Business Theory

Money is demanded in order for it to be used to buy and sell goods and services. The same applies to international currency. Foreigners...

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

Three main sets of decisions need to be made by the economic system - what to produce, how to produce, and how to share...

Legislation is the process of making laws. This is done through Acts of Parliament, and 'rules', 'regulations' and 'bye laws' made by those who...

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

The international environment is very important today. Globalisation, the process whereby businesses develop worldwide brands and products which they supply across the world, and...

By law companies are expected to produce financial statements each year. These statements appear in Company Reports. There are two main financial statements: 1.The profit and...

Business accounts are produced to meet the needs of their users. Typical users and the use they make of accounts are shown below: Shareholders -to check...

Sales of products will eventually decline, as outlined in the four stage product life cycle. Businesses will often attempt to phase out existing products...

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...

There are a number of ways of raising finance for a business, below we examine the sources and uses of finance. The type of...

An important business objective is to break even i.e. to exactly cover your total costs by sales revenue. It is even more desirable to...

Methods of analysing marketing opportunities involves collecting, recording and making sense of all the available information which will help a business unit to understand...

Selling through websites is the fastest-growing method of trading worldwide, we will discuss the impact of eCommerce on business activity. There are two primary...

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

The marketing mix is often referred to as the '4 Ps', i.e. product, price, place and promotion. To meet customers' needs a business must...

Market analysis and market planning is the process of developing and implementing a plan to identify, anticipate and satisfy consumer demand, in such a...

The term demand refers to the quantity of a given product that consumers will be willing and able to buy at a given price....

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

Operating activities (or operations) are the ongoing activities that a business is involved in - e.g. processing a customer's order in an Argos store,...

An important aspect of production management and control is the management of facilities. Facilities management typically involves the following: Buildings and site maintenance Make sure that...

Businesses hold stocks in a variety of forms: raw materialswork-in-progressfinished goodsconsumablesplant and machinery spares. The aim of stock control is to make sure that a business...

The term factors of production relates to the key factors that go into making goods. It is common practice to break these down under...

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

Employer/employee relations refer to the communication that takes place between representatives of employees and employers. Much of the employee relations involve employees and employers working...

Employers and employees have responsibilities to each other, they should also expect their rights to be upheld. These rights and responsibilities relate to areas...

Recruitment takes place from the point when a business decides that it needs to employ somebody up to the point where a pile of...

A motivated employee is someone that works hard because they feel fulfilled when they do so. Motivation is an important area of business research...

In order to operate successfully, businesses today need to operate in rapidly changing markets and conditions, developing a culture which is prepared to respond...

Over time a body of law or legislation has developed governing employer/employee relations and the rights of employees and employers in the workplace. The Employment...

A business plan is a description of a business and its plans for the next one to three years. It explains what the business...

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...

Start up businesses have a very high failure rate in this country with as many as 1 in 3 failing in their first three...

To be enterprising, one must be willing to take risks and think creatively to find innovative solutions to problems. The term culture refers to...

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...

Good business planning is an essential requirement if a business is to succeed. A business plan is a document setting out information about the...