Business Theory

Consumer protection is the process of defending consumers against unscrupulous practices by producers and sellers. Over time, case law in this country has developed...

Big businesses command a lot of power and are able to choose between working in a way that benefits only the owners, and in...

Businesses operate in an external environment in which as well as competition from rivals businesses have to take account of legal, political, social and...

Globalisation is a result of the world becoming increasingly interconnected due to the hugely increased trade and cultural exchange. The biggest companies are no longer just...

Consumer protection is the process of defending consumers against unscrupulous practices by producers and sellers. Over time, case law in this country has developed...

Businesses work in a wider social environment in which they have a responsibility to a range of stakeholders including the wider community. The term Corporate...

Accounting principles involve the recording and interpretation of business activity in figures (recording accounts). Records are kept of business transactions and full sets of accounts...

Promotion is a common marketing term, one that attempts to draw attention to product or business in order to gain new customers or to...

An old proverb says 'he who fails to plan, plans to fail'. Although not originally quoted in a business context it certainly holds true....

Businesses need finance for their day-to-day activities and in order to grow and change over time. Businesses must respond to their external environment in...

The finance department of a business takes responsibility for organising the financial and accounting affairs including the preparation and presentation of appropriate accounts, and...

Banks like Abbey provide a number of important financial services to businesses: Loans provide businesses with expansion capital. A secured loan is one that is...

When you raise the price of most items, people will buy less of them. For example, when one airline raises its price, air passengers...

Some markets are highly competitive, while others are a lot less so. A good example of a competitive market in which there are many buyers...

The Marketing mix - price, place, promotion, product, when marketing their products firms need to create a successful mix of: the right product sold at the...

Market research and development involves collecting, recording and making sense of all the available information which will help a business unit to understand its...

A strategy is a long-term plan to achieve certain objectives. A marketing strategy is therefore a marketing plan designed to achieve marketing objectives. For...

International marketing involves recognising that people all over the world have different needs. Companies like Gillette, Coca-Cola, BIC, and Cadbury Schweppes have brands that...

Location of production Production activity should be located where a firm can be most productive, and yield the highest revenues per unit of investment. A...

Organisations change over time in a variety of ways. There are a number of ways in which they might change: 1. From small companies to...

Organisations have a formal structure which is the way that the organisation is organised by those with responsibility for managing the organisation. They create...

Productive efficiency is measured by the number of units of output that can be produced from given quantities of inputs. Organisations depend upon the skills...

The production process is concerned with transforming a range of inputs into those outputs that are required by the market. This involves two main sets...

Technology is the process of applying the finding of science and other forms of enquiry to applied situations. Production technology, therefore, involves applying the...

Human resources are the people that work for an organisation, and Human Resource Management is concerned with how these people are managed. However, the...

Recruitment is the process of identifying that the organisation needs to employ someone up to the point at which application forms for the post...

Businesses need to make choices when recruiting staff and when choosing staff for training or promotion opportunities. Choosing one potential candidate over another is...

Human resources are the people that work for an organisation, and Human Resource Management is concerned with how these people are managed. However, the...

Disputes between employers and employees (and/or their representatives) usually occur when all the available channels of discussion and negotiation have been tried. Reasons for...

In the past large sections of the workforce worked on full-time permanent contracts. This was typical of most large British companies. Since the 1980's...

Today we live in a global economy in which the time taken for people to move between continents has been significantly reduced and in...

Business activity is focused on the achievement of appropriate business objectives as shown below. Objectives for Production for a company like Coca-Cola will focus on quality...

Businesses come into contact with a range of external organisations, including: Competitors Suppliers of services e.g. transport and communications suppliers Providers of assistance e.g. advisory bodies such...

Developing a plan including external influences Developing a plan including external influences in order to set out a route map to help in achieving business...

There are different views about what makes a successful business. Typically success should be judged by the ability to meet objectives. Criteria for judging...

It is widely recognised that different organisations have distinctive cultures. A commonly used definition of organisational culture is 'the way we see and do...