The business management course is designed to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of business management theories, as well as their ability to apply a range of tools and techniques.
Students learn to analyse, discuss and evaluate business activities at local, national and international levels. The course covers a range of organizations from all sectors, as well as the socio-cultural and economic contexts in which those organizations operate.
The course covers the key characteristics of business organization and environment and the business functions of human resource management, finance and accounts, marketing and operations management. Links between the topics are central to the course. Through the exploration of six underpinning concepts (change, culture, ethics, globalization, innovation and strategy), the course allows students to develop a holistic understanding of today’s complex and dynamic business environment. The conceptual learning is firmly anchored in business management theories, tools and techniques and placed in the context of real world examples and case studies.
The course encourages the appreciation of ethical concerns at both a local and global level. It aims to develop relevant and transferable skills, including the ability to: think critically; make ethically sound and well-informed decisions; appreciate the pace, nature and significance of change; think strategically; and undertake long term planning, analysis and evaluation. The course also develops subject-specific skills, such as financial analysis.
The aims of the business management course at HL and SL are to:
- Encourage a holistic view of the world of business
- Empower students to think critically and strategically about individual and organizational behaviour
- Promote the importance of exploring business issues from different cultural perspectives
- Enable the student to appreciate the nature and significance of change in a local, regional and global context
- Promote awareness of the importance of environmental, social and ethical factors in the actions of individuals and organizations
- Develop an understanding of the importance of innovation in a business environment.
Please click on the arrow for a detailed breakdown:
THE LEARNING JOURNEY FOR BUSINESS STUDIES | NEW SPEC: TEACHING FROM SEPT 2022 | |||||
Unit / Block of work | Key Episodes / Questions | Additional Details | Colour Code | Length of time. | Possible Symbol? | Learner Attribute(s) |
1 – Business organization & Environment | SEPT-DEC | Knowledgeable / Communicator | ||||
1.1 What is business management? | 1.1.1 What is business? | |||||
1.1.2 The Nature of Business | ||||||
1.1.3 Primary, secondary, Tertiary, & quaternary sectors | ||||||
1.1.4 Challenges and Opportunities for starting a business | ||||||
1.2 Wha are the different types of organizations? | 1.2.1 Private and Public Sectors | Inquirer | ||||
1.2.2 Types of organizations | ||||||
1.2.3 For-profit (commercial organizations) | ||||||
1.2.4 For-profit social enterprises | ||||||
1.2.5 Non-profit enterprises | ||||||
1.3 What are the different organizational objectives? | 1.3.1 Vision and mission statements | Open Minded | ||||
1.3.2 Common business objectives | ||||||
1.3.3 Strategic & tactical objectives | ||||||
1.3.4 Corporate social responsibility | ||||||
1.4 Who are a business’s typical stakeholders and why can conflict arise? | 1.4.1 Interests of stakeholders | Caring | ||||
1.4.2 Conflict between stakeholders | ||||||
1.5 What are the methods by which a business can growth & evolve? | 1.5.1 Economics & Diseconomies of Scale | Thinker | ||||
1.5.2 External growth methods | ||||||
1.5.3 Internal & External Growth | ||||||
1.5.4 Reasons to grow or stay small | ||||||
1.6 What are Multinational Companies and their characteristics? | 1.6.1 The impact of MNCs on host countries | Reflective | ||||
1.6.2 Video documentaries | ||||||
3 – Finance & Accounts | Principled | |||||
3.1 What is the role of the finance department? | 3.1.1 Role of finance for business: capital expenditure | |||||
