Subtheme 3.1: Business objectives and strategy
Revision of this subtheme should take you two hours. You can either read the four chapters or watch the tutorial videos. Answering the past paper (task 4) should take 40-45 minutes.
Remember that the main goal is to be able to use concepts like Porter’s matrix, Ansoff’s matrix, Boston matrix, … in the context of a business. Simply memorizing these concepts is not enough. Use the student answer provided in the table below to practice that.
Note: Try to use a computer instead of your tablet/smartphone. Especially the past paper links don’t work as they should on those devices.
Week | Date | Topic | Coursework |
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17/3/2020 |
Corporate objectives |
(1) Revise chapters 44-47 |
Subtheme 3.2: Business growth
Revision of this subtheme should take you two hours. You can either read the four chapters or watch the tutorial videos. Answering the past paper (task 4) should take 20-30 minutes.
Remember that the main goal is to be able to use concepts like economies/diseconomies of scale, market power, brand recognition, profitability, overtrading … in an essay-style question. Watch this video, there are interesting examples and hints for exam questions. You may be asked to evaluate whether growth is beneficial for a business.
Note: Try to use a computer instead of your tablet/smartphone. Especially the past paper links don’t work as they should on those devices.
Research topic: The entertainment industry
Today we will focus on financing in this industry.
Research on FT how the following companies are financed:
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Spotify
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Disney
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Cineworld
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Netflix
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BBC
Use the shared document in Teams (saved in "Files" -→ "Shared document") to write your findings (in bullet-points). Provide the link to your article in the "References" section.
Subtheme 3.3: Decision-making techniques
Revision of this subtheme should take you two hours. You can either read the four chapters or watch the tutorial videos.
Remember that the main goal is to be able to calculate ratios, construct decision trees and calculate the components of the critical path network. At your level the marks assigned to the calculation will be relatively low. The key point is to be able to use these values in an essay-style question. If your calculations are wrong, it will be very difficult to write a consistent essay.
Note: Try to use a computer instead of your tablet/smartphone. Especially the past paper links don’t work as they should on those devices.
Week | Date | Topic | Coursework |
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24/3/2020 |
Quantitative sales forecasting |
(1) Revise chapters 52-55 |
Business essay: The global hunt for a coronavirus drug (26/3/2020)
Read the following article in the Financial Times. Answer the following questions and submit in a personal chat by the end of the lesson:
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Discuss the different strategies that the pharma companies adopt in the race for a vaccine or treatment drug? (12 marks)
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Discuss three main challenges that pharma companies face before they can put a product on the market. (12 marks)
These are 12-mark essay questions. Make sure to properly balance, structure and evaluate your answers.
Subtheme 3.4: Influences on business decisions
Revision of this subtheme should take you two hours. You can either read the four chapters or watch the tutorial videos.
Week | Date | Topic | Coursework |
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27/3/2020 |
Corporate influences |
(1) Revise chapters 56-59 |
Supply chain during the pandemic (13/3/2020)
Read the following article: Why coronavirus spells trouble for smartphones and answer the questions, as well as the 20-mark essay, in Microsoft Teams (Forms) .
Globalisation (21/4/2020)
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Topics: globalisation, government intervention, leadership
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Watch the video Macron: coronavirus is Europe’s 'moment of truth'
Subtheme 3.5: Assessing competitiveness
Revision of this subtheme should take you two hours. You can either read the three chapters or watch the tutorial videos.
Week | Date | Topic | Coursework |
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21/3/2020 |
Interpretation of financial statements |
(1) Revise chapters 60-61 |
|
23/3/2020 |
Human resources |
(1) Revise chapter 62 |
Subtheme 3.6: Managing change
Revision of this subtheme should take you two hours. You can either read the three chapters or watch the tutorial videos.
Week | Date | Topic | Coursework |
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24/3/2020 |
Causes and effects of change |
(1) Revise chapters 63-65 |
Production, productivity and efficiency (28/4/2020)
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Topics: job flexibility, flexibility in production, lean production
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Essay-style question: Assess the extent to which flexibility has helped Danone to gain a competitive edge during the coronavirus crisis. (12 marks)
Subtheme 4.1: Globalisation
Revision of this subtheme should take you two hours. You can either read the four chapters or watch the tutorial videos.
Week | Date | Topic | Coursework |
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30/4/2020 |
Growing economies |
(1) Revise chapters 66-70 |
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5/5/2020 |
Essay writing |