IGCSE & A LEVELS GUIDE

Chapter 24 - Inventory Management Learning Objectives: To understand the ins and outs of inventory management We all know that businesses hold different amounts of different types of inventory : Holding inventories is not only costly but having efficient inventory control is key for business success. Businesses with inefficient inventory control systems run into some hairy problems: Run out of inventory to cover for unforeseen changes in demand; Remain with outdated or expire

Chapter 23 - Operations Planning Learning Objective: To understand the details of each different production methods There are many different factors that can influence operations decisions , those are: Marketing factors; Availability of resources; Technology; You should all know by know: (1) Marketing is the business department responsible for sales forecast . Why is an accurate sales forecast important for operations decisions , though? Based on the sales forecast operations

It's important for us to understand the basics of Marketing so that we can go further on Marketing subjects later on. Here are some of the basic concepts we will go through to build on the basis of our Marketing knowledge : Needs and Wants; Customer base; Markets (consumer and industrial); Target market; Consumer vs. Customer; The business environment. Let's start by reminding ourselves of needs and wants : - Needs are essential items we need in order to live (e.g. food, wa

Chapter 23 - Operations Planning Learning Objective: To understand the differences between capital and labor intensive production Did you know there is a big difference between effectiveness and efficiency ? Efficiency is what we have been discussing in productivity so far: it is about producing at the highest ratio of output to input; Effectiveness , however, it is about meeting customers' needs profitably and being efficient in production is just one part of it: A compa

Chapter 23 - The Nature of Operations Learning Objective: To understand the basic concepts related to operations management What is Operations Management? Simply put, Operations Management is the process concerned with the use of resources (inputs) to create outputs: The process of Operations Management considers the following factors to be successful by adding value to products/services: Production efficiency: keeping costs low for competitive reasons ( value ); Quality:

Chapter 20 - The Marketing Mix, Promotion and Place Learning Objective: To understand the Place decisions within the Marketing Mix The Place decision refers to how products will go all the way from manufacturers to consumers . Place is connected to distribution , which can be defined as getting the right product , to the right consumer , in the most convenient way possible. Every business, therefore, needs to establish a distribution strategy . These are the 3 most common c

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 36 - Finance and Accounting Strategy Lesson Objective: To understand the potential interpretations of published accounts and ratios We have learned many financial and accounting data that are key for strategic decision-making . They include: Profitability and financial performance metrics (Ch. 34) including ratios and financial statements ; Assessment of the availability of sources of finance given liquidity ratios as well as the gearing ratio of businesses. Fin

Chapter 35 - Investment Appraisal Learning Objectives: To understand the qualitative factors of investment appraisal You have now learned many quantitative techniques for investment appraisal: Simple Payback Period; Discounted Payback Period; Account Rate of Return (ARR); Net Present Value (NPV); Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Most business will establish quantitative investment criteria that projects need to meet to be approved, for example: Payback within three years; Have

Chapter 20 - The Marketing Mix, Promotion and Place Learning Objectives: To understand sales promotions, digital marketing, and packaging. After discussing both: the objectives and the methods of advertising (targeted at increasing brand/product awareness) we now need to understand that promotion also include practices targeted at achieving short-term increase in sales - these are called Sales Promotion (below-the-line promotion) methods. Sales Promotions ( below-the-line

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