This course is designed to enable students to examine how business operate and how they impact on the local, national and international economies.  Many students will come into contact with aspects of Business Management in their daily lives and this course will help them to understand why business do certain things.

After leaving school all students will work for a business and for some may even start up their own business.  The study of this course will give pupils the skills and knowledge that will they will find valuable when moving into either further education or employment.

The course is made up of 3 Unit, which are all 40 hours.  Each Unit is assessed internally.

The Business Enterprise Unit covers:

• Types of Businesses
• Sources of Finance
• Business Objectives
• Stakeholders
• The External Environment
• Information and Information Technology
• Decision Making

The Business Decision Areas: Marketing and Operations covers:

• Market Research
• Marketing Mix
• Types of Production
• Purchasing
• Stock Control
• Quality Management

The Business Decision Areas: Human Resources and Finance covers:

• Recruitment and Selection
• Appraisal
• Training and Development
• Employee Relations
• Employment Legislation
• Final Accounts
• Cash Flow

This course is designed in a way that pupils will be able to use resources such as the Internet as a method of research to help them understand aspects of the course.

The external exam is 1 hour and 45 minutes long.  It is split into two sections.  Section 1 is based on a case study which is worth 25 marks. In Section 2, pupils must choose 2 extended responses from a choice of 5, each worth 25 marks.

Pupils wishing to take this course should have a General grade at Standard Grade.  However, it could be possible for pupils to pick up this subject but would require a number of strong General grades.