teacher student relationships
A great one for teachers and a good one for students to consider the importance and difficulties of teacher student relationships in school.
Read it here.
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Return to article | View my favoritesBUSS4 Example Essay - Integration Planning for Takeovers and Mergers
We produced this sample essay to a exemplar BUSS4 essay on the importance of integration planning in determining the success of a takeover or merger. The essay title was:
“To what extent is integration planning the most important factor determining the success of a takeover or merger?”
The essay is provided below together with the marks and comments from an experienced AQA BUSS4 examiner
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Return to article | View my favoritesEuro crisis hits Eurovision
Amidst the depths of concern about where the Greek crisis and the eurozone might take us, can I offer a lighter note. Putting aside UK contingency planning to deal with mass immigration and Bankia’s request for a 19bn bailout, perhaps the ultimate indicator of the crisis is the news that Spanish TV has instructed their entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest that she is not to win.
If Pastora Soler wins with her ballad Quedate Conmigo (Stay With Me), then according to the rules of the contest the public broadcaster of the nation that wins must host the following year. And Spain’s broadcaster TVE cannot afford that at the moment.
Surely this explains how/why countries choose their Eurovision entry, and is a great example of game theory which we should use in the classroom?
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Return to article | View my favoritesSmall government is beautiful - discuss
Does a smaller Government sector mean more economic growth?
This example of normative economics from The Centre For Policy Studies offers a case that it does.
The CPS is trying to convince you and me, that smaller government leads to lower taxes, less crowding out, more enterprise amongst other outcomes. It is trying to shape decisions about the mixed economy, or change the behaviour of governments and voters.
It might provide some food for thought about what sort of mix of private and public sector is desirable. If you wanted to weigh up the case for more intervention, what would you highlight? Does the data used show that the relationship between government size is based on correlation or coincidence?
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Return to article | View my favoritesCopycats and ‘Me Too’ products
I wasn’t sure at first if I liked this article. I’ve always taught the line that innovation and new ideas are a key ingredient for business success, from the unique selling point to new product development driven by investment in R+D. Controversially, The Economist makes the case that imitators aren’t necessarily the bad guys.
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Return to article | View my favoritesGreek Euro Exit Flowchart
Here’s a good one for the end of the week, if you want a discussion regarding the possible outcome(s) of the € currency crisis, or a handy revision tool. This Guardian interactive page is very helpful.
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Return to article | View my favoritesBUSS4 - a clash of culture and a failed takeover
BUSS4 students really need to read this one - it offers good, strong evidence of the problems of takeovers and mergers including difficulties integrating businesses successfully. Last year Hewlett Packard bought Autonomy, a Cambridge software company, for $10bn. This year they have a 31% fall in profits and plan to cut 27,000 jobs (about 8% of their workforce) by end of 2014 in order to reduce costs by up to $3.5bn (£2.2bn) a year. As many business reports say, the move was part of a “productivity initiative designed to simplify business processes” and is down to their inability to keep up with products such as the iPad which eats into HP’s laptop sales.
HP haven’t announced where those staff cuts will be made yet, but a key news announcement yesterday was that Mike Lynch, who founded Autonomy and built it from a small start up founded with a loan of £2,000 from a man in a pub to the UK’s leading technology company, is to be replaced. HP seems to offer a classic case of Charles Handy’s Role culture with layers of bureaucracy which, critics say, has stifled the entrepreneurial spirit of Autonomy’s Power culture which focused on Mike Lynch who was used to making his own decisions and still based on a simple start-up structure. A BBC Business Correspondent reports that
“His drive and entrepreneurial flair was fundamental to the growth of the firm. Although many people found him difficult and demanding to work for, he was held in awe by rank-and-file staff. (compare Steve Jobs - similar comments are made about him.) That’s why Autonomy’s 300 Cambridge staff are worried about the future. One man, who declined to be identified, said: “Without Mike, we have a grim outlook. He was the reason many people work here. A brain drain of senior people is already under way.”
In that brain drain 20% of Autonomy’s staff have recently left including the President and Chief Finance Officer. The Independent reports on the culture clash saying that
“Autonomy hasn’t been performing the way the computer giant had hoped. HP wants big deals, sealed quickly, and the Autonomy style of working just hasn’t fitted in” - this article is really worth reading for its analysis of the problems in this takeover and others in which the entrepreneurial flair which brought small businesses to the attention of large ones has caused difficulties in achieving the business growth and synergies which were dreamed of.