3.1.2 Role of finance for businesses: revenue expenditure | ||||||
3.2 What are the different sources of finance available to business? | 3.2.1 Internal sources of finance | Risk Taker / Reflective | ||||
3.2.2 External sources of finance | ||||||
3.2.3 Appropriateness of short/long term sources of finance | ||||||
3.3 What costs and revenues are involved in running a business? | 3.3.1 Types of Costs | Knowledgeable | ||||
3.3.2 Total Revenue & Revenue streams | ||||||
3.4 Why are final accounts important to organizations? (PART HL) | 3.4.1 Purpose of accounts to different stakeholders | Thinker / Open Minded / Caring | ||||
3.4.2 Final accounts: Profit & loss account | ||||||
3.4.3 Final accounts: Balance Sheet | ||||||
3.4.4 Different types of intangible assets | ||||||
3.4.5 Depreciation (HL ONLY) | ||||||
3.4.6 Appropriateness of each depreciation method (HL ONLY) | ||||||
3.5 How can the profitability and liquidity of a business be measured using ratio analysis? | 3.5.1 Profitability ratios | JAN-MARCH | Principled | |||
3.5.2 Strategies to improve profitability ratios | ||||||
3.5.3 Liquidity ratios | ||||||
3.5.4 Strategies to improve liquidity ratios | ||||||
3.6 How can the efficiency of a business be measured using Debt/equity ratio analysis (HL ONLY) | 3.6.1 Efficiency Ratios (HL ONLY) | Inquirer | ||||
3.6.2 Strategies to improve efficiency ratios (HL ONLY) | ||||||
3.6.3 Insolvency vs Bankruptcy (HL ONLY) | ||||||
3.7 Why is the concept of Cashflow important to a business? | 3.7.1 Difference between profit and cash flow | Communicator / Risk Taker | ||||
3.7.2 Cashflow forecasts | ||||||
3.7.3 Relationship between investment, profit & cashflow | ||||||
3.7.4 Strategies for dealing with cash flow problems | ||||||
3.8 How is Investment appraisal used in decision making? (PART HL ONLY) | 3.8.1 Investment opportunities: PBP & ARR | Balanced | ||||
3.8.2 Investment opportunities: Net Present Value (HL ONLY) | ||||||
3.9 Why are Budgets important as a decision making tool? (HL ONLY) | 3.9.1 Difference between cost & profit centres | Reflective / Inquirer | ||||
3.9.2 Roles of costs and profit centres | ||||||
3.9.3 Constructing a budget | ||||||
3.9.4 Variances | ||||||
3.9.5 Importance of budgets and variances in decision-making | ||||||
5 – Operations Management | 5.1 what is the role of the operations management department? | 5.1.1 operations management and other business functions | Knowledgeable | |||
5.2 What are the differing Operations/Production Methods? | 5.2.1 Job Production | Thinker | ||||
5.2.2 Batch production | ||||||
5.2.3 Mass/Flow production | ||||||
5.2.4 Mass customization | ||||||
5.3 How is Lean Production & Quality management used in improving efficiency? (HL ONLY) | 5.3.1 Efficiency and waste | Inquirer | ||||
5.3.2 Lean Production: Kaizen & JIT | ||||||
5.3.3 Cradle-to-cradle design and manufacturing | ||||||
5.3.4 Quality control & quality assurance | ||||||
5.3.5 Methods of managing quality | ||||||
5.3.6 Impact of lean production & TQM | ||||||
5.3.7 Importance of national & international quality standards | ||||||
5.4 What are the factors involved in the location of production? | 5.4.1 Factors that affect location of production | Open Minded | ||||
5.4.2 Reorganizing production | ||||||
5.5 How is Break Even Analysis used as a business decision making tool? | 5.5.1 Total contribution vs. contribution per unit | Risk Taker | ||||
5.5.2 Break even chart & break even analysis | ||||||
5.5.3 Effects of change in price or cost on Break even | ||||||
5.5.4 Limitations of break even as a decision making tool | ||||||
5.6 What is involved in production planning (HL Only) | 5.6.1 Local and global supply chain process | APRIL – JULY | Reflective / Balanced | |||
5.6.2 JIT and Just in case | ||||||
5.6.3 Stock control charts | ||||||
5.6.4 Capacity utilization rate | ||||||
5.6.5 Defect rate | ||||||
5.6.6 Labour & capital productivity, productivity rate & operating leverage | ||||||
5.6.7 Cost to buy | ||||||
5.6.8 Cost to make | ||||||
