Switching to AQA: from Eduqas

The subject content is divided into six sections:

• Business in the real world
• Influences on business
• Business operations
• Human resources
• Marketing
• Finance

The subject content is divided into six sections:

• Business activity
• Influences on business
• Business operations
• Finance
• Marketing
• Human resources

Two papers, covering:

• Influence of operations and HRM on business activity
  • Business in the real world
  • Influences on business
  • Business operations
  • Human resources
• Influence of marketing and finance on business activity
  • Business in the real world
  • Influences on business
  • Marketing
  • Finance

Two papers, covering:

• Business activity
• Influences on business
• Business operations
• Finance
• Marketing
• Human resources

Each paper is worth 90 marks

• Paper 1 is worth 100 marks
• Paper 2 is worth 60 marks

Each paper allows 1 hour 45 minutes

• Paper 1 allows 2 hours
• Paper 1 allows 1 hour 30 minutes

Both papers have two sections:

• Section A – 20 marks
• Section B and C – total 70 marks, approximately 35 marks each, with one business context in each section

• Purpose of business
• Reasons for starting a business
• Basic functions and types of business
• Business enterprise and entrepreneurship
• Dynamic nature of business

• The nature of business activity
  • competitive environment
  • dynamic environment
  • business opportunities
  • scale of business
  • interdependence of business activity
• Providing goods and services
• Provision of goods and services
• Business enterprise
  • what is business enterprise?
  • role, characteristics, motives, risks and rewards of the entrepreneur

• Sole traders
• Partnerships
• Private limited companies (ltd)
• Public limited companies (plc)
• Not-for-profit organisations

• Unlimited liability – sole traders, partnerships
• Limited liability – private and public limited companies
• Co-operatives and charities

• What are business aims and objectives
• Purpose of setting objectives
• Role of objectives in running a business
• Changing objectives
• Use of objectives in judging success

• Main types of aims
• Role of objectives
• SMART objectives
• How aims and objectives differ for different businesses
• How aims and objectives change
• Influence of stakeholders, impact on stakeholders

• Main stakeholders of businesses
• Objectives of stakeholders
• Impact of business activity on stakeholders
• Impact and influence stakeholders have on businesses

• Range of stakeholders involved
• Influence of stakeholders, impact on stakeholders

Factors influencing the location decision of a business

• Factors influencing where a business locates
• Factors influencing the siting of a business

• The purpose of business planning
• The main sections within a business plan
• Basic financial terms
• Basic financial calculations

• Importance of business planning
• Role of business plan for start-ups
• Main sections of business plan

• Methods of expansion
• Benefits and drawbacks of expansion
• Economies of scale
• Diseconomies of scale

• Reasons for growth
• Methods of growth – internal, external, franchising

• E-commerce
• Digital communication

• Effect of changes in technology
• Use of technology in workplace
• Use of CAD and CAM
• E-commerce and m-commerce
• Digital media and social media

• Ethical considerations
• Environmental considerations
• Sustainability

• Influences on business – ethical influence
  • what is meant by business ethics
  • conflict between ethics and profit
• Influences on business – environmental influence
  • possible environmental costs
  • sustainability

• Interest rates
• Levels of employment
• Consumer spending

• Economic factors – consumer income, unemployment, interest rates, tax rates
• Tax – income tax, VAT, corporation tax

• How UK businesses compete internationally
• Exchange rates

• International trade
• Features of globalisation, opportunities and threats, impact
• Multinational company, impact of setting up in UK
• European Union, single market

• Employment law
• Health and Safety law
• Consumer law

• Need for legislation
• Employment law
• Consumer law
• Intellectual property protection
• Impact of legislation on business and stakeholders

• Impact on businesses of operating incompetitive markets
• Uncertainty and risks businesses face

• Methods of production
• Efficiency in production

Methods – job, batch, flow

• Managing stock
• Factors affecting choice of suppliers
• The effects of procurement and logistics on business
• The value of effective supply chain management

Business operations – supply chain

• stages of movement of goods and services
• procurement
• logistics
• stock control
• relationships between functional areas and supply chain
• impact of decisions on businesses and stakeholders

• Consequences of quality issues
• Methods of maintaining consistent quality
• Costs and benefits of maintaining quality

• Concept of quality
• Methods of ensuring quality
• Importance of quality

• Methods of good service
• Benefits of good customer service
• Dangers of poor customer service
• The ways in which advances in ICT have allowed customer services to develop

• Stages in the sales process
• Relationship between sales and other functions
• Importance of good customer service
• Features of good customer service
• Situations when business interacts with customers
• Customer service online

• Organisational structures
• Appropriateness of organisational structures
• Centralisation and decentralisation

• Job roles, their characteristics
• Different organisational structures
• Importance of effective communication
• Trade unions

• The need for recruitment
• Methods of recruitment and selection of employees
• Contracts of employment

• Importance of process
• Recruitment process
• Methods of recruitment
• Human resources – organisational structures
• Evolving nature – contracts

• Importance of motivation in the workforce
• Methods to motivate staff

• Benefits of motivated workforce
• Methods – financial, non-financial

• Importance of training the workforce
• Types of training undertaken by businesses

• Benefits
• Situations when training is needed
• Types of training – on-the-job, off-the-job

The importance of identifying and satisfying customer needs

Importance of identifying customers

Types of segmentation

• How markets are segmented
• Reasons for segmentation

• Purpose of market research
• Methods of market research to include primary and secondary
• Use of market research: information that may help decision making

• Importance of market research
• Methods primary, secondary
• Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative data
• Interpret market research data to solve problems and inform decisions

• Pricing methods – the factors that influence pricing decisions
• Product
  • product differentiation
  • the product life cycle
  • product portfolio
• Promotional methods – factors influencing the selection of the promotional mix, reasons for promotion
• Place (the different channels of distribution used by businesses)

• Price
  • methods
  • use of different pricing strategies in different contexts
• Product
  • good or service offered for sale – portfolio, differentiation, brand, packaging, USP
  • product life cycle – stages, extension strategy, diagram, use in decision making
• Promotion
  • methods
  • media
  • impact of technology
• Place
  • channels
  • distribution channels
  • e-commerce, m-commerce
  • multi-channel distribution
• Marketing – marketing mix
• Need to create right marketing mix
• How 4 Ps work together
• Use to inform and implement decisions

• Methods businesses use to raise finance
• Appropriateness of sources of finance

• Internal and external
• Advantages and disadvantages
• Suitability of different sources in different contexts

• Importance of cash to business
• Interpreting cash flow forecasts
• Difference between cash and profit

• Importance of cash to business
• What is meant by a cash-flow forecast
• Calculate, construct and interpret cash-flow forecasts
• Impact on business and stakeholders

• Basic financial terms
• Basic financial calculations
• Average rate of return
• Break-even

• Concepts of revenue, costs and profit
• Calculate and interpret – fixed costs, variable costs, total costs, total revenue, profit
• Break-even – construct and interpret a break-even chart
• Calculate break-even through contribution using formula
• Effects on break-even of changes in costs and/or prices
• Calculate and interpret average rate of return

• Purpose of financial statements
• Components of financial statements
• Interpretation of data on given financial statements

• Profit and loss accounts (income statements)
• Components of profit and loss account
• Construct and calculate a profit and loss account
• Interpret a profit and loss account
• Calculate and interpret gross and net profit margins
• How to improve profit/reduce costs
• Use data to analyse business performance – revenue, costs, profit, profit and loss accounts, cash-flow