Other useful resources on this story - a BBC video report examining the reasons for HP’s diffuculties and the management style at Autonomy, and a profile of Mike Lynch from The Telegraph. As Lord Sutch would say, business studies gold dust!
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Return to article | View my favoritesThe Merkeltaur - my favourite Greek crisis cartoon!
The Greek economic crisis has led to many amusing and insightful cartoons, and my students and I have enjoyed discussing the cross-curricular links between Classics and Economics that many of the cartoons reference.
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Return to article | View my favoritesDid Ben & Jerry’s change Unilever?
A fascinating story has appeared on the BBC News website featuring Jerry (of Ben & Jerry’s) as he explains the extent to which, after being taken over by Unliever in 2000, they have been able to bring their values to the vast conglomerate.
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Return to article | View my favoritesBMW - Bavarian Monopolist at Work
BMW have been fined SFr156m ($163m) by Swiss Competition Authorities for restricting the supply of BMW and MINI cars to Swiss purchasers.
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Return to article | View my favoritesMarketing case study: the Swiss Army knife
There’s so much business studies wrapped up in the neat Swiss Army knife package. I was thinking if the multifunctional device could be a metaphor for effective student answers (break a complex issue down into parts, approach evaluation questions from different angles) but never got that far.
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Return to article | View my favoritesDemand and Supply in action - Dry Shampoo
Sales of dry shampoo have rocketed in the past year. Sales have risen by 140% year on year, and research by industry analysts Mintel found 23% of women and 13% of men own a bottle. It is especially popular among younger women, with nearly four in ten of those aged 16 to 24 using it
So why is there such a big increase in demand for this product?
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Return to article | View my favoritesMazda make light of formal tie up with Fiat
In the 1980s and 1990s, Ford embarked on a series of takeovers Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover, all of which were sold off to meet the firm’s liabilities. It also had built up a substantial stake in the Japanese Mazda company, holding almost 1/3 of the share capital, making a successful bid by rival multinational car makers less likely.
Today’s business news included an announcement that Mazda was forming an alliance with Alfa Romeo develop a new two-seater rear-wheel-drive sports car.
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Return to article | View my favoritesInvestment in Energy Infrastructure
Many people take as given a pressing need to increase capital investment in the infrastructure of our energy sectors - but how strong are the economic and social impacts of such investment? The LSE Growth Commission met this week to discuss this and I have brought together some of the arguments drawing on a number of various twitter feeds
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: Cyclical and Structural Economic Issues Facing the UK
Our focus in an AS macro revision session was on the difference between cyclical issues and events and the wider / deeper structural problems and issues facing the UK economy at this fascinating time. Key macro policy decisions affect the path of an economy out of recession, but are these the same policies that will address the supply-side constraints and weaknesses that hold back growth, development and contribute to growing inequality?
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Return to article | View my favoritesA2 Macro: You Have $75 Billion To Save the World - How would you spend it?
Five top development economists including 4 Nobel Laureates were asked how they would best spend $75 billion to improve human welfare especially in developing countries and the list below is what they came up with in order of priority.
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Return to article | View my favoritesA2 Evaluation - Read the Question!
Along with ‘show your working’, I vividly remember my own teachers writing ‘RTQ’ or ‘Read the question!’ on my work in red ink.
This simple and important advice is often overlooked of course. It is more important than ever in A2 essay questions in Economics and in Business Studies.
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Return to article | View my favoritesLady Gaga and PEST Analysis
Great news item for linking Society (or Culture) with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball Concert, which has hit problems in Jakarta, Indonesia…
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Return to article | View my favoritesRising to the top of the milk
Two cooperative firms Milk Link (Moo milk, Gervik, Caradog cheese) and Arla Foods (brands include Cravendale, Lurpak and Anchor) are to merge.
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Return to article | View my favoritesFor $24.95, George W. Bush Will Share His ‘Strategies For Economic Growth’
If you’re looking for some light post exam season poolside reading material, perhaps the previous US President’s thoughts on how to achieve economic growth will appeal.
However, according to this report by the Economic Policy Institute under Bush’s watch “between the end of the 2001 recession (2001Q4) and the peak of that expansion (2007Q4), the U.S. economy experienced the worst economic expansion of the post-war era.”