5.7 Why is Crisis Management and Contingency Planning important to businesses? (HL ONLY) | 5.7.1 Crisis management and Contingency planning | Caring | ||||
5.7.2 Factors that affect effective crisis | ||||||
5.7.3 Impact of contingency planning | ||||||
5.8 What is the role of Research & Development in a successful business? (HL ONLY) | 5.8.1 Importance of research and development | Principled | ||||
5.8.2 Importance of developing goods and services | ||||||
5.8.3 Intellectual property protection | ||||||
5.8.4 Innovation | ||||||
5.9 What are the differing Management Information Systems a business can use and why? (HL ONLY) | 5.9.1 Data analytics | Communicator | ||||
5.9.2 Database | ||||||
5.9.3 Cybersecurity & cybercrime | ||||||
5.9.4 Critical infrastructures | ||||||
5.9.5 Virtual reality | ||||||
5.9.6 The Internet of things | ||||||
5.9.7 Artificial Intelligence | ||||||
5.9.8 Big Data | ||||||
5.9.9 Customer loyalty programmes | ||||||
5.9.10 Use of data to manage/monitor employees | ||||||
5.9.11 Use of data mining to inform decision-making | ||||||
5.9.12 Benefits, risks & ethical implications of MIS & Technology innovation on decision making & stakeholders | ||||||
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 30 – Careeer Planning | A How can an individual explore employment opportunities to target progression? | A1 Researching employment opportunities | Sept – Dec | Thinker | ||
A2 Employment types and legislation | ||||||
A3 Requirements for progression | ||||||
B Why is it important for an individual to examine personal skills and goals to produce a personal career development plan | B1 Types of skills audit | Balanced | ||||
B2 Soft and transferable skills | ||||||
B3 Skills audit and career development planning | ||||||
C How can an individual develop communication and interview skills to improve employment prospects | C1 Application documentation | Communicator | ||||
C2 Interview and demonstration of skills | ||||||
C3 Performance review | ||||||
Unit 1 – Exploring Business | A What are the features of different business organizations and what makes them successful? | A1 Features of business organizations | Knowledgeable | |||
A2 Stakeholders and their influence | ||||||
B How are businesses organized? | B1 Structure and organization | |||||
B2 Aims and objectives | Inquirer | |||||
C Why is it important for a business to examine the environment in which it operates? | C1 External environment | |||||
C2 Internal environment | Communicator | |||||
C3 Competitive environment | ||||||
C4 Benefits and risks associated with innovation | ||||||
C5 Situational analysis | Risk Taker | |||||
Open minded | ||||||
Unit 3 – Finance | A What types of business finances are avaliable? | A1 Sources of income | Jan-March | Knowledgeable | ||
A2 Sources of revenue | ||||||
A3 Business finance and | ||||||
types of business | ||||||
Inquirer | ||||||
B What finance planning tools can I use? | B1 Cash flow forecasts and statement | |||||
B2 Break-even analysis | ||||||
B3 Business risks | ||||||
C Why are finanical statements important to a business? | C1 Statement of comprehensive income | |||||
C2 Statement of financial position | ||||||
C3 Measuring performance using finanical ratios | Principled | |||||
C4 Preparation of financial performance reports | ||||||
2 – Research and plan a marketing campaign | A How are different markets researched using different models and tools? | A1 The role of marketing | Feb – May | Knowledgeable/ Inquire | ||
A2 Market research methods | ||||||
A3 Business models used in marketing | ||||||
B What approaches can be used to market a product both nationally and internationally? | B1 Research the characteristics of a market | Reflective/ Communicator | ||||
B2 Research marketing campaigns | ||||||
B3 Research the application of the promotional mix | ||||||
C Why is a marketing plan important for the success of a new product? | C1 Marketing aims and objectives | |||||
C2 Developing the rationale | ||||||
C3 The application of the marketing mix | ||||||
