Enterprise and entrepreneurs, the role of business in adding value, economic sectors, and the main forms of legal business structure in the private and public sectors.
Measuring business size, internal and external growth, mergers and takeovers, economies and diseconomies of scale, and why some firms stay small.
Mission, aims and SMART objectives, the hierarchy of objectives, corporate social responsibility, and stakeholder interests and conflicts.
PESTLE analysis, the impact of economic, political-legal, social, technological and environmental factors, and the difference between controllable and uncontrollable influences.
Workforce planning, recruitment and selection, internal vs external recruitment, training, dismissal and redundancy, and measuring HR performance.
Why motivation matters, the main content and process theories (Taylor, Maslow, Herzberg, Mayo, McClelland, Vroom), and financial and non-financial motivators.
The functions of management, leadership styles, the role of managers and directors, emotional intelligence, and how to choose an appropriate style.
Organisation charts, hierarchy and chain of command, span of control, tall vs flat structures, centralisation, delegation and delayering.
Marketing objectives, market research, segmentation and positioning, demand and elasticity, and the 4Ps/7Ps of the marketing mix.
Product life cycle and extension strategies, the Boston Matrix, the Ansoff Matrix, branding, and developing a marketing plan and strategy.
Operations objectives, productivity and efficiency, methods of production, capacity utilisation, inventory (stock) control and lean production.
Quality control vs quality assurance, TQM and quality standards, the costs and benefits of quality, and factors influencing business location and scale of operations.
The need for finance, internal and external sources, short- vs long-term finance, choosing a source, and managing working capital and cash flow.
Classifying costs, break-even analysis, contribution and margin of safety, budgeting and variance analysis, and cost and profit centres.
The income statement and statement of financial position, profitability, liquidity and gearing ratios, working capital, and investment appraisal methods.
Strategy and strategic analysis, SWOT, decision trees, contingency planning and crisis management, and managing change including Lewin's model and Kotter.