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Business

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Course Information

Course Text Books

Business Book Yr 1 (Pearson)

This needs to be purchased

at the start of the course

Business Book Yr 2 (Pearson)

This does not need to be purchased until July 2021

Business Revision Book (Pearson)

This is not a compulsory

purchase

Further Reading & Online Resources

Websites

Learn Marketing: www.learnmarketing.net

Economics Online: www.economicsonline.co.uk/

BBC: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zd6fcdm

Revision World: www.revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/business-studies-level-revision

Revision Guru: www.revisionguru.co.uk/

S-Cool: www.s-cool.co.uk/a-level/business-studies

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YouTube Channels

Trips & Enrichment

As part of the Level 3 BTEC Business Studies course, we offer a number of trips or enrichment activities, such as;

Links to local businesses Workshops by professionals Barclays Bank workshops Lloyds TSB Business Conference (London City) LIBF workshop

Equipment

1 x A4 lever arch folder

Please choose any colour you wish

1 x pack of dividers

Plain tabbed dividers are best so you can write on them easily

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i. The basics and expectations

The basics

Business is all around you every day, it isn’t hard to see how it has affected you and will

affect your future. Take Brexit for example, do you view that as a positive or a negative?

There will be some key terms you know from your GCSE course, however, if you are new to

Business these are the terms you should be familiar with. Spend some time to find them out

and create a document with them prepared.

● Use: www.tutor2u.com and www.learnmarketing.net to help. Other useful websites are included within this booklet.

Easy Key Terms Challenging Terms

Public Sector Ownership Market Segmentation

Private Sector Business Ownership Market Research Methods

Voluntary Sector Ownership Product Life Cycle

Sole Trader Vs Partnership Situational Analysis

LTD Vs PLC Internal Influences

Limited & Unlimited liability External Influences (PESTLE)

Size and Scale Of Business SWOT

Industry Sector (Primary, et al) Pricing Strategies

Organisational Structures The Extended Marketing Mix

Marketing (Define, importance) Porter's Five Forces

Marketing Principles Boston Matrix

The Marketing Mix Ansoff Matrix

Promotional Mix Sources of Income (Individuals & Businesses)

Types of Income Sources of Finance

Types of Expenditure Interest rates

Insurance (Define, types) Consumer Protection relating to Personal Finance

Purpose of Accounting Inflation

Revenue (define, formula) Exchange rate

Variable costs (define, formula) Labour turnover (define, formula)

Profit (define, formula) Capacity utilisation (define, formula)

Cash Flow Forecasts (Define, formulas) ROCE (define, formula)

Contribution per unit (formula) Current Ratio (define, formula)

Break even (define, formula) Trading Bloc

Profit margin

That should have given you plenty to think about. These terms will be integral in your

understanding of business.

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The expectations

Business is a subject that continues to change, it is a forward looking subject. It is a subject

that requires writing in context. You cannot rely only on your text book alone. To be

successful you will need to show:

1. Awareness of business in the real world via media news sources

2. An ability to conduct independent research

3. Show logical chains of argument. Don't jump steps, link them in your answers

ii. The companies you really should know!

It is impossible to know what companies will be examined in your assessments. However, some of the big multinationals will provide you with enough evidence to cover all the aspects of business in your course. Become familiar with these companies, they will help you contextualise your answers.

1. Your first Summer challenge is to find out the ‘ownership’ types of these companies listed below

2. Your second Summer challenge comes later on…..

Vodafone Volkswagen NHS amazon IKEA

BARCLAYS Apple Coca-

Cola

TOYOTA

John Lewis BRITISH

AIRWAYS Shell

Nestle Google

TESCO Cadbur

y

Mars Virgin Rolls Royce

Unilever STARBUCKS facebook

Nike

TESLA

HSBC

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iii. The reading list for the summer

One of the best ways to spend time relaxing is by upgrading your knowledge. This can be done at the beach, in a café, your room, laying in a park, waiting at an airport-literally anywhere! The question is what to read….

APPS for Business

Websites & Videos for Business

1. The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/uk/business

2. The Independent: www.independent.co.uk 3. Learn Marketing : www.learnmarketing.net 4. Learning Marketing: www.learnmarketing.net/marketingplan.htm

5. The FT: www.ft.com

6. Reuters: www.reuters.com/ 7. BBC Business: www.bbc.com/news/business 8. This is money: www.thisismoney.co.uk 9. Tutor2U: www.tutor2u.net 10. BBC Bitesize: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zc2pb9q/resources/1 11. YouTube - Taking the Biz tutorials:

www.youtube.com/channel/UCIlJ4pk3uzyWoeoBkGs0hxQ/featured

To supplement your reading these books will be of interest! The bold ones are easier reads!

