My Business Studies Revision Notes Link

GCE AS And A2 Level - Business Studies (9707) Notes - click HERE



   











1.  Introduction And Business Organisation:  
- Public and Private sector
- Primary, Secondary and Tertiary industry
- Business Organisation
- Franchise 
- Market economies
- Multinational 
- Integration
- Business size
- Mission statement
- Corporate culture 

2.  Business Objectives And Strategies:

- Stakeholder and their objectives: Employees, Customers, Government, Shareholders, Lender, Manager, Suppliers, Community, Competitors
- SWOT Analysis
- Matrix diagram: Product development, Market penetration, Diversification, Market extension
- Management By Objectives (MBO)

3.  Constraints On Business Strategies: 1.External Economic Influences:

- Economic growth and recession
- Inflation and Deflation
- Unemployment
- Balance of payments
- Exchange rate
- Macroeconomies policies: Exchange rate policy, Fiscal policy, Monetary policy
- Market failure 

4.  Constraints On Business Strategies: 2. Technological, Legal, Social And Environmental Influences:
- Monopoly
- Technological change
- Pressure groups
- Ethical issues 
  

5.  Marketing Issues And Concepts:
- Market and Product Orientation
- Marketing objectives + Internal and External
- Market segmentation
- Niche and Mass marketing
- Market size, share and growth
- Added value
 

6.  Market Research And Sales Forecasting:
- Primary and Secondary research
- Qualitative and Quantitative research: Sample, Observation, Survey
-  Sales forecasting
 

7.   The Marketing Mix - Product:
- Marketing mix: Product, Price, Place, Promotion
- Research and Development (R&D) 
- Product Portfolio / Product Mix
- Value analysis
- Product life cycle (PLC)
- Boston Matrix
  

8.  The Marketing Mix - Pricing Decision:
- Demand
- Price elasticity of demand (PED)
- Pricing methods: Cost-based, competition-based, price discrimination, contribution pricing
- Pricing strategies: Penetration and Skimming 
- Pricing tactics

9. Marketing Decision - Promotion And Place:
- Above-The-Line and Below-The-Line Promotion
- Informative and Persuasive advertising
- Branding
- Promotional budget
- Advertising decision
- Packaging
- Promotional strategies
- Place decision / Channel distribution: Retailer, Wholesaler, Manufacturer
 

10.Marketing Strategy And Marketing Planning:

   

11.  Motivation In Theory:
- Theorists: F.W. Taylor (Scientific Management), Elton Mayo (The Human Relations Theories/The Hawthorne Effect), Maslow (Hierarchy Of Needs), Herzberg (Two Factor Theory) 

 

12.  Motivation In Practice:
- Financial rewards: Wage rate, piece rate, salary, performance-related pay (PRP), profit sharing
- Non financial rewards:  Job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment, team working, team working, quality circles
- Fringe benefits 

 

13.  Management Roles And Leadership Styles:
- Leadership styles: Autocratic, democratic, paternalistic, laissez-faire
- McGregor's Theory X andY
- Formal and informal organisation
   

14.  The Structure Of Organisations:
- Organisational structure: Hierarchical structure, Matrix structure
- Span of control
- Delegation
- Centralisation and De-centralisation
   

15.  Communication:
- Media: Oral, written, electronic media, visual
- Formal communication networks: Chain network, vertical network, wheel network, integrated network
- One-way and Two-way communication

 

16. Human Resources Management:
- Flexible workforce
- Recruiting and  Selecting 
-  Part-time and full-time
- Pay systems
- Training
- Redundancies 

 

17. Further Human Resources Management (HRM):
- Trade Union
- Job evaluation
- Training 
 

18.Introducing Operations Management:
- Value added 
- Production methods: Job production, Batch production, Mass or flow production, Cell production
- Location of production
 

19. Costs, Break-Even And Costing Methods:
- Cost of production: Direct, indirect, fixed, variable, semi-variable, marginal
- Break-even
- Costing methods: Cost centres, profit centres 

    

20. Improving Operational Efficiency: 1.Capacity, Scale of operations & Work study:
- Capacity utilisation
- Economies and Dis-economies of  scale
- Work study: Method study and work measurement
- Survival of small firms
 

21. Improving Operational Efficiency: 2. Stock Management, Lean Production:
- Economies Order Quantity (EOQ)
- Just-In-Time (JIT) stock control 
- Lean production
 

22. Improving operational efficiency: 3. Quality issues, operational planning:
- Quality assurance
- Quality control
- Total Quality Management (TQM)
- Benchmarking
- Network analysis or Critical Path Analysis (CPA)
 

23. Business Finance:
- Capital and Revenue expenditure
- Working capital
- Debtors, Creditors, Stock and Cash
- Internal and external sources of finances: Bank overdraft, Trade credit, Debt factoring, Sale of assets, Profit retained, Hire purchase, Bank loan, Debt, Equity finance
- Financial stakeholders and their interests
- Business plan
- Financial institutions
 

24. The Need For Business Accounts:
- Internal and External users of accounting information

25. The Final Accounts Of A Business:
- Profit and Loss account
- Balance sheet
- Cash flow statement
- Depreciation
- Goodwill

26. Analysis Of Published Accounts:
- Performance or profitability ratios: Gross Profit Margin, Net Profit Margin, Return On Capital Employed
- Liquidity ratios: Current Ratio, Acid Test Ratio or Quick ratio
- Efficiency or Activity ratios: Stock Turnover Ratio, Debtors Days Ratio
- Shareholder or Investment Ratios: Dividend Yield Ratio, Dividend Cover Ratio, Return On Equity Ratio
- Gearing ratio 

27. Investment Appraisal:
- Quantitative methods of investment appraisal: Payback period, Average rate of return (ARR), Net present value (NPV), Internal rate of return (IRR)

28. Cash Flow Management And Budgeting:
- Cash flow forecasts
- Budget setting 

29. Information For Decision Making:
- Mean
- Mode
- Median
- Method of presentation
- Cost-benefit analysis
- Decision trees

30. New Topic - The 4C's And Force Field Analysis