Measuring the competitiveness of a business
We’ve seen that competitiveness is about advantages that enable a business to outperform its competitors. But, can competitiveness be measured and, if so, how?
read more...»What do we mean by “competitiveness”?
Some questions for you…
• Why are Apple and Samsung performing so much better in the market place for smartphones and tablet computers than Nokia and Sony?
• Why do retailers like John Lewis Partnership and Dominos UK continue to grow and prosper when other retailers like Comet, Game Group and Clinton Cards struggle to survive?
• Why are so many people now buying from online brands such as Amazon rather than shopping on their local high streets?
• Thinking about the restaurants, cafes and other eateries near you, why so some seem to thrive whereas others are always empty and often close down?
The answer lies in the concept of competitiveness. So what does this term mean?
read more...»AQA AS Business (BUSS2) - Revision Quizzes
Here are the links to the collection of revision quizzes for students taking AQA AS BUSS2 (“Managing a Business”)...
read more...»A slice of the action
The Guardian on Friday featured an independent report on the sandwich market served as a “Get up and go” supplement to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the humble sandwich and the start of British Sandwich Week. It would make useful stimulus material for a low-budget research activity for a BUSS1 start-up.
read more...»AQA BUSS4 - ‘with reference to *** plc and your own research ....’
As you have doubtless been told numerous times, success in BUSS4 depends on having carried out your own research - this year, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions. Did you realise you cannot get a good grade in the first part WITHOUT explicitly using your research in your response?
read more...»BUSS4 - Keep Calm and Carry On…
Preparing for the BUSS4 exam involves getting yourself right mentally. Many students underestimate the influence that attitude has in determining how well they perform. They focus on learning terminology and concepts and on building a research file but don’t spend enough time getting their psychological approach right. Here are some thoughts on how you can into the right frame of mind to do your best in BUSS4.
read more...»AQA AS Business (BUSS1) - Key Term Glossary
Listed below are 50 key terms that AQA BUSS1 students need to ensure they understand and can define / explain in the exam.
read more...»BUSS4 - Mergers & Acquisitions - one that went wrong. BMW and Rover
When BMW met Rover
For the BUSS4 exam this June, it is useful to understand why a merger may fail to work and a retrospective look at BMW’s acquisition of Rover back in 1994 provides a good illustration of several possible pitfalls.
BUSS1 - Some Topic Thoughts for May 2012
Our BUSS1 topic tracker outlines how the BUSS1 specification has been covered so far in the real exam papers. May 2012 will be the 8th sitting of BUSS1 and you can see from the topic tracker that some core topics have been examined regularly. However, there are other topics which are yet to appear in the paper and it is worth making double-sure that these are addressed in the final stages of revision…
read more...»AQA AS Business BUSS1 Online Revision Clinic - Thursday May10 2012
Students sitting AQA AS Business Studies unit BUSS1 may find this helpful. We’re running an online revision clinic for an hour on Thursday 10 May from 8.00 - 9.30 p.m. Graham Prior and I will be there, together with some other members of the tutor2u team to provide support for students as they prepare for the BUSS1 exam.
The online revision clinic is free and will appear here - on this blog entry. You will need to login using your Facebook, Twitter or OpenID account in order to participate (e.g. ask questions and/or comment)
read more...»AQA AS Business (BUSS2) - Exam Topic Tracker
As each sitting of BUSS2 is completed, it is possible to build up a useful picture of the way in which the BUSS2 specification is examined. Which topics have been examined more than once? Are there key topics which have not yet been addressed in the BUSS2 exam? Where are the calculation marks earned?
Our AQA AS Business (BUSS2) Exam Topic Tracker is a free download which can help you keep track of the exams. The link is below. We’ll update the file (the link stays the same) after each exam sitting. The latest version includes all BUSS2 sittings up to and including January 2012.
Download AQA AS Business (BUSS2) Exam Topic Tracker
There are many other support resources available for BUSS2 from tutor2u - you’ll find some great links further below. Don’t forget we also have our new BUSS2 quick-fire revision guide available which is perfect for the last phase of revision for this tough exam.
AQA AS Business (BUSS1) - Exam Topic Tracker
Now updated to include January 2012 BUSS1 exam paper
This might be helpful for students getting ready for BUSS1 in May 2012. As each exam sitting of a new specification passes, it is a useful exercise to track which parts of the specification have been tested and in what way. Of course some topics soon become examiner favourites - tested again and again if students consistently perform poorly. So beware question-spotting…
The questions set in all the official sittings of AQA AS Business Studies (BUSS1) are summarised in our BUSS1 Topic Tracker, which you can download here:
Download AQA AS Business Studies (BUSS1) Topic Tracker
You will also find a wide range of supporting revision materials for BUSS1 from the links provided further below…
AQA BUSS2 & BUSS4 Revision Workshops in Spring 2013
The dates and locations for our popular programme of intensive one-day revision workshops for AQA BUSS2 and BUSS4 have now been confirmed. Details below. Provisional bookings can now be made using the online form linked below.
