Advantages and disadvantages of a business being ethical

Advantages and disadvantages of businesses becoming more sustainable

Advantages and disadvantages of changes in technology for businesses and employees

Advantages and disadvantages of delegation

Advantages and disadvantages of developing new products

Advantages and disadvantages of different distribution channels: direct to customers, through retailers, wholesalers, agents

Advantages and disadvantages of different extension strategies

Advantages and disadvantages of different methods of communication

Advantages and disadvantages of different pricing methods

Advantages and disadvantages of different types of business organisation

Advantages and disadvantages of ecommerce for businesses

Advantages and disadvantages of ecommerce for customers

Advantages and disadvantages of franchises for the franchisor and franchisee

Advantages and disadvantages of internal and external recruitment

Advantages and disadvantages of internal and external sources of finance

Advantages and disadvantages of job, batch and flow production

Advantages and disadvantages of joint ventures

Advantages and disadvantages of lean production methods

Advantages and disadvantages of market segmentation

Advantages and disadvantages of mass markets and niche markets

Advantages and disadvantages of methods of growth

Advantages and disadvantages of part-time employees and full-time employees

Advantages and disadvantages of primary market research methods

Advantages and disadvantages of quality control and quality assurance

Advantages and disadvantages of secondary market research methods

Advantages and disadvantages of the main leadership styles

Advantages and disadvantages of the three types of training

Advantages for the country where an MNC is located, e.g. jobs, exports, increased choice, investment

Advantages of entering new markets in other countries, e.g. increase sales, spread risk

Advantages to a business of becoming an MNC

Amend or complete a simple cash flow forecast

Analyse simple market research data

Anticipating changes in customer needs

Appreciation and depreciation of an exchange rate

Benefits to employees of being a trade union member

Building customer relationships

Businesses can have several objectives, e.g. survival, growth, profit, market share

Calculate and interpret the following liquidity ratios: – current ratio – acid test ratio

Calculate and interpret the following profitability ratios: – gross profit margin – profit margin – return on capital employed (ROCE)

Calculate break-even output

Calculate labour productivity

Calculate market share

Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs

Classify and calculate costs using examples, e.g. fixed, variable, average and total

Complete or amend a simple break-even chart

Concept and importance of working capital

Concept of adding value and how added value can be increased

Concept of break-even

Concept of capital employed

Concept of diseconomies of scale: poor communication, lack of commitment or loyalty from employees, weak coordination, lack of control

Concept of downsizing

Concept of economies of scale: purchasing, marketing, financial, managerial, technical

Concept of lean production and how to achieve it: just-in-time (JIT) inventory control and Kaizen

Concept of liquidity

Concept of opportunity cost

Concept of profitability

Concept of quality assurance

Concept of quality control

Concept of redundancy

Concepts of mass markets and niche markets

Current assets, e.g. inventory, trade receivables, cash

Current liabilities, e.g. trade payables, overdraft

Define, calculate and interpret the margin of safety

Different forms of business organisation: franchises, joint ventures, social enterprises

Different ways of flexible working, e.g. home working and flexible hours

Disadvantages for the country where an MNC is located, e.g. increased competition, environmental damage, exploitation of natural resources, repatriation of profits

Disadvantages of entering new markets in other countries, e.g. cultural differences, lack of knowledge, legal requirements

Effects of changes in government spending

Effects of changes in interest rates

Effects of changes in taxes on business profit

Effects of changes in taxes on people’s income

Effects of changes in the levels of employment, inflation and economic growth on a business

Effects of import tariffs and import quotas on businesses

Effects of legal controls over business activity affecting the environment: how, what and where to produce or sell, influence on costs

Effects of legal controls over employment issues on employers and employees

Ethical issues which may affect businesses, e.g. child labour, paying fair wages to employees, paying fair prices to suppliers, using suppliers who do not damage the environment

Examples of communication barriers

Examples of ecommerce, e.g. mobile phone/internet banking, online shopping, online ticketing

Extension strategies a business could use: new markets, new uses for a product, adapting the product or packaging, increased advertising/ sales promotion

