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You are here: Home > Educators > Business Studies > Business Objectives and Strategy > Business Growth - Activity |
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Business Growth - Activity
Image: The growth in the popularity of digital cameras has helped Jessops expand its business activities but has this expansion come at a cost? Copyright: Dirk Tacke, stock.xchng Setting up a business can be difficult and challenging. Coping with business growth is another entirely different set of challenges and problems! This Activity will look at the case of Jessops, the high street camera retailer. Jessops experienced significant growth in sales following the boom in the popularity of digital cameras. Developments in technology meant that many more people were able to take high quality photographs without bothering about the problems of lighting, f/numbers, shutter speeds and so on, and were also able to access them almost instantly through downloading the images onto personal computers. The growth in the market, like any other product, has its limitations. How many cameras does each individual need? What is the competition - not just traditional single lens reflex (SLR) cameras but also mobile phones? These are rapidly becoming a complete entertainment and communications centre in one! The new generation phones will not only act as cameras but also video recorders, MP3 players and games consoles. Your task will be to explore the growth in Jessops and to offer some analysis of the challenges it is facing as a result of this growth. Task 1Use the following links to build up a picture of the business and to understand where it has come from.
Task 2What does it mean for a company to 'float' on the Stock Exchange? How does this help a firm achieve growth?
What process would Jessops have had to follow in preparing for its flotation on the stock market?
Image: Jessops - a familiar high street name, but what has happened to its share price since flotation? Task 3What has happened to Jessops share price since flotation?
Task 4Jessops was in a position where in a period of 12 months it went from presenting itself as a growing firm for its flotation to having to issue a profits warning which caused its share price to fall. What problems are likely to have faced Jessops in taking this step in its growth? Assess the measures which the company could have taken to avoid these problems. (Maybe it should not have floated?) Useful resource on business growth:
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