Business Studies and Economics
General Philosophy and Ethos
The Department seeks to:
- maximise value added for each student and achieve as many top grades as possible;
- improve students’ analytical skills;
- encourage and foster an interest in the world of business, economics and current affairs generally; and
- encourage students to become good citizens.
In achieving the above, the department recognises that students are no longer children but are young adults and should be treated as such. It is therefore expected that students will take responsibility for their own learning. High standards of behaviour are expected in and out of lessons.
The Business and Economics Department offers Business Studies AS/A Level (OCR) and Economics AS/A Level (OCR).
Course Content: Business Studies
If you want to learn about the practicalities and issues involved in managing a business, there is no better course available than AS/A Level Business Studies. This combines essay writing skills with numeracy skills and no matter what field students eventually enter, business management techniques are always useful. It is worth remembering that Government statistics show that over a lifetime, the average business/finance/economics graduate will earn £184,000 more than the average non graduate worker and £20,000 more than the average graduate worker.
Marketing
Ever wondered why Real Madrid signed David Beckham only to leave him on the bench for so many games? Perhaps this was a cunning marketing ploy aimed at improving Real’s brand awareness in the far east? In Business Studies we examine the subtleties of the Marketing world and how businesses persuade customers to buy their products.
People Management
How easy is it to fire someone? What rights do people have in work? What methods do firms use to motivate people or is it just pay that workers are interested in? Here we analyse the different approaches to management.
Accounting and Finance
If you want to know what an accountant does and if you would enjoy being an accountant, this is the course for you. In this part of the course we look at some of the financial documents prepared by accountants and what those documents mean.
Production Management
How do firms organise production? If you enjoy constructing products, here you will discover the formal approaches to organising production.
Other Topics
Business Law – Here we look at the main laws affecting business eg consumer law
Business and the economy – We investigate how the Chancellor can affect a business
Business ethics and the environment – Do businesses damage the environment? Is it right that workers in poor countries are paid so little by multi national companies like Nike? Is this ethical? In this section of the course we look at the issues and debates surrounding businesses and how they impact on their environments.
Course Content: Economics
Economics also combines numeracy skills with essay writing skills. The course gives an insight into some major philosophical issues and the problems faced by the Government of the day. If you ever wondered what the Chancellor does, why there are so many people across the world who live in poverty or why the UK NHS always seems to have problems, this course should help you understand these economic problems and the approaches to finding solutions.
Market System
Here we learn the basics of demand and supply and how prices are determined. We also have a brief look at why the Soviet Union economy failed and the real reasons behind the fall of Communism.
Market Failure
Unfortunately the free market doesn’t always work. Even Adam Smith, the founding father of free market economic theory acknowledged this in the “An Investigation into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” 1776. In this section we examine why markets fail and why the Government has to intervene otherwise we will all suffer.
National and International Economy
This is the main section of the AS course and covers all the issues of the day. The course investigates the main economic objectives of the Government and how it goes about trying to achieve these. So if you ever wondered what inflation is and why it is seems to be bad for the country, this section should make all clear.
Development Economics
If you go on to take Economics at A Level, probably the most fascinating part of the course is Development Economics. Economics should be about how we make the world a better place for all citizens. However, over one billion people live in poverty and 30,000 children die every day from preventable diseases. Here we look at the causes of this poverty and attempt to understand how Western countries can help. Some economists argue that it is indeed the West and its institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF that have ruined nations. There is much lively debate to be had in this element of the course.
Work and Leisure
It would take a nurse nearly 1,250 years to earn the amount David Beckham earns in one year.Y et most of us would acknowledge that a nurse is more important to society than a footballer. In this unit we examine the reasons for pay differences and we analyse whether the reasons are legitimate or not. We also investigate certain industries, for example TV broadcasting, to see how competitive they really are.
Department Results
Students taking Economics or Business Studies usually achieve excellent results both in terms of raw results and “Value Added.”
- In 2006, 100% of business students achieved grade A-C at A Level with 81% achieving a grade A and B.
- In 2006, 94% of economists achieved a grade A or B at A Level.
- In 2005, all students achieved grade A or B in both Business Studies and Economics.
Trips
The Department frequently runs trips abroad, the last two trips being to New York and Barcelona. During our time in New York we saw many of the sights of the city such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building and Yankee Stadium. The business highlight was our trip to the Federal Reserve Bank. In Barcelona, we visited the world famous Torres vineyard and the Cordoniu champagne caves as well as the Camp Nou, home of Barcelona football club.
Young Enterprise
The school runs a very successful Young Enterprise scheme for sixth formers. This year we had seven very successful and profitable companies. “Vinyls” won best product at the Birmingham and Solihull Young Enterprise final and “Pink Mango” won the best presentation prize at the Central Birmingham final.
Competitions
Every year, students from the school enter for different business and economics competitions. Last year a team represented us at the Ogden Business Trust Competition. This year a team entered for the investor challenge and next year we will be entering the Bank of England’s Two Point Zero competition.
Current affairs
The Department has a policy of generally only using up-to-date information. Business case studies are usually based on real businesses and situations. Economic data is always as up to date as possible.
Links
The following websites are useful for both Business Studies and Economics students:
Tutor2u.net
Bized.ac.uk
Worldbank.org
Un.org
Wto.org
Imf.org
Wikipedia
