IGCSE Business Studies · ⁨IGCSE 비즈니스 연구⁩

A business 企业 is an organisation that makes goods 商品 or provides services 服务 for customers 顾客.

• Goods are physical things you can touch — bread, phones, cars.
• Services are useful actions done for you — a haircut, a bus ride, a doctor's visit.

The purpose of business activity is to use resources 资源 to make goods and services, so that people's needs 需要 and wants 欲望 are met.

• Needs are things you must have to live: food, water, shelter, clothes.
• Wants are things you would like but can live without: a holiday, a games console.

Factors of production

To produce anything, a business brings together four factors of production 生产要素 — the resources needed to make goods and services.

The economic problem

People's needs and wants are unlimited. But resources are scarce 稀缺 — there are not enough of them for everything. This is the economic problem 经济问题.

Because resources are scarce, you must always choose. You cannot have everything.

Opportunity cost

When you choose one thing, you give up the next best thing. The opportunity cost 机会成本 is the next best choice you give up.

Example: a business has some money and spends it on a new machine. Now it cannot also spend that money on a bigger shop. The bigger shop is the opportunity cost.

Added value

Added value 增值 is the difference between the price a business sells a product for and the cost of the raw materials 原材料 bought in to make it.

A business can increase added value by:

• raising the price, often through a strong brand 品牌 or better design,
• lowering the cost of materials, for example by finding cheaper suppliers,
• improving the product so customers will pay more.

Worked example. A furniture maker buys the wood and fabric for a chair for £40 and sells the chair for £110. The factory rent is £6,000 a month. Find the added value per chair.

The rent is a deliberate distractor. Added value counts only the cost of the bought-in materials, so rent, wages and other running costs stay out of it - they matter for profit, not for added value. Subtract only what was bought in to make the product, and never treat added value as if it were profit.

Why businesses succeed or fail

A business is more likely to succeed when it has:

• good management 管理 — skilled leaders who plan well,
• enough finance 资金 — money to pay bills while it grows,
• a product customers want, and an edge over the competition 竞争 (the other businesses selling similar things).

A business may fail and close down when it runs out of cash, manages money badly, or cannot compete. Weak management and poor cash control are the most common causes.

The three sectors

We sort all business activity into three groups, by how far the work is from the final customer.

How the sectors change

The importance of each sector changes as a country grows richer.

• In a developing economy 发展中经济体 (a poorer country building up its industry), the primary sector is often large — many people farm.
• As the country grows, the secondary sector grows too.
• In a developed economy 发达经济体 (a rich, industrialised country), most people work in the tertiary sector.

De-industrialisation 去工业化 is when the secondary sector shrinks and the tertiary sector grows. This has happened in many developed economies as factories move abroad.

Private sector and public sector

The private sector 私营部门 is made up of businesses owned by private people and groups. Most aim to make a profit 利润. The public sector 公共部门 is made up of organisations owned by the government, which aim to provide a service to the public.

The entrepreneur

An entrepreneur 企业家 is a person who sets up a business and takes the risk of running it. Successful entrepreneurs usually:

• are willing to take risk 风险 — to risk their own money on a new idea,
• work hard and do not give up,
• are innovative 创新 — full of new ideas,
• are confident and good at making decisions,
• are well organised, able to manage time, money and people.

The business plan

A business plan 商业计划书 is a document that describes the business and its future. It usually contains the business idea and objectives, the product, the market 市场 it will sell to, who will run it, and a plan for the money.

A business plan has two main uses:

• it makes the owner think carefully and plan ahead,
• it helps the business raise finance 筹集资金 — banks and investors want to see a plan before they lend or invest.

Government support for start-ups

A start-up 初创企业 is a brand-new business. New businesses create jobs and help the economy grow, so governments often support them with:

• grants 补助金 — money given that does not have to be paid back,
• low-interest loans 贷款 — money lent on easy terms,
• training and advice for new owners,
• lower taxes in the first years.

Measuring the size of a business

You can measure how big a business is in several ways. Each one has a weakness.

Staying small or growing

Some businesses stay small on purpose: the owner wants to keep control, the market is small, or the product is specialised.

