Page 360 - Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies

Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies 27: Exam technique

Sample answer (written by the authors):

Method 1: Add some variety to workers’ jobs, which can help make the work more interesting for workers.
Because they are making exactly the same thing in each batch, it can be boring. Job rotation could be
used to give them more jobs or they could swap from putting wheels on to adding brakes. Motivation is

a problem for Early Riders, so giving some variety to what they do is likely to make workers less bored
so this can help reduce the number of workers leaving each year. However, they will have to train workers,

which could further increase their costs, which could lower their profit margin. But if they end up spending
less money having to keep recruiting new employees, it might be cost-eff ective.

Method 2: Give them higher wages. As they are unskilled, the only way to motivate them is to give them
more money. Taylor’s theory said that everyone wants more money, so will work harder if they are paid
more. The only problem is that not everyone is motivated by money. Maslow said that people have other
needs such as social, and esteem, so just paying them more might not satisfy them. Easy Riders might
end up with higher costs for wages but people still leave.

Method 3: Give them fringe benefits. Many workers might have children, so getting discounts on bicycles

might interest them. The business also benefits with extra sales. With birthdays and festivals every year,

buying bikes as children grow is expensive. If they could have access to cheap, quality bikes that might
motivate them and make up for the low wages paid. However, this will only work for people who have, or
know, children so it might not work for everyone.
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Recommendation: I think the best option is to give them more variety. They do the same job every day
so change can be good. Conditions are good, so it’s either boredom or money that seems to be the
problem. Giving higher wages might work for a short while, but then they might just want more. Money only
motivates so much. People have other needs to meet. Discounts will only work if you want to buy a bicycle,

so it can’t work all the time. If they offer rotation, workers can be interested, and if they learn new skills,
they could get promoted as well. Even if it costs money to train them, it has to be worth it, if they keep
the workers from leaving and have to spend less money on hiring and training up new people.

There are many possible methods that you could include for this question. Keep

your discussion to only three methods as this is all that is required. Similar
methods such as job enlargement and job enrichment can usually be rewarded
separately, if explained.

Comments on part (b):

There are three relevant methods identified. There are plenty of references throughout the answer that link this
to Easy Riders. Examples such as wheels, brakes, good working conditions not being a problem and children are
sufficient for the application marks.

There is clear development showing how each method could help increase motivation, as well as problems with
each method.
In terms of evaluation, a choice has been made which is supported by the points made. As part of this, the answer
has tried to explain why adding some variety is better than the other two methods.