MARKING GUIDE

This marking guide serves only as a guide. Any other reasonable answers that
are relevant to the question will be considered on their merits. Markers are
expected to exercise their discretion to accept any answers that may be deemed
acceptable. Students are encouraged to do additional research to get more
information about the companies stated in the case study. The suggested
answers are as follow:
CASE # 1: Eu Yan Sang
Suggested answer
1. (a) Key business success factors in this industry:
-Differentiated and unique products that are very different from other Chinese
medicine provider
-The ability to penetrate the western countries
-The ability to enlighten the knowledge of Chinese medicine to people from
different cultural back ground
-demand remains constant despite microeconomic conditions
-paying more attention to prevention rather than cure
(b) Critical management skills needed for managers to function effectively in this
industry:
1) Communication Skills
Interacting with Others to Get Things Done
2.) Personal Influence & Negotiation Skills
Developing Personal Influence and Impact
Negotiating Effectively
3.) Leadership & People Management Skills
4.) Business Management Skills
5.) Finance Skills
(c) Management have done right at this company that have contributed to its
success, such as:
- All the Eu Yan Sangs stores and clinics are directly operated by the
company, enabling them to be managed under the same standard.
- They blend in well with local businesspeople
- The management are more open and tolerant to other cultures
- Balancing Chinese ethical values to others
2. (a) challenges company might face in the future:
- the lesser acceptance of the Chinese medicine as the world technology and
new ideas emerge
-globalisation and the challenges to enter into new market and western market
-social network becoming the medium for spreading of rumours, viral
-sustainability issues
**students are free to identify more challenges
(b) What must management do now to ensure that the company can meet the
challenges when they arise?
- points for this part depends on the challenges that students had identified
above.

-students need to justify their points.

CASE #2 : F&N Berhad

Suggested Answer
1. (a) Factors contributed to F&N decision to take over Malaysias Yoke Food
Industries:
- To be the fast-growing South-east Asia and non-carbonated drinks markets
- To increase F&N product lines
- To grow regional
(b) Strategic management process could have taken before, during, and after the
takeover of YFI:
- Students can use the 5 steps of the strategic management process to explain
how the action taken by F&N before, during and after the takeover of YFI.
2. (a) What I would you do next as a CEO:
- Students can use their creativity and strategic thinking in proposing the next
steps for F&N.
-The next steps for F&N is to have more mergers and acquisitions with other F&B
company to enhance their product lines and to capture the regional market.
-F&N could also merge or have a strategic alliance with other household products
company to diverse their products from F&B to other household products like
detergents, soaps and syampoo.
-F&N can also tap into the western market
CASE #3 : SingPost
Suggested Answer
1.(a)Yes, Sing Post can be consider as an innovative company because :
- They have come up with ideas to venture into an alternative business apart
from just being in the business of delivering conventional letter.
- Sing Post have managed to venture into e-commerce and have taps into a new
market of service industry
(b) vision for 20 years from today :
- Sing Post can be using the most up to date technology in e-commerce
-using latest technology to enhance their mode of payment
-using latest technology to enhance their delivery service capabilities
-having their own websites for e-commerce like Amazon.com
-tapping into new market
(c) factors that will contribute to or hinder the attainment of this vision:
Contribute
-Creativity of the management at SingPost will contribute to the attainment of
this vision
-The ability of the organisation to adapt and be agile to changes in the market
-The organizationa ability to manage a diverse workforce in a diverse
environment
Hinder
-the organization need to face the ever changing environment of e-commerce

-they also need to face the other competitors who is also doing similar business
and tapping into the same business
-the external environment factors such as regulations, economic instability
2. Students need to find another real life organisation from any industry that are
having similar problems and to propose what the company should do to change
the organisations way of getting things done to face the problems and to
enhance their performance.
CASE #4: DBS Bank
Suggested Answer
1. Students are required to use minimum of 4 motivational theories to explain
why the various people-related management practices at this company make
sense.
-student can use any motivational theories learned in class to explain
-justification of the usage of each theory is required
2. Economic recession can give a lot of impact to companies. Students are
required to analyse different people-related management practise that could be
adopted to ensure employees stay on its payroll will remain motivated while
some of their colleagues are being laid-off because of downsizing a results from
economic recession.
-students are free to come up with own justifications on why certain motivational
practises are suitable to motivate employees in the organizations.
-marks are given for good identifications of management practice and
justifications.
CASE #5: KL Airport
Suggested Answer
1. From the perspective of management control, what had gone wrong would be:
- Lack of concurrent control in monitoring the project that leads to many
problems and delays
-Lack of Feedforward control to come up with plan B, MAHB had no plan B, so
when the contractors failed to deliver to its satisfaction at various stages, it had
little recourse or corrective actions
-Lack of feedforward control before the start of the project
-Lack of budget control that leads to ballooning of cost from 1.9 billion to 4.0
billion
- One of the major factors which may have contributed to the cost overrun and
delayed completion is the inability to manage change.
-other points with good justifications that are deemed acceptable
Effort to prevent the defects and the delays from happening:
- Plan the purpose of the project by taking into consideration, the risk
management and scope in this case is to finish the KLIA 2 as per the initial
project planning
- chairperson of MAHB in the future projects have a change management team
where they help execute and manage change to ensure, you not only meet your
business objectives but new processes are adopted and sustained

-Students are required to use their idea and creativity in identifying ways to
prevent the delays from happening
-points with good justifications are deemed acceptable
2. Students are required to find any one organisation or a company that might
face the similar problems and to come up with ways to deal and to prevent it
from happening
- Answers depend on the organisation that the student have chosen
-Any organisation of any size, any industry is acceptable
-the company has to be a real life company, additional research is necessary

CASE #6: Great Wall Motor Company

Suggested Answer
1. - The leadership development approach at this company can be either
necessary or desirable depending on the justifications by students.
- the leadership style are more towards military and not all organisation can
tolerate military style of management
-the leadership style of this company could be necessary to improve
standardisation
-the leadership style is necessary to emphasize on discipline and frugality in
certain industry and desirable in certain industry
-other points with good justifications are deemed acceptable and can be
considered
2. The leadership style at this company can be replicated or not is depends on
the nature of the business and the organisation
-Some organisations such as fashion industry have to be more open and flexible,
this leadership style might not be replicated and desirable by people in the
industry
-Other industry like the manufacturing industry like the Great Wall Motor
Company might think that the leadership style can be replicated, as
standardisation require discipline
-other points with good justification is deemed acceptable and can be considered