SUBJECT AIM
Business studies is more concerned with the actions and decisions taken by firms and looks at the work that various departments, such as marketing, finance, human resources, and production carry out. The course also looks at how outside activities affect businesses, and in turn, how businesses react to these; for example, the effect of changes in government policy, competition and demand, and also ethical issues – such as ‘green trading’. You will learn about the important decisions that businesses face in modern, competitive, and often global, environments.
WHAT YOU WILL STUDY
STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OUTLINE- 6 Units over 2 Years
Marketing
Operations Management
Financial information and decisions
External influences on business activity
Understanding business activity
People in business
HOW WILL YOU BE ASSESSED
IGCSE Business Studies (Grades A*-G) | Paper 1 | Paper 2 |
Short answer Data response 80 Marks 1 Hour 30 minutes 50% weighting | Case Study 80 Marks 1 Hour 30 minutes 50% weighting |
WHAT THIS SUBJECT CAN LEAD TO
PROGRESS FROM IGCSE
- A knowledge of Business Studies is an essential when doing IB Business Management.
- At university, Business is a compulsory subject in all Commerce/Management courses.
- In industry, studying Business allows progression in all areas of business, for example:
- Chartered management accountant
- Corporate investment banker
- Human resources officer
- Management consultant
- Operational researcher
- Risk manager
- Business analyst
- Financial analyst
- Academia (Lecturing and Teaching)
- Account manager
- Sales manager
- Marketing Manager
- Trading
Please click on the arrow for a detailed breakdown:
| THE LEARNING JOURNEY FOR BUSINESS STUDIES | Yr10 iGCSE Edexcel | |||||
| Unit / Block of work | Key Episodes / Questions | Additional Detail | Colour Code | Length of time. | Possible Symbol? | Learner Attribute(s) |
| 1 – Business Activity | ||||||
| 1.1 – Business Objectives | 1.1.1 What are the financial and non-financial objectives? | Surivial, profit, sales, market share, financial security | Sept – Oct | Inquier | ||
| social objectives, personal satisfaction, challenge, independence and control | ||||||
| 1.1.2 Why business aims and objective change as businesses evolve? | Response to market conditions, technology, performance, legislation, internal reasons | Thinker | ||||
| 1.2 Types of organisation | 1.2.1 What are the main types of business ownership? | sole trader, partnerships, Limited companies, public corporations | Knowledgeable | |||
| 1.2.2 What are the characteristics relating to size? | risk,ownership, limited liability | |||||
| Reasons for and against public ownership | ||||||
| Ownership, control, sources of finance, use of profits, stakeholders | ||||||
| 1.2.3 What are the different forms of business organisation? | Franchises | |||||
| Social Enterprises | ||||||
| Multi-nationals | ||||||
| Communicator | ||||||
| 1.3 Classification of businesses | 1.3.1 How are the 3 industry sectors interdependent? | Primary sector – extracting raw materials from the earth | ||||
| Secondary sector – convertin raw materials into finished or semi-finished goods | ||||||
| Tertiary sector – provision of a wide variety of services. | ||||||
| 1.4 Decisions on Location | 1.4.1 What are the main factors that influence location decision and relocation of a business? | Proximity to market, labour, materials and competitors | Oct-Dec | Caring / Principled | ||
| Nature of business activity | ||||||
| Impact of the internet on location decisions: e-commerce and/or fixed premises | ||||||
| Legal controls and trade blocs | ||||||
| 1.5 Business and the International Economy | 1.5.1 What is Globalisation? | Concept of globalisation | ||||
| Opportunities and threats of globalisation for businesses | ||||||
| 1.5.2 Why are multinationals important? | Benefits of businesses becomig a multinational | |||||
| Benefits to a country and/or economy where a multinational is located | ||||||
| Drawbacks to a country and/or economy where a multinational is located | ||||||
| 1.5.3 How do you calculate exchange rates? | Exchange rate calculations | |||||
| 1.5.4 What is the impact of exchange rates? | Impacts on international competitiveness. | |||||
| Impact on importers and exporters | ||||||
| 1.6 Government objectives and policies | 1.6.1 What do the governments spend money on? Where does the money come from? | Providing public services | Jan-Feb | |||
| Taxation and constraints on public spending | ||||||