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Return to article | View my favoritesA neat interactive tool for students to analyse the smartphone market
This is a great classroom resource - Our Mobile Planet. It provide students with an interactive chart generator where they can select data sets and undertake analysis of the demand for, and use of, smartphones in various national markets. Great for illustrating market share and for providing students with some raw chart data they can interpret. Have fun…!
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Return to article | View my favoritesTeaching Vacancy - IB Business and Management Teacher - Aiglon College (Switzerland)
A VERY interesting job opportunity here for business teachers! It is at Aiglon College, one of the pre-eminent Swiss International Schools, situated in a ski resort, with easy access to alpine pursuits and a very multinational pupil intake. Many thanks to Esmond Tweedie for letting us have the details.
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Return to article | View my favoritesAS Macro (Unit 2) Economics Online Revision Clinic - Tuesday 22 May 2012
The second in our series of online revision clinics for AS Economics students taking their Unit 2 exams will be 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm on Tuesday 22 May 2012.
To participate in the revision clinic (e.g. ask questions, comment etc) you will need to login using your FB or Twitter ID.
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Return to article | View my favoritesMost successful “kickstart” ever!
As a follow up from last week’s blog entry on sources of finance in the internet age comes the story of “Pebble” - a watch that connects to the iphone. Their quest for finance on kickstarter.com was successful beyond their wildest dreams!
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: Evaluation on Supply-Side Policies
Lots of students will be revising the economics of supply-side policies this week with their AS macro paper coming into view. There are different interpretations of what constitutes a supply-side policy measure. I like to label SSP (supply-side policy) to any policy or group of measures where emphasis is given to improving the working of markets, raising factor efficiency, improving the quantity and quality of labour and in lifting the capacity and competitiveness of an economy in a constantly-changing international environment.
Many supply side policies focus on improving incentives and outcomes in the labour market, others are geared towards bettering the performance of markets for goods and services, All of them centre on helping to sustain non-inflationary growth, improve trade performance, lift living standards and create new and fulfilling jobs opportunities.
This revision blog looks in particular at some evaluation points on supply-side approaches:
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Return to article | View my favoritesOther Edexcel GCSE Business Unit 1 Zondle Games
Today, I’ve put a couple of new Zondle quizzes on to this blog for last minute Unit 1 GCSE Edexcel Business Revision.
I’ve previously blogged about Zondle quizzes for the other Unit 1 topics. Here is a blog to quickly link you back to them.
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Return to article | View my favoritesEdexcel GCSE Business Studies Unit 1 Section 5 Zondle Quiz
Here is one more Zondle quiz for last minute revision for tomorrow’s Unit 1 exam. Following Saturday night’s match it seemed apt to load this quiz up to the Penalty Kick game. Good luck everyone taking the exam.
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Return to article | View my favoritesBUSS4 Emerging Markets : Starbucks’ challenges in China
We’ve recently switched our focus away from Section A research them questions to consider how some of our Tutor2U twelve businesses may be used to answer potential Section B questions. Whilst focusing on an essay on emerging markets, one of my students came across this excellent article about the hurdles Starbucks has faced in China.
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Return to article | View my favoritesTeaching Vacancy - Business Studies at Freman College
Many thanks to tutor2u’s Ian Pryer for letting us have first details of a super teaching opportunity to join the team at Freman College. Details below.
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Return to article | View my favoritesMaking the Startup Effective GCSE Edexcel Unit 1 Section 4 Revision Quiz
With the Edexcel Unit 1 GCSE Business exam tomorrow afternoon, here is a zondle quiz collectively created by my Year 10 class today for some last minute revision.
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Return to article | View my favoritesScarcity and the Basic Economic Problem
When introducing pupils to this topic and looking for examples of free and economic goods, water often comes up as an example of a free good. Well, below (and found here) is an excellent image which illustrates the true scarcity of fresh water as the sphere represents all available water in comparision to the size of the earth.
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Return to article | View my favorites6 Essential M&A Cases: Tata Group buys Jaguar Land Rover
The Tata acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover is a superb example to include in research notes on takeovers and mergers. At the time (early 2008), Tata’s investment in JLR seemed to be poorly timed and there were many critics who questioned the strategic logic of the move as well as its timing. Shortly after the takeover, demand in the global market for luxury cars collapsed as a result of the financial crisis and Tata was forced to refinance to support its investment.
Several years later, however, the takeover appears to be a compelling example of a successful acquisition which is generating substantial shareholder value for Tata as well as continued support from JLR’s many stakeholder groups in the UK.
