Specification points

Edexcel International AS and A level Business XBS11/YBS11

357 points in 4 topics, with Edexcel's codes and titles.

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

1.3 Marketing and people

1.3.1 Meeting customer needs
1.3.1.1 The market
1.3.1.1.a Mass markets and niche markets
1.3.1.1.b Dynamic markets
1.3.1.1.c How competition affects the market
1.3.1.1.d The difference between risk and uncertainty
1.3.1.2 Market research
1.3.1.2.a Uses of primary and secondary market research
1.3.1.2.b Methods of primary market research
1.3.1.2.c Methods of secondary market research
1.3.1.2.d Sampling methods
1.3.1.3 Market positioning
1.3.1.3.a Product and market orientation
1.3.1.3.b Market mapping
1.3.1.3.c Market segmentation
1.3.1.3.d Competitive advantage of a product or service
1.3.1.3.e The purpose of product differentiation
1.3.1.3.f Adding value to products/services
1.3.2 The market
1.3.2.1 Demand
1.3.2.1.a Factors leading to a change in demand
1.3.2.2 Supply
1.3.2.2.a Factors leading to a change in supply
1.3.2.3 Markets
1.3.2.3.a The interaction of demand and supply
1.3.2.3.b Demand and supply diagrams
1.3.2.4 Price elasticity of demand (PED)
1.3.2.4.a Calculation of price elasticity of demand
1.3.2.4.b Interpretation of numerical values of price elasticity of demand
1.3.2.4.c The factors influencing price elasticity of demand
1.3.2.4.d Price elasticity of demand and pricing
1.3.2.4.e Price elasticity of demand and total revenue
1.3.2.5 Income elasticity of demand (YED)
1.3.2.5.a Calculation of income elasticity of demand
1.3.2.5.b Normal and inferior goods
1.3.2.5.c Interpretation of numerical values of income elasticity of demand
1.3.2.5.d The factors influencing income elasticity of demand
1.3.2.5.e The significance of income elasticity of demand to businesses
1.3.3 Marketing mix and strategy
1.3.3.1 Marketing objectives and strategy
1.3.3.1.a Marketing objectives
1.3.3.1.b The product life cycle and extension strategies
1.3.3.1.c The Boston Matrix and the product portfolio
1.3.3.1.d The concept of ‘marketing mix’
1.3.3.1.e Marketing strategies appropriate for different types of market
1.3.3.1.f Consumer behaviour – how businesses develop customer loyalty
1.3.3.2 Product/service design
1.3.3.2.a The design mix
1.3.3.2.b Changes in the elements of the design mix to reflect social trends
1.3.3.3 Promotion and branding
1.3.3.3.a Types of promotion
1.3.3.3.b Types of branding
1.3.3.3.c The benefits of strong branding
1.3.3.3.d Ways to build a brand
1.3.3.3.e Changes in branding and promotion to reflect social trends
1.3.3.4 Pricing strategies
1.3.3.4.a Types of pricing strategy
1.3.3.4.b Factors that determine the most appropriate pricing strategy for a particular situation
1.3.3.4.c Changes in pricing to reflect social trends
1.3.3.5 Distribution
1.3.3.5.a Distribution channels
1.3.3.5.b Changes in distribution methods
1.3.4 Managing people
1.3.4.1 Approaches to staffing
1.3.4.1.a Staff as an asset and as a cost
1.3.4.1.b Flexible workforce
1.3.4.1.c Distinction between dismissal and redundancy
1.3.4.1.d Employer/employee relationships
1.3.4.2 Recruitment, selection and training
1.3.4.2.a Recruitment and selection process
1.3.4.2.b Costs of recruitment, selection and training
1.3.4.2.c Types of training
1.3.4.3 Organisational design
1.3.4.3.a Structure
1.3.4.3.b Types of structure
1.3.4.3.c Impact of different organisational structures on business efficiency and employee motivation
1.3.4.4 Motivation in theory and practice
1.3.4.4.a The importance of employee motivation to a business
1.3.4.4.b Motivation theories
1.3.4.4.c Financial methods to improve employee performance
1.3.4.4.d Non-financial methods to improve employee performance
1.3.4.5 Leadership
1.3.4.5.a Leadership
1.3.4.5.b Types of leadership style
1.3.4.5.c The difficulty of moving from entrepreneur to leader
1.3.5 Entrepreneurs and leaders
1.3.5.1 Role of an entrepreneur
1.3.5.1.a Creating and setting up a business
1.3.5.1.b Running and expanding/developing a business
1.3.5.1.c Innovation within a business (intrapreneurship)
1.3.5.1.d Barriers to entrepreneurship
1.3.5.1.e Anticipating risk and uncertainty in the business environment
1.3.5.2 Entrepreneurial motives and characteristics
1.3.5.2.a Characteristics and skills required
1.3.5.2.b Reasons why people set up businesses
1.3.5.3 Business objectives
1.3.5.3.a Survival
1.3.5.3.b Profit maximisation
1.3.5.3.c Other objectives
1.3.5.4 Business choices
1.3.5.4.a Opportunity cost
1.3.5.4.b Trade-offs

