Term 1 Business Test

All and good luck in advance!

Go to fronter here: A-Level Business Studies - Resources - Tests


You will have 45 minutes max to complete the test once you begin.

In the real exam you would use about half of that time to complete this test so be aware of this.

Anyone above 90% can collect a doughnut from me! (This excludes you Mrs Oates!)

Pop-up shops and entrepreneurs to prosper from high street changes

I read this article over the summer and thought it was pretty interesting. It looks at how there has been a growth in pop up shops. So I had take a picture when Mr Oates and I visited Dubai Mall over the weekend... Article Link: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/2185509

Jack Wills are opening up a store in Dubai Mall in the next few months. What business concepts can you come up with about this image?

Marketing Mix & Lady Gaga?

Proof that Product Trials Work!

Earlier this week we showed a story about facebook conducting a product trial for their mobile advertising system... This is the result of that product trial! Click the image to follow the story in full

Facebook and exam questions

Exam Skills: Application

Mrs Oates' Y12 Business Studies Students have been watching the Facebook documentary as part of the work on Entrepreneurial characteristics.

The following exam question was set: To what extent do you believe that Mark Zuckerburg's characteristics have lead to the success of Facebook? [8 marks]

The students will be posting their answers to this question tomorrow and will be working on developing their 'application' skills.

Which Degree course do your A-Levels Suit?

Click the image to follow the link! Really useful if you are considering your future degree courses.

Elasticity of Demand

Key video to help you with elasticity of demand... The Economics students among you should be fine given you have had a far superior teacher go through this with you! However, This will help you out and I have a link below where you can test yourself from the awesome Tutor2U



Tutor 2 U Revision Notes

http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/as-markets-price-elasticity-of-demand.html

PowerPoint

http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/presentations/aseconomics/markets/PriceElasticityofDemand/default.html

Quiz

http://www.tutor2u.net/business/quiz/priceelasticity/quiz.html

Entrepreneurs in action - Mark Zuckerberg

Thanks to Mrs Oates for finding this great video highlighting the enterprising qualities of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and creator of facebook.

Inside Facebook 59 min (Documentary) from Świat Social Media on Vimeo.

Branson and bringing Virgin back from the brink...

Theo on Entrepreneurs and Risk Taking

Entrepreneurs & Calculated Risks

Entrepreneurs & Calculated Risk

1. Entrepreneurs take calculated risks by seeing the upside that could come from any business situation.
2. They stack the cards in their favor by calculating the potential for profit vs. the potential for loss. 
3. Most people see risk as a negative thing whilst entrepreneurs see opportunity.

"Calculated Risk Taking" is one of the skills we should describe entrepreneurs as having.

Market Mapping Student Slides

A Students take on market mapping...

Excellent presentation on Competitiveness & Marketing!

Marketing & Competitiveness from tutor2u

What is a "Repeat Purchase?"

As some will know (Mrs Oates included...) I have a bit of a gaming hobby. Anything from Guild wars 2, Skyrim and The Witcher 2 to FPS' like Call of duty, Fear 3 and a bit of Borderlands2. The question is why do I often buy games which come from the same series? My wife of course seems to think that surely if you have played one game they are all the same right? Hmmm not quite...

Games are like books, each with a story-line to follow (of varying degrees of quality) and characters to immerse yourself with. So in a way these games developers have developed a great deal of customer loyalty with me and convinced me to make purchases of their products each time they come out with newer versions. However, some of my games are played on the XBOX platform and as such to play online I have to purchase a gold membership annually. My wife of course thinks this is a waste of money... You, I hope, will explain to her why this is not the case!

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/359067/xbox-live-membership-jumps-15-per-cent-in-single-year/

My Question is as follows: Identify what is meant by a repeat purchase and Assess the reasons why XBOX Live has so many repeat purchases year on year whilst PS3 has a free online gaming option.

A lesson on "Product Trials"

I challenged by my business students to choose from a set of 6 topics to teach the class leaving me one to cover. I was hoping for Market Mapping simply because I have a pretty good lesson on this already. However, I got left with the above so here goes I guess...