| 1.6.2 How do governments affect business activity? | Infrastructure provision | |||||
| Legislation | ||||||
| Trade Policy (Membership of trading blocs, tariffs) | ||||||
| 1.6.3 What is the effect of interest rates on businesses and consumers? | Impact on businesses | |||||
| Impact on consumer spending | ||||||
| 1.7 External Factors | 1.7.1 What are the external factors that affect business decisions? | Social factors | ||||
| Technological factors | ||||||
| Environmental factors | ||||||
| Political factors | ||||||
| 1.8 Succesful business | 1.8.1 How is a businesses success measured? | Revenue, market share, customer satisfaction, profit, growth | ||||
| Owner/shareholder satisfaction, employee satisfaction | ||||||
| 1.8.2 What are the reasons for business failure? | Cash flow problems / lack of finance | |||||
| Not competitive | ||||||
| Failure to adapt to changes in the market | ||||||
| 2 – People in business | March-April | Balanced / Reflective | ||||
| 2.1 Internal & External Communication | 2.1.1 What is communication important? | Different types of communication methods incl technology | ||||
| Benefits of each type | ||||||
| Limitations of each type | ||||||
| 2.2 Recruitment & selection process | 2.2.1 What are the types of employment? | full time | ||||
| Part time | ||||||
| Job Share | ||||||
| Casual / seasonal / temporary | Open minder / Risk Taker | |||||
| 2.2.2 What are the different types of recuitment documents? | job description | |||||
| Personal specification | ||||||
| Application form | ||||||
| Curriculum Vitae | ||||||
| 2.2.4 What are the legal controls over employment and their effects? | Equal opportunitites – gender, race, disability, religion, sexual preference, age | Principled | ||||
| Minimum wage laws | ||||||
| 2.3 Training | 2.3.1 Why is training important to businesses and workers? | Different types of training: induction, on-the-job, off-the-job | ||||
| Compliance with H&S laws | ||||||
| Benefits & limitations of training | ||||||
| 2.4 Motivation & Rewards | 2.4.1 Why is motivation in the workplace important? | Attracting employees, retaining employees, productivity | Caring | |||
| Motivational theories of Hertzberg, Maslow & Taylor | ||||||
| 2.4.2 How can businesses motivate their employees? | Financial methods (pay, bonus, cmmission, promotion, fringe benefits) | |||||
| Non-financial (job rotations, job enrichment, autonomy) | ||||||
| Communicator | ||||||
| 2.5 Organisation structure & employees | 2.5.1 How do structures differ dependent on size? | Hierarchical, flat | ||||
| Centralised, decentralised | ||||||
| 2.5.2 What are the roles and responsibilities of employees | Span of control | |||||
| Chain of command | ||||||
| Delegation | ||||||
| 2.5.3 What are the functional areas of a business and how do they rely on each other? | Human resources | |||||
| Finance | ||||||
| Marketing | ||||||
| Production | ||||||
| Interdependence of functions | ||||||
| 3 – Business Finance | May-July | Knowledgeable / Balanced | ||||
| 3.1 Sources of finance | 3.1.1 Why do businesses need finance? | short term / long term needs | ||||
| Start up / expand | ||||||
| 3.1.2 What are the different types of internal sources of finance | Personl savings | |||||
| Retained profit | Open Minded / Inquirer / Thinker | |||||
| Selling assets | ||||||
| 3.1.3 What are the different types of external sources of finance | Overdraft / tade payables | |||||
| loan, share capital | ||||||
| Venture capital | ||||||
| Crowdfunding | ||||||
| 3.2 Cashflow forecasting | 3.2.1 Why is cash important to a business? | Pay suppliers, overheads, employees | ||||
| Prevent business failure (insolvency) | ||||||
| Difference between cash and profit | Reflective / Risk Taker | |||||
| 3.2.2 How do you calculate and interpret a cash flow forecast? | Cash inflows | |||||
| Cash outflows | ||||||
| Net cash flow | ||||||
| Opening and closing balances | ||||||
| 3.3 Costs and break even analysis | 3.3.1 What is the concept and calculation of different types of ‘money’ | revenue | Knowledgeable / inquirer | |||
| fixed and variable costs | ||||||
| total costs | ||||||
| profit and loss | Thinker / Balanced | |||||
| 3.3.2 What is break even and how do you calculate it? | formula | |||||
| Diagram | Communicator / Principled / Open Minded | |||||
| Break even level of output | ||||||
| 3.3.3 How do you interpret a break even chart? | Impact of changes in revenue and costs | |||||
| Limitations of break even charts | ||||||
| 3.4 Financial Documents | 3.4.1 What is the purpose of statements of comprehensive incomce? | Main features | ||||