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Return to article | View my favoritesAn Economists Guide to Teaching Styles
Many thanks to Paul Bridges for this witty and revealing interpretation of teaching styles - I am sure our student and teaching community can suggest additional styles and we will happily showcase the best! Over to you!
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Return to article | View my favoritesOxbridge Economics: Introduction to Game Theory
Here is an “Introduction to Game Theory” lecture, which offers a broad introduction to the field, with some exercises to do at the end. (The yellow-underlined text hyperlinks out to other resources).
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 3 Micro: Game Theory and Business Economics
Game theory is mainly concerned with predicting the outcome of games of strategy in which the participants (for example two or more businesses competing in a market) have incomplete information about the others’ intentions. This revision blog looks at some of the ways in which game theory can be applied to business economics decisions.
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: The Current Account of the Balance of Payments
A revision note for AS economists on the current account of the balance of payments
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: UK Trade in Services
A revision blog on UK overseas trade in services
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: Migration and the UK Economy
A revision blog on the economic impact of migration on the UK economy
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: Positive and Negative Multiplier Effects
An initial change in aggregate demand can have a much greater final impact on equilibrium national income. This is known as the multiplier effect. It comes about because injections of new demand for goods and services into the circular flow of income can stimulate further rounds of spending – in other words “one person’s spending is another’s income”. Put another way, spending becomes someone else’s income. This can lead to a bigger eventual effect on output and employment.
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: The Importance of Productivity
Productivity is a key measure of supply-side economic performance and labour efficiency.
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: Measuring Unemployment in the UK
The unemployed are people able, available and willing to work at the going wage rate but cannot find a job despite an active search for work.
Unemployment means that scarce human resources are not being used to produce goods and services to meet people’s needs and wants. Persistently high levels of joblessness have damaging consequences for an economy causing both economic and social costs.
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: Measuring Inflation in the UK
Inflation is a sustained increase in the cost of living or the average / general price level leading to a fall in the purchasing power of money. The opposite of inflation is deflation which is a decrease in the cost of living or average price level.
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: Real Interest Rates
The real rate of interest is important to businesses and consumers when making spending and saving decisions. The real rate of return on savings, for example, is the money rate of interest minus the rate of inflation.
So if a saver is receiving a money rate of interest of 6% on his savings, but price inflation is running at 3% per year, the real rate of return on these savings is only + 3%.
Real interest rates become negative when the nominal rate of interest is less than inflation, for example if inflation is 5% and nominal interest rates are 4%, the real cost of borrowing money is negative at -1%.
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: Human Development Index (HDI)
The Human Development Index (HDI) forms part of the annual human development report and is a composite measure of economic and social welfare that has three main components. At its most basic it focuses on longevity, basic education and minimal income and progress made by countries in improving these three outcomes. The inclusion of education and health indicators is a sign of successful government policies in providing access to important merit goods such as health care, sanitation and education. World Human Development Map
1. Knowledge: First an educational component made up of two statistics – mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling
2. Long and healthy life: Second a life expectancy component is calculated using a minimum value for life expectancy of 25 years and maximum value of 85 years
3. A decent standard of living: The final element is gross national income (GNI) per capita adjusted to purchasing power parity standard (PPP)
“Human development is the expansion of people’s freedom to live long, healthy and creative lives; to advance other goals they have reason to value; and to engage actively in shaping development equitably and sustainably on a shared planet. People are both the beneficiaries and the drivers of human development, as individuals and in groups” Source: HDR Report, November 2010
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Return to article | View my favoritesQ&A: What do we need to know about output gaps?
Q&A: For AS macroeconomics, what do we need to know about output gaps?
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: The Output Gap
How much spare capacity does an economy have to meet a rise in demand? How close is an economy to operating at its productive potential? Has the recession damaged the economy’s productive potential? These sorts of questions all link to an important concept – the output gap. The output gap is the difference between the actual level of national output and the estimated potential level and is usually expressed as a percentage of the level of potential output.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision notes on unemployment
A revision blog on possible unemployment questions on AS and A2 papers
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Return to article | View my favoritesHow much for an olympic torch?
I’ve just seen a great piece of topical demand and supply in action today. Just in case you’ve missed it on the news, the Olympic torch arrived in the UK and embarked on a 70-day tour in the run-up to the London 2012 games.
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Return to article | View my favoritesWho owns who?
