Business Theory

Economic growth is measured by changes in the size of a nation’s income. There are a variety of ways to calculate national income, the...

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 into account 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...

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

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

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

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

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

There are a number of ways of raising finance for a business. The type of finance chosen depends on the nature of the business....

One of the most important long-term decisions for any business relates to investment. Investment is the purchase or creation of assets with the objective...

There are a number of documents that flow between a supplier and a purchaser when purchases are made. Initially, the purchaser will want to...

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

When looking at the marketing model people often get confused between the marketing of a product and the selling of a product. Marketing is...

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

The Aims of the marketing department involve a range of processes concerned with finding out what consumers want and then providing it for them....

Competition occurs when two or more organisations act independently to supply their products to the same group of consumers. There are two bases on which...

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...

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...

Information Technology (IT) refers to techniques used in business for transmitting, storing, manipulating and retrieving all kinds of data, including speech, text, movies, graphics...

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

Control of business activity takes place at two levels - control from within the organisation and external control. Internal control Internal control involves the creation of...

The location of a business is where it is situated e.g. in Central London, Silicon Valley, etc. Where to locate a business is a...

The term 'quality' in a business sense means 'fitness for purpose'. A supplier supplies a quality product when it exactly meets the requirements of...

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

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...

Managers are people who steer an organisation towards meeting its' objectives. Management has been described as: 'the process of planning, organising, leading and controlling...

Core competencies are the skills that allow a business to deliver a benefit to customers, and capabilities that are critical for a business to achieve a...

Directors, Managers and Supervisors all have responsibilities in the workplace as do grass root operatives. Directors are individuals with a legal responsibility to 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...

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

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

A business plan is a description of a business and its plans for the next one to three years. The plan sets out the...

A strategy is a long-term plan for the whole organisation. Igor Ansoff defined corporate strategy as 'The positioning and relating of the firm/organisation to...

Delegation involves handing out responsibility to individuals in an organisation to make decisions rather than everyone having to be told what to do by...

The main types of business organisation in the private sector are illustrated in the chart below: Criteria For Judging The Success Of Business Businesses come in...