1
1 mark
Define the term quality control.
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Quality (Edexcel IGCSE Business): Exam Questions
Exam code: 4BS1
2 hours21 questions
2
1 mark
Case Study
Aura is a cosmetics manufacturer in France. Once its products are finished and ready to be packaged, a team of inspectors examines each batch to check for defects such as incorrect labelling or damaged containers. Any faulty products are removed before the goods are sent to retailers.
Which method of ensuring quality is Aura using?
Total Quality Management
Kaizen
Quality assurance
Quality control
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3
1 mark
Case Study
Artify Studio was set up in 2015 by Tay Hui Jae in the busy Kampong Glam area of Singapore. Artify Studio’s aim is to have ‘a communal art space where people can come together and paint, where people would be given as much creative freedom as they would have if they were in their own spaces.’
Artify Studio provides many services including its popular Liberty Art Jam where customers can paint as well as listen to music. The studio offers a Corporate Art Jam and Regular Kids Classes. Customers can purchase art materials after attending the studio.
Artify Studio is a profit-making organisation with a social element. It employs seven part-time people, all of whom are art enthusiasts.
State one reason why Artify Studio would want to offer a high-quality service.
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4
1 mark
Define the term quality assurance.
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5
2 marks
Case Study
Lynx is a sports shoe manufacturer based in South Korea. It produces running shoes, football boots and training shoes for customers across Asia and Europe. Lynx has recently introduced a quality assurance system across all of its production lines.
Outline one benefit to Lynx of using quality assurance.
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6
1 mark
Case Study
Nova is a smartphone manufacturer based in South Korea. A batch of its latest smartphones was found to have faulty screens after being sold to customers. Nova was forced to recall thousands of devices and offer refunds, receiving significant negative coverage in the media.
What is the most likely impact of this situation on Nova?
An increase in Nova's market share
A decrease in Nova's production costs
An improvement in Nova's brand image
A loss of customer trust and a fall in sales
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7
1 mark
Define the term total quality management (TQM).
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8
1 mark
Case Study
BrightBrew Coffee is a small independent coffee shop established in 2018 by Priya Sharma in the centre of Manchester. BrightBrew Coffee aims to provide 'a welcoming space where customers can enjoy freshly roasted, ethically sourced coffee in a relaxed atmosphere.'
BrightBrew Coffee offers a range of products and services including speciality coffees, homemade pastries and a monthly Coffee Tasting Evening. Customers can also purchase bags of coffee beans and brewing equipment to take home.
BrightBrew Coffee currently uses a quality control approach, where finished drinks and food items are checked by a supervisor before being served to customers. The business employs five part-time baristas.
State one disadvantage to BrightBrew Coffee of using quality control.
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9
1 mark
Case Study
Velo is a bicycle manufacturer based in the Netherlands. It has introduced a system where workers at every stage of production are responsible for checking their own work before passing it on to the next stage. Any problems are identified and corrected during production rather than at the end.
Which quality method has Velo introduced?
Quality control
Kaizen
Quality assurance
Flow production
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10
2 marks
Case Study
Amber is a food processing company based in Warsaw, Poland. It produces ready meals that are sold in supermarkets across Central Europe. Amber recently received customer complaints about a batch of meals that contained an undeclared ingredient, which caused allergic reactions in some customers.
Outline one consequence for Amber of producing poor quality products.
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1
3 marks
Explain how maintaining high quality standards could help a business develop a unique selling point (USP).
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2
6 marks
Case Study
The first Premier Inn hotel was opened in 1987. Premier Inn now has over 820 hotels in the UK, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India with over 83,000 rooms. It has recently expanded by opening the first Premier Inn in Germany and has plans to open more in other countries.
The majority of the hotels have restaurants with facilities for guests to buy meals and drinks.
Analyse the importance of making sure that guests have a quality service when staying at a Premier Inn.
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3
3 marks
Explain one reason why the quality of goods manufactured by a business is important to its success.
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4
3 marks
Explain one benefit for a business from the introduction of total quality management (TQM).
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5
6 marks
Case Study
Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology, infrastructure and smart devices. In March 2011, over one million of its C8500 smartphones were sold in China following its launch.
