GCSE Business and Communications Systems

Revision Guide Paper 1 Business Studies Theory

Name:......

Tutor Group:......

Bus Com Teacher:………………………………………………………

Date Of Bus Com Exam:……………………………………………

The Business Environment

You Need To Know

Subject / Revised (tick off)
· Aims and objectives in business; the criteria for judging success
· profitability
· wealth creation
· job creation
· market share
· cash flow
· You will need to be able to identify stakeholders for companies. What the individual stakeholders want and how their needs conflict with other stakeholders.
· The way businesses are organised to meet their objectives, eg the roles of managers in businesses.

Business Environment Activities

1. How is business objectives organised? Fill in the following.

2. Find the definitions for the following terms.

Profitability is......

......

Wealth Creation is ......

......

Job Creation is......

......

Market Share is ......

......

Cash Flow is......

......

3. For each of the stakeholders below you need to identify 3 aims for that stakeholder

Stakeholder / Aims/ Wants/ Needs
Staff / ·
·
·
Managers / ·
·
·
Customers / ·
·
·
Owners/ Shareholders / ·
·
·
Suppliers / ·
·
·
Local Community / ·
·
·
Government / ·
·
·

4. Describe the role and responsibility of each of the following departments of a business

The Finance department

......

The Human Resource Department

......

The Marketing Department

......

The Managers or Owners

......

Workplace Organisation

You Need To Know

Subject / Revised (tick off)
· different kinds of working environment
· open plan
· cellular offices
· how the type of office layout is influenced by the nature and needs of the organisation and the demands of the task
Modern developments in working practice
· hot-desking
· teleworking
· flexible working
· Ergonomics: how design may influence physical comfort and working conditions and may maximise efficiency
The importance of health and safety in the workplace
· Its impact on the working environment
· Health and Safety at Work Act
· Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations and the responsibilities of employers and employees in that context
· the importance of accuracy in the preparation, storage and retrieval of information within the workplace, including computer files
· the importance of the security of data (including personal and financial) within the workplace and the need to be mindful of hazards, both physical and in relation to data such as viruses; methods of protecting data; current data protection legislation;
· the effective use resources
· issues of wastage
· recycling

Workplace Organisation Activities

1. Fill in which working environment you think is being described below.

a) Which working environment am I?

· Its easier for the workers to concentrate on their tasks with less distractions

· Its harder for the workers to walk around and communicate with each other

· The workers are divided into small workstations using screens

The working environment is......

b) Which working environment am I?

· This working environment is better for creative jobs where staff need to communicate

· The office is spacious and staff can walk around

· Staff could spend a lot of time chatting and not working in this environment

The working environment is......

2. Use the words in the table to fill in the gaps for the text below on modern developments in working practices.

Choosing / Communication / Staff / Normally / Core / Personal / Away
Home / Practices / One / Space / Less / Desking / Days

Flexible Working

Describes any working ______adapted to suit your needs. Common types of flexible working are:

· Part-time: working less than the normal hours, perhaps by working fewer ______per week.

· Flexi-time: ______when to work (there's usually a ______period during which you have to work)

· Compressed hours: working your agreed hours over ______days

· Job sharing: sharing a job designed for ______person with someone else.

· Home working: working from ______.

Hot Desking

• Hot- ______is regularly used in places where not all the ______are in the office at the same time, or not in the office for very long at all, which means actual ______offices would be often vacant, consuming valuable ______and resources.

Tele Working

• Telework occurs when information and ______technologies (ICTs) are applied to enable work to be done at a place ______from the place where the work results are needed or where the work would ______have been done.

3. Ergonomics

4. Health and Safety at work

5. Display screen unit

6. Importance and accuracy of data

Human Resources

You Need To Know

Subject / Revised (tick off)
· Methods of internal recruitment of staff
· Methods of external recruitment of staff
· notice boards
· careers services
· job centres
· agencies
· advertisements- in newspapers, periodicals and the internet
Methods of selection
· evaluation of application form
· evaluation of curricula vitae ("CVs")
· the process of short listing
Interviews
· the importance of preparation and the setting
· interview techniques
Contracts of employment
· job descriptions
· person specifications
Training
· induction
· staff development
· in-house
· external,
· on-the-job
· off-the-job training
Forms of remuneration
· wages and salaries
· time rates
· piece rates
· overtime
· bonus
· commission
· performance-related pay
· fringe benefits
· gross and net pay
Employment rights and responsibilities and equal opportunities:
· Equal Pay
· Sex Discrimination
· Race Relations
· Disability Discrimination
· significance of European Union legislation
Termination of employment:
· dismissal
· redundancy
· resignation
· retirement

Human Resources Activities

1. The Recruitment Process. Below the recruitment process is included in your revision booklet. Write a short sentence stating what happens at each stage.

Stages in Recruitment

i. Job Vacancy Occurs

ii. Job Description

iii. Job Specification

iv. Job Advertisement

v. Long and short list

vi. Interviewing

vii. Testing

viii. Probationary Employment

......

2. Job Advertisement. The table below has all the different ways you can advertise a job. You need to fill in 2 Advantages and 2 Disadvantages for each.

Type Of Advertisement / Advantages / Disadvantages
Notice Boards, this is used internally. The advertisement will simply be put on the notice board in the staff room.
Job Centre is told about the vacancy and then people who are unemployed are notified about the vacancy.
Employment agencies, are paid by companies to find them staff, they usually take a percentage of the employees wage.
National Newspapers, Job advertised in the national press
Local Newspapers, Job advertised in the local press
Trade Magazines, magazines that have a specific customer in a particular trade ie plumming magazine
The Internet, using your own site to advertise the job

3. Methods of selecting, to be done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. Importance of interview techniques. Using the internet research 10 tips on what to do when you have an interview.

