BEFORE THE START OF THE COURSE
EXPECTATIONS
10 Hours per timetable will be spent on BTEC Business. (5 hours per timetable with each of your teachers).
Your presence and full participation at each lesson is EXPECTED. Be on time!
You are prepared for your lessons! This means bringing the right equipment, e.g. a pen and any homework that is due in.
The nature of this course will require you to be very organised. We will talk about how to go about this as the course progresses. Most importantly, turn up to lessons prepared to work and learn!
Presentation of your work:
· Keep a record of everything you do – this can and will be used towards your assessment.
· Check regularly that you have completed all set tasks
· Present the tasks in a logical order
· Label each page with your name and page number in a header/footer
Finally, treat others how you would want to be treated. There will be a number of outside speakers visiting you throughout this course. There will also be opportunities for some out of school visits. Remember, you are representing the school.
Unit Content Page
1 Understand the purpose and ownership of business
Purpose: supply of goods and services eg at a profit, free, at cost, for sale below cost
Ownership: sole trader; partnership; limited companies (LTD, PLC); charity; voluntary organisations; co-operatives; government
Size: small, medium, large
Scale: local; regional; national; European and global organisations
Classification: primary (eg farming, forestry, extraction/mining); secondary (eg manufacturing, engineering, construction); tertiary (eg private service industries, local and national public services, voluntary/ not-for-profit services)
2 Understand the business context in which organisations operate
Role of the government: European; national; local; growth, full employment; inflation/ deflation; surpluses; competitiveness; equality
Business environment characteristics: markets; trends (employment, income, growth); relative growth/decline by sector: decline of primary and secondary industries; growth of tertiary service industries; legal frameworks
BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Business Studies
Assignment Brief
Unit 1: Business Purposes
Overview:
On completion of this unit you will be able to:
1. Understand the purpose and ownership of a business
2. Understand the business context in which organisations operate
ASSIGNMENT 1: Promoting Local Business
Aims:
The aim of this assignment is for students to investigate the purpose, classification, scope and scale of business’ activities.
Tasks and Preparation:
SCENARIO:
The Head of the Business Studies department (Mr Cooke’s boss!) has asked that students plan and design a pack of FOUR ‘Trump’ cards describing four different business organisations. These are to be prepared and ready to give to next years Year 9 students who plan to study Business Studies at GCSE or BTEC level.
The businesses that you choose should be very different from each other so that the new GCSE/BTEC students can see a range. You should choose FOUR from the following categories of business ownership classification;
· Sole Trader
· Partnership
· Private Limited Company
· Public Limited Company
· Franchise
· Charity, i.e. non-profit making organisation
All FOUR chosen businesses MUST HAVE A DIFFERENT OWNERSHIP, i.e. you can not choose TWO Franchises.
Each of your businesses must also differ in PURPOSE, SCALE and SIZE.
You need to choose THREE well-known business organisations from the following:
· Tesco
· McDonalds
· Oxfam
· RSPCA
· Sainburys
· Barclays Bank
· HSBC
· KFC
· Pizza Hut
· Starbucks
· Top Shop
· Boots
· Innocent Drinks
· JD Sports
· Game
TASK 1:
As you can see from the list above, your research is going to be very broad, i.e. ranging from a small, local Sole Trader to a large company with many employees and possibly be owned by thousands of shareholders.
You will need to research each of the businesses in detail.
The information on each ‘Trump’ card must include the following details for each of the four chosen business organisations:
· Business Purpose (What do they try to do – supply goods/services? Why do they exist?)
· The Size of the business (micro, small, large – how many employees approximately, how many stores etc?)
· The Scale of the business (Local, National, European or Global?)
· The Ownership of the business (Sole Trader, Partnership, Franchise, Charity, Public or Private Limited Company etc – you may need to mention whether your chosen businesses have limited or unlimited liability). The ownership of the business will need to be linked to the size and scale of the business.
· The need to raise finance for each business – a description of what each business organisation might need to do in order to raise finance.
You must USE the words in BOLD type on your ‘Trump’ cards
This task provides evidence for P1(IE) and P2
Forms of evidence:
You will be expected to produce four ‘Trump’ cards with all the information that is required.
Date set 1st hand in 2nd hand in
SCENARIO:
Miss Burr is expected to give a talk to the current Year 10 GCSE Business Studies students – the title: ‘Comparing ownership and purposes’. She has asked you to help her.
TASK 2:
Prepare a PowerPoint presentation for her, based on a comparison of two different businesses (including one of the four you have previously studied). Your second business organisation needs to be in the retail sector – try and make it very different in terms of size and business ownership and what they want to achieve. When comparing the two business organisations you will need to identify their similarities and differences.
Make sure that your PowerPoint presentation has a title page – showing a clear title and your own name. Your presentation should have a maximum of 10 slides – no more!!! Ensure that each slide is not overcrowded with too much text – only include relevant information. A couple of slides can be used to provide the reader with some background information on each business at the start of your presentation.
Miss Burr says, “The choice is yours, have fun!”
This task provides evidence for M1
Forms of evidence:
You will be expected to produce a PowerPoint presentation which completes the task criteria. This presentation will be given to the class and recorded as evidence. You will be assessed on the clarity of your presentation and your ability to meet all the necessary criteria set out in the task above.