2.3 Managing business activities

2.3.1 Planning a business and raising finance
2.3.1.1 Planning
2.3.1.1.a Content of a business plan
2.3.1.1.b Relevance and uses of a business plan
2.3.1.2 Internal finance
2.3.1.2.a Owner's capital: personal savings
2.3.1.2.b Retained profit
2.3.1.2.c Sale of assets
2.3.1.3 External finance
2.3.1.3.a Sources of finance and their suitability for different circumstances
2.3.1.3.b Methods of finance and their suitability for different circumstances
2.3.1.4 Forms of business
2.3.1.4.a Sole trader, partnership and private limited company (Ltd)
2.3.1.4.b Franchising, social enterprise, lifestyle businesses, online businesses
2.3.1.4.c Growth to public limited companies (plc) and stock market flotation
2.3.1.5 Liability
2.3.1.5.a Implications of limited and unlimited liability, including advantages and disadvantages
2.3.1.5.b Finance appropriate for limited and unlimited liability businesses
2.3.2 Financial planning
2.3.2.1 Sales, revenue and costs
2.3.2.1.a Calculation of sales volume and sales revenue
2.3.2.1.b Calculation of fixed, variable costs, total costs and average costs
2.3.2.1.c Ways of improving sales volumes and sales revenues
2.3.2.2 Sales forecasting
2.3.2.2.a Purpose of sales forecasts
2.3.2.2.b Factors affecting sales forecasts
2.3.2.2.c Difficulties of sales forecasting
2.3.2.3 Break-even
2.3.2.3.a Contribution per unit
2.3.2.3.b Break-even point
2.3.2.3.c Using contribution to calculate the break-even point
2.3.2.3.d Margin of safety
2.3.2.3.e Interpretation of break-even charts
2.3.2.3.f Limitations of break-even analysis
2.3.2.4 Cash flow
2.3.2.4.a Construction and interpretation of simple cash-flow forecasts
2.3.2.4.b Uses and limitations of cash-flow forecasts
2.3.2.5 Budgets
2.3.2.5.a Purposes of budgets
2.3.2.5.b Types of budget
2.3.2.5.c Variance analysis
2.3.2.5.d Difficulties of budgeting
2.3.3 Managing finance
2.3.3.1 Profit
2.3.3.1.a Gross profit, operating profit and profit for the year
2.3.3.1.b Ways to increase profits
2.3.3.1.c Statement of comprehensive income (profit and loss account)
2.3.3.2 Liquidity
2.3.3.2.a Distinction between profit and cash
2.3.3.2.b Statement of financial position (balance sheet)
2.3.3.2.c Working capital and the importance of cash
2.3.3.3 Business failure
2.3.3.3.a Internal causes of business failure
2.3.3.3.b External causes of business failure
2.3.4 Resource management
2.3.4.1 Production, productivity and efficiency
2.3.4.1.a Methods of production
2.3.4.1.b Productivity
2.3.4.1.c Efficiency
2.3.4.1.d The distinction between labour- and capital-intensive production
2.3.4.1.e Competitive advantage from short product lead-in times
2.3.4.2 Capacity utilisation
2.3.4.2.a Calculating capacity utilisation
2.3.4.2.b Implications of under- and over-utilisation of capacity
2.3.4.2.c Ways of improving capacity utilisation (under and over utilisation)
2.3.4.3 Inventory control
2.3.4.3.a Interpretation of inventory control diagram
2.3.4.3.b Buffer inventory
2.3.4.3.c Implications of poor inventory control
2.3.4.3.d Just in time (JIT)
2.3.4.3.e Waste minimisation
2.3.4.3.f Competitive advantage from lean production
2.3.4.4 Quality management
2.3.4.4.a Quality
2.3.4.4.b Total Quality Management (TQM)
2.3.4.4.c Continuous improvement (Kaizen)
2.3.4.4.d Competitive advantage from quality management
2.3.5 External influences
2.3.5.1 Economic influences
2.3.5.1.a Effects of economic changes on businesses
2.3.5.2 Legislation
2.3.5.2.a Effects of legislation on businesses
2.3.5.3 The competitive environment
2.3.5.3.a Effects of competition on businesses
2.3.5.3.b Ways for a small business to compete in a competitive market