External costs and external benefits of business decisions

External sources of finance: share capital or issuing shares, venture capital, bank overdrafts, leasing, hire purchase, bank loans, trade credit, government grants, crowdfunding

External stakeholder groups: customers, suppliers, lenders/banks, government, local community

Factors affecting how much inventory businesses hold

Factors influencing the accuracy of market research data

Factors of production: land, labour, capital and enterprise

Factors that a business could consider when deciding which country to locate its operations in

Factors which influence the location decisions of a manufacturing business

Factors which influence the location decisions of a service business

Financial methods of motivation, e.g. time-based, piece-rate, salary, bonus, commission, profit sharing, fringe benefits

How a short-term cash flow problem may be overcome: overdraft, delaying supplier payments, asking customers to pay more quickly, delay purchase of non-current assets

How and why businesses can grow externally: mergers and takeovers, including horizontal integration, vertical integration

How and why businesses can grow internally, e.g. develop new products, develop new markets

How business activity can negatively affect the environment, e.g. pollution, depletion of resources

How businesses can be more sustainable: using renewable energy, using fewer resources /less waste, reusing, recycling, developing environmentally friendly products, using environmentally friendly packaging

How businesses can respond to changing spending patterns and increased competition

How businesses may respond to changes in taxes and interest rates

How businesses may respond to environmental issues

How businesses may respond to ethical issues

How changes in exchange rates can affect businesses which import and export products and services, e.g. price, costs, competitiveness

How communication barriers can be reduced or removed

How each stage of the business cycle may affect a business

How governments support business start-ups, e.g. grants, advice, low-cost loans, training schemes

How markets can be segmented according to: age, income, location, gender, lifestyle

How pressure groups can influence business decisions

How technology is changing production methods through automation and mechanisation, e.g. Computer-Aided Manufacture (CAM) and 3D Printing

How technology is improving productivity in the service sector, e.g. contactless payments

How these objectives may conflict with each other

How to increase efficiency, e.g. increasing automation and technology, improving labour skills

How users of accounts may use financial information to help make decisions, e.g. whether to lend to or invest in a business

Identifying customer needs

Import tariffs and import quotas

Importance of profit to private sector businesses: reward for risk-taking, source of finance, measure of success, attract investors

Importance of the different elements in the marketing mix

Importance of training to a business and to employees

Internal and external communication

Internal sources of finance: owners’ investment, retained profit, sale of unwanted assets, working capital

Internal stakeholder groups: owners (sole traders, partnerships, shareholders), managers, employees

Interpret a break-even chart

Interpret a product life cycle diagram

Interpret a simple cash flow forecast

Interpret simple organisational charts

Job, batch and flow production

Legal controls over employment issues: unfair dismissal, discrimination, health and safety, legal minimum wage

Limitations of break-even analysis

Limitations of using accounts and ratio analysis

Main features of a cash flow forecast: cash inflow, cash outflow, net cash flow, opening balance, closing balance

Main features of a statement of profit or loss: revenue, cost of sales, gross profit, expenses, profit

Main motivational theories: Maslow, Taylor, Herzberg

Main stages of the business cycle: growth, boom, recession, slump

Maintaining customer loyalty

Make decisions based on simple statements of financial position

Make decisions based on simple statements of profit or loss

Make simple calculations based on a statement of profit or loss: revenue, cost of sales, gross profit, expenses, profit

Make simple calculations based on statements of financial position: total assets, total liabilities, working capital

Methods of advertising, e.g. social media, direct/targeted emails, leaflets, billboards

Methods of communication, e.g. meetings (face-to-face or virtual), email, text messages, social media, phone calls (including mobile calls), letters, posters and noticeboards

Methods of measuring business size, e.g. number of people employed, value of output/sales, volume of output/sales, capital employed (profit is not a method of measuring business size)

Methods of sales promotion, e.g. vouchers, reward schemes, competitions, special offers /discounts

Non-current assets, e.g. property (land and buildings), machinery

Non-current liabilities, e.g. bank loans

Non-financial methods of motivation, e.g. job enrichment, job rotation, training, opportunities for promotion, praise, employee of the month

