IB Business Management:
|
|
|
|
|
Beverage manufacturingKey Insight!RDM has cutting edge, technologically advanced manufacturing facilities for its mass customisation process. The option to build a new highly automated production facility would position the company well for the future, bringing further productivity gains and enhancing the company’s mass-customisation capabilities. AI & Robotics in manufacturing
|
The global SOFT DRINK marketA good understanding of RDM would come from a close comparison with Germany's Mittelstand firms. There are various traits associated with Mittelstand firms, such as:
Key Insight!According to Herzberg, wages are one of the hygiene factors: Parts of a job that do not increase job satisfaction but help to remove dissatisfaction, such as reasonable wages and working conditions. Given that RDM has a strong CSR programme AND that much of its workforce is highly educated, skilled and experienced – overall wages and salaries are likely to be high and very competitive within the manufacturing industry. |
May 2019 RDM
|
May 2019 RDM
|
RDM won't manufacture these!
|
Key Insight!RDM has the option of diversifying away from healthcare product manufacturing. The manufacturing of the 500 aluminium drink bottles can be taken as more of a manufacturing trial rather than a lucrative product line worth pursuing. This product is an inexpensive, low margin good (see examples from Alibaba, left!). Diversifying into new products and service lines can provide an effective path to fast growth, as it could e able RDM to sell more products to existing customers or establish new markets. But it’s vital to weigh up the risks as well as the opportunities. Adding new products and service lines or starting new companies within a group can significantly enhance your ability to grow rapidly. However, it’s important to pursue a strategy that is right for RDM. Businesses diversify for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most basic of these is survival. By definition, a company that focuses on a narrow range of products will only have access to a finite number of customers. That’s fine if the market as it stands is big enough to support several competing businesses, but if the pool of customers is small, the cost of running the company may outstrip the potential for revenue. In these circumstances, diversification into new product lines may be essential to the long-term viability of the company. But diversification is not just about survival. It’s a tried and trusted growth strategy. New products or business lines will enable RDM to make more sales to existing and new customers and (depending on how it chooses diversify) expand into markets that would otherwise have been closed to it. |
Industry 4.0
Key Insight!Industry 4.0 is a name given to the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution. The changes that will be brought about by Industry 4.0 and connected manufacturing will be inherently disruptive to the industry. Despite the necessary re-evaluation of workflows, it means drastically increased outputs. These exponential output improvements mean that the industry’s competitiveness is about to skyrocket. RDM is well positioned having adopted and developed such 21st Century technologies as AI, cloud computing and big data. However, the company must continue its R&D programmes to stay ahead of the competition. 
|
VOLKSWAGEN Group: Industry 4.0Key Insight!Raw materials are a relatively substantial variable cost of production at RDM. Raw materials are subject to price volatility (PEST analysis). In the aluminium example shown below we can see that aluminium prices have been subject to massive price volatility, ranging in prices of USD$1000 to over $3000 a tonne. This has significant implications for RMD in areas such as break-even analyses and cost-plus pricing models. 
|
Case study Analysis
|
Critical analysis of the RDM case study, providing key insights into RDM and its business model, its links to the Paper 1 examination. Over 40 pages of critical thinking! We want you to get the IB Business Management 7!
|
Case study analysis: Student activity
|
Divide your students up into groups. Assign key concepts and terms to each group (from the Key Terms list) and ask them to think how each term/concept is important to the analysis of the Afghan Sun case study.
|
Additive manufacturingThe factory of the future
Expanding RDM’s capabilities in Industry 4.0 by opening a new production facility will increase its production flexibility and improve its productivity rates. RDM will be able to produce a greater product range and allow customers to make more design changes to the products they require. Sales should increase and per unit costs will fall. However, will such improvements justify the massive upfront investment costs?
|
Key Insight!RDM is profitable. This profitability is built upon its competitive advantages:
The company’s mass customisation manufacturing process provides it with the opportunity to manufacture other products for different markets, to diversify and increase its revenue streams. Thus, currently, RDM has everything going for it in terms of profitability. However, there are several factors that the management of RDM needs to consider, including:
|
Case Study: key termsHere are the key terms associated with the pre-released case study – RDM. All IB Business Management students should be able to define and explain these terms.
|
CASE STUDY: KEY TERMS DefinitionsTeachers, here is an easy activity to start your IB Business Management students in their case study learning and revision. Match the key terms with these definitions.
|
Key Insight!RDM is an established, privately held company. It has good profitability and options for expansion. The firm has 21st Century core technologies of AI, big data and cloud computing well integrated into its business model and R&D programme. It has a highly automated production process that relies heavily on robotics for its method of mass customisation manufacturing. Innovation, creativity, teamwork and CSR are well embedded in the company’s corporate culture. |
Key Insight!Insufficient guidance and a lack of focus are complaints that have been voiced about the management at RDM. However, this is the flip-side of a delayered organisational structure, necessary for the teamworking that cellular manufacturing relies on. This, of course, has both its advantages and its disadvantages. On balance, this management style is necessary for the innovation, problem solving and high levels of productivity that come from RDM’s motivated and highly skilled employees – a distinct source of competitive advantage. |
Key Terms in ContextThis activity is one of the best learning activities to have your students undertake. It encourages the student to read the case study carefully while thinking about what is and what is not IB Business Management course content.
The student will revise what each key term means and at the end, have a fantastic revision resource which defines each key term within the context of the actual case study. 
|
Key terms + DefinitionsEmbedded below is a complete list of all IB Business Management terms associated with the May 2019 case study.
It is very worthwhile having students develop a set of flashcards (interactive or traditional) based on these case study key terms and definitions, such as we have created below. We know that students will be asked to define, explain and discuss some of these in their Paper 1 exam. 
|
|
|
|
The healthcare industry
|
Technology and healthcareKey Insight!RDM operates in the profitable and growing healthcare industry. There is likely to be:
|
Student PEST Analysis activity
|
Summary PEST Analysis
|
Case Study May 2019 Key Terms Flashcards
The flashcard set below contains all of the key terms and definitions associated with Radeki de Dovnic Manufacturing – the IB Business Management case study for the May 2019 Paper 1 SL and HL examinations. Try the different study modes for variation and games.
|
|
Student SWOT Analysis activity
|
Comprehensive SWOT Analysis
|
|
|
|
Interactive quizzes: How well do you know RDM? |
Kahoot! A
|
KAHOOT! BGames for the whole class
|
KAHOOT! C
|