1. Make sure that you have fully researched the company.

10.

5. Contract of employment contains 2 elements:-

1. Job Description

2. Person Specification

Job description definition:

......

Example of a Job Description for a DJ

Person specification definition:

......
......

Example of a Job Specification for a DJ

6. Types of training, below is a grid with the types of training you need to know and an explanation of what that type of training is. Your task is to fill in 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages of the type of training.

Type of Training / Advantages / Disadvantages
Induction, when the new employee first starts. This training is used to get them used to the company.
Staff Development, makes the member of staff a more efficient worker.
In House, when the training is provided by the company internally
External, when a separate company who specialise in training staff will take the staff away from the company.
On-the-Job, when you learn whilst you are doing the job.
Off-the-Job, when you learn away from the job.

7. Remuneration means the way in which you are paid money or given rewards in return for working. Below are the types of remuneration you need to know. Find a short definition for each

· Wages

· Salaries

· Time rates

· Piece rates

· Overtime

· Bonus

· Commission

· Performance-related pay

· Fringe benefits

· Gross and net pay

......

8. Employment legislation - Match the legislation with the definition/short summary

9. Termination of employment, in the exam you will need to know the 4 following ways of having your contract terminated.

Link the Key term to the definition

Key Term Definition

Dismissal losing your job because the company has financial worries and cannot afford to keep many members of staff.

Redundancy Leaving the job because you have reached an age where you feel you don’t need to or want to work any longer

Resignation Being fired for misconduct

Retirement leaving for a better job

Communication

You Need To Know

Subject / Revised (tick off)
· The benefits of effective internal and external communication, eg staff are motivated and well-informed leading to efficient working, customers are satisfied leading to repeat orders, good company image giving potential for increased profitability, the significance of effective marketing in creating and maintaining customer interest;
· Effects of poor internal and external communication, eg poor working relationships leading to demotivation, misinformation and misinterpretation in dealing with suppliers resulting in loss of clients, etc;
· The difference between formal and informal communication;
· Verbal communication Advantages and Disadvantages of: discussions, meetings, video conferences, telephone, voicemail;
· Documentation Advantages and Disadvantages of: including business letters, agendas, minutes, memoranda, reports, messages, notices, newsletters;
· Electronic communication Advantages and Disadvantages of: mobile phones, pagers, fax, information services;
· The internet and its role in business, as a source of information, a means of communication and a tool for marketing and selling (e-commerce), eg e-mail, web sites, on-line catalogues and booking services;
· The impact of the growth of e-commerce on businesses and their customers.

Communication Activities

1. Fill in the definitions for internal and external communications, giving an example. (note: always give an example in the exam to gain more marks)

Internal communication ......

External Communication

......

2. Benefits of good internal and external communication

3. The difference between formal and informal communication, complete the headings of the tables below. Which column is formal communication and which is informal communication?

______/ ______
· Meetings, Agendas and Minutes
· Business Letters
· reports / · E-Mail
· Fax
· Text
· Instant messenger
· Water cooler chat
· Notices
· Newsletters
· Memoranda

4.
Communication Table at Liverpool Football Club Then you are to read each example of communication and decide if it is Internal or external, Formal or informal, One or two-way.

5. Verbal communication, you will need to be able to discuss when its best to use the following types of verbal communication.

i. Discussions

ii. Meetings

iii. Video Conference

iv. Telephone and voicemail

6. Document communication, you will need to be able to discuss when its best to use the following types of document communications.

i. Business letters

ii. Agendas

iii. Minutes

iv. Memoranda

v. Reports

vi. Messages

vii. Notices

viii. Newsletters

7. Electronic Communications, you will need to be able to discuss when its best to use the following types of electronic communications.

i. Mobile phones

ii. Pagers

iii. Fax

iv. Information services

ICT in the Business Environment

You Need To Know

Subject / Revised (tick off)
· The purposes of the main data input devices, eg keyboard, scanner, OMR, pointing devices, digital camera
· The purposes of the main data storage devices, eg hard drive, floppy disk drive, CD/DVD drive, high capacity storage devices
· The purposes of the main data output devices, eg printer (dot matrix, ink jet, laser), communication hardware
· The characteristics and uses of applications software, eg word processing, presentation software, spreadsheets, database, graphics and DTP and their value for particular tasks
· The use of local and wide area networks including intranet and the internet.

ICT in the Business Environment Activities

1. Complete the table below by drawing pictures and writing a short description about these input devices.

Keyboards
/ A Keyboard is:
The keyboard is the most widely used input device and is used to enter dataor commands to the computer. It has a set of alphabet keys, a set of digit keys, and various function keys.
The layout of the letters on a keyboard is standard across many countries and is called a QWERTY keyboard. The name comes from the first six keys on the top row of the alphabetic characters.
Pointing Devices
A mouse is the most common pointing device that you will come across. It enables you to control the movement and position of the on-screen cursor by moving it around on the desk. You can select objects on the screen, hold the left mouse button down and drag them to where you want them. You can also access menus by pointing to them with the curser and clicking the mouse button to select the option you want.
Multimedia Device
A digital camera is
A microphone allows voice or sounds to be recorded directly onto the computer.
Scanners
A scanner is another way in which we can capture still images or text to be stored and used on a computer.
The scanner moves slowly over the surface of the picture or object to be scanned and shines a light onto the paper. The colours of the reflected light are detected and digitised to build up a digital image.
There are two main types of scanner:
1. ………………………………………………….
2………………………………………………….
Touch Screens
A Touch Screen………

Automatic Input Devices – Direct Data Entry