Grade descriptions are provided to give a general indication of the standards of achievement likely to have been shown by candidates awarded particular grades. The grade awarded will depend in practice upon the extent to which the candidate has met the assessment objectives overall and it might conceal weakness in one aspect of the examination which is balanced by above average performance in another.
This document explain what is required of students in IGCSE Business Studies exam for grade A – F.
Key points:
A Grade ‘A’ candidate should demonstrate the following?
A Grade ‘C’ candidate should demonstrate the following?
A Grade ‘F’ candidate should demonstrate the following?
You will find the answers inside.
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The main features of different forms of business organisation:
Sole traders, partnerships, private and public limited companies, franchises and joint ventures
Differences between unincorporated businesses and limited companies
Concepts of risk, ownership and limited liability
Recommend and justify a suitable form of business organisation to owners/management in a given situation
Business organisations in the public sector, e.g. public corporations
In this lesson I cover:
Business activity in terms of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors:
Basis of business classification, using examples to illustrate the classification
Reasons for the changing importance of business classification, e.g. in developed and developing
economies
business enterprises between private sector and public sector in a mixed economy
In this lesson I cover:
Enterprise and entrepreneurship
Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
Contents of a business plan and how business plans assist entrepreneurs
Why and how governments support business start-ups, e.g. grants, training schemes
In this lesson I cover:
The purpose and nature of business activity
Concepts of needs, wants, scarcity and opportunity cost
Importance of specialisation
Purpose of business activity
The concept of adding value and how added value can be increased
There are four comprehensive PowerPoint presentations in this bundle covering everything students need to know for the below topics:
1.2.1 Customer needs
1.2.2 Market research
1.2.3 Market segmentation
1.2.4 The competitive environment
All presentations are informative, has images, questions and some activities.
Stakeholder objectives and Business growth
complete revision covering:
what is Stakeholders
What is Objectives in business
Different Stakeholder objectives
Conflict between different stakeholder objectives
Business growth and how business size is measured
there is also 7 questions to practice.
This PowerPoint presentation covers:
Franchises
Co-operatives
Public sector organisations
There are also 10 questions at the end which students can you to practice to remember the key points of the lesion.
This PowerPoint presentation covers:
Sole trader
Partnership
Limited companies
There are also 12 questions at the end which students can you to practice to remember the key points of the lesion.
This is a good quick revision tool, that will help students remember the key points.
In this lesson I cover:
The role of market research and methods used:
* Market-orientated businesses (uses of market research information to a business)
* Primary research and secondary research (benefits and limitations of each)
* Methods of primary research, e.g. postal questionnaire, online survey, interviews, focus groups
* The need for sampling
* Methods of secondary research, e.g. online, accessing government sources, paying for commercial market research reports
* Factors influencing the accuracy of market research data
Presentation and use of market research results:
* Analyse market research data shown in the form of graphs, charts and diagrams; draw simple conclusions from such data
In this lesson, I cover the following:
Marketing, competition and the customer
* The role of marketing:
* Identifying customer needs
* Satisfying customer needs
* Maintaining customer loyalty
* Building customer relationships
Market changes:
Why customer/consumer spending patterns may change
The importance of changing customer needs
Why some markets have become more competitive
How businesses can respond to changing spending patterns and increased competition
Concepts of niche marketing and mass marketing:
Benefits and limitations of both approaches to marketing
How and why market segmentation is undertaken:
How markets can be segmented, e.g. according to age, socio-economic grouping, location,
gender
Potential benefits of segmentation to business
Recommend and justify an appropriate method
of segmentation in given circumstances
This is a complete lesson.
In this lesson I cover:
Marketing strategy
Justify marketing strategies appropriate to a given situation:
* Importance of different elements of the marketing mix in influencing consumer decisions in given circumstances
* Recommend and justify an appropriate marketing strategy in given circumstances
The nature and impact of legal controls related to marketing:
* Impact of legal controls on marketing strategy, e.g. misleading promotion, faulty and dangerous goods
The opportunities and problems of entering new foreign markets:
* Growth potential of new markets in other countries
* Problems of entering foreign markets, e.g. cultural differences and lack of knowledge
* Benefits and limitations of methods to overcome such problems, e.g. joint ventures, licensing
In this lesson I cover:
Identify and classify costs:
Classifying costs using examples, e.g. fixed, variable, average, total
Use cost data to help make simple cost-based decisions, e.g. to stop production or continue
Economics and diseconomies of scale:
The concept of economies of scale with examples, e.g. purchasing, marketing, financial, managerial, technical
The concept of diseconomies of scale with examples, e.g. poor communication, lack of commitment from employees, weak coordination
Break-even analysis:
The concept of break-even
Construct, complete or amend a simple break-even chart
Interpret a given chart and use it to analyse a situation
Calculate break-even output from given data
Define, calculate and interpret the margin of safety
Use break-even analysis to help make simple decisions, e.g. impact of higher price
Understand the limitations of break-even analysis
In this lesson I cover:
The need for business finance:
The main reasons why businesses need finance, e.g. start-up capital, capital for expansion and additional working capital
Understand the difference between short-term and long-term finance needs
The main sources of finance:
Internal sources and external sources with examples
Short-term and long-term sources with examples, e.g. overdraft for short-term finance and debt or equity for long-term finance
Importance of alternative sources of capital, e.g. micro-finance, crowd-funding
The main factors considered in making the financial choice, e.g. size and legal form of business, amount required, length of time, existing loans
there is also an activity for students to get involved and remember.
In this lesson I cover:
Why quality is important and how quality production might be achieved:
What quality means and why it is important for all businesses
The concept of quality control and how businesses implement quality control
The concept of quality assurance and how this can be implemented
In this lesson I cover:
The importance of cash and of cash-flow forecasting:
Why cash is important to a business
What a cash-flow forecast is, how a simple one is constructed and the importance of it
Amend or complete a simple cash-flow forecast
How to interpret a simple cash-flow forecast
How a short-term cash-flow problem might be overcome, e.g. increasing loans, delaying payments, asking debtors to pay more quickly
Working capital:
The concept and importance of working capital
There is also a task at the end to help students remember what they have learnt in the lesson.
In this lesson I cover:
Environmental concerns and ethical issues as both opportunities and constraints for businesses:
How business activity can impact on the environment, e.g. global warming
The concept of externalities: possible external costs and external benefits of business decisions
Sustainable development; how business activity can contribute to this
How and why business might respond to environmental pressures and opportunities:
e.g. pressure groups
The role of legal controls over business activity affecting the environment, e.g. pollution controls
Ethical issues a business might face: conflicts between profits and ethics
How business might react and respond to ethical issues, e.g. child labour
I have included some key terms to remember for the exam.
Question at the end to help remember the main points of the lesson.