Date set 1st hand in 2nd hand in
SCENARIO:
You have just heard on the news that the UK is definitely out of the recession! This is good use for everyone particularly business organisations who have been finding it a struggle in the last few years. Miss Hough needs to give a presentation to the Year 13 Economics students who are studying the recession – they need to find out about how the recession has affected different business organisations within the UK. Your help will be greatly appreciated.
TASK 3:
You must choose a business organisation from the following list:
· Small Sole Trader (Local)
· BBC
· Amazon
· Tesco
· Starbucks
· Ford
· Other relevant examples that you can think of
Forms of evidence:
You need to produce an information sheet on the ‘The importance of responding to change in the business world’ using your chosen business as an example. You will need to evaluate how well your chosen business has responded to changes in its business environment by taking account of how successful it is today. It is important that you do sufficient internet research on your chosen business to see how they responded to the threats they faced from operating in a changing market. Evaluation involves obtaining and reviewing information based on facts, then explaining what you have found out, making sure that you provide the evidence to support your conclusions.
This task provides evidence for D1
Date set 1st hand in 2nd hand in
ASSIGNMENT 2: Promoting Local Business
Aims:
The aim of this assignment is to describe the nature of the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of business activity using local and national examples, and then explain the areas of growth or decline in any of these three areas.
Tasks and Preparation:
SCENARIO:
Miss Burr has asked you to prepare some learning materials for a Business Studies conference which students from all the local secondary schools have been invited to which will take place just before they have to choose their Key Stage Four options. You have been given a specific task. Miss Burr has said “I want all those who attend to understand and be reminded of how various local and national businesses fit into our changing economy – the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors”.
TASK 1:
You decide that a visual display, perhaps a large A3 poster, along with a 3-fold leaflet containing all the information that the students need will be the best way forward.
· Produce a three-column display, with the columns labelled “Primary”, “Secondary” and “Tertiary”. At the top of each column, write a clear explanation of what is meant by each of the three classifications.
· Within each column, provide examples of three business organisations in that sector. There must be a good mix of local and national examples for each sector. You can also explain the Chain of Production on your poster using pictures.
This task provides evidence for P3
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TASK 2:
Prepare a supporting 3-fold leaflet that can be given out after the display is explained to the students. The purpose of the 3-fold leaflet is to explain the changes in the UK economy, i.e. why there are fewer businesses operating in the primary and secondary sectors, whilst the tertiary sector has seen rapid growth in the amount of business activity.
Using some statistics that Miss Burr has found for you, make some conclusions as to what has happened in the UK in the last few years with regards to employment in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.
· What are the trends?
· Compare different parts of the UK, e.g. London with the North East. Try to come up with some reasons as to why the figures are so different across the various areas of the UK.
You may get the opportunity to hear presentations by some people who work in the three different sectors, and their opinions may help when producing your supporting handout.
This task provides evidence for M2
Forms of evidence:
For Task 1 you will be expected to produce a visual wall display that will assess your knowledge, understanding and application of the three main business sector classifications - primary, secondary and tertiary.
For Task 2 you will also need to produce a 3-fold leaflet explaining in detail why there have been changes in economic activity across the three different sectors. You will be assessed on the clarity and detail provided in your display and your ability to meet the merit criteria.
Date set 1st hand in 2nd hand in
ASSIGNMENT 3: Government Impact on Local Business;
Aims:
The aim of this assignment is for students to recognise the role of the government in establishing the business climate through the use of incentives.
Tasks and Preparation:
SCENARIO:
Mr Sheriff, Head of Media Studies at Shenfield High School has asked for your help. The Year 12 Media students are preparing a short film that features the local MP and includes interviews with local entrepreneurs.
They want to add a section that explains what assistance and economic conditions UK businesses need to be able to flourish and have asked you to read out a five-minute bulletin to this effect. To help, Miss Burr has listed the following areas as important: support from European, National and Local government; economic growth; full employment; low inflation; surplus on the balance of payments; competitiveness; equality.
TASK 1:
Using the above headings listed at the end of the scenario, prepare a short statement under each one that outlines the government’s role. You will read out each prepared statement taking the part of a regional newsreader.
This task provides evidence for P4 (IE)
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Forms of evidence:
You will be expected to present your findings as a mini-news report. You will be assessed on the clarity of your findings and the fluency of your verbal report.
TASK 2:
As a follow up to your verbal news report, Miss Hough has asked that you write a newspaper article explaining the characteristics of the local business environment in Essex. You will need to prepare a convincing argument as to why small business owners should re-locate to Essex, and in particular Brentwood. Your argument will need to identify the range and types of businesses that operate there, the types of markets that they serve, important trends in those markets, and which sectors or industries are growing and declining.
This task provides evidence for P5 (IE, RL)
Forms of evidence:
You will be assessed on the contents of your newspaper article and how convincing your arguments are for re-locating. It must be well-written and in the correct style.
Date set 1st hand in 2nd hand in
Date set:
See assessment record and feedback sheet for individual assignment dates.
Submission Date:
See assessment record and feedback sheet for individual assignment dates.
Grading Criteria:
See assessment record and feedback sheet and grading grid.
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