ZIMSEC Advanced Level Business Studies Notes

Form 5

  1. Introduction to Business:
    1. The nature and purpose of business activity
    2. Levels of Economic Activity
    3. The Economic Problem
    4. Factors of Production
      1. Intellectual property
    5. The concept of adding value
    6. Industrialisation
    7. Economic Systems
      1. Free Market Economy
        1. Advantages and disadvantages of a free market economy
      2. Planned/Command Economy
        1. Advantages and disadvantages of the command economic system
      3. Mixed Economy
    8. Private and Public Sectors:
      1. Private Sector Businesses
        1. Types of business organisations: Introduction
          1. Sole Trader Business
          2. Partnerships
          3. Introduction to Limited Liability Companies
            1. Private Limited Companies
            2. Public Limited Companies
            3. Introduction to Company Shares
            4. Introduction to Debentures
            5. Articles of Association, Memorandum of Association, Certificate of Incorporation
            6. Going Public
            7. Going Private
          4. Franchise Business
          5. Multi-National Companies
      2. Public Sector Business
  2. Types of Business Environments
    1. The internal business environment
    2. The external business environment
    3. The Macro-economic and Micro-economic business environment
    4. Business Stakeholders
  3. Size and Growth of Business
    1. Ways of measuring the size of a business
    2. Ways of Growing a Business: Introduction
      1. Diversification
      2. Mergers and Takeovers
      3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Mergers and Takeovers
      4. Franchising
    3. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
      1. The importance of SMEs
      2. The problems faced by SMEs
      3. Solutions Faced by SMEs in Zimbabwe
      4. State and government Intervention in SMEs
      5. Advantages and disadvantages of running a large business in Zimbabwe
      6. Advantages and disadvantages of running a small business in Zimbabwe
  4. Business aims and objectives
    1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Objectives.
    2. Strategic, Tactical and Operational Objectives
    3. Mission Statement, business aims and vision statement
    4. SMART Objectives
    5. Business Objectives: Growth, survival, profit maximisation, providing a service, adding value
    6. Conflict and objectives
    7. Business Constraints and how they impact objectives
    8. Business Ethics and corporate social responsibility
    9. Importance of corporate social responsibility to the business and community

Form 6

  1. Importance of International Trade
    1. Imports and Exports

  1. ICT in business: Introduction
  2. Advantages and Disadvantages of ICT in Business

  1. Purpose of a business plan
    1. How to prepare a business plan
    2. Components of a business plan
  2. What is a business project?
    1. Project formulation, implementation, identification, evaluation
  3. Tools for Decision-Making and why they are needed
    1. Critical Path Analysis (CPA)-Network Diagrams
      1. Steps to follow when drawing a Network Diagram for Critical Path Analysis
      2. Benefits and Drawbacks of Critical Path Analysis
    2. What is Decision Tree Analysis?
      1. Benefits and Drawbacks of Decision Tree Analysis
    3. What is Cost Benefit Analysis?
      1. Benefits and Drawbacks of Cost-Benefit Analysis

Form 5

  1. Management and Management Functions
    1. What are managerial roles?
  2. Leadership
    1. Autocratic Leadership style
    2. Democratic Leadership style
    3. Laissez-Faire Leadership style
    4. Informal Leadership
  3. What are management theories
    1. The theory of scientific management by FW Taylor
    2. McGregor’s Theory of X and Y
    3. Human Relations Management by Elton Mayo
    4. Administrative Management by Henry Fayol
  4. Understanding and Meeting Worker’s Needs in the Workplace
  5. What is Motivation and why is it important?
    1. Indications/Signs of a motivated workforce
    2. Maslaw’s Hierarchy of Needs
    3. FW Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management
      1. How managers can motivate using FW Taylor’s Theory?
    4.  Hezberg’s Two Factor Theory
    5. Human Relations Theory By Elton Mayo
    6. David McClelland’s Motivational needs theory
    7. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
  6. What are motivational theories and are they useful?
  7. Financial vs Non-Financial Ways to Motivate Workers
    1. The Piece Rate System
    2. Time Rate System
    3. What is a commission?
    4. What is a salary?
    5. Profit Sharing
    6. Fringe Benefits
    7. Productivity Agreements
    8. Share Options
    9. Job Rotation
    10. Job Enlargement
    11. Job Enrichment

Form 6

  1. Organisational Structure
  2. Human Resources Management

Form 5

  1. Purpose of communication
  2. What is effective communication and why is it important?
  3. The Communications Model
  4. Popular communication methods their advantages and disadvantages
  5. Communication channels and their advantages and disadvantages
    1. Problems and solutions to using given communication channels
  6. Business Communication Media
    1. Factors affecting which choice of media to use
  7. Formal Communication
    1. Informal Communication/Grapevine
    2. Informal vs Formal Communication

Form 6

  1. Barriers to communication
    1. How to overcome barriers to effective communication
  2. Role of management in faciliatating communication

