Mini-Lesson

Business activity, marketing and people

This mini-lesson covers OCR Business 1 — Business activity, marketing and people: the role of business activity and enterprise, marketing (research, the mix, segmentation) and people (structures, recruitment, motivation).

Work through each screen, answer the questions as you go (some are wordy, some are calculations) and collect ⭐ stars. Press Start when you're ready.

Business activity

The role of business activity

Businesses combine resources to provide goods and services, meeting needs and wants and adding value. Enterprise is driven by entrepreneurs who take risks.

Factors of production: land, labour, capital, enterprise.
Ownership: sole trader & partnership (unlimited liability) vs private limited company (limited liability).
Aims & objectives: survival, profit, growth, market share, social aims.

added value = selling price − cost of bought-in inputs

Quick check

Meaning of limited liability

?A private limited company fails owing money. What does 'limited liability' mean for its shareholders?

Calculate

Your turn — added value

1A firm sells a product for £45. The bought-in materials cost £18. Calculate the value added.

£

Hint: added value = selling price − cost of inputs = 45 − 18.

Marketing

Marketing & the marketing mix

Marketing identifies and satisfies customer needs profitably.

Market research: primary (new) vs secondary (existing); quantitative vs qualitative.
Segmentation: splitting the market by age, income, location, lifestyle.
The marketing mix — 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion.

Market share = (firm's sales ÷ total market sales) × 100.

Sort it

Which 'P' of the marketing mix?

Tap a decision, then the 'P' it belongs to.

🏷️ Price

🛒 Place

📢 Promotion

Calculate

Your turn — market share

2A brand sells £6m in a market worth £30m. Calculate its market share.

%

Hint: market share = (firm sales ÷ total market) × 100 = (6 ÷ 30) × 100.

Quick check

Primary or secondary?

?A shop reads a free government report on high-street spending trends. What kind of research is this?

Pricing

Pricing strategies

Common pricing strategies:

Penetration — low launch price to win share.
Skimming — high launch price for a new product.
Competitive — in line with rivals.
Cost-plus — add a mark-up to unit cost.

cost-plus price = unit cost × (1 + mark-up)

Calculate

Your turn — cost-plus price

3A product costs £30 to make. A 50% mark-up is added. Calculate the selling price.

£

Hint: price = cost × (1 + mark-up) = 30 × 1.50.

People

People & human resources

Managing people covers structure, recruitment, training and motivation.

Structure: hierarchy, chain of command, span of control.
Recruitment: internal vs external; job description & person specification.
Training: induction, on-the-job, off-the-job.
Motivation: financial (bonus, commission, piece rate) and non-financial (praise, job enrichment).

Match it

Match the term to its meaning

Tap a statement on the left, then the correct term on the right.

Statement

Answer

Calculate

Your turn — commission

4A salesperson earns 4% commission on sales of £50,000 in a month. Calculate their commission.

£

Hint: commission = sales × rate = 50,000 × 0.04.

Calculate

Your turn — staff turnover

5A business employs 40 staff and 8 leave in a year. Calculate the staff turnover rate.

%

Hint: turnover = (staff who left ÷ average staff) × 100 = (8 ÷ 40) × 100.

Quick check

On-the-job training

?A new employee is trained by shadowing an experienced colleague while doing the real job. Which type of training is this?

Recap

The big ideas to know

Business activity: factors of production, ownership & liability, aims; added value = price − input cost

Marketing: primary vs secondary research, segmentation, 4 Ps; market share = (firm ÷ market) × 100

Pricing: penetration, skimming, competitive, cost-plus (price = cost × (1 + mark-up))

People: structure & span of control, recruitment, training, motivation

You've covered OCR Business 1 — Business activity, marketing and people. Press Finish to see your score.

🏆

Mini-lesson complete!

⭐⭐⭐

You've worked through Business activity, marketing and people for OCR GCSE Business. 🎉

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