It now manufactures a wide variety of different products including Huawei smartphones, watches and tablets. In recent years Huawei has won many awards. In 2018 it was named the 68th most valuable brand by Best Global Brands. In 2019 it introduced a smartphone which had new photographic technology.
Analyse why Huawei would want good quality control when producing its smartphones.
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6
3 marks
Explain one disadvantage to a business of using Total Quality Management (TQM).
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7
6 marks
Case Study
Vista is a restaurant chain with 120 restaurants across Spain and Portugal. It serves traditional Mediterranean food to both local customers and tourists. Vista prides itself on providing a welcoming atmosphere and high-quality food. It employs around 800 staff, including chefs, waiters and managers.
In recent years the restaurant industry has become increasingly competitive, with many new restaurants opening across both countries. Vista has recently introduced a customer feedback system where diners are asked to rate their experience after each visit.
Analyse the importance of customer service quality to Vista.
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1
12 marks
Case Study
TUI is a holiday business that has over 100 years of experience. It offers customers a variety of holidays including staying in hotels, and river and ocean-going cruises. There are many extras that it offers to holiday makers including: car hire, extensions to the holiday and arranging day trips at all its holiday destinations.
The business is well known and flies its customers to over 180 destinations around the world, including Greece, Turkey and Spain. It has 1,600 travel agencies and 27 million customers. Holidays can be booked by visiting a travel agency or online.
TUI has holidays to meet the needs of all its customers: families, children, couples and those with disabilities.
Evaluate the benefits for TUI of providing a quality service. You should use the information provided as well as your own knowledge of business.
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2
12 marks
Case Study
Saha is a small business in Türkiye (formerly known as Turkey) that opened in 2020 with 15 employees. It designs and manufactures robots, which are used in hospitals, hotels, and restaurants. In hospitals, its robots are used to move medical supplies between departments. In hotels and restaurants, the robots are used to welcome customers as they arrive and deliver food and drinks to hotel rooms and restaurant tables. Saha provides seven-day-a-week customer service for all businesses buying its robots.
Many new businesses are entering the global robot market and are competing for market share. Competitors in Türkiye include NIO, Zoox and Vention.
Saha has ambitious growth plans and has started to design robots that will be used in the home to help people with cleaning, shopping, security and entertainment. It aims to become a multinational business within five years to manufacture robots on all continents of the world.
Saha aims to manufacture robots that are high quality and long-lasting.
Evaluate the effects on Saha of introducing total quality management (TQM) to its business. You should use the information provided as well as your own knowledge of business.
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3
12 marks
Case Study
The LEGO Group is a privately-owned business in Denmark. The business was founded in 1932 by the Kristiansen family. The family still owns it. The name LEGO is an abbreviation of two Danish words, ‘leg godt’ which means ‘play well’. It is now one of the world’s largest manufacturers of toys with 15 factories and over 18,000 employees around the world.
LEGO manufactures toys, games and art materials for boys and girls of all ages, and products from films such as Star Wars and Harry Potter. It believes that children are the role models of the future and playing with LEGO can support children in a developing and complex world.
LEGO has progressed from a small carpenter’s shop to a global enterprise and has been named ‘Toy of the Century’ twice.
Evaluate how LEGO has maintained a competitive advantage in the making of toys and games. You should use the information provided as well as your own knowledge of business.
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4
12 marks
Case Study
NEXT is a well-known clothing retailer that operates in 70 countries and employs over 43,000 employees. Since NEXT commenced trading it has introduced many other products to its range such as home interiors, flowers and a wedding list service.
In 1999 NEXT launched its own online shopping platform, enabling customers to purchase its products where ever they live. It continues to improve its customer service by introducing new initiatives such as next day delivery.
NEXT mainly uses its own factories for production. However, it does purchase some clothes such as ladies dresses from Turkish factories.
NEXT continually monitors progress so that it can measure the success of its business. It aims to do this through improving manufacturing techniques and cutting costs, whilst still maintaining the quality of the goods produced.
Evaluate the importance for NEXT of maintaining quality throughout all of its manufacturing processes. You should use the information provided as well as your own knowledge of business.
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