Business (AS & A Level) revision notes

One chapter for each section of the 9609 syllabus, with worked examples. Read a chapter, then practise it with real past-paper questions.

1. 1Business and its environment (AS)Enterprise and entrepreneurs, business structures and legal forms, the size and growth of businesses, business objectives, and the stakeholders in a business and how their interests conflict.18 min readDownload PDF
2. 2Human resource management (AS)What HRM does, workforce planning, recruitment, selection and training, employment contracts and legal issues, theories of motivation and financial and non-financial rewards, and management and leadership styles.10 min readDownload PDF
3. 3Marketing (AS)What marketing is and how markets are described, market research methods, sampling and market segmentation, and the marketing mix of product, price, promotion and place.10 min readDownload PDF
4. 4Operations management (AS)The operations process and its resources, production methods, productivity and efficiency, inventory management and just-in-time, capacity utilisation, and outsourcing and offshoring.7 min readDownload PDF
5. 5Finance and accounting (AS)Why businesses need finance, capital and revenue expenditure, sources of finance, cash-flow forecasts and managing cash flow, fixed and variable costs, break-even analysis, and budgets and variance analysis.10 min readDownload PDF
6. 6Business and its environment (A Level)External influences on business (economic, political, social, technological, environmental and legal factors, competition, globalisation) and business strategy: corporate objectives, SWOT, Ansoff, Porter, decision trees, stakeholder analysis and corporate social responsibility.12 min readDownload PDF
7. 7Human resource management (A Level)Organisational structures, centralisation and delegation, business communication, leadership theories and styles, and HRM strategy: employee relations, workforce planning, performance and change management.11 min readDownload PDF
8. 8Marketing (A Level)Marketing analysis (income and price elasticity, the Boston matrix, the product life cycle, sales forecasting and its limits) and marketing strategy (objectives, branding, new products, digital and international marketing and marketing ethics).10 min readDownload PDF
9. 9Operations management (A Level)Location and scale decisions, economies of scale, quality management (quality control, assurance, TQM, benchmarking), operations strategy and planning, lean production, technology, critical path analysis and supply chain management.9 min readDownload PDF
10. 10Finance and accounting (A Level)The income statement and statement of financial position, depreciation, ratio analysis of profitability, liquidity, gearing and efficiency, investment appraisal (payback, ARR, NPV) and finance and accounting strategy.12 min readDownload PDF