1. What is a business activity?
i. Business activity
ii. Goods and services
iii. Satisfying needs and services
iv. The purpose of business activity
v. Business stakeholders
vi. The changing business environment
2. Business Objectives
i. The importance of a clear objective
ii. SWOT analysis
iii. Financial objectives
iv. Non-financial objectives
v. Why business aims and objectives change
3. Types of business organizations (Full details relating to set up, ownership, control, sources of
finance, advantages and disadvantages)
i. Definition of an entrepreneur and characteristics of an entrepreneur
ii. Sole Trader
iii. Partnerships
iv. Private Limited Companies
v. Public Limited Companies
vi. Public Corporations
vii. Reasons against public ownership of businesses
viii. Privatization
ix. Appropriateness of different forms of ownership: Factors affecting appropriateness
of different forms of ownership
4. Other forms of Business organizations (Full details including advantages and disadvantages)
i. Franchises
ii. Social enterprises
iii. The importance and growth of Multinationals.
iv. Advantages and disadvantages of MNCs to home and host country
5. Internal and external communication
i. What is communication
ii. Different communication methods (Benefits and limitations of each.
iii. Importance of good communication and the problems of ineffective communication
iv. Barriers to communication
6. Classification of businesses
i. Primary sector
ii. Secondary sector
iii. Tertiary sector
iv. Changes in the sectors – de-industrialization
7. Factors of Production
i. Land, Labour, Capital, Entrepreneur
ii. The changing relations between the 4 factors of production
iii. Differences between labor intensive and capital-intensive production
8. Decision on Location (Factors influencing the location of business)
i. The primary sector
ii. The Manufacturing sector
iii. The tertiary sector
iv. Impact of internet on location decisions
v. Impact of legal controls and trade blocs on location decisions.
9. What makes a business successful (Measuring success in business)
i. Measuring the success of a business
10. Reasons for business failure
i. Business Failure
11. Economies and diseconomies of scale
i. Internal economies of scale
ii. Internal diseconomies of scale
iii. External economies of scale
iv. External diseconomies of scale
v. Factors that limit the growth of firms
12. Sources of Finance
i. The need for finance
ii. Internal sources of finance
iii. External sources of finance – Short term (Include advantages and disadvantages)
iv. External sources of finance – Long term (Include advantages and disadvantages)
13. Cash flow forecasting
i. The importance of cash to a business
ii. Calculation and interpretation of cash-flow forecast
iii. Why are cash flow forecasts important?
14. Costs and break-even analysis
i. The concept and calculation of various costs
ii. The concept of break-even and calculation of break-even from formula and diagram
iii. Interpretation of break-even charts
iv. The limitations of break-even charts
15. Organizational structures and Departments
i. Organizational charts for different types of businesses
ii. Flat and tall structures, Span of control, chain of command
iii. Centralized and decentralized structures, Advantages disadvantages
iv. Delegation, advantages and disadvantages
v. Employee roles and responsibilities
16. ✘ Departments
i. Human Resource
ii. Finance
iii. Marketing
iv. Production
v. Relationship and inter-dependence between Departments
17. Recruitment and selection process
i. Types of employment
ii. Recruitment process and documents
iii. Internal and external recruitment
18. Legal controls over employment and their effects
i. What are equal opportunities
ii. Minimum wage laws
19. Training
i. Importance of training to a business and the workers
ii. Induction training, on-job training, off-the job training (Include advantages and
disadvantages)
iii. Benefits and limitations of training
20. Motivation
i. The importance of motivation in the workplace
ii. Motivation theories – Maslow, Herzberg, Tailor
iii. Financial methods of motivation
iv. Non-financial methods of motivation
v. Job satisfaction
21. Financial documents
i. The purpose of statements of comprehensive income (Main features)
ii. The use of statements of comprehensive income
iii. The purpose of statements of financial position
iv. Interpretation of statement of comprehensive income
22. Ratio analysis
i. What is ratio analysis
ii. Calculating and analyzing accounting ratios
iii. The concept and importance of liquidity
iv. The use and importance of ratio analysis
23. Market Research
i. The purpose of market research
ii. Methods of Primary research
iii. Methods of Secondary research
iv. The role of social media in collecting market research data.
v. Importance and reliability of market research data.
24. Marketing
i. The importance of marketing
ii. Responding to changes in the market
iii. Product approach and market approach
iv. Niche market and mass market
v. Market segmentation
vi. Branding and brand loyalty
25. The marketing mix (Give full details)
i. Product
ii. Price
iii. Promotion
iv. Place
v. The use of technology in marketing
26. Production
i. Different types of production processes
ii. Principles of lean production
iii. The impact of technology in production
27. Quality and quality assurance
i. The concept of quality and quality control
ii. Quality assurance
iii. Total Quality Management (TQM)
iv. The concept of competitive advantage
28. Government objectives and policies
i. The six government objectives
ii. Government spending
iii. Taxation
iv. Constrains on government spending
v. How government can influence business activity
Fiscal policy
Monetary policy
Supply side policy
Trade policy
Infrastructure development
Legislation
Trade acts
Rules and regulations
29. External factors affecting business decisions
Social factors
Technological factors
Environmental factors
Political factors
30. Business and the International economy.
i. Globalization
ii. The importance and growth of MNCs
iii. International Trade and Exchange rate calculation
iv. The impact of exchange rates on:
importers and exporters
International competitiveness
31. Revision papers and Tests
