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…
GCSE Business Studies Revision Workshops - Spring 2013
We were delighted with the response to our pilot GCSE Business Studies revision workshops which we held at the amazing Westfield Stratford City - right next door to the Olympic Park! So we’ve decided to roll out the GCSE Business format to a series of dates in the 2012/13 school year. We’re running three events before Easter and an overflow event after Easter. The dates and venues for our 2012/13 programme are summarised below:
Colleagues can make provisional bookings for these revision workshops using the following online form: https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/gcse-business-revision-workshops-spring-2012/
read more...»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...»GCSE Year 11 Business Studies Online Revision Clinic - 27 May 2012
We are holding an online revision clinic for students taking their final GCSE Business Studies exam (30 May). The clinic will run from 8pm at this blog address. We’ll have teacher panellists ready to answer questions for AQA (Unit 2) and Edexcel (Unit 3) as well as provide support for OCR and other GCSE boards as appropriate. Students who wish to participate in the session will need to login when the session is live using their FB, Twitter or OPEN ID details.
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...»Developing Exam Skills: AQA GCSE Business: Kingfisher Caravan Parks Ltd
This is the first in a series of practice 9-mark questions for AQA GCSE Business Studies Unit 2. This one is on Kingfisher Caravan Parks Ltd.
read more...»Support for Teachers Delivering AQA GCSE Business Studies: The 9 Mark Question
One of the key themes that teachers mentioned at the recent AQA GCSE Revision Conference in Stratford last week was the 9 mark question(s) and how students really feared them.
read more...»Developing Exam Skills: AQA GCSE Business Studies: Definitions and Accessing the Higher Marks
I wrote a blog recently based on ways for students to tackle the 9 mark questions in the AQA GCSE Business Exam. My blog was based around information from the Unit 1 Examiners report.
read more...»Developing Exam Skills: AQA GCSE Business Studies: Application
One area that students struggle with time and time again is the key skill of application and this was highlighted in the examiners report from the last Unit 2 exam sat in June.
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...»GCSE (AQA) Business Studies: Developing Exam Skills: The 9 mark question
Examiners reports…just full of exam gold. Nuggets of information to allow us to better prepare our students.
read more...»