C4 The marketing campaign | ||||||
C5 Appropriateness of a marketing campaign | ||||||
C6 Formal business reports | ||||||
Unit 8 – Human Resources | A What are the factors that can impact on human resource planning in a business? | A1 Human resources | April- June | Caring / Principled | ||
A2 Human resource planning | ||||||
B What are the methods of managing employee performance and how does motivation impact on business performance? | B1 Motivation in the workplace | |||||
B2 Training and development | ||||||
B3 Performance appraisal | ||||||
Reflective / Balanced | ||||||
C How effective is recruitment and selection to the overall success of a business? | C1 Recruitment of staff | |||||
C2 Recruitment and selection processes | ||||||
C3 Ethical and legal considerations in the recruitment process |
THE LEARNING JOURNEY FOR BUSINESS STUDIES | NEW SPEC: TEACHING FROM SEPT 2022 | |||||
Unit / Block of work | Key Episodes / Questions | Additional Details | Colour Code | Length of time. | Possible Symbol? | Learner Attribute(s) |
3 Finance & Accounts | 3.4 Why are final accounts important to organizations? (PART HL) | 3.4.1 Purpose of accounts to different stakeholders | SEPT | Principled | ||
3.4.2 Final accounts: Profit & loss account | ||||||
3.4.3 Final accounts: Balance Sheet | ||||||
3.4.4 Different types of intangible assets | ||||||
3.4.5 Depreciation (HL ONLY) | ||||||
3.4.6 Appropriateness of each depreciation method (HL ONLY) | ||||||
Risk Taker / Reflective | ||||||
3.5 How can the profitability and liquidity of a business be measured using ratio analysis? | 3.5.1 Profitability ratios | |||||
3.5.2 Strategies to improve profitability ratios | ||||||
3.5.3 Liquidity ratios | ||||||
3.5.4 Strategies to improve liquidity ratios | ||||||
Knowledgeable | ||||||
3.6 How can the efficiency of a business be measured using Debt/equity ratio analysis (HL ONLY) | 3.6.1 Efficiency Ratios (HL ONLY) | |||||
3.6.2 Strategies to improve efficiency ratios (HL ONLY) | ||||||
3.6.3 Insolvency vs Bankruptcy (HL ONLY) | ||||||
Thinker / Open Minded / Caring | ||||||
3.7 Why is the concept of Cashflow important to a business? | 3.7.1 Difference between profit and cash flow | |||||
3.7.2 Cashflow forecasts | ||||||
3.7.3 Relationship between investment, profit & cashflow | ||||||
3.7.4 Strategies for dealing with cash flow problems | ||||||
Principled | ||||||
3.8 How is Investment appraisal used in decision making? (PART HL ONLY) | 3.8.1 Investment opportunities: PBP & ARR | |||||
3.8.2 Investment opportunities: Net Present Value (HL ONLY) | ||||||
Inquirer | ||||||
3.9 Why are Budgets important as a decision making tool? (HL ONLY) | 3.9.1 Difference between cost & profit centres | |||||
3.9.2 Roles of costs and profit centres | ||||||
3.9.3 Constructing a budget | ||||||
3.9.4 Variances | ||||||
3.9.5 Importance of budgets and variances in decision-making | ||||||
4.1 What is the role of marketing? | 4.1.1 Market orientation vs product orientation | Knowledgeable | ||||
4.1.2 Market Share | ||||||
4.1.3 Market Growth | ||||||
4.1.4 Importance of markst share & markshet leadership (HL) | ||||||
4.2 What is involved in market planning? | 4.2.1 The role of marketing planning | Principled | ||||
4.2.2 Segmentation, positioning and targeting | ||||||
4.2.3 The difference between niche and mass markets | ||||||
4.2.4 The importance of having a USP | ||||||
4.2.5 Selecting a target market | ||||||
4.2.6 Product differentiation | ||||||
4.3 How can a business calculate sales forecasts? (HL ONLY) | 4.3.1 Methods of sales forecasting | |||||
4.3.2 Benefits and limitations of sales forecasting | ||||||
Thinker | ||||||
4.4 How is market research used for a business’ success? | 4.4.1 Why and how organizations carry out market research | |||||
4.4.2 Methods of primary market research | ||||||
4.4.3 Methods of secondary research | OCT-NOV | |||||
4.4.4 Qualitative & Quantitative research | ||||||
4.4.5 Methods of sampling | ||||||
Reflective / Balanced | ||||||
