Pearson A Level Business Theme 3

Explains labour productivity, labour turnover, labour retention, absenteeism, and human resource strategies (financial rewards, employee share ownership, consultation strategies, empowerment strategies)

Describes gearing ratio (how to interpret it and the advantages/disadvantages of it), and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)

Describes statement of comprehensive income and statement of financial position (balance sheets), and explains why stakeholders are interest in them. Also explains profit quality.

Explains ethical codes of practice and ethical objectives, the advantages/disadvantages of ethical behaviour, corporate social responsibility (CSR), pay and rewards, and the trade off between profit and ethics

Describes the difference between the stakeholder and shareholder approach, and the potential conflicts between shareholders and stakeholders

Describes corporate influences (corporate objectives, stakeholder perspectives, business ethics), corporate timescale, evidence based and subjective decision making, strong and weak corporate cultures, and Handy's corporate cultures (power, role, task, person)

Describes what a critical path analysis is, what a manager needs to know to use the technique, features of a critical path, key points of a critical path, and the advantages and disadvantages of it.

Describes what a decision tree is, uses an example to show how to interpret one, and explains the advantages and disadvantages of decision trees.

Explains the three types of investment appraisal - payback, average rate of return (ARR) and net present value (NPV) - including how to calculate them and the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Also includes qualitative factors to consider when making investment decisions.

Explains quantitative sales forecasting and why a business would construct a sales forecast. Also explains moving averages, variations from trends, forecasting using extrapolation, scatter graphs and limits of sales forecasting

Describes reasons for mergers and takeovers, what they are, the advantages and disadvantages of vertical and horizontal integration, financial risks and rewards of integration, hostile and friendly integration, and problems of rapid growth.

Describes the benefits of business growth (e.g. economies of scale, increased market power, increased profitability), the problems arising from business growth (e.g. diseconomies of scale, overtrading, poor communication), and organic growth.

Explains what a SWOT analysis and a PESTLE analysis is used for, the structure of markets, uncompetitive markets, and Porter's Five Forces

Explains the four segments of the Ansoff Matrix and Porter's Generic Strategy, the three Distinctive Capabilities, the Boston Matrix, and the effect of strategic and tactical decisions on human, physical and financial resources