3.3 Business decisions and strategy

3.3.1 Business objectives and strategy
3.3.1.1 Corporate objectives
3.3.1.1.a Development of corporate objectives from mission statement/corporate aims
3.3.1.1.b Critical appraisal of mission statements
3.3.1.2 Theories of corporate strategy
3.3.1.2.a Development of corporate strategy
3.3.1.2.b Aim of portfolio analysis
3.3.1.2.c Effect of strategic and tactical decisions on human, physical, and financial resources
3.3.1.3 SWOT analysis
3.3.1.3.a SWOT analysis
3.3.1.4 Impact of external influences
3.3.1.4.a PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental)
3.3.1.4.b The changing competitive environment
3.3.1.4.c Porter’s five forces
3.3.2 Business growth
3.3.2.1 Growth
3.3.2.1.a Objectives of growth
3.3.2.1.b The distinction between inorganic and organic growth
3.3.2.2 Organic growth
3.3.2.2.a Methods of growing organically
3.3.2.2.b Advantages and disadvantages of organic growth
3.3.2.3 Inorganic growth
3.3.2.3.a Mergers and takeovers
3.3.2.3.b Advantages and disadvantages of inorganic growth
3.3.2.4 Problems arising from growth
3.3.2.4.a Diseconomies of scale
3.3.2.4.b Internal communication
3.3.2.4.c Overtrading
3.3.3 Decision-making techniques
3.3.3.1 Quantitative sales forecasting
3.3.3.1.a Moving averages in time-series analysis
3.3.3.1.b Scatter graphs, lines of best fit and extrapolation
3.3.3.1.c Limitations of quantitative sales forecasting techniques
3.3.3.2 Investment appraisal
3.3.3.2.a Simple payback
3.3.3.2.b Average (accounting) rate of return
3.3.3.2.c Discounted cash flow (net present value only)
3.3.3.2.d Calculations and interpretations of figures generated by these techniques
3.3.3.2.e Limitations of these techniques
3.3.3.3 Decision trees
3.3.3.3.a Decision-tree diagrams
3.3.3.3.b Calculations and interpretations of figures generated by these techniques
3.3.3.3.c Limitations of using decision trees
3.3.3.4 Critical path analysis
3.3.3.4.a Nature and purpose of critical path analysis
3.3.3.4.b Networks and the critical path
3.3.3.4.c Earliest start, latest finish and total float
3.3.3.4.d Limitations of using critical path analysis
3.3.3.5 Contribution
3.3.3.5.a Nature and purpose of contribution
3.3.3.5.b Calculation and interpretation of contribution
3.3.3.5.c Contribution in decision making
3.3.4 Influences on business decisions
3.3.4.1 Corporate culture
3.3.4.1.a Strong and weak cultures
3.3.4.1.b Classification of company cultures
3.3.4.1.c How corporate culture is formed
3.3.4.1.d Difficulties in changing an established culture
3.3.4.2 Stakeholder model versus shareholder model
3.3.4.2.a Internal and external stakeholders
3.3.4.2.b Stakeholder objectives
3.3.4.2.c Stakeholder and shareholder influences
3.3.4.2.d The potential for conflict between profit-based (shareholder) and wider objectives (stakeholder)
3.3.4.3 Business ethics
3.3.4.3.a Ethics of strategic decisions
3.3.4.3.b Pay and rewards
3.3.4.3.c Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
3.3.5 Assessing competitiveness
3.3.5.1 Interpretation of financial statements
3.3.5.1.a Statement of comprehensive income (profit and loss account)
3.3.5.1.b Statement of financial position (balance sheet)
3.3.5.2 Ratio analysis
3.3.5.2.a Profitability, liquidity, gearing and ROCE ratios
3.3.5.2.b Using ratios in business decisions
3.3.5.2.c The limitations of ratio analysis
3.3.5.3 Human resources
3.3.5.3.a Labour productivity, turnover, retention and absenteeism
3.3.5.3.b Limitations of these calculations
3.3.5.3.c Human resource strategies for productivity and retention
3.3.6 Managing change
3.3.6.1 Key factors in change
3.3.6.1.a Organisational culture
3.3.6.1.b Size of organisation
3.3.6.1.c Time/speed of change
3.3.6.1.d Managing resistance to change
3.3.6.1.e Transformative leadership
3.3.6.2 Contingency planning
3.3.6.2.a Identifying key risks through risk assessment
3.3.6.2.b Planning for risk mitigation