4.5 How are the 7Ps developed and how are the interconnected? | 4.5.1 Relationship between product life cycle, product portfolio & marketing mix | |||||
4.5.2 Relationship between product life cycle, investment, profit & cashflow | ||||||
4.5.3 Extension strategies | ||||||
4.5.4 Importance of branding | ||||||
4.5.5 Price | ||||||
4.5.6 Appropriateness of pricing methods (HL) | ||||||
4.5.7 Promotion | ||||||
4.5.8 Place | ||||||
4.5.9 People, processes and physical evidence | ||||||
Caring/ Risk Taker | ||||||
4.6 How can a business plan for International Marketing? (HL ONLY) | 4.6.1 Methods of entry into international markets | |||||
4.7.2 Opportunities and threats of international markets | ||||||
5 – Operations Management | 5.1 what is the role of the operations management department? | 5.1.1 operations management and other business functions | NOV – FEB | Knowledgeable | ||
5.2 What are the differing Operations/Production Methods? | 5.2.1 Job Production | Thinker | ||||
5.2.2 Batch production | ||||||
5.2.3 Mass/Flow production | ||||||
5.2.4 Mass customization | ||||||
5.3 How is Lean Production & Quality management used in improving efficiency? (HL ONLY) | 5.3.1 Efficiency and waste | Inquirer | ||||
5.3.2 Lean Production: Kaizen & JIT | ||||||
5.3.3 Cradle-to-cradle design and manufacturing | ||||||
5.3.4 Quality control & quality assurance | ||||||
5.3.5 Methods of managing quality | ||||||
5.3.6 Impact of lean production & TQM | ||||||
5.3.7 Importance of national & international quality standards | ||||||
5.4 What are the factors involved in the location of production? | 5.4.1 Factors that affect location of production | Open Minded | ||||
5.4.2 Reorganizing production | ||||||
5.5 How is Break Even Analysis used as a business decision making tool? | 5.5.1 Total contribution vs. contribution per unit | Risk Taker | ||||
5.5.2 Break even chart & break even analysis | ||||||
5.5.3 Effects of change in price or cost on Break even | ||||||
5.5.4 Limitations of break even as a decision making tool | ||||||
5.6 What is involved in production planning (HL Only) | 5.6.1 Local and global supply chain process | Reflective / Balanced | ||||
5.6.2 JIT and Just in case | ||||||
5.6.3 Stock control charts | ||||||
5.6.4 Capacity utilization rate | ||||||
5.6.5 Defect rate | ||||||
5.6.6 Labour & capital productivity, productivity rate & operating leverage | ||||||
5.6.7 Cost to buy | ||||||
5.6.8 Cost to make | ||||||
5.7 Why is Crisis Management and Contingency Planning important to businesses? (HL ONLY) | 5.7.1 Crisis management and Contingency planning | Caring | ||||
5.7.2 Factors that affect effective crisis | ||||||
5.7.3 Impact of contingency planning | ||||||
5.8 What is the role of Research & Development in a successful business? (HL ONLY) | 5.8.1 Importance of research and development | Principled | ||||
5.8.2 Importance of developing goods and services | ||||||
5.8.3 Intellectual property protection | ||||||
5.8.4 Innovation | ||||||
5.9 What are the differing Management Information Systems a business can use and why? (HL ONLY) | 5.9.1 Data analytics | Communicator | ||||
5.9.2 Database | ||||||
5.9.3 Cybersecurity & cybercrime | ||||||
5.9.4 Critical infrastructures | ||||||
5.9.5 Virtual reality | ||||||
5.9.6 The Internet of things | ||||||
5.9.7 Artificial Intelligence | ||||||
5.9.8 Big Data | ||||||
5.9.9 Customer loyalty programmes | ||||||
5.9.10 Use of data to manage/monitor employees | ||||||
5.9.11 Use of data mining to inform decision-making | ||||||
5.9.12 Benefits, risks & ethical implications of MIS & Technology innovation on decision making & stakeholders | ||||||
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) |
YR12 | ||||||
2 – Research and plan a marketing campaign | A How are different markets researched using different models and tools? | A1 The role of marketing | Sept – January | Knowledgeable | ||
A2 Market research methods | ||||||
A3 Business models used in marketing | ||||||
B What approaches can be used to market a product both nationally and internationally? | B1 Research the characteristics of a market | Inquirer | ||||
