Edexcel IGCSE Business
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1 - Business activity and influences on business
1.1 - Business objectives
1.1.1 - Business aims and objectivesBusinesses need a sense of what they are trying to achieve before they can choose how to use their money, time and people. This lesson explains financial and non-financial objectives, why a business can pursue several at once, and why higher sales do not always mean greater success.
1.1.2 - Changing business objectivesAn objective that suited a business last year may be inappropriate when its customers, resources or circumstances change. This lesson explains how market conditions, technology, performance, legislation and internal reasons can change the objectives a business chooses to pursue.
1.2 - Types of organisations
1.2.1 - Forms of business ownershipLearn who owns the main forms of business and how to distinguish an individual owner, partners, shareholders and the state. These differences help explain how businesses are organised, whatever their size.
1.2.2 - Ownership, liability and controlLearn how ownership affects personal risk, control, finance and the use of profit. Compare forms of ownership against what a business needs, including the benefits and costs of public ownership.
1.2.3 - Franchises, social enterprises and multinationalsLearn how franchises organise trading, how social enterprises put a mission at the centre of business activity and what makes a business multinational. Separate these descriptions from the legal ownership forms already studied.
1.3 - Classification of businesses
1.5 - Business and the international economy
1.5.1 - Globalisation opportunities and threatsGlobalisation connects businesses with customers, suppliers and competitors across countries. Learn why it can create opportunities and threats for a small business as well as a large business, and why the outcome depends on the business's capabilities.
1.5.2 - Multinationals and host economiesA multinational operates in more than one country. Learn why a business might expand this way, how its operations can benefit a host economy and why the benefits must be weighed against possible drawbacks.
1.5.3 - Exchange rate calculationsAn exchange rate lets a business express a price or receipt in another currency. Learn to read the direction of a quote, choose multiplication or division and check the result for a complete business transaction.
1.5.4 - Exchange rates and competitivenessExchange-rate changes can alter import costs and the prices or receipts from exports. Learn to identify appreciation and depreciation, calculate their effects and explain why a business's outcome depends on its currency exposure and pricing decisions.
1.6 - Government objectives and policies
1.6.1 - Government spending and taxationGovernments provide services that people and businesses use, but paying for them involves choices. This lesson explains public spending, how taxation affects businesses and customers, and why governments cannot fund every desirable service at once.
1.6.2 - Government policy and business activityGovernment decisions change the conditions in which firms buy, produce and sell. This lesson connects infrastructure, legislation, trading blocs and tariffs to business costs, demand and choices, while considering who gains and who may face a disadvantage.
1.6.3 - Interest rates and spendingInterest rates influence the cost of borrowing and the reward for saving. This lesson explains how a rate change can affect business finance, consumer spending and sales, and why its impact differs between firms and customers.
1.8 - What makes a business successful?
1.8.1 - Measuring business successSuccess depends on what a business is trying to achieve. This lesson uses financial results, market share, growth and stakeholder satisfaction to measure performance, calculate meaningful changes and recognise why one favourable measure cannot settle the whole judgement.
1.8.2 - Why businesses failA business can struggle because it cannot pay its bills, cannot compete effectively or does not adapt to its market. This lesson traces each cause to business failure and explains how the causes can reinforce one another, even when a firm once seemed successful.
2 - People in business
2.1 - Internal and external communication
2.1.1 - Communication methods and effectivenessLearn how communication helps a business coordinate work and serve customers, and how to choose a method whose benefits fit the message, people and situation.
2.1.2 - Communication barriers and solutionsLearn why business messages can fail, how those failures affect work and customers, and how to match a solution to the actual communication barrier.
2.2 - Recruitment and selection process
2.2.1 - Types of employmentLearn how employment arrangements differ in working time, duration and shared responsibility, and how a business can match staffing to its workload without losing continuity or quality.
2.2.2 - Recruitment documentsLearn how recruitment documents explain a vacancy, identify suitable applicants and provide evidence for selection, while keeping the job's requirements distinct from an applicant's claims.
