Business Management

National 4

Business plays an important role in society. We all rely on businesses and entrepreneurs to create wealth, prosperity, jobs and choices.

The purpose of the Course is to develop learners’ understanding of the way in which businesses operate in the current dynamic, changing, competitive and economic environments, and to encourage enterprising attitudes. 

The Course aims to enable learners to develop:

National 5

Business organisations play a key role in society. Every day we come into contact with organisations ranging from supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and retail outlets. We rely on business to organise and allocate economic resources to satisfy consumers’ needs and wants. A study of business management will help you understand how a business functions and how they achieve their objectives. It will also help you develop key skills for learning, life and work. 

The National 5 course comprises three main units of study:

Understanding Business - this unit will allow you to understand the key objectives of a range of business types, it will enable you to explore a range of factors that relate to the external environment in which a business operates and how these factors impact the businesses success. 

Management of People and Finance - this unit will help you develop a knowledge and understanding of how the workforce of a business can contribute to the success of the organisation, through recruitment and selection of staff, training and development plus the motivation of the workforce.  The finance element of this unit will allow you to anaylse different sources of finance for the survival and growth of the organisation. This unit will also allow you to prepare financial documents such as  cash budgets, income statements and break even analysis. 

Management of Marketing and Organisations -  Marketing can allow a business to communicate effectively with consumers to maximise customer satisfaction and gain a competitive edge over rival businesses. This unit will focus on the key areas of marketing - the marketing mix, product development, the product life cycle and market research. Operations will allow you to develop an understanding of how stock management, methods of production and quality control work. 

Higher Business

Business organisations come in many different structures and sizes from the local sole trader to global multi-national organisations. All of these organisations contribute to the international economy because they create employment and wealth. All organisations no matter their size require skilled entrepreneurs with the correct skills and qualities to lead them through the cyclical nature of the global economy. 

The Higher course comprises of three units of study:

Understanding Business - this unit focuses on the range of different types of business in our economy with an emphasis on large-scale organisations.  This unit will study the structure and objectives of business organisations and how they achieve growth. It will also focus on the internal and external environment of business and how they can impact on their success. You will gain an understanding of conflict of interests between different groups of stakeholders. 

Management of Marketing and Operations - Marketing will help you understand how consumers’ behaviour are influenced and the importance of market research  to gain a competitive edge. Operations will allow you to learn the processes and procedures used by an organisation to produce high quality goods and services in an efficient and ethical manner. 

Management of People and Finance -  People will give you an understanding of how an organisation recruit and maintain an effective workforce, including training and development of employees. Organisations must adhere to employment legislation to develop a good reputation with all stakeholders. Finance will give you the ability to examine different sources of finance available to organisations and how managers can budget to ensure good cash flow. You will gain an understanding of the importance of financial statements and how firms use ratio analysis to make key decisions.