| Use of statements in decision making | ||||||
| Nature of profit and its importance | ||||||
| 3.5 Accounts Analysis | 3.5.1 How do you calculate and analyse accounting ratios? | Gorss Profit Margin | Principled / Reflective / Risk Taker / Caring | |||
| Operating Profit Margin | ||||||
| Markup | ||||||
| Return on Capital Employed | ||||||
| Current Ratio | ||||||
| Acid Test Ratio | ||||||
| 3.5.2 What is liquidity and why is it important? | Importance of liquidity | |||||
| Comparing with previous years and/or with other business orgnanisations | ||||||
| 3.5.3 What is the use of financial documents? | Assessing the performance of the business | |||||
| Informs decision making | ||||||
| THE LEARNING JOURNEY FOR BUSINESS STUDIES | ||||||
| Unit / Block of work | Key Episodes / Questions | Additional details | Colour code | Length of time. | Possible Symbol? | Learner Attribute(s) |
| Unit 1 – Business Purposes | A. What is the purpose and ownership of business? | A1 Business purposes | September – November | Knowledgeable | ||
| A2 Types of ownership | ||||||
| A3 Size and scale | ||||||
| A4 Business Classification | ||||||
| Assignment 1 | ||||||
| B. Why is it important for a business to understand the environment in which it operates within? | B1 Business environment characteristics | Inquirer | ||||
| B2 External factors | ||||||
| PESTLE | ||||||
| Assignment 2 | ||||||
| Unit 2 – Business organizations | A. What are the activities, aims and objectives of different businesses? | A1 Business activities | December-Febuary | Communicater | ||
| A2 Aims and objectives | ||||||
| Assignment 1 | ||||||
| B. How do the different functions in a business interlink with each other? | B1 Functional areas and their activities | Balanced | ||||
| B2 Links between the functional areas | ||||||
| Assignment 2 | ||||||
| Unit 3 – Financial Forecasting for Business | A. How does a business calculate profit? | A1 Business costs | March-May | Thinker | ||
| A2 Revenue | ||||||
| A3 Profit | ||||||
| Assignment 1 | ||||||
| B. Why is break even and cash flow forecasting important to business? | B1 Calculating break even | Balanced | ||||
| B2 Using break even | ||||||
| B3 Preparing cash flow forecast | ||||||
| B4 Analysing a cash flow forecast | ||||||
| Assignment 2 | ||||||
| Unit 4 – The Marketing Plan | A. What are the differing marketing and promotional concepts? | A1 Marketing concepts | May-June | Principle | ||
| A2 Types of promotion | ||||||
| A3 Evidence of success and failure in promotions | ||||||
| Assignment 1 | ||||||
| B. Why is a marketing plan important for marketing a new product? | B1 Marketing plan | Risk Taker | ||||
| B2 Branding in the marketing plan | ||||||
| B3 Justifying the marketing plan | ||||||
| Assignment 2 | ||||||
| THE LEARNING JOURNEY FOR BUSINESS STUDIES | Yr10 iGCSE Edexcel | ||||
| Unit / Block of work | Key Episodes / Questions | Additional Detail | Length of time. | Possible Symbol? | Learner Attribute(s) |
| 3 – Business Finance | Aug – Nov | Knowledgeable / Balanced | |||
| 3.1 Sources of finance | 3.1.1 Why do businesses need finance? | Short term / long term needs | |||
| Start up / expand | |||||
| 3.1.2 What are the different types of internal sources of finance | Personal Finance | ||||
| Retained Profit | Open Minded / Inquirer / Thinker | ||||
| Selling Assets | |||||
| 3.1.3 What are the different types of external sources of finance | Overdraft / trade payables | ||||
| loan, share capital | |||||
| Venture capital | |||||
| Crowdfunding | |||||
| 3.2 Cashflow forecasting | 3.2.1 Why is cash important to a business? | Pay suppliers, overheads, employees | |||
| Prevent business failure (insolvency) | |||||
| Difference between cash and profit | Reflective / Risk Taker | ||||
| 3.2.2 How do you calculate and interpret a cash flow forecast? | Cash inflows | ||||
| Cash outflows | |||||
| Net cash flow | |||||
| Opening and closing balances | |||||
| 3.3 Costs and break even analysis | 3.3.1 What is the concept and calculation of different types of ‘money’ | Revenue | Knowledgeable / Inquirer | ||
| Fixed and variable costs | |||||
| Total costs | |||||
| Profit and loss | Thinker / Balanced | ||||
| 3.3.2 What is break even and how do you calculate it? | Formula | ||||
| Diagram | Communicator / Principled / Open Minded | ||||
| Break even level of output | |||||
| 3.3.3 How do you interpret a break even chart? | Impact of changes in revenue and costs | ||||
| Limitations of break even charts | |||||