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Return to article | View my favoritesThe Biz Quiz - 18 May 2012
The latest edition of The Biz Quiz is now available:
Launch The Biz Quiz - 18 May 2012
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Return to article | View my favoritesMeasuring 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?
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Return to article | View my favoritesWhat 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?
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Return to article | View my favoritesAQA AS Business (BUSS2) - Revision Quizzes
Here are the links to the collection of revision quizzes for students taking AQA AS BUSS2 (“Managing a Business”)...
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Return to article | View my favoritesPeston on The Eurozone
As the Eurozone continues to be bufferted by instability in Spanish Banks, and uncertainty over Greek membership of the single currency. Robert Peston fronts a programme on The Euro on BBC2 tonight.
It remains to be seen if he offers any answers to Mervyn King’s observation, that the UK biggest trading partner, the euro area, is “tearing itself apart without any obvious solution,”
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Return to article | View my favoritesSam Hallam is freed
After seven years in jail for a crime he did not commit, Sam Hallam was released on bail today. This case shows that miscarriages of justice are still with us, and highlights the role of the Criminal Cases Review Commission. It appears that photos on Mr Hallam’s mobile phone may have shown the jury that the alibi that he relied on was not “a concoction”.
It is also interesting to note that Mr Hallam’s exercising of the right to silence during his interview may not have helped matters.Of course, following the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 it is now possible for the jury to draw adverese inferences from this that historically it was not.
See below for a video clip. The Sam Hallam campaign website is also full of useful content.
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Return to article | View my favoritestutor2u Visit to the Middle East - April 2013
We have been invited by several colleagues to organise a visit to the Middle East in April 2013 to provide a programme of CPD and student revision workshops. As part of our planning, we’d like to invite colleagues in the area to let us have their thoughts on the content of the programme. Please use this online survey to have your input into the tour planning!
https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/2013-uae-qatar-programme/
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Return to article | View my favoritestutor2u Visit to the Middle East - April 2013
We have been invited by several colleagues to organise a visit to the Middle East in April 2013 to provide a programme of CPD and student revision workshops. As part of our planning, we’d like to invite colleagues in the area to let us have their thoughts on the content of the programme. Please use this online survey to have your input into the tour planning!
https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/2013-uae-qatar-programme/
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Return to article | View my favoritesShould you buy Facebook shares?
Most of you will be familiar with the crucial concept of appraising business investments. This means taking a cold, hard look at a business proposal (in this case buying Facebook shares) and seeing what kind of return you are likely to get on that investment.
With Facebook shares only days away from public sale, analysts are busy trying to piece together the information that’s necessary to advise people one way or another. This seems like a great opportunity to get you thinking. What do you need to know before deciding whether to invest? Here are a few links to get you started…
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Marketing and Product Portfolios
This revision presentation provides an introduction to the role of product portfolios in marketing strategy and how they can be analysed using the Boston Matrix
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Improving Cash Flow
What are the causes of cash flow problems and how can a business manage its cash flow more effectively? This updated revision presentation looks at those questions, covering topics such as the basics of working capital management, bank finance, factoring, sale and leaseback and sale of assets.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Marketing Mix: Introduction to Place
The basics of distribution (place) in the marketing mix are covered in this revision presentation.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Operations and Technology
This brief revision presentation introduces the role of technology in operations. It looks at some of the main established types of technology and how technology supports the effective management of operations. It also examines the link between the use of technology and productivity and quality.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Marketing Mix: Introduction to Pricing
Setting the optimal price is one of the hardest parts of marketing - and the only element of the marketing mix which directly affects revenues. This revision presentation examines the main methods, tactics and strategies of pricing + introduces the important topic of price elasticity of demand.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Marketing Mix: Introduction to Products & Brands
This revision presentation provides a brief introduction to what is a product and a brand.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Marketing & the Product Life Cycle
The product life cycle is a popular topic in most business and marketing courses. This revision presentation introduces the concept of the product life cycle and considers some of the issues raised for marketers and businesses:
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Marketing Mix: Introduction to Promotion
The basics of promotion as part of the marketing mix are outlined in this revision presentation. It considers what is meant by promotion and outlines the alternative methods of promotion for different types of products and businesses. It also looks at the factors to consider when choosing what goes into the promotional mix.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Measuring and Increasing Profit
