first 10 Flashcards
(12 cards)
What are the main forms of business ownership, including social enterprise?
Sole trader: One owner, full control, unlimited liability.
Partnership: 2–20 owners, shared responsibility, governed by a deed.
Private Ltd (Ltd): Limited liability, shares not public, often family-run.
Public Ltd (Plc): Shares on stock exchange, must publish accounts.
Franchise: One business uses another’s brand/model, pays royalties.
Social Enterprise: Combines profit-making with social goals (e.g., TOMS).
What roles do shareholders play, and what influences share price and market cap?
Shareholders: Part-owners seeking dividends or capital growth.
Share price: Influenced by company performance, market conditions.
Market capitalisation = Share price × Total shares. Reflects business value and investor confidence.
What are the key leadership styles, and what is the Tannenbaum & Schmidt model?
Autocratic: Leader makes all decisions. Fast, but demotivating.
Democratic: Involves employees. Motivating, time-consuming.
Laissez-faire: Minimal input. Can empower or confuse.
Paternalistic: Leader acts in employees’ best interest.
Tannenbaum & Schmidt Continuum: Leadership is a spectrum from tell to delegate. Helps leaders adapt to context and team.
Who are stakeholders, and how does Mendelow’s Matrix help prioritise them?
Stakeholders: Anyone affected by business actions (e.g., staff, suppliers).
Mendelow’s Matrix: Plots power vs interest.
High power/high interest = manage closely
Low power/low interest = monitor with minimal effort
What are the 7Ps in the marketing mix and why are they important?
Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence.
Ensures consistent and targeted strategy aligned with brand positioning.
What are common pricing strategies, including dynamic pricing?
Cost-plus, Penetration, Skimming, Competitive, Predatory, Psychological.
Dynamic pricing: Real-time price changes based on demand (e.g. Uber, airlines).
What is the role of suppliers, and what do outsourcing and offshoring mean?
Suppliers impact quality, cost, and reliability.
Outsourcing: Contracting out tasks to third parties (flexibility, risk of quality loss).
Offshoring: Moving operations abroad to lower costs; can create delays or ethical issues.
What are Porter’s Five Forces and how do they influence strategy?
Competitive rivalry, Buyer power, Supplier power, Threat of new entrants, Threat of substitutes.
Used to assess market attractiveness and inform strategic decisions.
What are core competences and why are they important?
Unique internal strengths that provide a competitive edge (e.g., Apple’s design).
Must be valuable, rare, and hard to imitate to sustain competitive advantage.
What are internal and external growth strategies, and how do economies apply?
Organic growth: New stores/products.
External: Mergers, acquisitions. Types: Horizontal, Vertical, Conglomerate.
Economies of scale: Cost/unit falls as output rises (technical, purchasing, managerial).
Diseconomies: Poor communication, motivation, control at large scale.
What is licensing and why might a business use it?
Legal agreement to use another firm’s IP (brand, tech).
Enables fast, low-cost expansion (esp. global) with less risk.
Downsides: lower control, brand dilution.
How can digital technology, big data, and data mining support business decisions?
Digital tech: Improves efficiency and communication.
Big data: Huge, complex datasets from consumer activity.
Data mining: Analysing big data to find patterns, predict behaviour, and improve strategy (e.g. targeted ads).
