Numbers
AQA A-Level Business 7132
What Is Business?
Topic overviewWhy businesses exist and their objectivesRevenue, costs and profitCalculating and presenting business dataBusiness forms, sectors and liabilityShare capital, market capitalisation and dividendsWhat moves a share price, and how ownership shapes objectivesCompetition, market conditions and incomesInterest rates, demographics and environmental issues
Managers, Leadership and Decision Making
Topic overviewManagement, leadership and the four leadership stylesThe Tannenbaum Schmidt continuumChoosing a leadership style and its limitationsScientific and intuitive decision making, and expected valueReading a decision treeRisk, uncertainty and opportunity costWhat influences a management decisionStakeholders and stakeholder mappingStakeholder needs and managing the relationship
Marketing Management
Topic overviewWhy businesses set marketing objectivesBrand loyalty and calculating the marketing measuresPrimary and secondary market researchSampling methodsCorrelation, confidence intervals and extrapolationPrice and income elasticity of demandCalculating market share, market growth and sales growthSegmentation and the bases for itNiche and mass marketing, targeting and market mappingThe elements of the marketing mixProduct portfolio analysis and the Boston MatrixThe product life cycle and extension strategiesPricing, branding, place and the influences on the mix
Operational Management
Topic overviewOperational objectives: cost and qualitySpeed, flexibility and environmental objectivesAdded value and the trade-offs between objectivesLabour productivity and unit costsCapacity and capacity utilisationImproving capacity utilisationRaising labour productivity, and the obstaclesLean production and Just in TimeLabour-intensive and capital-intensive productionTechnology in operationsQuality control and quality assuranceThe benefits and costs of improving qualityMatching supply to demandThe inventory control chartInfluences on inventory and choosing a supplierSupply chain managementOutsourcing: benefits and drawbacks
Financial Management
Topic overviewFinancial objectives and return on investmentGross profit, operating profit and profit for the yearBudgets and variance analysisCash flow forecastsBreak-even, contribution and the margin of safetyBreak-even charts and how they shiftThe uses and limits of break-even analysisProfit margins, payables and receivablesInternal sources of financeShort-term external financeShare capital, loans, venture capital and crowd fundingChoosing a source of financeMethods of improving cash flowMethods of improving profitsThe difficulties and trade-offs in improving cash flow and profit
Human Resource Management
Topic overviewHuman resource objectives and their valueHard and soft human resource managementCalculating labour turnover and labour productivityEmployee costs as a percentage of turnover, and labour cost per unitUsing and interpreting human resource dataTypes of organisational structureSpan of control, hierarchy and delegationHuman resource flowThe value of a motivated workforce, and TaylorMaslow's hierarchy of needsHerzberg's two-factor theoryFinancial methods of motivationNon-financial methods of motivationChoosing and assessing methods of motivationEmployee involvement and the influences on itTrade unions, works councils and communication channelsThe value of good employer-employee relations
Analysing the Strategic Position of a Business
Topic overviewInfluences on the mission and corporate objectivesMission, objectives, strategy and tacticsFunctional objectives and their influencesSWOT analysis and its limitationsReturn on capital employed and the current ratioGearing and the ratios of working capitalFinancial statements and the categories of ratioUsing ratio analysis, and its limitsNon-financial measures of performanceBenchmarking and core competencesThe Triple Bottom LineCompetition law and labour market legislationEnvironmental legislation and government supportRegulators, infrastructure and environmental incentivesTrade policy and responding to political changeGDP, taxation and exchange ratesInflation, fiscal policy and monetary policyTrade, protectionism and responding to economic changeDemographic and social changeCorporate social responsibility and its criticsCarroll's pyramid and technological changePorter's five forces: entry and buyer powerSupplier power, rivalry and substitutesUsing five forces to shape strategyPayback period and average rate of returnNet present value and the time value of moneyInvestment criteria, risk and sensitivity analysis
Choosing Strategic Direction
Strategic Methods: How to Pursue Strategies
Topic overviewOrganic growth, external growth and retrenchmentEconomies and diseconomies of scale, synergy and overtradingMethods of external growthThe advantages and disadvantages of organic and external growthProduct and process innovation and its driversKaizen, research and development, and intellectual propertyThe causes of globalisation and its opportunitiesMethods of entering international marketsChoosing a country to trade with or invest inOff-shoring, re-shoring and multinationalsGlobal, multi-domestic and transnational strategiesDigital technology and the pressure to adopt itThe value and the limits of digital technology
Managing Strategic Change
Topic overviewTypes of change and Lewin's force field analysisFlexible organisations, restructuring and delayeringReasons for resistance and overcoming it through education, participation and supportOvercoming resistance: negotiation, manipulation and coercionOrganisational culture and Handy's four typesRecognising cultures and what shapes themChanging organisational culture and the difficultiesLeadership, communication and structure in implementationNetwork analysis and reading a network diagramFloat, the critical path and the value of network analysis
Problems with Strategy and Why Strategies Fail
Topic overviewUncertainty and cognitive bias in strategic decisionsResource and organisational barriers to implementationPlanned and emergent strategyReasons for strategic driftFinancial and non-financial measures of strategic performanceThe balanced scorecard, KPIs and the limits of evaluationThe value of strategic planningContingency planning and crisis management
Managers, Leadership and Decision Making
- 9 subtopics
- 22 things to know
- Papers 1, 2 and 3
What Managers, Leadership and Decision Making covers
Managers, leadership and decision making can be examined on any of the three papers. It covers the styles a manager can adopt, the tools used to make a decision under risk, and the stakeholders who have to be weighed in it.