| 3.4 Financial Documents | 3.4.1 What is the purpose of statements of comprehensive incomce? | Main features | |||
| Use of statements in decision making | |||||
| Nature of profit and its importance | |||||
| 3.5 Accounts Analysis | 3.5.1 How do you calculate and analyse accounting ratios? | Gross Profit Margin | Principled / Reflective / Risk Taker / Caring | ||
| Operating Profit Margin | |||||
| Markup | |||||
| Return on Capital Employed | |||||
| Current Ratio | |||||
| Acid Test Ratio | |||||
| 3.5.2 What is liquidity and why is it important? | Importance of liquidity | ||||
| Comparing with previous years and/or with other business orgnanisations | |||||
| 3.5.3 What is the use of financial documents? | Assessing the performance of the business | ||||
| Informs decision making | |||||
| 4 – Business Operations | Nov – Dec | Knowledgeable / Balanced | |||
| 4.1 Economies and Diseconomies of Scale | 4.1.1 Understand internal and external economies of scale | Internal economies of scale | |||
| External economies of scale | |||||
| 4.1.2 Understand diseconomies of scale | Bureaucracy | ||||
| Labour relations | Open Minded / Inquirer / Thinker | ||||
| Control and coordination | |||||
| 4.1.3 Understand the limits of growth | Lack of Finance | ||||
| Nature of the market | |||||
| Lack of managerial skills | |||||
| Lack of motivation | |||||
| 4.2 Production and Productivity | 4.2.1 Understand the different types of production processes | Batch, Job and Flow production | |||
| 4.2.2 Understand labour and capital-intensive production | The difference between the two | Reflective / Risk Taker | |||
| 4.2.3 Understand the impact of different types of production and how to calculate | Productivity | ||||
| Labour productivity | |||||
| Capital productivity | |||||
| 4.3 Lean Production | 4.3.1 Understand the principles of Lean Production, Just-In-Time and Kaizen | Definitions, advantages and disadvantages | Knowledgeable / Inquirer | ||
| Financial benefits | |||||
| Improved competitiveness/customer service | |||||
| Positive environmental effects | Thinker / Balanced | ||||
| 4.4.1 Understand the impact of technology in production | Impact in the Primary sector | ||||
| Impact in the Secondary sector | |||||
| 4.4 Technology in Production | 4.4.2 Understand the use of robotics in production | Robots | Communicator / Principled / Open Minded | ||
| CAD, CNCs, CAM, CIM | |||||
| 4.5 Factors of Production | 4.5.1 Understand the factors of production | Land, Labour, Capital, Enterprise | |||
| Specialiastion and the division of labour | |||||
| 4.5.2 Understand the difference between capital-intensive and labour-intensive activities | The type ofd product | ||||
| The relative prices of the two factors | |||||
| 4.5.3 The changing relationships between enterprise, capital and labour | Large v small businesses | ||||
| 4.6 Quality | 4.6.1 Understand the concept of quality, and its importance in production of goods and the provision of services | What is quality? | Principled / Reflective / Risk Taker / Caring | ||
| Traditional quality control | |||||
| Quality assurance | |||||
| Total quality management | |||||
| 4.6.2 Understand how quality can give a business a competitive advantage | Reputation and USP | ||||
| 5 – Marketing | Jan – March | Knowledgeable / Balanced | |||
| 5.1 Market Research | 5.1.1 Understand the purpose of market research | Identify and understand customer needs | |||
| Identify gaps in the market/Reduce risk | |||||
| 5.1.2 Understand methods of primary market research | Survey, questionnaires, focus groups, observation, test marketing | ||||
| Open Minded / Inquirer / Thinker | |||||
| 5.1.3 Understand methods of secondary research | Internet, market reports and government reports | ||||
| 5.1.4 Understand the use of data in market research | Qualitative and quantitative data | ||||
| The role of social media in collecting market research data | |||||
| The importance of the reliability of market research data | |||||
| 5.2 The Importance of Marketing | 5.2.1 Understand the importance of marketing | Satisfying customer needs, building customer relationships, loyalty | |||
| Market orientation and Product orientation | |||||
| Market share and analysis, niche and mass marketing | Reflective / Risk Taker | ||||
| 5.2.2 Understand how businesses respond to changes in the market | Changing customer needs | ||||
| Changing customer/consumer spending | |||||
| Increased competition | |||||
| Opening and closing balances | |||||
| 5.3 Market Segmentation | 5.3.1 Understand how businesses use market segmentation to target customers | Market segmentation | Knowledgeable / Inquirer | ||