This revision presentation provides an introduction to the measurement and interpretation of profit, focusing on the net profit margin and return on capital. It also looks at the crucial difference between profit and cash flow.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Improving Organisational Structures
This revision presentation builds on our earlier introduction to organisational structures. It considers the alternative approaches to organisational structure and looks in more details at core topics such as hierarchies, spans of control, workloads, job allocations and delegation. It also looks at how changes to organisational structure might lead to improved competitiveness and business performance.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Recruitment & Selection
The basics of the recruitment and selection process for a business are covered in this revision presentation. We look at the recruitment process; the methods of internal & external recruitment; the role of job and person specifications and descriptions; the role of outside agencies in recruitment.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Training
In this revision presentation we look at the business advantages and drawbacks of training, and the various kinds of training including on-the-job, off-the-job and induction training.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Measuring Workforce Effectiveness
There are veraious ways in which firms can measure the effectiveness of their workforce. This revision presentation introduces three key metrics - staff turnover; labour productivity and absenteeism.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Using Budgets
This updated revision presentation looks at the essentials of using budgets. It considers the role played by budgeting and explains the nature and use of variance analysis…
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Marketing and Competitiveness
In this revision presentation we look at the key topic of competitiveness, in the specific context of marketing and market structure. We consider what is meant by the concept of “competitiveness” and what determines whether a business has a competitive advantage over others in the market or industry. The nature of competition in a market is also covered, including the key models of competition such as Porter’s Five Forces.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Working with Suppliers
This revision presentation looks at the role of suppliers in business. It considers what is meant by a supplier and the factors that a firm considers when choosing a supplier. It also looks at how a firm can work effectively with its suppliers in order to improve business performance.
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Return to article | View my favoritesRevision Presentation - Making Operational Decisions
This revision presentation will be useful for students who need an introduction to the core concepts of capacity management, capacity utilisation, productivity and efficiency.
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Return to article | View my favoritesWill a fat tax work? Thinking Hat activity
I don’t want to overhype this but the Grocer magazine is brilliant for interesting business and economics articles. Some articles require a subscription but it might be worth it for interesting lesson starters.
Here is a fantastic article for debating the introduction of a fat tax to reduce health issues in the UK. I am going to use De Bono’s thinking hats activity to debate this topic in class.
One group will wear the red hat meaning they have to go on their gut reaction and not read the article.
White Hat – This group will use the data to back up all of their opinions and look for more data to make a decision. (More data could be provided)
Black hat – They get to think of all of the negative aspects of a fat tax.
Yellow hat – Only positives of an introduction of a fat tax will be discussed by this group.
Green hat – The final group will try to look for alternative methods of solving the problem.
Finally the groups will present their finding and a good class discuss should follow. This would be a perfect activity for year 10’s at the end of term or for a longer project style activity for returning year 12 students after their exams.
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Return to article | View my favoritesSnap crackle and pop! Supply and demand in the cereal market
A farmer friend of mine recommended subscribing to the Grocer magazine for Business Studies stories and I am delighted to say that it has some fantastic articles for use in both economics and business classes. This example is perfect for a supply and demand lesson. It seems customers cereal tastes have changed with old favourites such as rice krispies loosing 11.8% of sales.
A great starter for a supply and demand lesson would be to get students to read the article and find as many reasons for the drop in sales as possible.
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 1 Micro: Revision Presentation on Government Intervention
Here is a short 35 slide revision presentation on government intervention in markets designed for AS microeconomics revision
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 1 Micro: Revision Presentation on Externalities
Here is a short revision presentation on externalities streamed using Slide Share
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 2 Macro: Bank Cuts UK growth Forecast for 2012
The quarterly Inflation Report is an opportunity for the Bank of England to flesh out their latest forecasts and thoughts on the direction of the UK economy and it is safe to say that the May report will probably be best remembered for a remarkable statement from the Bank of England Governor Mervyn King.
“We have been through a big global financial crisis; the biggest downturn in world output since the 1930s; the biggest banking crisis in this country’s history; the biggest fiscal deficit in our peacetime history; and our biggest trading partner, the euro area, is tearing itself apart without any obvious solution. The idea that we could reasonably hope to sail serenely through this with growth close to the long-run average and inflation at 2 per cent strikes me as wholly unrealistic.”
