Business ManagementQ&A by dot point

The project: an independent investigation of a live organisation or issue, presented as a researched report with analysis, conclusions and recommendations, worth 40 marks (one third of the course).

The question paper: its two sections (a case-study section and a section sampling all areas), the marks, duration and weighting, and the command words (describe, explain, compare, distinguish, discuss) that signal what an answer must do.

The SCQF level and grading: Advanced Higher as an SCQF level 7 qualification, how the question paper and project combine into an overall grade A to D, and what the level signals for progression.

Critical path analysis: a network technique that sequences interdependent project activities, identifies the critical path and float, and shows the shortest time to complete a project and where delay matters most.

Force-field analysis: a tool that maps the driving forces pushing for a decision or change against the restraining forces resisting it, used to weigh and inform the decision.

Gantt charts: a tool that schedules project tasks against a timeline, showing the start, duration and overlap of activities, used to plan, communicate and monitor progress.

Drawing conclusions and making recommendations: synthesising analysed information into reasoned, evidence-based conclusions and clear, justified strategic recommendations, the culmination of the evaluation skill.

Evaluating financial and performance information: interpreting reports, financial data, statistics and surveys, judging their reliability and limitations, and using them to assess organisational performance.

Research methods and referencing: primary and secondary research, sampling, the criteria for reliable information, and the conventions of referencing, bibliographies and footnotes used in the project.

Business ethics, corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability as contemporary external pressures: their drivers, the costs and benefits of acting responsibly, and the risk of being seen as merely greenwashing.

Government policy and the economic environment as contemporary external influences: fiscal and monetary policy, legislation and regulation, and economic conditions such as growth, inflation, interest rates and unemployment, and how they affect organisations.

Technological change as a contemporary external influence: automation, data and artificial intelligence, e-commerce and digital disruption, and the strategic opportunities and threats they create across functions.

Methods of international expansion: foreign direct investment (greenfield and acquisition), joint ventures and strategic alliances, and the advantages and risks of each entry method.

Globalisation: the integration of national economies into a single world market, its drivers (technology, transport, trade liberalisation, deregulation), and the opportunities and threats it creates for organisations.

Multinational corporations (MNCs): their features and reasons for becoming multinational, and the costs and benefits they bring to host countries and to their home country.

Trade blocs and emerging markets: how regional trade blocs (the EU, ASEAN) and the rise of major economies such as China affect the opportunities, costs and trading conditions an organisation faces.

Transfer pricing: the prices set for goods, services and intellectual property moved between divisions of the same multinational, how it is used to shift profit to low-tax countries, and the ethical and regulatory issues this creates.

Classical management theory: Taylor's scientific management (work study, the one best way, piece-rate pay) and Weber's bureaucracy (rules, hierarchy and impersonal authority), and their strengths and limitations.

The human relations school and motivation theories: Mayo's Hawthorne studies, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory and McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y, and what they imply for managing people.

Leadership theories: trait theory, behavioural/style theories (autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire) and situational theory (Hersey and Blanchard), and what they imply for how a leader should behave.

Managing change: the drivers and resistance to change, Lewin's three-step model (unfreeze, change, refreeze) and force-field thinking, change strategies (top-down, participative, directive), and the factors that make change succeed.

Workforce diversity and equality: the meaning of diversity, the requirements of the Equality Act (protected characteristics and avoiding discrimination), and the benefits and challenges of managing a diverse workforce.

Teams and group working: the benefits and challenges of teamworking, Tuckman's stages of team development (forming, storming, norming, performing) and Belbin's team roles, and the features of an effective team.

The contingency approach to management: the view that the best way to manage and organise depends on the situation (size, technology, environment, task and people), and how it builds on and qualifies classical and human relations thinking.

The roles and functions of management: Fayol's functions of management (planning, organising, commanding, coordinating, controlling) and Mintzberg's managerial roles (interpersonal, informational and decisional), and how they describe managerial work.