Where it is assessed
Papers 1, 2 and 3
All three papers may draw on any part of the specification.
Check the AQA specification ↗The 9 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Management, leadership and the four leadership stylesThe difference between management and leadership, and the autocratic, paternalistic, democratic and laissez-faire styles.Open →
- The Tannenbaum Schmidt continuumLeadership as a spectrum from boss-centred to subordinate-centred, and the four positions on it.Open →
- Choosing a leadership style and its limitationsHow the task, time, workforce and culture shape the style, and the limits of each.Open →
- Scientific and intuitive decision making, and expected valueThe two approaches to deciding, and calculating expected value and net gain.Open →
- Reading a decision treeThe chance and decision nodes, working backwards through the tree, and what the numbers mean.Open →
- Risk, uncertainty and opportunity costThe difference between risk and uncertainty, reward, opportunity cost, and the limits of decision trees.Open →
- What influences a management decisionThe mission, corporate objectives, ethics, the external environment and the resources available.Open →
- Stakeholders and stakeholder mappingWho the stakeholders are, and mapping them by power and interest.Open →
- Stakeholder needs and managing the relationshipWhat each group wants, where needs conflict or overlap, and communication and consultation.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Evaluation
How are expected value and net gain calculated in decision tree analysis?
Key term
What characterises laissez-faire leadership?
Key term
What does the Tannenbaum Schmidt continuum show, and what sits at each extreme?
Evaluation
What do 'joins', 'consults' and 'delegates' mean on the Tannenbaum Schmidt continuum?
Key term
On the Tannenbaum Schmidt continuum, what does 'abdicates' mean?
Key term
When might paternalistic leadership be effective?
Key term
When might laissez-faire leadership be effective?
Numbers
What is a decision tree, and how does intuitive decision making differ from scientific?
Numbers
When is expected value used, and how is it calculated?
Evaluation
How is net gain calculated, and what does it tell a decision maker?
Numbers
What do the square and circular nodes represent in a decision tree, and why is it read backwards?
Evaluation
How is a decision tree interpreted, and what is risk in decision making?
Evaluation
What are the strengths and limitations of decision trees?
Evaluation
What are the limitations of decision trees, and why are estimated probabilities and missing qualitative factors a weakness?
Evaluation
What is a stakeholder, and what is meant by stakeholder power?
Key term
What is stakeholder mapping, and how should a business manage stakeholders according to their power and interest?
Evaluation
How can stakeholder needs conflict or overlap, and what do suppliers want?
Process
What is communication as a method of managing stakeholder relationships?
Numbers
State the formula for calculating expected value.
Numbers
State the formula for calculating net gain in decision tree analysis.
Process
What influences a manager's decision beyond the numbers?
Take Managers, Leadership and Decision Making further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Leadership vs Management
Leadership: influencing people towards shared goals. Management: planning and controlling organisational resources.
Autocratic leadership vs Democratic leadership
Autocratic leadership: decisions concentrated in the leader. Democratic leadership: employees participate in decision making.
Scientific decision making vs Intuitive decision making
Scientific decision making: choice based on structured evidence and analysis. Intuitive decision making: choice based on judgement and experience.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What does management focus on in terms of achieving objectives?
Model answer
Planning, organising, coordinating and controlling resources.
- 2
What does leadership focus on in relation to people?
Model answer
Inspiring, motivating and influencing people towards a vision.
- 3
In autocratic leadership, who makes the decisions?
Model answer
The leader makes all decisions without consulting employees (centralised decision-making).
- 4
What role do employees play in decision-making under autocratic leadership?
Model answer
No role — there is no employee consultation.
- 5
What type of communication characterises autocratic leadership?
Model answer
One-way communication (from leader to employees).
- 6
How would you describe the level of control in autocratic leadership?
Model answer
Strict control over employees and operations.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Managers, Leadership and Decision Making revision questions
- What does Managers, Leadership and Decision Making cover in AQA A-Level Business?
- 9 subtopics: management, leadership and the four leadership styles, the tannenbaum schmidt continuum, choosing a leadership style and its limitations, scientific and intuitive decision making, and expected value, reading a decision tree, risk, uncertainty and opportunity cost, what influences a management decision, stakeholders and stakeholder mapping and stakeholder needs and managing the relationship. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Managers, Leadership and Decision Making organised?
- By the AQA 7132 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
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