Controlled Assessment

7 th Jun 18 th Jun 7 th Jun 18 th Jun 7 th Jun 18 th Jun GCSE Business Studies Year 11 AQA Unit 2: Growing as a Business Controlled Assessment The Unit may be introduced by inviting in outside business people; local businesses / entrepreneurs to encourage candidates to work individually to devise their own business idea. Teaching Phase Analysing gaps in the market Product part of the marketing mix How to carry out market research How to analyse market research Ways in which you could market the business Promotion part of the marketing mix Understand key aspects of the marketing mix and how they will use this to ensure that the business is a success. The task has been broken down into a series of smaller, more manageable tasks, which will enable candidates to approach the assessment in a structured way. Candidates will be expected to address each of the individual bullet points in their research and are expected to produce original and independent work. Whilst it may be convenient for centres to standardise the research by having all the candidates considering the same need, the expectation is that candidates will devise and undertake their own projects. Candidates should identify a local need that is either currently not being met or a need which is only partially being met. They will be expected to conduct market research in order to identify and prioritise the needs of a target group in their particular area. The results of the market research should then be analysed and reasons given for their choice of business. Candidates should refer to key aspects of the marketing mix which they will use to ensure that the business is a success. It is the quality of the work, not the quantity, which will be assessed in relation to the assessment criteria. Spotting a gap in the market http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/worki ng_lunch/4702472.stm Product-led versus Market-led Marketing 19/business/marketing/lesson/assetled.htm Times 100 Case Study Nivea The use of the marketing mix in product launch Times 100 Case Study First Direct Using market research Market research 19/business/marketing/lesson/research.htm Opportunity for candidates to research their own idea / New ideas / existing businesses in local area. http://www.mrs.org.uk/mrindustry/index.htm Times 100 Case Study Portakabin Promoting the brand Developing a Promotional Campaign 19/business/marketing/lesson/campaign.htm 7E:\Teaching May 2010\Head of Department\Schemes of Work\GCSE Business Unit2.doc 1

1 week 21 st Jun- 25 th Jun Research and Planning Phase Research may be completed under limited supervision. This means that, whilst candidates can carry out research at home (using the Internet, etc), any material collected or produced as a consequence will not contribute directly to assessable outcomes. Candidates should avoid including significant amounts of unnecessary research material and, instead, be more focused in their selection of relevant research. 28 th Jun 9th Jul 12 th Jul 22 nd Jul Candidates should spend between 5 and 8 hours researching their task. You should not record this time but you should encourage candidates not to exceed the approximate time allocation. WORK EXPERIENCE WORK EXPERIENCE WORK EXPERIENCE Research and Planning Phase Research may be completed under limited supervision. This means that, whilst candidates can carry out research at home (using the Internet, etc), any material collected or produced as a consequence will not contribute directly to assessable outcomes. Candidates should avoid including significant amounts of unnecessary research material and, instead, be more focused in their selection of relevant research. 12 th Jul 22 nd Jul Research and Planning Candidates should spend between 5 and 8 hours researching their task. You should not record this time but you should encourage candidates not to exceed the approximate time allocation. **Some students may be out on Geography and History trips 7E:\Teaching May 2010\Head of Department\Schemes of Work\GCSE Business Unit2.doc 2

