IGCSE & A LEVELS GUIDE

Chapter 2 - Business Structure Learning Objective: Forms of Business Organization (Ch. 2.2) Before diving in to the different forms of...

Chapter 2 - Business Structure Learning Objective: Structuring an Economy The economy of a country is made of different sectors of its...

Learning Objective: Introduction to Enterprise Chapter 1: Enterprise Value creation is the sole main purpose of a business. By creating...

Chapter 6 - External Influences on Business Activity Learning Objective: 6.1 External Influences on Business Activity It's no news that...

Chapter 20 - Cash Flow Forecasting and Working Capital Class Objective: To understand the difference between cash and profit Cash is important to business. Fact! Businesses need cash to pay wages, suppliers, utilities, etc... Cash Flow Management, therefore, is a key element of business management. It is the process of making sure that there is enough cash within the company for paying its debts. Is cash the same as profit, though? Profit = Revenues - Costs Cash refers to

Chapter 19 - Business Finance: Needs and Sources Class Objective: To understand the factors impacting sources of financing available To finalize financing we have to discuss government grants and microfinancing: Government Grants : Incentives towards boosting business activity and growth; It comes in various forms: tax benefits, renting benefits, etc.; It does not need to be repaid. Microfinancing is a common form of finance in developing economies : Targeted to entrepreneu

Chapter 19 - Business Finance: Needs and Sources Learning Objective: The Most Common External Sources of Finance (19.2) We shall now discuss external sources of finance: Short-term external finance include overdraft, trade credit, debt factoring; Long-term external finance include bank loan, hire purchase, leasing, mortgage, debenture, share issue . Overdraft: A 'type of short-term loan'; It allows the customer/business to keep on paying its bills even when the account reach

Chapter 19.1 - Business Finance: Needs and Sources Learning Objective: Sources of Finance (19.1) Businesses need financing... It's obvious. Every business needs financing. Businesses need startup capital: This is the capital needed by an entrepreneur when starting a business. Businesses need finance to purchase so called non-current (a.k.a. fixed) assets: These are long-term assets (>12 months) such as buildings, machines, technology, and vehicles. Such investments are call

Chapter 18 - Location Decisions Lesson Objective: To understand the difficulties in internationalizing operations There are so many factors influencing location and relocation decisions , most of which are related to costs, sales , and logistics: Cost of site; Size of site (opportunity for expansion); Labor costs and availability; Transportation costs (delivery of goods and access to supplies); Market potential ; Government incentives ; Legal restrictions; Quality of local in

Chapter 18 - Location Decisions Lesson Objective: To understand how businesses pick their location Location is one of the most important decisions for a business. Full stop! The right or wrong location decision can either positively or negatively impact: Costs; Sales; Delivery of products and services. Location is a long-term decision! What do YOU think are the most important factors to consider when making a location-decision? There are many things to take into considerat

Chapter 17 - Achieving Quality Production Lesson Objective: To understand the importance of quality for businesses In your opinion, what is a quality product? The most reliable? The best performing? The longer lasting? Quality is a relative concept which depends on variables such as: Price; Customers' expectations; Customers' satisfaction. Quality , therefore, is about being defect-free and meeting customers' expectations . The concept of Quality Standard comes after under

Chapter 17 - Achieving Quality Production Lesson Objective: To understand how quality control and assurance work Case study (p. 231) Test yourself (p. 231) There are mainly two approaches for achieving quality: Control is based on inspection/checking of the completed unit Assurance is the process of self-checking quality by the workers in charge of each process preventing and reducing faulty products. Control , therefore, can be problematic: Workers and inspectors live in

Chapter 16 - Costs, Scale of Production, and Break-Even Analysis Lesson Objective: To understand and to be able to differentiate among the many different types of costs Costs, costs, costs... They come in many forms, sizes, and tastes: Fixed costs; Variable costs; Total costs; Average costs. Let's first look in to fixed and variable costs: Activity 16.1 (p. 216) And then we have our total costs , which obviously is the sum of variable + fixed costs: Activity 16.2 (p.

Chapter 15 - Production of Goods and Services Lesson Objective: To understand the difference between production and productivity Throughout the next couple of blog posts we will discuss operations management, more specifically, production : The question remains: What is production? Production is the process of converting inputs (what is inputs?) such as land, labour, and capital into sealable outputs/goods (e.g. shoes). There is one department of business that is responsibl

Now that you understand how the product life-cycle works as well as the different extension strategies, let's see how the product life-cycle influences the 4P's (Marketing Mix) decisions: Product Life-Cycle and PRODUCT Decisions: - On the introduction stage , companies tend to present an introductory product to the market (base mode); - On the growth stage, companies make adjustments to the base mode according to the market feedback; - On the maturity stage , companies start

Chapter 12 - Marketing Mix, Product and Price Lesson Objective: To understand the importance of the Marketing Mix and to be introduced to the Product decision In the world of Marketing there are four (4) extremely important decisions that can be made businesses to influence the overall success of the company and its products in the market: Such decisions are called the Marketing Mix or the 4P's: Let's start by looking at the Product : a decision that involves a lot more than

Chapter 11 - Market Research Lesson Objective: To understand the differences between quantitative and qualitative data Primary and Secondary Market Research are essentially different: Let's dive in more details on those two types of research/data: Primary Research : collecting first-hand data that serves the research purpose: Primary Research can be of two types: - Quantitative Research , which produces numerical results and can be presented as tables, charts, and analyzed t

Chapter 11 - Market Research Lesson Objective: To understand the benefits 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 11 - Market Research Lesson Objectives: To understand sampling, how to present market research data and problems with market research You now understand the difference between primary and secondary research. You are also well aware of qualitative and quantitative methods of market research. To finalize Market Research we now need to understand the following: Sampling Market Research Inaccuracies Presentation and use of Market Research data S ampling is separating

Your understanding of the differences between Mass Marketing and Niche Marketing should now be completed: - Mass Marketing is selling the same product to the whole market with no differentiation of price, place, or promotion strategies; - Niche Marketing, on the other hand, involves differentiating products, prices, locations, and promotion strategies. One of the main problems with mass marketing is the fact that customers are not being offered exactly what they want/need