4.3 Global business

4.3.1 Globalisation
4.3.1.1 Growing economies
4.3.1.1.a Characteristics of developed, developing and emerging economies
4.3.1.1.b Growing economic power of Asia, Africa and elsewhere
4.3.1.1.c Implications of economic growth for individuals and businesses
4.3.1.1.d Indicators of growth
4.3.1.2 International trade and business growth
4.3.1.2.a Exports and imports
4.3.1.2.b Implications of increasing specialisation by countries and businesses
4.3.1.2.c Foreign direct investment (FDI) and link to business growth
4.3.1.3 Factors contributing to increased globalisation
4.3.1.3.a Trade liberalisation and the WTO
4.3.1.3.b Political change
4.3.1.3.c Reduced cost of transport and communication
4.3.1.3.d Increased significance of global (multinational) corporations (MNCs)
4.3.1.3.e Increased investment flows (FDI)
4.3.1.3.f Migration within and between economies
4.3.1.3.g Growth of the global labour force
4.3.1.3.h Structural change
4.3.1.3.i Impact on businesses of increased globalisation
4.3.1.4 Protectionism
4.3.1.4.a Reasons for protectionism
4.3.1.4.b Tariffs
4.3.1.4.c Import quotas
4.3.1.4.d Other trade barriers
4.3.1.4.e Impact on businesses of protectionism
4.3.1.5 Trading blocs
4.3.1.5.a Expansion of trading blocs
4.3.1.5.b The impact on businesses of trading blocs
4.3.2 Global markets and business expansion
4.3.2.1 Conditions that prompt trade
4.3.2.1.a Push factors
4.3.2.1.b Pull factors
4.3.2.1.c Cost competitiveness by off-shoring and outsourcing
4.3.2.1.d Extending the product life cycle
4.3.2.2 Assessment of a country as a market
4.3.2.2.a Factors to consider
4.3.2.2.b Application of Porter’s five forces in assessing potential markets
4.3.2.3 Assessment of a country as a production location
4.3.2.3.a Factors to consider
4.3.2.4 Reasons for global mergers, takeovers or joint ventures
4.3.2.4.a Spreading risk and economies of scale
4.3.2.4.b Entering new markets/trade blocs
4.3.2.4.c Acquiring national/international brand names/patents
4.3.2.4.d Securing resources/supplies
4.3.2.4.e Maintaining/increasing global competitiveness
4.3.2.4.f Reducing competition
4.3.2.4.g Making use of local knowledge
4.3.2.4.h Government or legal requirement
4.3.2.4.i Accessing supply chains/distribution networks
4.3.2.4.j Sharing costs/risks
4.3.2.5 Global expansion and uncertainty
4.3.2.5.a The impact on businesses of movements in exchange rates
4.3.2.5.b Skill shortages and their impact on international competitiveness
4.3.3 Global marketing
4.3.3.1 Marketing
4.3.3.1.a Global marketing strategy and global localisation (glocalisation)
4.3.3.1.b Different marketing approaches
4.3.3.1.c Application and adaptation of the marketing mix (4Ps) to global markets
4.3.3.1.d Application of Ansoff’s matrix and Porter’s matrix to global marketing decisions
4.3.3.2 Niche markets
4.3.3.2.a Cultural diversity
4.3.3.2.b Features of global niche markets
4.3.3.2.c Application and adaptation of the marketing mix (4Ps) to suit global niches
4.3.3.3 Cultural/social factors
4.3.3.3.a Considerations for businesses
4.3.4 Global industries and companies (multinational corporations)
4.3.4.1 The impact of MNCs
4.3.4.1.a Impact of MNCs on the local economy
4.3.4.1.b Impact of MNCs on the national economy
4.3.4.2 International business ethics
4.3.4.2.a Stakeholder conflicts
4.3.4.2.b Environmental considerations
4.3.4.2.c Supply chain considerations
4.3.4.2.d Marketing considerations
4.3.4.3 Controlling MNCs
4.3.4.3.a Factors to consider