| Socio-economic groups | |||||
| Lifestyle segmentation | |||||
| Location | Thinker / Balanced | ||||
| 5.4 Product | 5.4.1 Understand what is meant by the marketing mix | Marketing Mix | |||
| Communicator / Principled / Open Minded | |||||
| 5.4.2 Understand the development of a new product/service | Product Development Goods and service | ||||
| Packaging | |||||
| 5.4.3 Understand the product life cycle | Main phases and extension strategies | ||||
| 5.4.4 Understand how the product portfolio is managed and reviewed | Boston Matrix | ||||
| 5.5 Price | 5.5.1 Understand the main pricing strategies and when they might be applied | Cost plus | Principled / Reflective / Risk Taker / Caring | ||
| Competition | |||||
| Promotional | |||||
| Penetration | |||||
| Skimming | |||||
| 5.6 Place | 5.6.1 Understand the role of distribution channels | What is place? Distribution channel | |||
| Intermediary | |||||
| 5.6.2 Understand the different methods of distribution and the role played by e-commerce | Retailer Wholesaler Agent | Open Minded / Inquirer / Thinker | |||
| E-tailing (E-commerce) | |||||
| 5.7 Promotion | 5.7.1 What is promotion? | Above and below the line promotion | |||
| 5.7.2 Understand public relations | Improving company image and brand | Reflective / Risk Taker | |||
| 5.7.3 Understand how technology is used and has advanced promotion | Targeted advertising online | ||||
| Viral advertising | |||||
| Social media and e-newsletters | |||||
| Opening and closing balances | |||||
| 5.7.4 Understand the importance of brand and different promotion strategies for different market segments | Advertising, Special Offers Sponsorship, Product Trials Branding | ||||
| THE LEARNING JOURNEY FOR BUSINESS STUDIES | ||||||
| Unit / Block of work | Key Episodes / Questions | Additional details | Colour code | Length of time. | Possible Symbol? | Learner Attribute(s) |
| Unit 11 – Business Online | A.Understanding the differnt uses of online presence for a business | A1 Uses of online presence | Sept – Dec | Knowledgeable | ||
| A2 Changes to the online business enviroment | ||||||
| A3 Planning, implementaiton and operational issues for business online | ||||||
| A4 Business Classification | ||||||
| B.Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of an online presence | B1 Advantages of an online presence | |||||
| B2 Disadvanatges of an online presence | ||||||
| Assignment 1 | ||||||
| C.Design a buseinsss website | C1 Design a website to meet the needs of a business | Risk Taker | ||||
| C2 Justify features of the website | ||||||
| C3 Review website | ||||||
| Assignment 2 | ||||||
| D. Understand the advantages and disadvantages of increased online business to customers | D1. Advantages to customers of online business | |||||
| D2. Disadvantages to cystomers of online business | ||||||
| D3.Advantages to society of online business | Thinker | |||||
| D4. Disadvantages to society of online business | ||||||
| Assignment 3 | ||||||
| Unit 15 – Starting a small business | A.Explore the benefits of running a business and ideas for start-up | A1. Benefits of running your own business | Jan-March | Communicator | ||
| A2. Ideas for a start-up business | ||||||
| A3. Aims and objectives of running your own business | ||||||
| A4.Resources required to run a business | ||||||
| A5. Skills needed to run a business | ||||||
| Assignment 1 | ||||||
| B. Research the market and produce a promotional plan for a new business | B1. Identifying the target market | Balanced | ||||
| B2. Planning and interpereting market research | ||||||
| B3.Promotional plan | ||||||
| C.-Produce a finaical plan fot starting a small business | C1.Produce a finaical plan | |||||
| C2.Risks | ||||||
| C3.Legal considerations | ||||||
| C4.Sources of help and guidence | ||||||
| Assignment 2 | ||||||
| Risk Taker | ||||||
| D- Prepare a busienss plan | D1.Structure of the business plan | |||||
| D2.Presentiaon of informaiton | ||||||
| D3.Pitching the plan | ||||||
| D4.Reviewing the plan | ||||||
| Assignment 3 | ||||||
| Unit 3 – Financial Forecasting for Business | A. How does a business calculate profit? | A1 Business costs | March-May | Thinker | ||
| A2 Revenue | ||||||
| A3 Profit | ||||||
| Assignment 1 | ||||||
| B. Why is break even and cash flow forecasting important to business? | B1 Calculating break even | Balanced | ||||
| B2 Using break even | ||||||
| B3 Preparing cash flow forecast | ||||||
| B4 Analysing a cash flow forecast | ||||||
| Assignment 2 | ||||||