Building Strong Brands Aaker, David 978-1849830409

The Idea in You: How to Find It, Build It, and Change Your Life

Amor, Martin 978-0241971390

Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons In Life Branson, Richard 978-0753510995

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Covey, Stephen 978-0684858395

The Lean Book of Lean - a Concise Guide to Lean Management for Life and Business

Earley, John 978-1119096191

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers

Ferriss, Timothy 978-1785041273

Think and Grow Rich Hill, Napolean 978-1934451359

Legacy: New Zealand All Blacks Kerr, James 978-1472103536

Chaos Monkeys: Inside the Silicon Valley Money Machine Martinez, Antonio Garcia

978-1785034558

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon Stone, Brad 978-0552167833

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iv. The writing styles

The style of writing at 6th Form is a development of the writing style needed for evaluative questions at GCSE. The main requirements across the exam boards are:

1) Knowledge (know your definitions)

2) Application (this is a big one for context of the case studies and extracts)

3) Analysis (show logical thinking and arguments. Consider why you raised the point)

4) Evaluation (bringing it all together, forming a judgement and answering the

question)

Each exam board will provide you with a good understanding of what is needed for each. You can find these in the specifications, also look at example answers and mark schemes to see what is needed!

Writing style PeCAN PiE Tutor2u: Tutor2u recommend a style of writing called PeCAN PiE, you can watch a video on this here: https://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/effective-paragraph-technique-pecan-pie

Examples The following is a made-up question and two short example answers. See if you can tell where balance and context are applied.

Q. Boeing manufactures some of the world’s largest passenger airplanes. Management are currently looking to reduce costs by purchasing cheaper engines and materials to manufacture the planes. Assess the impact of this strategy on Boeing.

Example one If they decide to buy cheaper things for making their products this will mean the company is spending less and their costs will be lower. This will be a good thing as their profits will increase which will make shareholders happy.

Example two If Boeing decides to purchase cheaper engines and materials for their planes, this will result in a lowering of their manufacturing costs which may make them more attractive than main rivals Airbus. This could result in more orders from British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. However, using cheaper engines and parts could have disastrous effects for Boeing. If an accident occurred and it was the fault of Boeing and cheaper parts/manufacturing, then Boeing's brand image would be significantly damaged resulting in long term consequences for the firm.

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Where did you see context and balance?

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Transition Project

1) Download at least three recommended apps. If you don't have a twitter account, then

get one! On twitter you can follow the recommended news companies.

2) Choose at least one of the reading books to buy or download from Amazon. Write a short

summary of the book, maybe 5 things you have learnt about business.

3) Download the exam board specifications and a sample assessment. They can be found

here: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/btec-nationals/business-

2016.coursematerials.html#filterQuery=category:Pearson-UK:Category%2FSpecification-

and-sample-assessments

a. Edexcel (Pearson – BTEC National)

i. Unit 1 Exploring Business

ii. Unit 2 Developing a Marketing Campaign &

iii. Unit 3 Personal and Business Finance

iv. Unit 8 Recruitment & Selection Process

b. Look through the exam board specifications and sample materials, they can

be a real help in understanding your forthcoming course. Make some notes

on key findings.

Unit 2: Your Marketing Project (more details below)

4) For the next few weeks you are to carry out the following project based on (Unit 2

Developing A Marketing Campaign) of the BTEC National Business course. This unit

focuses on the subject of marketing and the developing a marketing campaign plan. You

are expected to produce a marketing report of a very good standard and must include

referencing of sources.

5) You need to produce a coherent and well-balanced marketing strategy for a new or

existing product or service for an organisation of your choice. Choose a company from

the list provided on page 5. You must produce a report that is word-processed and

include tables, graphs and charts based on your primary and secondary research.

6) You should demonstrate that you have used a range of information sources. To do this,

include all the sources you have used (e.g., your questionnaire, published and electronic

data, people you have consulted, etc.) List these at the end of the report (Appendix).

7) The date for this project is Friday, 4th September 2020 – Details of All Tasks Below.