Objectives of different stakeholder groups

Opportunities and threats of globalisation for businesses

Planning, organising, coordinating, commanding and controlling

Pricing methods: cost-plus, competitive, penetration, skimming, dynamic

Primary research methods, e.g. questionnaires or surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation

Primary, secondary and tertiary sectors

Private and public sectors

Problems caused by communication barriers

Problems linked to business growth

Problems when measuring business size

Purpose and key elements of a business plan: overview/summary, objectives, resources, market research, marketing, finance, people, operations

Reasons for communication barriers

Reasons for globalisation: improved transport links, technological change including communication, free trade agreements, newly industrialised countries

Reasons for promotion

Reasons for reducing the size of the workforce, e.g. automation, reduced demand for products, need to lower costs

Reasons why businesses succeed or fail, e.g. management skills, availability of finance, suitability of product, demand for products, changes in the economy, level of competition

Recommend and justify a suitable type of business organisation to owners/management for a given situation

Recommend and justify an appropriate distribution channel for a given situation

Recommend and justify an appropriate leadership style for a given situation

Recommend and justify an appropriate location for a business in a given situation

Recommend and justify an appropriate marketing mix for a given situation

Recommend and justify an appropriate method of motivation for a given situation

Recommend and justify an appropriate pricing method for a given situation

Recommend and justify an appropriate production method for a given situation

Recommend and justify an appropriate source of finance for a given situation

Recommend and justify an extension strategy to use in a given situation

Recommend and justify whether to use quality control or quality assurance in a given situation

Recommend and justify which employee(s) to make redundant in a given situation

Recommend and justify which method of advertising to use in a given situation

Recommend and justify which method of communication to use in a given situation

Recommend and justify which method of sales promotion to use in a given situation

Recommend and justify who to employ in a given situation

Satisfying customer needs

Secondary research methods, e.g. competitor websites, government sources, market reports, trade magazines

Selection methods, e.g. curriculum vitae (CV)/resumé, application forms, references, testing/assessment centres, interviews

Short-term and long-term finance needs of a business

Simple hierarchical structures: tall and flat levels of hierarchy, long and short chains of command, wide and narrow spans of control

Sole traders, partnerships, private limited companies and public limited companies

Stages in the recruitment process: job descriptions, person specifications, job advertisements (including employment agencies and online recruitment)

The benefits of a well-motivated workforce: improved labour productivity, reduced absenteeism, lower labour turnover and greater willingness to accept change/new methods of working

The benefits of employment contracts for employers and employees

The concept of sampling and why it is useful to businesses

The effects of legal controls on marketing

The importance of brand image

The importance of business objectives

The importance of having a business plan

The main contents of an employment contract: duties and responsibilities, working hours, holiday entitlement, sick pay

The main factors to consider when selecting a source of finance: size of business, legal form of business, amount required, length of time, existing loans, cost, purpose

The main functional areas of a business, e.g. operations, marketing, finance, human resources

The main leadership styles: autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire

The main reasons why businesses need finance: start-up capital, capital for expansion/growth, replacing existing non-current assets, investing in new technology, working capital

The main stages of the product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity, decline

The purpose of legal controls to protect customers: misleading promotion, faulty goods

The role of packaging

Types of training: induction training, on-the-job training and off-the-job training

Use break-even analysis to help make decisions: effect of changes in price, changes in fixed costs, changes in variable cost per unit

Use cost data to help make simple decisions, e.g. which product to produce, whether to continue or stop production, what price to set, help choose suppliers

Users of accounts and ratio analysis: external, e.g. suppliers, government, lenders/banks

Users of accounts and ratio analysis: internal, e.g. owners (sole traders, partnerships, shareholders), managers, employees

What a cash flow forecast is and why it is important

What a trade union is

What profit is

What quality means and why it is important for businesses

Why businesses hold inventory

Why businesses may respond to environmental issues, e.g. improved reputation, increased sales

Why businesses use market research

Why cash is important to a business

Why communication is important for a business

Why consumer spending patterns may change

Why efficiency is important for a business

Why governments support business start-ups

Why people work

Why some businesses remain small

Why some markets are becoming more competitive

Why the owners of a business may want to grow the business