Theme 1: Marketing and People • Meeting customer needs – The market, market research, market positioning • The market – Supply and demand, price income elasticity of demand, income elasticity of demand • Marketing mix and strategy – Product/service design, branding and promotion, pricing strategies, distribution, marketing strategy • Managing people – Approaches to staffing, recruitment, selection and training, organisational design, motivation, leadership • Entrepreneurs and leaders – Role of an entrepreneur, entrepreneurial motives and characteristics, business objectives, forms of business Theme 2: Managing Business Activities • Raising finance – Internal finance, external finance, liability, planning • Financial planning – Sales forecasting, sales, revenue and costs, break-even, budgets • Managing finance – Profit, liquidity, business failure • Resource management – Production, capacity utilisation, stock control, quality management • External influences – Economic influences, legislation, the competitive environment Theme 3: Business Decision and Strategy • Business objectives and strategy – Corporate objectives, corporate strategy, SWOT analysis, impact of external influences • Business growth – Growth, mergers and takeovers, organic growth, reasons for staying small • Decision-making techniques – Quantitative sales forecasting, investment appraisal, decision tress, critical path analysis • Influences on business decisions – Corporate influences, corporate culture, shareholders vs. stakeholders, business ethics • Assessing competitiveness – Financial statements, ratio analysis, human resources • Managing change – Causes and effects of change, key factors in change, scenario planning Theme 4: Global Business • Globalisation – Growing economies, international trade, globalisation, protectionism, trading blocs • Global markets and expansion – conditions that prompt trade, assessment of a country as a market and a production location, reasons for global mergers or joint ventures, global competitiveness • Global marketing – Marketing, niche markets, cultural/social factors • Global industries and companies (multinational corporations) – The impact of MNCs, ethics, controlling MNCs