Make a provisional booking for AQA BUSS2 & BUSS4 revision workshops in March & April 2013
read more...»Making Finance Fun 2012 - CPD Course (London and Manchester)
This new CPD course from the tutor2u team looks at how we can make the teaching and learning of finance fun!, We’re running the course for the first time on 20 June 2012 in central London and the following day in Manchester…
read more...»AQA BUSS4 Section A Research Online Clinic - Tuesday 1 May 2012
This blog entry hosts an online revision clinic for students preparing for AQA BUSS4 Section A which will start at 9pm and last for an hour. Students who wish to get live support from the tutor2u team will be able to login to the clinic on this blog entry; please use your FB, Twitter or OpenID details to login.
read more...»OCR F297 case study: impact of the economic environment on the housing market
In just the last few days we have learnt that the economy has entered a ‘double dip’ recession, with the economy essentially stagnant since the peak of the economic crisis passed in summer 2009. What does all this mean for the UK housing market – the central focus of the OCR F297 A2 case study?
This blog contains extracts from the F297 case study toolkit, as well as some extra comments, links and analysis.
read more...»Evaluation - Making a ‘judge’ment
Here is a little exercise I have done with my AS Business groups this week. When trying to help with the longer essay questions, split the class into groups and and have them practice how to make a judgement for each essay question. I am using this for the OCR F292 Case Study of TSL. You can have one person in each group as the prosecution stating why they have made one certain judgement and then have another person acting as the defence stating why they think it should be a different outcome. The teacher can role play as ‘The Judge’ for the first exercise show the class what is expected.
read more...»AQA AS Business (BUSS2) - Key Term A to Z Glossary
Here is an interactive glossary that provides the 290 key terms covered in the AQA AS Business Studies Unit 2 (Managing a Business) specification.
Launch interactive glossary for AQA AS Business Studies Unit 2
Developing Exam Skills: BUSS2: Lessons Learnt from January
As BUSS2 approaches fast, what can we learn from Januarys exam?
read more...»AQA A3 Business BUSS3 Online Revision Clinic - 12 June 2012
The tutor2u Business Studies team will be available on Tuesday 12 June 2012 to provide personalised revision support for students taking the AQA BUSS3 exam on 14 June. Our free online revision clinic will start at 9 p.m. and last for an hour. Students who wish to add their questions during the clinic need to login using their FB, Twitter or OpenID account.
read more...»BUSS4 - Three Ways to Evaluate Emerging Markets
The topic of emerging markets is hugely important for BUSS4 students. The economic growth and large populations of the ‘BRIC’ nations (amongst others) has meant many businesses, including some of the tutor2u twelve: have been targeting these countries as part of their strategies for growth. Examples include Starbucks who plan to have 1,500 coffee shops in China by 2015, and Apple as their Shanghai store sells more iPhones per square foot than any other Apple store in the world.
read more...»AQA AS Business BUSS2 Online Revision Clinic - Wednesday May 16 2012
Students sitting AQA AS Business Studies unit BUSS2 may find this helpful. We’re running an online revision clinic for an hour on Wednesday 16 May from 9.00 p.m for an hour. Michelle Stephenson, Graham Prior and I will be there, together with some other members of the tutor2u BUSS2 team to provide some personalised support for students as they prepare for the BUSS2 exam on 21 May.
The online revision clinic is free and will appear here - on this blog entry. You will need to login using your Facebook, Twitter or OpenID account in order to participate (e.g. ask questions and/or comment)
read more...»Flaws in Tesco’s strategy
BUSS4 students can accumulate some useful evidence about changes in business strategy by examining the reasons for Tesco’s fall in UK profits, and their strategy to reverse the trend. There is an opportunity to do some ‘compare and contrast’ with the strategies of other businesses which are struggling to turnaround disappointing business results such as Nokia and others that have such as BA and Starbucks.
read more...»A detailed look inside Apple’s Foxconn factory
A fascinating and detailed look here at working conditions at Apple’s main supplier in China. This 15 minute video raises a lot of issues which students can develop; particularly useful for any discussion around CSR, but also excellent for operations and HRM. In the video, ABC News Nightline goes behind the scenes of the FoxConn factory - the operation which makes iPads and iPhones.
