AS business studies revision

Here are some links my AS business studies students might want to use in your final days of revision:

BUSS2 (Managing a Business) - revision checklist
BUSS2 (Managing a Business) - calculations and formulae
BUSS2 (Managing a Business) - help on evaluation

BUSS1 (Planning and Financing a Business) - key terms revision sheet
BUSS1 (Planning and Financing a Business) - evaluation questions

Hope these are of some help ...

Sterling silver lining?

Some of my Year 11 students are fully signed up members of Citreon C4 Picasso admirers club. My own Picasso won't be getting its second outing to its homeland this summer because of the collapse of sterling - the Waltons will be holidaying in the UK.

It seems that holiday companies Pontins and Butlins are banking on more of us doing the same. Pontins are investing £50 million in their UK holiday facilities after a 20% increase in summer bookings. And Butlins is moving up market, opening a 'boutique hotel' in Bognor Regis (boutique in Bognor?). Families planning a trip to Cornwall could be disappointed as many holiday cottages are reportedly fully booked. Good illustrations of the impact on business of changes in the exchange rate.

The collapse of serling (the trade-weighted index is down almost 25% from its peak in 2007) is also worth Year 12 economics students exploring. One of questions posed in recent lessons was the relative importance of each of the components of aggregate demand (AD). Inevitably, most attention focused on the importance of consumer expenditure. Such a dramatic fall in the exchange rate, though, can have a significant expansionary impact on AD. Economists have a rule of thumb that each 1% fall in the exchange rate has the same effect on the economy as 0.25% cut in interest rates. If this is right, the collapse of sterling is equivalent to a whopping 6% cut in interest rates. On top of the interest rate cuts announced by the Bank of England, the expansionary impact is incredible.

As the full effects of both the falls in sterling and the interest rate have yet to fully feed through to output, maybe there is a silver cloud on the horizon?

My challenge
What are the parallels between this story and the UK's exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in the early 1990s?

No tight collar for TM Lewin

It's refreshing to post some up-beat news for a change. Amidst the gloom of ailing and failing car manufacturers I found this piece in The Times uplifting. Its focus is very much for business students and is perfectly timed for the AS course.

TM Lewin, Jermyn Street shirtmaker, is thought to be due to report sales up around 20% since last February. It opened 11 new stores over the course of the year to boot. Why is it when the City boys are losing their jobs that sales of classic cotton shirts are on the up? The answer it appears is TM Lewin's promotional strategy of almost constant discounts - not what you would expect in a market in which quality is often judged by price. The company's best known discount is its offer of four shirts for £100. The result is that, on price, TM Lewin competes with M&S but still has the advantage of being perceived as being more up-market.

Watch out for my stripey red and blue number tomorrow - so cheered am I that I intend to get out the iron tonight!

Slumdog success

Whether or not Slumdog Millionaire wins the Oscar for best picture, the story of the film's making should interest GCSE and AS students studying business. The film industry can generate box offices success, yes (Slumdog has so far netted £21 million) but the risks involved are huge.

The business story behind the glamour of the Oscars makes interesting reading and a good case study in entrepreneurship and raising finance for 'independent' films. Click to read more in today's Sunday Times.

Busy time for administrators

A quick blog entry for Year 10 students.

Now I know that none of you ever nod off in lessons, you all regularly read the quality press and you all believe in Father Christmas - even if he didn't bring YOU an iPhone. So, I'm guessing that you will have all heard about firms going into 'administration'.

My groups are nearing the end of Unit 1, Enquiry 4 of the GCSE course in which we have been considering how business success might be measured. Enquiry 5 considers reasons for business failure and what happens when firms fail.

You might find this link useful in explaining what administrators actually do. It would make good reading in advance of us considering business failure.