Businesses that want to grow bigger — to achieve growth 增长 — can do it in two ways.

• Internal growth 内部增长 (also called organic growth): the business grows by itself, by selling more, opening new branches, or adding new products. It is slower but lower-risk.
• External growth 外部增长: the business joins with another business. This is faster. It happens through a merger 合并 (two businesses agree to join into one) or a takeover 收购 (one business buys control of another).

External growth is classified by the kind of business that is joined.

Economies and diseconomies of scale

As a business grows, its cost per unit can fall. These savings are called economies of scale 规模经济.

If a business grows too big, the cost per unit can start to rise again. These are diseconomies of scale 规模不经济. They happen because communication 沟通 in a huge firm gets worse, workers feel less important and work less hard, and managers find the firm hard to control.

Liability

Liability 责任 means who must pay the debts 债务 if a business cannot pay them itself.

• With unlimited liability 无限责任, the owner is personally responsible for all the debts. If the business fails, the owner may lose personal things, like a house or car, to pay them.
• With limited liability 有限责任, the owner can only lose the money they put into the business. Their personal things are safe.

Incorporated and unincorporated

• An incorporated 法人 business has a separate legal identity from its owners. The business itself can own things and be taken to court. Its owners get limited liability. Companies are incorporated.
• An unincorporated 非法人 business is not separate from its owner in law. Sole traders and partnerships are unincorporated.

The four main types

A sole trader 独资企业 is a business owned by one person.

A partnership 合伙企业 is owned by two or more people who share the work, the decisions and the profit. They usually sign a written agreement.

A private limited company 私人有限公司 (often "Ltd") is owned by shareholders 股东, but its shares cannot be sold to the public. The owners are often family and friends.

A public limited company 公众有限公司 (often "plc") is a large company whose shares 股份 can be bought by the public on the stock exchange 证券交易所.

Shareholders may receive a share of the profit, called a dividend 股息.

Other forms of organisation

• Franchise 特许经营: a person (the franchisee 加盟商) pays to use the name, products and methods of an existing successful business (the franchisor 授权商). The franchisee gets a known brand, training and lower risk, but must pay fees and a share of the profit and has less freedom. Many fast-food chains work this way.
• Joint venture 合资企业: two businesses agree to share the cost, risk and profit of one project, while staying separate companies.
• Social enterprise 社会企业: a business that trades to help society or the environment, not only to make profit. Most of its profit is put back into its social aims.

Public sector organisation

A public corporation 国有企业 is a business owned and run by the government, such as a national rail or postal service. Its aims include giving an important service to everyone, not only making a profit.

Business objectives

An objective 目标 is a goal that a business aims for. Common objectives are:

• survival 生存 — staying in business, especially when new or in hard times,
• profit — earning more than it spends; the main aim of most private firms,
• growth — getting bigger, to be safer and earn more,
• market share 市场份额 — the share of total sales in a market that one business holds,
• customer service 顾客服务 — keeping customers happy so they come back,
• social objectives — helping society or the environment 环境.

Objectives of a social enterprise

A social enterprise aims for three kinds of objective together:

• economic — earn enough money to survive and grow,
• social — help people, for example by giving jobs to those who find work hard to get,
• environmental — protect the planet, for example by cutting waste.

Stakeholders

A stakeholder 利益相关者 is any person or group that is affected by a business or has an interest in it.

Why stakeholder objectives conflict

Stakeholders often want different things, so their objectives can conflict 冲突. A business cannot fully please everyone at once.

• Owners want higher profit, but employees want higher pay. Higher pay lowers profit.
• Owners want to cut costs, but the local community wants less pollution 污染. Cutting costs may create more pollution.
• Customers want low prices, but suppliers want to be paid more.

Good managers try to balance these different objectives.