read more...»BUSS4: The Seven Point Scale for Perfect Paragraphs
This is an idea I’ve developed following the recent tutor2u BUSS4 revision workshops for marking and feeding back to students when building essay skills. Like many of my A2 Business-teaching counterparts, I spent a large proportion of the Easter break marking BUSS4 mock essays. In a bid to help my students develop their paragraph writing skills, I made a note of the common areas for improvement and summarised them into seven key points for writing the ‘perfect’ paragraph:
read more...»AQA AS Business (BUSS1) - The Basics for Revision
This short, simple revision presentation contains some summary thoughts about potential application, analysis and evaluation points which students might use effectively in their BUSS1 exam answers. The critical thing to remember is that all answers to BUSS1 questions need to be in context - refer to the story and circumstances of the startup business in particular.
read more...»Revision Workshop Dates for AQA BUSS1 and BUSS3 in Winter 2012
The proposed dates and venues for our highly popular one-day revision workshops for AQA A Level Business Studies - BUSS1 and BUSS3 are now available. They are as follows:
Monday 26/11/12 Portsmouth Bus (BUSS1, BUSS3) - Vue Cinema Gunwharf Quays
Tuesday 27/11/12 Fulham (BUSS1, BUSS3) Vue Cinema Fulham Broadway
Friday 30/11/12 Stratford (BUSS1, BUSS3) Vue Cinema Westfield Stratford City
Monday 3/12/12 Bristol Bus (BUSS1, BUSS3) Vue Cinema Cribbs Causeway
Tuesday 4/12/12 Birmingham Bus (BUSS1, BUSS3) Vue Cinema Star City
Wednesday 5/12/12 Manchester Bus (BUSS1, BUSS3) Vue Cinema Lowry Salford Quays
Monday 10/12 Newcastle Bus (BUSS1, BUSS3) Odeon Cinema, Metro Centre
Tuesday 11/12 Leeds Bus (BUSS1, BUSS3) Vue Cinema The Light
We’ve kept the student price for each workshop at £20 (+VAT) for the seventh year running. Teacher places remain free, although please note that individual teachers may not attend on their own; the free teacher place arrangement is designed to support colleagues bringing student groups.
The booking form is now available here:
https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/aqa-buss1-buss3-revision-workshops-winter-2012/
Important notice: Please only make provisional bookings if you genuinely intend, and have school/college permission, to bring students to the revision workshops. Schools and colleges that persistently cancel their provisional bookings close to the workshop dates will only be permitted to make confirmed bookings if there are spaces available.
EntrepreneurLIVE! 2012 - Dates Announced
The dates and venues for EntrepreneurLIVE! 2012 have just been announced. We’ve moved this popular event to an earlier date to better fit with the teaching of a wide range of business courses and out of the cluttered Global Enterprise Week. So for 2012 we visit London on 1 October 2012, Birmingham on 2 October 2012 and finally Manchester on 3 October 2012.
We’re busy recruiting a fantastic team of successful and inspirational entrepreneurs who will guide business students through the highs and lows of setting up and running a business. We’ve got some pretty special people lined up and we’ll announce the names here on the Business Studies Blog as soon as their diary commitments are finalised.
The event will follow a similar format to the one which has proved so popular with teachers and students in the last two years. Students will get the opportunity to hear from a superb selection of entrepreneurs who will tell their story, provide insights highly relevant to every business studies course and then, most importantly, take questions from our student audience. We’ll also be running the highly popular Enterprise Pitch Challenge where student teams pitch their solution to a business challenge, competing to win some attractive cash prizes!
You can read a couple of excellent reports from students who attended Entrepreneur LIVE! 2011 here: from Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls and here from Stoke Sixth Form College who brought students to Manchester (Salford Quays)
Provisional bookings for EntrepreneurLIVE! 2012 can now be made using this online form:
Life and leadership at BA after Willie Walsh
This is an interesting article that I came across while looking for updates on how industrial relations and strike threats have been progressing at BA over the last year or so - the article was published last September so apologies if you are already familiar with it, but I think it is well worth reading. When studying leadership for BUSS4 we often use the example of Willie Walsh, and the rather deeply entrenched conflicts that became established with BASSA (the cabin crew branch of Unite). So it is interesting to see what has happened since Walsh moved on from the position of CEO of British Airways at the start of 2011 to become CEO of IAG instead.
read more...»BUSS2 Key Term Revision Quiz
Here is a 12 question BUSS2 key term revision quiz - in this one type in the answer, you will see the number of letters in the correct answer after each question. Good luck!
read more...»