2.2.3 - Recruitment and selectionLearn how a business attracts applicants, compares their evidence and chooses a suitable employee, and why recruitment methods must fit the vacancy rather than simply minimise immediate cost.
2.2.4 - Employment law and its effectsLearn how equal-opportunities and minimum-wage controls can affect employment decisions, workers and business costs, using clearly stated illustrative rules rather than assuming one law applies worldwide.
2.4 - Motivation and rewards
2.4.1 - Motivation and motivational theoriesLearn why employees choose to join, stay and put effort into a business. Use Taylor, Maslow and Herzberg to explain different sources of motivation, while recognising that employees do not all respond in the same way.
2.4.2 - Financial and non-financial rewardsLearn how pay, career opportunities and the design of work can motivate employees. Compare each method's incentives and limitations, and calculate straightforward commission and total-pay amounts.
2.5 - Organisation structure and employees
2.5.1 - Organisational structuresLearn how organisational charts show reporting relationships and how different structures affect communication, supervision and decisions. Distinguish the number of management levels from the location of decision-making authority.
2.5.2 - Responsibility, delegation and controlLearn who must do a task, who can make decisions and who must answer for the result. Use spans of control, chains of command and delegation to explain how a business coordinates work while maintaining accountability.
2.5.3 - Business functions and responsibilitiesLearn how human resources, finance, marketing and production organise different kinds of work. Follow how these functions depend on one another when a business employs people, serves customers and supplies products.
3 - Business finance
3.1 - Business finance - sources
3.1.1 - Why businesses need financeA business needs money before many of its activities can earn money. Learn how starting, day-to-day trading and expansion create different financing needs, and why the amount and timing of those needs matter.
3.1.2 - Internal sources of financeA business can fund activities using the owner's savings, profit kept in the business or money released by selling assets. Learn what each source provides, what it gives up and when it can meet a real financing need.
3.1.3 - External sources of financeOutside lenders, suppliers and investors can provide finance beyond a business's own funds. Learn how overdrafts, trade payables, loans, shares, venture capital and crowdfunding meet different needs, and how their costs and commitments affect the choice.
3.2 - Cash flow forecasting
3.2.1 - Cash, profit and survivalA profitable sale does not always put money into the bank in time to pay a bill. Learn why cash keeps a business operating, how cash differs from profit and how a payment shortage can threaten survival.
3.2.2 - Cash-flow forecastsA cash-flow forecast estimates when money will enter and leave a business, allowing shortages to be spotted before bills fall due. Learn to calculate receipts, payments, net cash flow and balances, then use the figures to make a reasoned decision.
3.3 - Costs and break-even analysis
3.3.1 - Revenue, costs and profitLearn how sales generate revenue, how output affects costs, and how to calculate and interpret profit or loss. Use averages and percentage changes to compare performance, while keeping profit separate from cash flow.
3.3.2 - Calculating break-even outputLearn what break-even means and find the output needed to cover all costs. Calculate it using contribution per unit, check whole-unit answers, and read the same result from a break-even chart.
3.3.3 - Using and interpreting break-even chartsUse break-even charts to interpret profit, loss and the effects of changing prices or costs. Explain how the model supports planning and why its assumptions limit the conclusions a business can draw.
3.4 - Financial documents
3.4.1 - Statements of comprehensive incomeRead the main features of a statement of comprehensive income and use them to judge business performance. Explain why profit matters and why a profitable business still needs enough cash to pay its bills.
3.4.2 - Statements of financial positionRead a business's assets, liabilities and capital employed at a particular date. Use a statement of financial position to interpret its funding and ability to meet obligations, while recognising the limits of a snapshot.
3.5 - Accounts analysis
3.5.1 - Profitability ratios and markupLearn how to calculate and interpret margins, markup and return on capital employed, choosing the correct profit figure and comparison base.
3.5.1 - Current and acid test ratiosLearn how to calculate the two liquidity ratios and explain what current assets, liabilities and inventory imply for meeting short-term payments.