Product Trials

Consider the above trial shown on the BBC website here. It is quite straight forward to Identify what a product trial is so start by giving me a quick definition.

Now Apply your understanding of product trials and Analyse the advantages Facebook will have gained by conducting a product trial before rolling out their new mobile as system.

However, this sort of product trial is not without its pitfalls... Explain what you think the possible negatives of this product trial could be and then Judge whether you feel that Facebook should have gone ahead with the trial in the first place.

Post your answer in the comments below and write in how many marks you think out of 8 you think your answer is worth.

Competitive Advantage

One of my Business Students had a go at explaining competitive advantage using this Tutor2U article

This is a really good article explaining some ways in which firms can gain a sustainable competitive advantage. However, what I think is important to point out to students is that Competitive Advantage does not need to be overly complicated. Different firms find different ways to create a competitive advantage. It is sometimes easier to consider it with the use of the 4P's.

You could adopt different Pricing strategies to open up an advantage to your competitors. Price leadership would require economies of scale but that is not the only pricing strategy you could use to have an advantage over your competitors. You also don't have to be the cheapest in an entire country, could you not simply be the cheapest most convenient supplier to your customer base?

Firms don't have to be the biggest, if they can find a USP as this business has managed to find. Are Apple Macbooks and tablets popular because they are the best? I cant stand Macbooks but the article here suggest they are quite reliable. Shame they struggle to connect to our school internet depending on which way the wind blows...

Years ago another firm brought out an innovative product in 2001... A tablet PC with the CEO claiming "This will be the most popular computer bought in america within 5 years..." That CEO was Bill Gates and business was the mighty Microsoft. Why did that product fail when 10 years later Apple bring out pretty much the same thing but it succeeds? Apple has a massive competitive advantage as it stands but why is this? Is it their product? Is it the brand? As with everything Apple seems to defy the odds and come out on top! Microsoft have a history of doing this to their competitors which is why they are so big which makes it all the stranger.

Some other ideas about competitive can be found in the below article... 37 in fact!

http://www.smarta.com/advice/business-planning/market-research/37-ways-to-beat-your-competitors

What about R&D being a means to creating competitive advantage?

http://paidcontent.org/2011/08/30/419-samsung-investing-a-small-fortune-in-rd-will-webos-be-included-in-that/

Whats the point in learning about SWOT?

http://prezi.com/mk_ydl3y4dgk/present/?auth_key=fv0wjpj&follow=s-qpilyjjaki#0

Above we see the work of one of our excellent business studies students where they have produced a Prezzi presentation which they used in class to explain what SWOT was all about.

However, one business teacher recently asked me why teach something that was not on the specification? Indeed my students now reading this may have flickers of annoyance that they have worked hard to learn about something that strictly speaking the exam board do not ask to be taught...

My feeling on this matter are quite straight forward. Students are asked to know how to explain the "...Strengths and weaknesses of existing suppliers, [and] how [businesses] differentiate themselves..." SWOT analysis is useful as it gives a business the opportunity to look internally at strengths and weaknesses and externally at possible threats and opportunities. As my well informed student put it "This allows them to consider the positives and negatives of their brand."

 If you want to explain how businesses can assess their own strengths and weaknesses we can discuss the use of SWOT analysis. Also if we want to know the strengths and weaknesses of other suppliers (competitors) can we not do a SWOT analysis for that business also? This gives us an idea of some of the key advantages that another business may or may not have and as such target them.

Of course if using SWOT analysis within an exam question we should always remember it is a simplistic way of looking at the bigger picture and requires an in depth knowledge of the marketplace around a business to do properly. We either need very experienced staff to assist with this or, more reliably, extensive market data to support our SWOT analysis. As such it is a way of visualizing our current position with the help of our data and knowledge.

Is an electric car a Mass or Niche market product?

Factors which affect demand: Harleys Student Led Starter

Harleys "Factors which affect demand" Starter Activity

Harley's task was to assess student understanding for the following:

Identifying factors which affect demand (Grade E) & Explaining the potential positive/negative effect on demand of these factors (Grade D-C).

Do you think he was successful in doing this?