Key term
CCEA AS-Level Professional Business Services 3210
The Business Environment
The Professional Business Services Sector
The Consultancy Process
Understanding the Client's Market
Client Relationships
Business Ethics
Persuading, Negotiating and Influencing
Business Planning and Risk Management
Government Regulation
Organisational Structure and Culture
Recruitment and Selection
Learning and Development
Employee Well-Being and Motivation
Managing Conflict
Business Research Methods
Sources of Finance
Cash Flow
Financial Statements
Ratio Analysis
The Professional Business Services Sector
- 5 subtopics
- 15 things to know
- AS 1
What The Professional Business Services Sector covers
The Professional Business Services Sector is examined in Unit AS 1, Introduction to Professional Business Services. It covers the nature of professional business services, the range of consultancy services, tangible goods and intangible services, local, national and global firms and why businesses use consultancy services.
Where it is assessed
AS 1
Introduction to Professional Business Services — a written examination.
Check the CCEA specification ↗The 5 subtopics
Each one has its own page. CCEA AS Professional Business Services students sit this topic in the first year.
- The nature of professional business servicesWhat professional business services are, business-to-business work, professional bodies, fees and retainers, reputation, Invest NI, nearshore centres, technology and key staff.Open →
- The range of consultancy servicesHuman resources, financial, business technology, leadership and management and project management consultancy, audit, cyber security, and consultancy against outsourcing.Open →
- Tangible goods and intangible servicesTangible goods and intangible services, inseparability, variability and perishability, making a service tangible, a staff utilisation calculation and marketing an intangible service.Open →
- Local, national and global firmsLocal, national and global firms and their strengths, Northern Ireland's separate legal system, the Big Four, Belfast offices of global firms, and choosing a firm to suit a client.Open →
- Why businesses use consultancy servicesAn independent view, specialist experience, short-term needs and regulation, the drawbacks and costs of consultants, dependence, due diligence, Invest NI support and value for money.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
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Key term
What does an HR consultancy offer, and how might it help a fast-growing Craigavon manufacturer?
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Define the term tangible good.
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What is a locally operating professional services firm?
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Why might a business use a professional services consultancy?
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What are professional business services?
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What is consultancy?
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What is an intangible service?
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Name two law firms based in Northern Ireland that mainly serve Northern Ireland clients.
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Why is an independent view valuable to a client?
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Why are professional business services described as business-to-business?
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What does a human resources consultancy offer a client?
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Why are professional business services mainly intangible?
Evaluation
Outline the strengths of a local professional services firm.
Key term
How can hiring a consultant save a client money?
Take The Professional Business Services Sector further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Tangible good vs Intangible service
Tangible good: a physical product that can be touched, stored and owned. Intangible service: an activity performed for a customer that cannot be touched or stored.
Consultancy vs Outsourcing
Consultancy: independent expert advice, leaving the client to act on it. Outsourcing: handing a whole business function to an outside firm to run.
Inseparability vs Perishability
Inseparability: a service being produced and consumed at the same moment. Perishability: the inability to store unused capacity for later sale.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What are professional business services?
Model answer
Professional business services are expert, knowledge-based services sold to other organisations. Accountancy, law, consultancy, HR and technology services are the main examples.
- 2
Why are professional business services described as business-to-business?
Model answer
The clients of professional business services firms are mainly other organisations, not individual consumers. A law firm drafting contracts for a manufacturer provides a business-to-business service.
- 3
What are the main features of the professional business services sector?
Model answer
The sector relies on highly qualified staff selling expert advice. Services are tailored to each client, and reputation and trust win most of the work.
- 4
Why are many professions regulated by professional bodies?
Model answer
Clients cannot easily judge the quality of expert advice for themselves. A professional body sets entry qualifications, conduct rules and discipline to protect clients.
- 5
Name the bodies that regulate solicitors and represent many chartered accountants in Northern Ireland.
Model answer
Solicitors in Northern Ireland are regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. Many chartered accountants in Northern Ireland belong to Chartered Accountants Ireland.
- 6
How do professional business services firms charge for their work?
Model answer
A firm may charge an hourly or daily rate for the time its staff spend. Other options are a fixed fee for a defined job or a monthly retainer.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
The Professional Business Services Sector revision questions
- Is The Professional Business Services Sector examined at AS in CCEA Professional Business Services?
- Yes. It sits in AS 1, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.
- What does The Professional Business Services Sector cover in CCEA AS-Level Professional Business Services?
- 5 subtopics: the nature of professional business services, the range of consultancy services, tangible goods and intangible services, local, national and global firms and why businesses use consultancy services. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is The Professional Business Services Sector organised?
- By the CCEA 3210 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in The Professional Business Services Sector, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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