RESOURCES Business Studies published by Nelson Thornes (ISBN 978-1-4085-0435-2) Growing as a Business by Denby & Hamman published by Hodder Education (ISBN: 978-0- 340-986646-6) The following websites may provide useful content or links: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/business/ has good basic content. http://www.businessstudiesonline.co.uk/ has some useful activities and may provide you with ideas so that you can develop your own. http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/ for some applied concepts. http://sixthsense.osfc.ac.uk/business/index.asp Oldham 6th form college has produced some student friendly resources. http://www.tes.co.uk/ has resources that you can download following free registration. You can also upload your own ideas for others to use a swap shop without Noel Edmunds! http://www.businessballs.com/ is complex but you can get some interesting ideas from here. 6th Sep CONTENT Controlled Assessment refresher lessons 13 th Expanding a Business Sep methods of expansion. The benefits and risks to a business of expanding methods of expansion used by large businesses, for example: mergers and takeovers, organic growth and franchising conflict between stakeholders. The ways in which the growth of a business can impact on its stakeholders and how those stakeholders might react to protect their own interests Choosing the Right Legal Structure for the 27th Sep Business private limited companies (ltd) public limited companies (plc).the advantages and disadvantages of a private limited company becoming a public limited company 11 th Oct Controlled Assessment Period Resource and Other Guidance Candidates are not expected to understand the legal aspects to takeovers and mergers, such as the sale and acquisition of shares. Candidates should understand that the actions a business follows can impact negatively on some groups of stakeholders, whilst positively on other groups. http://www.businessinfo4schools.co.uk/polypipe%20bu SINESS%20STAKEHOLDERS%20BROAD.pdf Candidates do not need to cover the legal procedure for gaining limited liability. They should, however, be able to argue a case both for and against becoming a limited business. 7E:\Teaching May 2010\Head of Department\Schemes of Work\GCSE Business Unit2.doc 3

18 th Oct 1 st Nov Changing Business Aims and Objectives reasons for changing aims and objectives as businesses grow. How the objectives of larger businesses might differ from smaller businesses ethical and environmental considerations. The wider social costs and benefits facing business operation, such as ethical and environmental considerations Choosing the Best Location factors influencing start-up location decisions and the importance of location to growing businesses in terms of minimising costs and increasing revenues the issues relating to international or global expansion include the physical presence in international markets and cost considerations Candidates need to understand the reasons why the aims and objectives of larger businesses may be different than those smaller organisations. Candidates are not expected to be able to impute social and environmental costs and benefits, but have an understanding of why businesses might include these in their decision-making. http://www.virginmedia.com/about/cr/ Candidates need to understand the concept of location by cost minimisation, although no calculations are required. They need also to understand why some businesses choose not to move to locations that offer lower costs. Candidates should be aware of the risks associated with international expansion, eg exchange rates changes. 8th Nov 15 th Nov Students may identify and analyse the location of existing businesses in their own locality. Key terms test and exam on growth The Marketing Mix Product product portfolio/mix. How and why businesses might broaden and balance their product as they grow product life cycle. How the demand for a product or service might change over time and the various stages of the product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity and decline, and the methods that a company might adopt to extend the life of a product in its decline phase, and the impact these strategies might have on other aspects of the business Candidates should understand that businesses use many aspects of marketing, and it is the combinations of these elements that produce the mix. They should avoid studying the 4Ps in isolation to each other. Candidates need to be able to evaluate the marketing mix used by a case study business and suggest improvements to it. http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-study--the-usemarketingmix-product-launch--87-303-1.php 19/business/marketing/presentation/mixb.ppt Only those pricing strategies mentioned will be examined. However, credit will be given to candidates who suggest other suitable strategies as part of their responses to questions. 29 th The Marketing Mix Price Nov pricing decisions for growth, including: price skimming, price penetration, competitive pricing, loss leader and cost-plus factors affecting pricing decisions. Nature of the Candidates should be able to apply the strategies appropriately market, the degree of competition given a business s particular circumstances. 7E:\Teaching May 2010\Head of Department\Schemes of Work\GCSE Business Unit2.doc 4

