All of our students following this course will study business in a variety of contexts (e.g. large/small, UK focused/global, service/manufacturing.) When examining these businesses students will focus closely on:

• The four functional areas of a business; finance, marketing HR and operations
• The interrelated nature of business functions and how they affect competitiveness
• The competitive environment and the markets in which businesses operate
• The influences on functional decisions and plans including ethical and environmental issues
• The importance of decision making and the factors that might determine whether a decision is successful e.g. the quality of data and the degree of uncertainty
• How technology is changing the way decisions are made and how businesses operate and compete
• The impact on stakeholders of functional decisions and their response to such decisions
• Use of non-quantitative and quantitative data in decision making (including the interpretation of index numbers and calculations such as ratios and percentages)

Students who choose to stay and continue A2 study will then build on their AS knowledge to focus more on wider strategic decision making. Students will have the opportunity to learn about:

• The impact of technology on strategic decision making
• The influences of corporate social responsibility, ethical and environmental issues on strategic decisions
• The difficulties in forecasting future trends
• The importance of assessing feasibility and risk when making strategic decisions
• The impact on stakeholders of strategic decisions and their response to such decisions.