3.5.2 - Liquidity and comparisonsLearn why liquidity matters and how to compare it across years and businesses without overlooking payment timing, asset quality or different business models.
3.5.3 - Financial performance and decisionsLearn how financial documents and ratios inform performance judgements and business decisions, including calculating average rate of return for an investment.
4 - Marketing
4.1 - Market research
4.1.1 - Why businesses research marketsA business can have an attractive idea and still find that too few people want to buy it. Market research helps it understand customers, recognise opportunities and make decisions with better evidence.
4.1.2 - Primary and secondary market researchBusinesses need different kinds of evidence for different decisions. This lesson compares research gathered for a business's own question with existing information, and explains how to choose useful methods.
4.1.3 - Market research data and reliabilityResearch produces numbers and explanations, but neither is automatically a reliable guide to the whole market. Learn to interpret research data, calculate useful summaries and judge how confidently a business can use its findings.
4.2 - The market
4.2.1 - Marketing, customers and marketsMarketing connects a business's offer to the customers it hopes to serve. Learn how meeting needs and building relationships support sales, and how businesses use orientation, market share and the choice of market to guide their approach.
4.2.2 - Responding to market changesCustomer needs, spending patterns and competitors change over time. A business must recognise what has changed, choose a suitable response and judge the likely effect on sales and costs.
4.2.3 - Market segmentation and targetingCustomers in the same broad market can have different needs and buying habits. Segmentation helps businesses recognise these groups and target an offer and message that suit them.
4.3 - The marketing mix
4.3.1 - Products, services and packagingA business develops products that meet customer needs and can be supplied profitably. Learn how goods differ from services, how new ideas become marketable products, and why packaging affects both customer choice and business costs. All business examples in this lesson are illustrative.
4.3.1 - Product life cycle and portfolioSales patterns and a business's range of products can help managers decide where to invest. Learn the phases of the product life cycle, ways to extend a product's sales, and how the Boston matrix supports product portfolio decisions. All business examples and diagrams are illustrative.
4.3.2 - Pricing strategiesPrice affects how customers view a product, how much they buy and the return a business earns on each sale. Learn cost-plus, penetration, competition, skimming and promotional pricing, and the conditions that make each suitable. All business examples and data in this lesson are illustrative.
4.3.3 - Distribution channelsA product must be available where and when its customers want to buy it. Learn how distribution channels work, how retailers and e-tailers reach customers, and how a business chooses a route that suits its product and resources. All business examples in this lesson are illustrative.
4.3.4 - Promotion, technology and brandsPromotion communicates a business's offer and gives customers reasons to choose it. Learn how methods suit different market segments, how public relations and technology affect communication, and why a recognisable, trusted brand can influence sales. All business examples in this lesson are illus...
5 - Business operations
5.1 - Economies and diseconomies of scale
5.1.1 - Internal and external economies of scaleA larger business may spend more in total while spending less on each item it produces. You will learn how to calculate that difference and explain cost savings caused by a business's own expansion or by developments outside it.
5.1.2 - Diseconomies of scale and growth limitsGrowth can make a business harder to manage as well as cheaper to run. You will learn why average costs may rise, how to recognise that change in data, and why businesses sometimes slow or limit expansion.
5.2 - Production
5.2.1 - Production methods and productivityThe best way to produce an item depends on what customers want, how many they buy and the resources available. You will compare job, batch and flow production, distinguish labour from capital intensity, and calculate whether a business is becoming more productive.
5.2.2 - Lean production, JIT and KaizenA business can become more efficient by preventing wasted materials, time and effort. You will learn how just-in-time inventory and Kaizen support lean production, and why their success depends on suppliers, workers and reliable processes.
5.2.3 - Technology and robotics in productionTechnology can make production faster and more consistent, but a faster machine is not always the best investment. Learn how businesses use robotics and balance cost, productivity, quality and flexibility when deciding how to produce.