6 th Dec 3rd Jan 17 th Jan 24 th Jan 31 st Jan The Marketing Mix Promotion promotional activities to enable growth, advertising, sales promotion, sponsorship and direct marketing selecting the promotional mix depending upon the factors influencing the selection of the promotional mix, eg, nature of the market, nature of the product, activities of competitors The Marketing Mix Place channels of distribution to enable growth, the different channels of distribution used by businesses to gain access to potential customers selecting channels of distribution, the appropriateness of each distribution method in a given scenario, but with a view to the issues re location factors Key terms and exam on marketing Sources of Finance for Large Businesses the main methods that a large business might use to raise funds - retained profits, a new share issue, obtaining a loan or mortgage and selling unwanted assets Profit and Loss Accounts and Balance Sheets purpose of financial statements - the importance of a profit and loss account and balance sheet to the stakeholders when assessing the performance components of financial statements interpretation of data given on financial statements the performance of a business through interpretation of the information contained in simplified versions of the profit and loss accounts, balance sheet and by the application of gross and net profit margins and current and acid test ratios Candidates should be aware that large businesses will be able to use different promotional activities than that used by smaller concerns. Emphasis should be placed on being able to support the choice of a particular strategy, rather than merely describe it. Candidates need to be aware of newer channels, such as internet selling and telesales. Candidates need to be able to more than just describe the different channels; theyshould be able to justify their choice of channel for a particular business. Candidates should be able to incorporate channels of distribution into business s location decisions (see section 4 above) Candidates need to be able to discuss the case both for and against a business using each source of finance. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/business/financ e/sourcesoffinancerev1.shtml The emphasis of this section should be on interpreting the statements rather than having a detailed knowledge of their component parts. Only simplified accounts will be used. The formula for a ratio will be provided to candidates if a calculation is required. The candidates will, however, have to make sense of the value of the ratio in the context of the business. Only those ratios mentioned will be requested in the examination, but candidates who use others to support their analysis will not be penalised. http://sixthsense.osfc.ac.uk/business/acc_finance/profit_loss.asp 7E:\Teaching May 2010\Head of Department\Schemes of Work\GCSE Business Unit2.doc 5

20 th Feb 28 th Feb 7th Mar 21 st Mar 28 th Mar Key terms and exam on finance Organisational Charts and Management Hierarchies internal organisation structures, organisation trees, and layers of management. How they effect that the shape of the organisational structure has on how the organisation is managed centralisation/ decentralisation - the benefits and challenges that both can bring to a business Recruitment and Retention of staff the process that businesses go through to recruit and select new employees the benefits of an induction training programme and what might be included in it the advantages and disadvantages of on the job training, such as in house training, and off the job training such as external courses how and why businesses use an appraisal or performance review system the methods by which businesses motivate and retain suitable employees, including the role of training, remuneration and styles of management Key terms and exam on HR Production Methods for Growing Businesses flow production and the how this can create efficient use of resources specialisation and division of labour lean production techniques - how production might be made more efficient by the use of Just In Time and the impact these might have on employees Recognising Challenges of Growth the ways, both internal and external, in which large businesses obtain a cost advantage over Candidates should recognise that there is no fixed way to lay out an organisational chart, and that these diagrams have several purposes within a business. Candidates should be able to interpret the implications on management of different shapes of chart, eg flat hierarchy, wide span of control. http://www.competitioncommission. org.uk/our_peop/org_chart/pdf/ccorgchart.pdf http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/running/bbcstructure/ Candidates should be able to, not only describe the different elements of this section, but also to evaluate critically the methods used by a case study business, Candidates are not expected to know about motivational theorists, such as Maslow or Herzberg, but their appropriate inclusion to support answers will not be penalised. http://www.businessballs.com/mcgregor.htm Candidates should view production methods in terms of improving efficiency. The consequences of adopting efficiency improving techniques on management, employees and shareholders should also be addressed. http://www.businessstudiesonline.co.uk/gcsebusiness/theorynot es/module%204/pdfnoprint/01_production_methods.pdf 18 th Candidates should be aware of the concepts of economies April and diseconomies of scale and other ways in which growth can bring advantages and disadvantages 7E:\Teaching May 2010\Head of Department\Schemes of Work\GCSE Business Unit2.doc 6

25 th April 2 nd May smaller businesses how disadvantages of growth might occur within a growing business, - longer chains of communication, complexities within the production process Maintaining Quality in Growing Businesses the possible quality issues that growing businesses face - consistency, cost of maintaining quality methods of maintaining consistent quality - Total QualityManagement Mock Exam Candidates need to be aware of the way in which a business attempts to ensure the quality of its product is maintained. Candidates should understand that appropriate quality does not have to mean the highest possible quality. http://www.businessstudiesonline.co.uk/gcsebusiness/th eorynotes/module%204/flashpaper/02_quality.swf 7E:\Teaching May 2010\Head of Department\Schemes of Work\GCSE Business Unit2.doc 7