• Added value = selling price − cost of bought-in materials. A business raises it with a strong brand, better design, or cheaper materials.
• Know the three sectors: primary (extracts raw materials), secondary (makes goods), tertiary (services). As a country develops, employment shifts from primary towards tertiary.
• Unlimited liability (sole traders, partnerships) puts the owner's personal things at risk; limited liability (Ltd, plc) limits any loss to the money invested.
• A stakeholder is anyone affected by the business, and their objectives often conflict — owners want profit, workers want higher pay, the community wants less pollution.
• Economies of scale cut the cost per unit as a firm grows; growing too big brings diseconomies of scale (cost per unit rises).

Marketing 营销 is the work of finding out what customers 顾客 want, then making, pricing, selling and promoting products to meet those wants at a profit.

Marketing has several roles:

• find out and satisfy what customers want,
• keep and increase sales 销售额 and market share 市场份额,
• build customer loyalty 顾客忠诚度 so buyers come back again.

Why customers matter

Customers bring in the money, so keeping them is vital. Losing customers is costly: the business loses their future spending, and it must spend a lot on advertising 广告 to win new ones. It is usually far cheaper to keep a customer than to find a new one.

Niche and mass markets

A market 市场 is all the buyers and sellers of a product.

• A niche market 利基市场 is a small part of a market with special needs, for example left-handed tools.
• A mass market 大众市场 is a large market with many similar buyers, for example soft drinks.

Market segmentation

Market segmentation 市场细分 means splitting a market into groups of buyers who share something, such as age, income, gender or location. Its benefits:

• the business can design a product to fit each group,
• it can aim its advertising at the right people,
• it can spot gaps in the market.

Market research 市场调研 is collecting information about customers, rivals and the market, to help make good decisions.

Primary and secondary research

• Primary research 一手调研 (also called field research) collects new information directly, for the first time. Methods include questionnaires 问卷, interviews, surveys and tests. It is up to date and fits the exact need, but costs time and money.
• Secondary research 二手调研 (also called desk research) uses information that already exists, such as government reports, websites and past sales records. It is cheap and quick, but may be old or may not fit the need.

Sampling and reliable data

A business cannot ask everyone, so it asks a small group, called a sample. Sampling 抽样 must be done with care. If the sample is too small or not typical, the data 数据 will not be reliable, and decisions based on it may be wrong.

Using research data

Research results are shown in tables, charts and graphs. You should be able to read them — for example, find the most popular product, or see how sales change over time — and use them to support a decision.

The marketing mix 营销组合 is the four main choices a business makes about a product. They are often called the four Ps: product, price, place and promotion.

Product

The product 产品 must meet customers' needs. Two ideas matter here.

The product life cycle 产品生命周期 describes the sales of a product over time, in four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. When sales begin to fall, a business can use an extension strategy 延长策略 — such as a new design, a new advert, or selling in a new market — to keep the product selling.

A strong brand 品牌 (a name, logo and image that customers recognise) and good packaging 包装 (the wrapping that protects the product and attracts buyers) both help a product sell. Building a brand is called branding.

Price

The price 价格 is what the customer pays. A business can choose from several pricing methods.

The right price also depends on the cost of making the product, on what customers will pay, on rivals' prices, and on the product's stage in its life cycle.

Worked example. One firm launches a smartphone using technology no rival has. Another enters a crowded soft-drinks market. Which pricing method suits each, and why? The smartphone is new and special with no direct competition, so use price skimming: charge a high price at first to recover the development cost from customers who must have it, then lower it as rivals catch up. The soft drink faces many established rivals, so use penetration pricing: a low price wins customers quickly and buys market share, and it can be raised later. Match the method to the market conditions - a pricing strategy is only right or wrong relative to the competition and the product's stage in its life cycle.

Place

Place 地点 is about how and where the product is sold, so it reaches the customer at the right time. The route a product takes from maker to customer is called a channel of distribution 分销渠道.

Many channels use a wholesaler 批发商 (buys large amounts from makers and sells smaller amounts to shops) and a retailer 零售商 (a shop that sells to the final customer). A business can also sell directly 直销 to customers, or online through e-commerce 电子商务.

Promotion

Promotion 推广 means telling customers about a product and persuading them to buy it. It includes:

• advertising — paid messages on TV, online, on posters and so on,
• sales promotion 促销 — short-term offers like discounts, free gifts, or "buy one get one free".

