Business Theory

Regulation means providing rules and frameworks for business and other activities. Some aspects of business activity are self-regulating - for example, the Advertising Standards...

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

Marketing is designed to achieve profitable sales. It involves the use of powerful tools to manipulate the decisions of individuals and of other firms...

Opportunities in the business environment are those factors that provide possibilities for a business to expand so as to make more sales and profits....

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

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

The Balance Sheet gives a frozen picture of one instant of time. The other two financial statements show movements over a period of time....

Accounts are records of financial transactions. Information that is used in accounts is initially entered into books of prime entry, which may simply be...

A forecast is an estimate of future figures based on experience. You can make forecasts about all sorts of events e.g. the weather, the...

Costing is an important aspect of production because: by knowing how much it costs to produce an item or to carry out an activity it...

The profit of a business is the difference between its revenues and its costs. It is important to consider two main types of profit: 1.Gross...

There are a number of ways that businesses and individuals can make payments to others. Typical methods of making payments include cheque payments and...

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...

A distinction is frequently made between needs and wants. Our needs make up our survival kit while our wants are the desires we have...

A marketing strategy is an overall marketing plan designed to meet the needs and requirements of customers. The plan should be based on clear...

The product life cycle is the period over which it appeals to customers. The sales performance of any product rises from nothing when the...

A market consists of all the consumers who purchase a particular type of good or service. The market may be subdivided into separate segments...

The marketing mix is the combination of marketing activities that an organisation engages in so as to best meet the needs of its targeted...

Responsible production involves the production of goods and services in an ethical way which involves the minimisation of waste and pollution. In the past...

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

Productivity is the efficiency with which a firm converts inputs into outputs. Since staff represent the largest cost for many firms, labour productivity has...

A market orientated company is one that organises its activities, products and services around the wants and needs of its customers. By contrast, a...

There are a number of limiting factors that determine the quantity and nature of output that a producer is able to achieve within a...

Planning, control and reporting are three important aspects of effective production. Production plans set out the targets, time scales and methods of production. Targets...

Unemployment is typically associated with labour i.e. employees who make themselves available for employment not being able to find work. However, it can also...

Remuneration consists of the rewards that employees receive from their work. Employees that work for modern companies and other major UK companies will receive...

Employee participation is the process whereby employees are involved in decision making processes, rather than simply acting on orders. Employee participation is part of...

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

Employers and employees need to have some system for communicating their views and requirements to each other. Employee-employer relations take place at two main...

Leadership goes beyond management. Management involves getting things done using the resources of the organisation, and the formal patterns and rules within the organisation....

A business plan needs to be realistic, so it is important to set out in detail the constraints that are likely to act as...

Business activity can be conveniently divided up into: Extractive (primary) Manufacturing (secondary) Services (tertiary). Extractive industries like farming take out things which are already provided by nature, for...

There is a range of legal structures associated with different forms of business: 1. Sole trader businesses are the easiest to set up because there...

There are a number of bodies that provide support and advice to businesses, ranging from the local Chamber of Commerce or Chamber of Trade to...

The main types of business organisations in the private sector in the UK are - sole traders, partnerships, companies and franchises. The sole trader is the...

Organisations are structured in radically different ways ranging from relatively fixed structures with positions, rules, and established chains of communication to dynamic structures in...