B2 Research marketing campaigns | ||||||
B3 Research the application of the promotional mix | ||||||
C Why is a marketing plan important for the success of a new product? | C1 Marketing aims and objectives | Communicator | ||||
C2 Developing the rationale | ||||||
C3 The application of the marketing mix | ||||||
C4 The marketing campaign | ||||||
C5 Appropriateness of a marketing campaign | ||||||
C6 Formal business reports | ||||||
4 – Managing an event | A What is the role of an event organizer? | A1 Different tasks needed to be completed by an event organizer | Reflective | |||
A2 Different skills needed by an effective event organizer | ||||||
A3 Common formats for skills audit collection | ||||||
B How can a business investigate the feasibility of a proposed event? | B1 Different types of event, and the factors affecting success | Open minded | ||||
B2 Feasibility measures and critical success factors? | ||||||
C What is involved in developing a detailed plan for a business or social enterprise event? | C1 Event planning and the use of planning tools | Principled / Caring | ||||
C2 Factors to be considered, including budgets, resources and contingency planning | ||||||
D What is involved in managing a business or social enterprise event? | D1 Management of the event | Thinker / Risk Taker | ||||
D2 Problem solving | ||||||
E Reflect on the running of the event and evaluate own skills development | E1 Evaluation of the event | Reflective | ||||
E2 Review of personal skills development in the running of the event | ||||||
7 – Business Decision Making | A What are the business principles and practices that determine business decisions | A1 Business ideas and objectives | Febuary- April | Knowledgeable | ||
A2 Purpose and structure of a business | ||||||
A3 Business practices and operations | ||||||
A4 The use of business models to aid decision making | ||||||
B How does a business review and interpret data? | B1 Sources for data collection and their presentation | Inquirer / Principled | ||||
B2 Techniques to analyse data effectively for business purposes | ||||||
C How can a business formulate decisions and solutions to business ?problems | C1 Analysis and interpretations of financial projections | |||||
C2 Analysis and interpretations of financial statements | ||||||
C3 Creation and interpretation of a break even chart | ||||||
C4 Interpreting the outcome of investment appraisal | ||||||
D Why is it important for a business to prepare documents to present business decisions? | D1 ‘What if’ scenarios and sensitivity analysis | Open minded / Risk Taker | ||||
D2 Contingency plans | ||||||
D3 Use IT skills to create appropriate documentation | ||||||
30 – Career Planning | A How can an individual explore employment opportunities to target progression? | A1 Researching employment opportunities | May-June | Thinker | ||
A2 Employment types and legislation | ||||||
A3 Requirements for progression | ||||||
B Why is it important for an individual to examine personal skills and goals to produce a personal career development plan | B1 Types of skills audit | Balanced | ||||
B2 Soft and transferable skills | ||||||
B3 Skills audit and career development planning | ||||||
C How can an individual develop communication and interview skills to improve employment prospects | C1 Application documentation | Communicator | ||||
C2 Interview and demonstration of skills | ||||||
C3 Performance review | ||||||
23 – Work experience in business | A Where can you investigate opportunities for work-related learning? | A1 Work related learning | Caring | |||
A2 Outcomes and benefits | ||||||
A3 Planning for work experience | ||||||
B Where can you go for work experience ? | B1 Induction | Reflective | ||||
B2 Role and tasks | ||||||
B3 Working safely | ||||||
C Why is important to reflect on work experience undertaken and its influence on own personal and professional development? | C1 Learning for work placement | |||||
C2 Using feedback and setting goals | ||||||