Specification points

Cambridge Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies 0450

94 points in 6 topics, with Cambridge's codes and titles.

Grade boundaries·Cambridge command words

Codes and titles are read by a script from Cambridge's published specification and have not been checked by a person. What each point covers is in the specification itself: Cambridge’s specification.

1 Understanding business activity

1.1 Business activity
1.1.1 Purpose and nature of business activity
1.2 Classification of businesses
1.2.1 Economic sectors in terms of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors
1.2.2 Private and public sector enterprises
1.3 Enterprise, business growth and size
1.3.1 Enterprise and entrepreneurship
1.3.2 The methods and problems of measuring business size
1.3.3 Why some businesses grow and others remain small
1.3.4 Why some (new or established) businesses fail
1.4 Types of business organisation
1.4.1 The main features of different forms of business organisation
1.5 Business objectives and stakeholder objectives
1.5.1 Businesses can have several objectives and the importance of them can change
1.5.2 The role of stakeholder groups involved in business activity
1.5.3 Differences in the objectives of private sector and public sector enterprises

2 People in business

2.1 Motivating employees
2.1.1 The importance of a well-motivated workforce
2.1.2 Methods of motivation
2.2 Organisation and management
2.2.1 Organisational charts
2.2.2 The role of management
2.2.3 Leadership styles
2.2.4 Trade unions
2.3 Recruitment, selection and training of employees
2.3.1 Recruitment and selecting employees
2.3.2 The importance of training and the methods of training
2.3.3 Reducing the size of the workforce
2.3.4 Legal controls over employment issues and their impact on employers and employees
2.4 Internal and external communication
2.4.1 Why effective communication is important and the methods used to achieve it
2.4.2 Communication barriers

3 Marketing

3.1 Marketing, competition and the customer
3.1.1 The role of marketing
3.1.2 Market changes
3.1.3 Concepts of niche marketing and mass marketing
3.1.4 How and why market segmentation is undertaken
3.2 Market research
3.2.1 The role of market research and methods used
3.2.2 Presentation and use of market research results
3.3 Marketing mix
3.3.1 Product
3.3.2 Price
3.3.3 Place – distribution channels
3.3.4 Promotion
3.3.5 Technology and the marketing mix
3.4 Marketing strategy
3.4.1 Marketing strategies for a given situation
3.4.2 The nature and impact of legal controls related to marketing
3.4.3 The opportunities and problems of entering new foreign markets

4 Operations management

4.1 Production of goods and services
4.1.1 The meaning of production
4.1.2 The main methods of production
4.1.3 How technology has changed and is changing production methods
4.2 Costs, scale of production and break-even analysis
4.2.1 Classifying costs
4.2.2 Economies and diseconomies of scale
4.2.3 Break-even analysis
4.3 Achieving quality production
4.3.1 Why quality is important and how quality production might be achieved
4.4 Location decisions
4.4.1 Location and relocation decisions

5 Financial information and decisions

5.1 Business finance: needs and sources
5.1.1 The need for business finance
5.1.2 The main sources of finance
5.2 Cash-flow forecasting and working capital
5.2.1 The importance of cash and of cash-flow forecasting
5.2.2 Working capital
5.3 Income statements
5.3.1 What profit is and why it is important
5.3.2 Income statements
5.4 Statement of financial position
5.4.1 Statement of financial position
5.4.2 Interpreting a statement of financial position
5.5 Analysis of accounts
5.5.1 Profitability
5.5.2 Liquidity
5.5.3 Profitability and liquidity ratios
5.5.4 Why and how accounts are used

6 External influences on business activity

6.1 Economic issues
6.1.1 Business cycle
6.1.2 Government economic control and business activity
6.2 Environmental and ethical issues
6.2.1 Environmental concerns and ethical issues as both opportunities and constraints for businesses
6.3 Business and the international economy
6.3.1 The importance of globalisation
6.3.2 Reasons for the importance and growth of multinational companies (MNCs)
6.3.3 The impact of exchange rate changes