Business Studies
We follow the Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Business Studies course. The GCSE course is 100% exam with the two exams taking place during the summer term of Yr11. As a consequence, learning the theory and developing exam technique will be an essential part of our work during the two years. We will use business stories from the news and case studies about well-known companies to illustrate each topic.
Unit 1 – Investigating small business (1hour 30 min exam)
- 1 Enterprise and entrepreneurship and Dynamic nature of business
Why do people start new businesses? What are the risks and rewards?
Why do new business ideas emerge? How do changes in customer demand (tastes, technology etc) influence this?
- 2 Spotting a business opportunity.
What do customer need? How do we do market research and make sure we are targeting a relevant segment of the market? Is there space for our product or service in a competitive environment?
- 3 Putting a business idea into practice.
What are the aims and objectives of your business? Some will be financial (revenue & profits), but others will be non-financial (personal satisfaction, independence or control).
What do the terms, revenue, costs, cash-flow and break-even mean and how do we calculate them?
- 4 Making a business effective
You need to learn the various types of business ownership for a new business (Sole trader, Partnership, Franchise and Ltd company. What factors will influence the location of your business? What are the 4P’s of the marketing mix?
- 5 Understanding external influences on a business.
Who are the stakeholders in your business? Will changes in technology, legislation, or the economy, influence your business?
Unit 2 – Building a Business (1hour 30 min exam)
- 1 Growing the business
Business growth – becoming a PLC, accessing sources of finance for expansion, changing business objectives, globalisation and ethics. Imports, exports, trading blocs, tariffs and exchange rates.
- 2 Making marketing decisions – Product, price, place, promotion.
What do we mean by the product lifecycle? Pricing your products. Understanding your competitors. Promotional activity (paid for advertising or social media, sales promotions, sponsorship, product trials, the strength of a brand). Where can we buy it? (Online or High St sales)
- 3 Making operational decisions
Production methods (Job, batch or flow). What are the benefits and drawbacks of just in time stock control? Why is it important to have quality control in our manufacturing process?
- 4 Making financial decisions – Business calculations, understanding business performance.
What is profit? How do we know if we are actually making a profit? What financial and marketing data can we use within the business?
- 5 Making human resource decisions.
How should we structure our business? How do we recruitment and train our staff? How do we motivate our workers and retain them within the business? What sort of employment contracts are available? Ethical considerations of different types of employment.
Head of ICT/Business – Mr M Dickson
