Exam Board

OCR [GCSE 9-1 J204]

Specification

Business 01: Business activity, marketing and people

Students are introduced to business concepts and issues concerning the activities of a business. They explore the purpose and role of a business from spotting an opportunity through to the growth of an established business. They also look at the role of marketing and human resources.

Business 02: Operations, finance and influences on business

Students take a closer look at the role of operations and finance in business activity. Operations include production processes, quality of goods and services, customer service, and working with suppliers. Finance covers its role, its sources, costs, profit and loss, cash and cash flow.

They also explore how business responds to external influences, such as ethical and environmental considerations, the economic climate and globalisation, and the interdependent nature of business.

Curriculum Allocation

GCSE Business Studies is taught for three 100 minute lessons per fortnight.

Curriculum Period 1:

Curriculum content

The role of business enterprise and entrepreneurship

• The purpose of business activity and enterprise
• Characteristics of an entrepreneur
• The concept of risk and reward

Business planning

• The purpose of planning business activity
• The role, importance and usefulness of a business plan

Business ownership

• The features of different types of business ownership
• The concept of limited liability
• The suitability of differing types of ownership in different business contexts

Business aims and objectives

• The aims and objectives of business
• How and why objectives might change as businesses evolve
• Why different businesses may have different objectives

Stakeholders in business

• The roles and objectives of internal and external stakeholder groups
• The effect business activity has on stakeholders
• The effect stakeholders have on business

Business growth

• Organic growth
• External growth

Assessment

The first assessment will cover all sections above.

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Curriculum Period 2

Curriculum content

The role of marketing

• The purpose of marketing within business

Market research

• The purpose of market research
• Primary research methods
• Secondary research sources
• How appropriate different methods and sources of market research are for different business purposes
• The use and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data in market research

Market segmentation

• The use of segmentation to target customers

The marketing mix

• The ‘four Ps’ of the marketing mix and their importance
  • Product
  • Product - stages of the product life cycle
  • Pricing methods
  • Promotion - point of sale
  • Promotion - advertising
  • Place - distribution of products and services 
• How the four Ps of the marketing mix work together
• The use of the marketing mix to inform and implement business decisions
• Interpretation of market data

Assessment

Curriculum Period 3

Curriculum content

The role of human resources

• The purpose of human resources in business

Organisational structures and different ways of working

• Different organisational structures
• The terminology of organisation charts
• Why businesses have different organisational structures
• Ways of working

Communication in business

• Ways of communicating in a business context
• The importance of business communications
• The influence of digital communication on business activity

Recruitment and selection

• Why businesses recruit
• The use of different recruitment methods to meet different business needs
• Methods of selection

Motivation and retention

• Financial methods of motivation
• Non-financial methods of motivation
• The importance of employee motivation
• The importance of employee retention

Training and development

• Different training methods
• Why businesses train their workers
• Staff development
• The benefits to employees and businesses of staff development

Employment law

• The impact of current legislation on recruitment and employment

Assessment

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Revision resources

Recommended revision materials: endon.fireflycloud.net/business-studies-2/revision-guides

Subject advice and guidance

If you need any further guidance then please contact your child’s teacher via email:

Mr Plant [r.plant@endon.shaw-education.org.uk]

Mrs Brownsett [g.brownsett@endon.shaw-education.org.uk]

Mr Jenkins [a.jenkins@endon.shaw-education.org.uk]