In short:
* Economic growth for 2012 - forecast has been cut to just 0.8%
* Consumer spending will continue to fall this year as real living standards for millions of people are squeezed
* The rising cost of borrowing in the wholesale money markets is increasing costs for banks and is putting upward pressure on the price of business loans and mortgages
* Now sees significant chance of negative annual GDP growth in 2012. Raises near term inflation forecast - CPI inflation inflation to fall back to target before the middle of 2013
* It may take a long time to get the UK economy back to previous growth / inflation paths: ““There’s no obvious reason to believe we can’t get back to original path [of economy pre-crisis] but may take 10/15/20 years” - a realisation of the severity of the shock to the global financial system and the aftermath
* Weak growth forecasts for 2012 assumes that there will not be a collapse / breakup of the single currency
Bank governor warns of eurozone crisis ‘storm’
Bank of England warns of euro crisis ‘storm’ (BBC news video)
A sticky wicket for the Bank (Stephanie Flanders)
Bank of England Inflation Report Data Sections
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 1 Micro: Revision Presentation on Elasticity of Supply
A slide share revision presentation on price elasticity of supply
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 1 Micro: Revision Presentation on Elasticity of Demand
A slide share revision presentation on elasticity of demand
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 1 Micro: Revision Presentation on the Price Mechanism
Here is a slide share presentation on the price mechanism in action focused in students taking their AS microeconomics papers.
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Return to article | View my favoritesImproving Evaluation Skills in Economics Exams
Here is an updated version of the WEESTEPS approach to economics evaluation designed to boost the evaluation scores and exam results for AS and A2 students. Paul Bridges is the mastermind behind this superb approach to evaluation - it gives you some great pointers about the evaluative approaches that can be used. Works well for micro and macro - but particularly when you have to evaluate a specific policy intervention in a market / industry / or a macro policy discussion.
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Return to article | View my favoritesDate Announced for RES Essay Competition Judging
Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th June are the days set aside for the teacher judging panel to assess the hundreds of entries for the 2012 RES competition. The main judging takes place on the Tuesday and we will post a list of shortlisted and highly commended essays sometime on the evening of the 12th June. The final shortlist will then proceed to judging from the RES panel.
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Return to article | View my favoritesEconomy tracker
The BBCs economy tracker has been updated with the latest unemployment figures. This is a great resource to use in the classroom. Click here to go to it.
Particularly great for revision, students will be able to see what has happened to unemployment over time and also read about unemployment.
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Return to article | View my favoritesEurozone Crisis - Lessons Learnt
Last week I attended a very interesting lecture at the LSE on the Eurozone crisis, given by Leszek Balcerowicz, a Polish economist who is former chairman of the National Bank of Poland and Deputy Prime Minister.
The following blog outlines his thoughts, but also includes useful links to articles to read.
Using the crisis as a case study will hugely benefit A2 students as it encompasses many of the topics covered in the syllabus.
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Return to article | View my favoritesEuro 2012 rip off – Supply and demand in action
Hotels at Euro 2012 are increasing their prices by as much as 1000% with some pretty shoddy rooms going for over £800. Students could try to show this using a demand and supply diagram. The most able students might also be able to talk about how the elasticity of demand and supply has caused the prices to increase so much.
For an even more advanced student, you could ask whether the government setting a maximum price for hotel rooms would have solved this problem or just caused more issues
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Return to article | View my favoritesCivil Courts “face meltdown”
...or so says the Gazette - the magazine for solicitors, and not exactly given to hyperbole. Plans to cut face-to-face counter services seem particularly difficult from an access to justice point of view, given the large amount of litigants in person created by the cuts to legal aid, as the Gazette points out.
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Return to article | View my favoritesGrexit - Andrew Balls on Greece and the Euro
Following on from Ben Christopher’s article, a BBC Radio 4 interview with Andrew Balls, an investment fund manager, and younger brother of The Shadow Chancellor on the possibility of a Grexit - Greek exit from the Euro.
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Return to article | View my favoritesVideo revision - Manufacturing coming back to the UK
Another great video for revision. This one looks at why some firms are coming back to the UK to manufacture. It could also be a good one to do economics bingo with!
Click here to watch the video.
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Return to article | View my favoritesSniper or Machine Gunner?
One of the major difficulties with the BUSS4 paper is managing time effectively. Students- understandably under pressure- regularly neglect to take the time to understand the question before they start writing. They are unsure how best to address the essay and so try to reproduce their text book, hoping that some of their knowledge will hit the target. Another error from those who have learned the syllabus, and/or built up a vast portfolio of information on the research theme, often feel obliged to ‘show off’ in the exam room. Rather than scoring highly, however, their essays tend to read like a list of bullet points, interspersed with ‘stories’ about businesses they have studied.
