knowledge about the products and deals of Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza. 13. Good décor and furniture attract the eyes naturally.   And the rule goes if the staff is happy, the customers are also happy. 14. There is threat that Zinn’s Burgers and Pizza may be labelled as JUNK FOOD SUPPLIERS and POOR SERVICE PROVIDERS, if changes are not made. 15. No business wants to close down because customers do not trust.

• Read the sentences below and decide the function of each sentence by specifying which states a claim and which states a support. Fill your answers in the blank boxes.

PART II (50 marks)

In well written essay of around 300 words, answer the following question.

1. Team working is one of the core skills for employability. According to Schein (1980), teams form for both functional and psychological reasons. Write an essay discussing the functional and psychological reasons according to Schein theory. (This question will test your essay writing and paraphrasing skills.)

A popular saying goes which says ‘Team Work can Lead to the Dream Work’ which has been meticulously been proved in the past. A team when performs together can lead to the highest level of efficiency of the individual which is present in the team. A team is a key part of an organisation and the key for a successful organisation is a highly efficient team which caters all its responsibilities without any delay. Thus the Schein Theory provides for the key specific upon which a team functions and operates. The functionality clause of the theory suggests the team brings out the hidden talents among the individuals which helps them to operate and to think out of the box. A stagnant thought process becomes active upon working in the team and collective thinking arises to dispose the task in hand in the least difficult way. Thus, it enables the individuals in the team to perform and learn together which leads to acquisition of skill sets and a new thought process to a problem. In such a manner a team is able to nurture the employee and help them grow to become further employable in the corporate organisation, while it also leads in completion of the organisational goals (Schein, 2019). The psychological effect of working as a team is the motivation and encouragement among the team members which can make a difficult task to be easy. The difficulty of the task being the same, it leads to an increase in confidence of an individual seeing familiar faces having trust on the individual. The psychological effect being increased performance and higher willingness to work together as a team to complete the organisational goals. Often, in order to accomplish those objects efficiently and effectively, a single individual cannot achieve all the targets on his own, collective efforts are required in the same direction, which can only be achieved with the aid of team work. Therefore, to be employable, possessing qualities that aid with collaboration is one of the main skills (Darling, 2017).

References

Schein, E.H., 2019. A New Era for Culture, Change, and Leadership. MIT Sloan Management Review, 60(4), pp.52-58.

Darling, J., 2017. A conversation with Edgar Schein: Aligning strategy, culture, and leadership. People & Strategy, 40(2), pp.64-68.