Enjoy and most of all embrace Business as a diverse topic that isn’t always about making the most revenue and profit (although that is a pretty good answer for most business question)

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Marketing Project Tasks

Please put everything together in a formal word-processed report that is due in on the 4th September 2020.

Imagine your report is needed for a formal board meeting –five minutes late the organisation loses the contract.

Make sure your report is a coherent and well-balanced marketing strategy that reflects appropriate use of marketing models and tools.

It must include a list of all sources used (Bibliography). Please refer to the “Websites & Videos for Business” on Page 6 to help with all project

tasks.

A. CONSTRUCTING YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

Task 1 - Research and explain what a marketing strategy is using suitable examples. ● Discuss the principles and purpose of marketing

● Explain marketing concepts using relevant examples

● Explain the marketing Aims and objectives and the importance of having clear aims

and objectives.

Task 2 - Research a product or service: provide background information about the business organisation you have chosen.

• History of the organisation

• Type of business (ownership sector)

• Purpose, Aims & Objectives

• Size of the business (no of outlets, no of employees, revenue generated per year

for the last 2 years, etc.)

• Sector of activities

• What product or service you have chosen and why (justified rationale)

• Types of market in which product/service is sold.

Task 3 - Carry out secondary research on the product or service. This is research that is already published. You may wish to: -

• Visit your local library to get the information

• Search the Internet

• Contact the organisation for information

• Government statistics

• Critically investigate your sources – are they valid, reliable & appropriateness?

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Task 4 - Carry out primary research on the product or service. This can be in the form of, for example: -

• Questionnaire or survey

• Interviews

• Focus group

• Discussions

• Sampling

• Testing

• Critically examine the validity, reliability & appropriateness of data collected?

Task 5 - Analyse and evaluate your primary and secondary data illustrating the results with charts, tables and graphs.

• Using findings to assess the relevance and need for a new or updated marketing

strategy Justify your recommendation

• Explain what marketing strategies are with examples

• Use the information you collect to select your marketing strategy

• Justify your chosen marketing strategy.

B. INTERNAL & EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Task 6 - Assessing Business Influences. ● Carry out a PESTEL analysis assessing key external influences on the business and its

marketing activities

● Carry out an Internal analysis assessing internal influences on the business and its

marketing activities

● Carry out a competitor analysis of the market that your organisation operates in

(Porter’s Five Forces)

● Use all information gathered about the business above to carry out a SWOT analysis

of the business. SWOT analysis assesses the following:

○ Internal Strengths and Weakness

○ External Opportunities and Threats.

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C. MARKETING MODELS AND TOOLS

Task 7 - Use the above analyses to form the basis of the marketing mix for a new product or service for the business.

● Research likely pricing strategies for the new product or service

● Explain how your analysis of the competition will affect your pricing strategy for the

new product or service

● Discuss the marketing strategy for the new project or service

● Clearly show the links between your PESTLE & SWOT analysis and your marketing

strategy

● Examine the marketing models (Ansoff Matrix, Boston Matrix and Product Life cycle)

in relation to the business and proposed new product or service.

D. MARKETING STRATEGY AND MARKETING MIX

Task 8 - Marketing Strategy review and Marketing mix rationale. ● Review marketing strategy chosen, amend if needed and then show how marketing

models and tools such as those in Task 6, have shaped your views on what strategy

to pursue

● Construct a realistic rationale for the development of a coherent marketing mix (ie,

price, product, promotion, place) for the product/service, showing a clear

understanding of the principles of marketing

● Draw up a marketing strategy (4 P’s) for the product/service, clearly linking your

decisions on strategy back to your research and analysis carried out above (Task 6)

● Evaluate & justify the likely success of the marketing strategy (Task 6 & 7) for the

product/service.

All projects will be marked and used to assess your suitability for the course.

If you have any concerns please come straight to us for advice.

Mr Beacher (Michael.beacher@swale.at) Ms Olu-Garrick (Elizabeth.olugarrick@swale.at)

Exam Board

Edexcel:

● https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/btec-nationals/business-2016.html

● https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/BTEC-

Nationals/Business/2016/specification-and-sample-assessments/Sample-assessment-

material-Unit-2-Developing-a-Marketing-Campaign.pdf

● https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/BTEC-

Nationals/Business/2016/specification-and-sample-assessments/Sample-assessment-

material-Unit-3-Personal-and-Business-Finance.pdf