Business Studies: Course Outlines
Business studies is the study of the management of individuals to maintain collective productivity, which accomplishes particular creative and productive goals, usually to generate profits.
Course outlines
Business Activity
- The stages and purpose of business activity including a simple understanding of profit
- The concept of adding value and how business might add value including USP
- The factors of production land labour capital and enterprise
- The dynamic nature of the business environment
- The qualities of a successful entrepreneur
- The role of private sector and public sector organisations in a mixed economy
- Primary secondary and tertiary sector businesses activity
- The organisation of business by function I e marketing finance operations and human resources
Business Legal Structures
- The main features advantages and disadvantages of sole traders partnerships private and public limited companies cooperatives
- The concept of limited liability
- The main features benefits and limitations of franchises and joint ventures
Measuring Business Size
- Number of employees revenue apital employed market share market capitalisation
- Note Profit is not an acceptable measure of business size
- The inter-relationship between the functional areas of business
The Nature of Marketing
- The marketing process including an understanding of the elements of the marketing mix
- Market orientation versus product orientation
- Marketing objectives and the integrative nature of the marketing function
Market Analysis and Positioning
- Types of markets including consumer and industrial markets local regional national and international markets
- Concepts of market share market size and market growth including the measurement of market share
- Market positioning including the advantages and disadvantages of mass and niche markets and the benefits of establishing a unique selling proposition/point the need for market repositioning
Market Segmentation
- Methods of market segmentation including demographic geographic and psychographic methods
- Advantages and disadvantages of market segmentation and how it relates to the marketing mix
Market Research
- The importance of accurate and reliable market research information for business success
- Primary research and secondary research
- Methods/sources of primary and secondary research data including their advantages and disadvantages
- Qualitative and quantitative market research
- The nature and purpose of sampling including random stratified and quota sampling methods
- Interpretation and analysis of market research results
The Marketing Mix
Product
- The nature of products including the augmented product
- Stages of the product life cycle
- How stages of the product life cycle influences marketing activities
- The nature and purpose of extension strategies
- Product portfolio analysis including the Boston Matrix
Price
- The relationship between price and consumer behaviour
- Types of pricing strategies including skimming penetration competitive and loss leader Cost based versus market based pricing
- The concept of Price elasticity of demand including how a product’s PED might influence pricing decisions
- Selecting a pricing strategy for a given situation
Promotion
- The aims of promotion
- Above-the-line and below-the-line methods of promotion including their advantages and disadvantages
- Methods and use of digital marketing in product promotion
- Measuring the effectiveness of promotional activities using the advertising/promotional elasticity of demand
- The importance of branding in product promotion
- Selecting appropriate promotional methods for a given situation
Place
- The different channels of distribution available to businesses including the role of intermediaries
- Selecting an appropriate channel of distribution for a given situation
- The role and importance of E-commerce
Marketing Strategy
- The factors that influence consumer demand for a product
- Developing a co-ordinated marketing mix for a given situation
E Books
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Bruce Kuhlman, David W. Wiley, and H. Kent Baker
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Emerald Group
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Thomas Donaldson and R. Edward Freeman
Course outlines
Business Finance
- The need for finance in business
- The main internal and external sources of finance available to businesses including their advantages and disadvantages
- Factors affecting the choice of finance in a given situation including use to which it is to be put the business’ legal structure cost need to retain ownership/control and the level of existing borrowing
- Selecting an appropriate source of finance for a given situation
Costs Revenue and Contribution
- Types of costs including fixed variable and semi-variable costs direct and indirect costs total and average costs
- The concept of revenue including total revenue and average revenue
- The concept of contribution including total contribution and contribution per unit
- Accept or reject special order decisions
Break-Even analysis
- The concept of break-even
- The interpretation of break-even graphs
- Numerical methods used to determine the level of output required to break even
- The concept of margin of safety in break-even analysis
- Uses and limitations of break-even analysis
The Analysis of Financial Statements
- Contents of a simplified income statement including revenue cost of sales gross profit profit for the year and retained earnings
- Contents of a simplified statement of financial affairs including non-current assets current assets current liabilities net current assets net assets non-current liabilities reserves and equity
- The main users of accounting information
- Interpretation and analysis of financial statements including ratio analysis
- The concept of working capital and the liquidity cycle
- Problems caused by insufficient liquidity
- Ways of improving the management of working capital
- Limitations to users of ratio analysis and published accounts
Managing Cash Flows
- Interpretation and use of cash flow forecasts
- How a business might improve its cash flow
Budgeting
- Role and use of budgets
- The meaning and calculation of adverse and favourable variances
- Outline how businesses may use variance analysis
Organisational Structure
- Understand how to interpret a simple organisation chart to explain the concepts of hierarchy chain of command wide/narrow spans of control and delayering
- Centralised versus decentralised organisation structures
- The advantages and disadvantages to managers and subordinates of delegation
- The difference between authority and responsibility
Management and Leadership
- The roles of management for example planning organising controlling and directing
- The characteristics of a good leader
- The main features of leadership styles autocratic paternalistic democratic laissez-faire and McGregor’s theory X and theory Y
Motivation
- A general understanding of the motivation theories of
- Taylor Maslow and Herzberg
- The benefits to business of having a well-motivated workforce higher productivity better quality/reduced waste ower absenteeism lower labour turnover
- The calculation and importance of labour productivity and labour turnover
- The main financial and non-financial incentives used by businesses to motivate workers
Human Resource Management
- Role of HRM including recruitment selection training induction advice guidance workforce planning
- The benefits to business of training employees including induction training
Labour and Management Relations
- The role of trade unions and the benefits they provide to both members and employers
Consumer Laws
- Outline how UK consumers’ rights are protected by the following legislation sale of goods trades descriptions and consumer protection
Employment Laws
- Outline how UK businesses and their employees are affected by the following legislation health & safety at work equal pay National
- Minimum Wage and legislation that promotes equal opportunities and protects workers against
Competition Laws
- Outline how UK businesses are affected by the legislation to promote competition in markets
Business Aims and Objectives
- The nature and purpose of business objectives including the hierarchy of objectives MOST and SMART objectives
- Consideration of specific business objectives survival profit maximisation growth (including market expansion) social responsibility and ethics
- Factors influencing business objectives such as corporate culture business size legal form age of the business and the industry a business operates
Business Stakeholders
- The individuals or groups interested in the activities of business e g owners/shareholders employeesb customers suppliers lenders government and the local community
- Stakeholder objectives and how these might conflict
- How stakeholders influence and are influenced by business
Strategic Analysis
- The nature and purpose of SWOT analysis
- How the outcome of a SWOT analysis might inform strategic objectives
- How SWOT analysis might be used in a given business situation
- The nature and purpose of PEST analysis
- How PEST analysis might be used in a given business situation
Text Books
Reference Books
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Cambridge International AS and A Level Business Studies by
Call Number: 650 STIISBN: 9780521126564Publication Date: 2010-05-13
E books
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Brian Jones and Goran Svensson
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Urmila Rai and S.M. Rai
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John R McIntyre, Ilan Alon, and Ben L. Kedia
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Anne Colby, Thomas Ehrlich
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Akira Ishikawa and Atsushi Tsujimoto
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Jeremy Kourdi and Chartered Institute of Marketing Staff
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Mollie Painter-Morland
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Rituparna Raj
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Manas Chatterji, Luk Bouckaert, and Manas Chatterji
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Manisha Paliwal
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Trish Melton, Jim Yates
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Paul Gillin and Eric Schwartzman
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John R. Boatright