Assessing overall business performance

QAQ plc measures performance in its four functional areas.

The table below summarises the ‘target’ and ‘actual’ levels of performance in 2024.

Statement 1: ‘The performance in operations is better than in marketing.’

Statement 2: ‘The performance in finance is better than in human resources.’

Read statements 1 and 2 and select the correct option from the following:

To what extent are financial ratios the best way of assessing the performance of non-profit organisations, such as charities or mutuals?

Read the information below and then answer the questions that follow.

Homeworking

Homeworking (or teleworking) is the action of working from home, using the Internet, email and the telephone to link the employee and the business remotely.

The number of people working from home has been rising steadily for several years as communications technology has improved.

Some businesses now adopt homeworking as the normal practice. For example, several financial institutions have reduced the amount of office space they own or rent in city centres. The wider impact of the change has been seen through fewer commuting journeys.

There have been some concerns over increased homeworking due to a reduction in face-to-face communication between employees. There has also been a decline in sales for businesses, such as coffee shops, that rely on office staff as customers.

Some sectors, such as transportation and wholesale, provide few opportunities for people to work from home. Other sectors, such as IT, finance and insurance, provide more homeworking opportunities to staff.

Of people in employment, 36% worked at least partly from home in 2020.

Using Table 1, calculate the percentage change in the number of people working at least partly from home between 2019 and 2020.

Analyse one way the balance sheet of a business (its statement of financial position) might be affected if more of its employees work from home.

The role of a manager has different elements.

Analyse the impact of the increase in homeworking by office staff on the way that their managers fulfil their role.

Would increased homeworking improve the performance of businesses that use Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line to measure their success?

Justify your view.

Based on Kaplan & Norton’s Balanced Scorecard model, a policy to increase Research and Development spending on new products by 5% would be an element of the:

Which one of the following perspectives is not used by Kaplan and Norton’s balanced scorecard?

Elaine’s view is that Personal Care was Sunport PLC’s most successful division in Europe in 2019.

To what extent do you agree with Elaine’s view?

You should support your answer using Appendix D and the other information provided.