Form 5

  1. Evolution of marketing
    1. Production oriented marketing
    2. Product-oriented approach
    3. Sales oriented approach
    4. Market-oriented approach
    5. Marketing oriented approach
    6. Differences between the marketing and market-oriented approaches
  2. Common business functions: marketing, finance, human resources etc
    1. The role of the marketing function
    2. Marketing vs Selling
    3. What is e-marketing?
  3. Market analysis
    1. What is Market segmentation?
      1. Segmenting by demographics
      2. Segmenting the market using geography
      3. Psychographic segmentation
      4. Behavioural segmentation
    2. What is mass marketing?
      1. What is Niche Marketing?
      2. Differences between niche marketing and mass marketing
  4. Marketing research
    1. Introduction to marketing research and market research
    2. What is market research?
      1. What is primary research?
        1. Common methods of collecting data during primary research
        2. What is random sampling?
        3. What is systematic sampling?
        4. What is stratified random sampling?
        5. What is quota sampling?
        6. Interviews as a way of gathering data
        7. Questionnaires as a way of gathering data
        8. Surveys as a way of carrying out market research
        9. Focus groups
      2. What is secondary research?
        1. Common sources of secondary research information
    3. Data Analysis in Market and Marketing Research
      1. Data analysis: Measures of central tendency
      2. Data Analysis: Linear regression
      3. Data Analysis: Measures of dispersion
    4. Sales forecasting and why it is important?
      1. Using market research to forecast sales
      2. Forecasting sales using the Delphi method
      3. Forecasting sales using time series
      4. Forecasting sales using regression analysis
  5. Demand and Supply concepts (Market Forces)
    1. Factors affecting supply/Determinants of supply
    2. Factors affecting demand/Determinants of demand
    3. Importance of supply and demand: price floors, price ceilings, glut and black market
  6. The elasticity of demand: Introduction
    1. Price Elasticity of Demand
    2. Income Elasticity of Demand
    3. Cross Elasticity of Demand
    4. Understanding and using results of elasticity of demand
    5. Promotional Spending and Elasticity of Demand
    6. Marketing Decisions and Elasticity of Demand

Form 6

  1. Marketing mix and marketing strategies
  2. Impact of ICTs on marketing

Form 5

  1. Nature of operations: what is operations management and why is it important?
    1. The three levels of production: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
      1. Primary Production
      2. Secondary Production
      3. Tertiary Production
    2. The Production Function
      1. Production and Productivity
      2. Labour Productivity and Efficiency
      3. Capital Productivity
      4. How labour and capital efficiency can be used in decision-making?
      5. How to boost labour and capital efficiency
      6. Effectiveness vs Efficiency
      7. What is efficiency?
      8. What is effectiveness?
    3. What is value engineering?
  2. Operations planning/organising production
    1. What is job production?
    2. What is batch production?
    3. What is flow production?
    4. What is line production?
    5. What is continuous production?
    6. Flow Production vs Line Production vs Continous Production?
    7. Factors affecting which production method to choose
    8. Capital intensive vs Labour intensive production
    9. Reasons why a business may change its production method and challenges it will likely face
  3. The production function: how to organise it
    1. Kaizen-Continous Improvement
    2. What is Lean Production?
    3. What is outsourcing and what are its benefits?
    4. Automation in Production
    5. What is computer-aided manufacturing?
    6. What is computer-aided design?
    7. Flexible Management Systems (FMS)
    8. Just-In-Time Strategy In Production
    9. Total Quality Management (TQM)
    10. What is Capacity Utilisation?
    11. Factors affecting location and relocation
  4. Production costing and why is it important?
    1. The Costing Process
    2. Types of costs and terms used in costing
    3. What is Absorption Costing
    4. What is Marginal Costing?
    5. Absorption vs Marginal Costing Income Statement
  5. Break Even Analysis
    1. What are Fixed Costs?
    2. What are variable costs?
    3. Break Even Charts

Form 6

  1. Operations efficiency
  2. Quality management
  3. Inventory management

Form 5

  1. Business Finance: The Importance of Finance
    1. Capital versus Revenue Expenditure
    2. What is working capital?
    3. What is working capital management and why is it important?
    4. Ways of boosting working capital
    5. Profitability vs Working Capital
  2. Financial Markets: Sources of Capital
    1. Longterm vs shorterm sources of finance
    2. Retained Earnings as a source of finance
    3. Sale of an asset as a source of finance
    4. Reducing working capital as a source of finance
    5. Debt as a source of finance
      1. Bank loans as a source of finance
      2. Mortgage as a type of finance
      3. Debentures as a source of finance
      4. Bank Overdraft as a source of finance
      5. Bonds as a source of finance
    6. Equity Financing
      1. Special and General Reserves as a source of finance
      2. Shares as a source of finance
        1. Ordinary Shares as a source of finance
        2. Preference shares as a source of finance
      3. Venture Capital as a form of finance
    7. Grants and subsidies as a form of finance
    8. Crowdsourcing as a source of finance
    9. Debt Factoring As a source of finance
    10. Hire Purchase As a source of Finance
    11. Lease as a source of finance
    12. Micro-finance as a source of finance
    13. Trade Credit as a source of finance
  3. Factors to consider when choosing a source of finance
  4. Capital versus Financial Markets
    1. Role of financial markets in business
    2. The Zimbabwean Stock Exchange
    3. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
      1. Commercial Banks in Zimbabwe
      2. Merchant Banks in Zimbabwe
      3. Development Banks in Zimbabwe
      4. Discount Houses in Zimbabwe
      5. The features and functions of money
  5. Role of international financial institutions in Zimbabwe
    1. The African Development Bank (AFDB)
    2. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
    3. The World Bank
    4. The African Import Export Bank

Form 6

  1. Accounting