IGCSE & A LEVELS GUIDE

Chapter 8 - Recruitment, Selection and Training of Workers Learning Objectives: To understand how and why to downsize It goes without questioning that training workers is important for businesses success . Not all training offered to workers, however, are the same. There are three main types of training : Induction training; On-the-job training; Off-the-job training. Induction Training: Targeted to new recruits ; Introducing to people they will work with; Explaining organizat

Chapter 35 - Investment Appraisal Learning Objectives: To learn the investment appraisal techniques of ARR, Discounted Payback, NPV, and IRR The Account Rate of Return (a.k.a. average rate of return) is another common investment appraisal method. It measures the annual profitability of an investment as a percentage of the initial investment. Projects with higher ARR are usually better than the ones with lower ARR; For simplicity we will assume that the net cashflow = annual

Chapter 20 - The Marketing Mix: Promotion and Place Learning Objectives: To understand the objectives of promotion and different types of ads It's time for us to start diving in the other two elements of the Marketing Mix: Place and Promotion! Keep in mind: promotion is a lot more than advertising ! Promotional activities are any activities that have the following objectives : Increase sales by increasing awareness: - Increase sales; - Increase customers' recall of the brand.

Chapter 35 - Investment Appraisal Learning Objectives: To understand the investment appraisal techniques of payback period Investment Appraisal is the practice of assessing financial feasibility of projects and businesses. It includes quantitative and qualitative techniques to show whether the likely future returns on a project/business are greater than its costs . Quantitative methods of appraisal seek to prove whether the expected inflows of a project will surpass its out

Chapter 34 - Analysis of Published Accounts Learning Objective: To understand the many different shareholders' / investment ratios Although not directly considered an investment ratio, gearing ratio is still an important number existing and potential shareholders will look at when making their investment decisions. Taking out loans (debt) isn't necessarily something negative . Loans are a method of financing which can lead to profitable investments (e.g. expansion). However

Chapter 19 - The Marketing Mix, Product and Price Learning Objectives: To understand the most common methods of pricing goods and services You should now be familiar with the Product Life Cycle, the Product Portfolio Analysis , as well as the impact of the different stages on Cash Flow : We now start the discussion of the second element of the Marketing Mix: Price ! Price is an important marketing decision: It determines the value added ; It impacts demand and therefore influ

Chapter 19 - The Marketing Mix, Product and Price Learning Objectives: To understand the Product Life-Cycle Analysis and the Boston Matrix Analysis Product Life Cycle / Product Portfolio Analysis The Product Life Cycle is the pattern of sales recorded by a product from launch to withdrawal - it is used for Product Portfolio Analysis , which is analyzing what businesses/products a company is holding at a certain moment and helps deciding where to allocate resources. Here is a

Chapter 8 - Recruitment, Selection and Training of Workers Learning Objectives: To understand the difference between part-time and full-time workers; to understand the importance of training Have you ever heard? Some workers are part-time workers, some workers are full-time workers. What is the difference? Part-Time workers are considered so because they work around 20-30 hours/week in a job; Full-Time workers, however, have a contract and usually work 40 hours/week in a jo

Chapter 34, Analysis of Published Accounts Learning Objective: To understand Financial Efficiency Ratios Although we have been learning some important measures of performance and liquidity, there are other ratios that businesses should keep in mind, they are called Financial Efficiency Ratios - they are concerned with the efficiency to which the business uses its financial resources . Financial efficiency is important as it measures how efficiently managers are utilizing the

Chapter 34, Analysis of Published Accounts Learning Objective: To understand how to further analyze the published accounts previously learned (profitability and liquidity ratios) After understanding the different Accounting Reports, their uses and importance it is time to start looking at other measures of business performance and financial health - ratios. These ratios are to be used in combination with the accounting reports. There are two main categories of ratios : Pro

Chapter 19 - The Marketing Mix, Product and Price Learning Objectives: To understand the marketing mix (product) characteristics The Marketing Mix are the four most important tools in a Marketer's toolbox: The right or wrong decisions in the Marketing Mix will tell whether a business will sell its products profitably. These four decisions are interrelated and should always be thought of together rather than individually . The need for consistency is key when deciding on tho

Chapter 8 - Recruitment, Selection and Training of Workers Learning Objective: To understand the difference between internal and external recruiting The recruiting process is important for the success of a business - it is also costly and time consuming. Recruitment can be done internally or externally: Internal Recruitment happens when the business decides to choose someone who is already working in the company to take on the opened vacancy instead of picking someone from o

Chapter 7 - Organization and Management Learning Objective: To understand the importance and impact of trade unions We will wrap up the topic of Organization Structure and Management by discussing a very delicate topic: Trade Unions: In short, Trade Unions are organizations formed and financed by workers to protect their interests (e.g. wages, working conditions, etc.). Their activities include: Negotiating better wages, working hours, conditions, holidays ( collective barg

Chapter 33 - Financial Statements Learning Objective: To understand how depreciation and inventories are recorded on published accounts Most assets decline in value overtime - specially tangible non-current assets. They do so for two main reasons: Wear and tear through usage ; Technological change making assets obsolete . Depreciation is a cost that needs to be recorded on the Statement of Profit or Loss yearly: Each year when depreciation happens it will add to overhead e

Chapter 18 - Market Research Learning Objective: To understand the basics of Market Research What is Market Research? "Market research is the action or activity of gathering information about consumers ' needs and preferences , competitors , and the market itself." Market Research reveals important information about customers , competitors , and the market in which the business competes. It is useful for various reasons : It helps businesses understand what customers like

Chapter 7 - Organization and Management Learning Objectives: To understand how businesses are organized Now that we know that there are three main types of leadership (democratic, autocratic, and leissez-faire) as well as understand the different functions of management (planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling) we should focus on the roles, responsibilities, and inter-relationships between management positions: There are 3 main levels of management pos

Chapter 33 - Financial Statements Learning Objectives: To understand the Statement of Financial Position The aim for most businesses is to increase shareholders' equity . This is done by increasing the value of the business' assets at a higher rate than the increase in liabilities . The Statement of Financial Position is there to record such net wealth ( shareholders' equity ) at one moment in time . Shareholders' Equity comes from two main sources: It is, therefore : - The a

Chapter 17 - The Nature of Marketing Learning Objective: To understand B2B, B2C, and Market Segmentation (Mass vs. Niche) Consumer Market (B2C) and Industrial Market (B2B) Consumer Products are sold to households and individuals whereas Industrial Products are the ones produced and used by industries: Selling to Business rather than to consumers have some big differences : Industrial goods are often much more complex - it requires specialist sales and support employees ; Ind

Chapter 14 - Marketing Strategy Lesson Objective: To understand what is marketing strategy and be introduced to some legal controls over business activity You should be a pro on the 4 most important Marketing Decisions by now: All these decisions , as you know, are inter-connected and part of something called the Marketing Strategy. The importance of these 4 decisions is not necessarily equal in every situation. A Marketing Strategy is a plan prepared by the Marketing Depart

Chapter 12 - The Marketing Mix: Product and Price Lesson Objective: To understand how the product life-cycle impacts marketing mix decisions You have started understanding the Marketing Mix and were exposed to the first element of the Four Ps: Product. Still regarding Product there are other aspects to be understood: - The Product Life-Cycle ; - Extension Strategies. The Product Life Cycle shows how the sales of a product behaves overtime . The cycle is made of four stages