The Business Studies course consists of five subject areas and is studied over a two year period.

Business and the environment in which it operates

• Business activity (Business activity as a means of adding value and meeting; Classification of local and national firms into primary, secondary and tertiary sectors; Business growth and measurement of size; Key features of own national economy)
• The organisation (Business objectives and their importance; Stakeholders and their differing objectives; Aims of private and public sector enterprises)
• Changing business environment (Government influence over decision making by using economic policy measures ; Impact of technology on business ; Business reaction to market changes)
• Economic environment (Mixed and market Economies; International tariffs; Problems of entering new markets abroad; Competition and Business; Concept of exchange rates and how changes in them affect business)

Business structure, organization and control

• Ownership and internal organisation (Relationship between objectives, growth and business organization; Types of business organisation e.g. sole trader, partnerships, limited companies, franchise, joint venture; Growth of multinational companies; Control and responsibility; Limited and unlimited liability; Internal organisation – organisation structure, hierarchy, span of control; Internal and external communication; Internal communication – effective communication and its attainment)
• Financing business activity (Use of funds; Short and longterm financial needs; Sources of internal and external funds – short and longterm; Factors affecting the methods of finance chosen)

Business activity to achieve objectives

• Marketing (Role of marketing; Market research – primary and secondary; Presentation and use of results; Market segmentation – purpose and methods; Mass market and niche market; Marketing mix; Product – design, brand, packaging, life cycle; Price – price elasticity of demand, pricing methods and strategies; Distribution channels; Promotion – advertising, sales, point of sale; Marketing strategy; Marketing budget)
• Production/Operations Management (Using resources to produce goods and services; Methods of production – job, batch, flow; Scale of production; Lean production; Costs and cost classification; Break-even analysis and simple cost based decision making; Quality control; Location decisions; An appreciation of how production can be made more efficient)
• Financial information and decision making (Cash and cash flow forecasts; Profit – what it is and why it matters; Purpose and main elements of profit/loss account; Purpose and main elements of balance sheet; Simple interpretation of financial statements using ratios; Working capital; Financial budgets; Users of accounts)

People in Business

• Human needs and rewards (Role of work in satisfying human needs; Methods of financial rewards; Non-financial rewards; Management styles and motivation methods)
• Manpower (Stages of recruitment and selection;  Training methods; Dismissal and redundancy)

Regulating and controlling business activity

• Reasons for regulations (Impact of business decisions on people, the economy and the environment)
• Influences on business activity (Location decisions; Workforce and the working environment – health and safety, employment protection; The consumer; External costs and benefits; Exchange rates; Business cycle)