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Return to article | View my favoritesJonathan Portes to speak at the Economics Teacher National Conference 2012
https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/economics-teacher-national-conf-2012-booking-form/
We are delighted that Jonathan Portes will be one of our key note speakers at the Economics Teacher National Conference at the British Library on Wednesday 27th June.
In recent months Jonathan has been a prominent figure in the media commentating on a wide range of macroeconomic issues but notably on the lively debate about how best
to drive economic growth and recovery in the UK.
He is currently Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and previously, he was Chief Economist at the Cabinet Office, where he advised the Cabinet Secretary, Gus
O’Donnell, and Number 10 Downing Street on economic and financial issues. Before that he held a number of other senior economic policy posts in the UK government. Jonathan writes a blog “Not the Treasury View” that has fast-gained a large following within the economics community and much wider afield. Jonathan is also a prolific user of Twitter!
We are delighted that one of the UK’s top economists will be joining us for a pre-lunch presentation and open floor discussion.
Delegate Rates:
£175 (+ VAT) for a single delegate
£125 (+ VAT) for groups of two or more delegates from the same institution
https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/economics-teacher-national-conf-2012-booking-form/
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Return to article | View my favoritesFinal Speaker Line Up for the Economics Teacher Conference 2012
Our speaker line up is now complete for tutor2u’s 10th Anniversary Economics Teacher National Conference! We are delighted to have some outstanding economists and communicators to talk on a range of current issues and the day provides a terrific opportunity to celebrate our marvellous subject and enrich our passion for what we do in the classroom ahead of the summer break! Our keynote speakers are currently confirmed below:
Delegate Rates:
£175 (+ VAT) for a single delegate
£125 (+ VAT) for groups of two or more delegates from the same institution
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Return to article | View my favoritesPeston on a Greek Euro Exit
Speculation about a Greek exit from the Eurozone has reached fever pitch particularly after today’s talks between the national political parties failed to achieve any agreement over forming a government to make the tough decisions required to free up the next tranche of the bailout package. If the second lot of elections are as inconclusive as the last, then a Euro exit is inevitable according to what seems to be the entire world’s press. Clear explanation here by the inimitable Robert Peston on what the Eurozone members are facing if Greece is forced to revert back to the Drachma.
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnit 4 Macro: African Human Development Report 2012
May 15th 2012 marks the day when the African Human Development Report 2012 is published. This will no doubt become a key reference point for students and teachers who are passionate about their development economics.
“Sub-Saharan Africa cannot sustain its present economic resurgence unless it eliminates the hunger that affects nearly a quarter of its people, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) argues. More than one in four Africans - close to 218 million people - is undernourished, African governments spend between 5-10% of their budgets on agriculture, well below the 20% average that Asian governments devoted to the sector during the green revolution there.”
Resources:
African Human Development Report 2012
Guardian: Sub-Saharan Africa can only grow if it solves hunger crisis – UNDP
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Return to article | View my favoritesEpic fail: how to do really badly
This is a light hearted one, aimed particularly at those of you preparing for exams. It’s got nothing to do with exams really, just reflections on Disney’s mega flop “John Carter” in The Economist, which is said to have made a loss of over £200m and cost the boss his job.
Are there any common patterns behind famous marketing failures?
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Return to article | View my favoritesFine for texting whilst walking – negative externalities
An American town has been so annoyed by people texting whilst walking that it has decided to fine anyone caught doing so. This is a perfect example for negative externalities
Students could read the article and discuss the following points
1. What are the negative externalities of texting whilst walking?
2. Do you think a fine will be successful in reducing the number of people texting whilst walking
3. Discuss the possible effectiveness of other solutions to the problem
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Return to article | View my favoritesBUSS2 Magic Formula
I have really enjoyed being a panellist on Tutor2U’s On-Line Revision Clinics. The next one takes place on Wed 16th May 2012 for the BUSS2 exam on Mon 21st May 2012 and this post seeks to anticipate one of the common questions.
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Return to article | View my favoritesUnder-employment - the dark side of flexible working or just a sign of the recession?
Today, TUC figures showed that the number of men working part time who are looking for full time work has doubled in the last four years from 293,000 to nearly 600,000. Is this a sign of the recession or is it an inevitable result of a move towards more flexible working?