Technology now plays a big part. The internet 互联网 and social media 社交媒体 let a business reach many people cheaply, target the right customers, and sell all over the world.

A marketing strategy 营销策略 is a plan that uses the four Ps together to reach the business's objectives 目标. The four Ps must fit each other and fit the target customers. For example, a high-price luxury product needs high-quality packaging, expensive shops and image-based adverts.

Legal controls on marketing

Many countries have legal controls 法律管制 that protect buyers:

• consumer protection 消费者保护 laws stop the sale of unsafe or faulty goods,
• rules ban misleading 误导 promotion — adverts that lie about what a product can do.

Selling in other countries

A business can grow by entering an international market 国际市场 in another country.

• Opportunities: many more customers, higher sales, and spreading risk across markets.
• Problems: different languages and tastes, higher transport costs, foreign laws and tariffs 关税 (taxes on imports), and strong local competition 竞争.

• Learn the four Ps of the marketing mix — product, price, place, promotion — and remember they must fit each other and the target customer.
• Primary research collects new data (surveys, questionnaires; up to date but costly); secondary research uses existing data (cheap and quick but may be out of date).
• Know the product life cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, decline) and that an extension strategy revives falling sales.
• Match the pricing methods: penetration (low, to enter a market), skimming (high, for a new product), plus cost-plus, competitive, promotional and dynamic pricing.
• A niche market is small and specialised; a mass market is large, with many similar buyers.

Finance 资金 means the money a business needs. A business needs finance to:

• start up — start-up capital 启动资金 to buy equipment and stock before it earns anything,
• grow — money for expansion 扩张, such as new shops or machines,
• run day to day — working capital 营运资金 to pay wages and suppliers while waiting for customers to pay,
• survive a cash-flow 现金流 problem, when more money is going out than is coming in.

Sources of finance

Finance can be short-term 短期 (paid back within a year) or long-term 长期 (over several years). It can come from inside the business (internal) or from outside (external).

Choosing a source

The best source depends on how much money is needed and for how long, the cost (interest and fees), the size and legal type of the business (only companies can sell shares), and how much risk and control the owners will accept.

Cash is not the same as profit

Cash 现金 is the money a business can use right now. Profit 利润 is revenue 收入 minus costs over a period. A business can be making a profit yet still run out of cash — for example, if customers have not paid yet. Running out of cash can force even a profitable business to close.

The cash-flow forecast

A cash-flow forecast 现金流预测 predicts the money coming in and going out each month. It uses:

• inflows 流入 — money coming in (sales, loans),
• outflows 流出 — money going out (wages, rent, materials),
• net cash flow 净现金流 — inflows minus outflows,
• opening balance 期初余额 — the cash held at the start of the month,
• closing balance 期末余额 — the cash held at the end of the month.

Worked example. A shop expects inflows of £12,000 and outflows of £9,000 next month, and starts the month with £2,000 in the bank. Find the net cash flow and the closing balance.

Working capital

Working capital is the money available for day-to-day running. It is the current assets 流动资产 (cash and things soon turned into cash) minus the current liabilities 流动负债 (debts due within a year).

To overcome cash-flow problems, a business can arrange an overdraft, delay paying suppliers, ask customers to pay sooner, sell spare assets, or cut spending.

An income statement 损益表 shows how much profit a business made over a period, usually a year.

Worked example. A business has revenue of £200,000, cost of sales of £120,000 and expenses of £50,000. Find its gross profit and its profit for the year.

Income statements are used by stakeholders 利益相关者: owners check the profit, lenders check whether their loans are safe, and managers look for problems.

A statement of financial position 财务状况表 (also called a balance sheet) shows what a business owns and what it owes (its liabilities 负债) on one day.

• non-current assets 非流动资产 — things kept for the long term: buildings, machines.
• current assets — short-term items: inventory 库存, money owed by customers, and cash.
• current liabilities — debts due within a year: an overdraft, money owed to suppliers.
• non-current liabilities 非流动负债 — debts due after more than a year: a long-term loan.
• owners' equity 所有者权益 — the money the owners put in, plus profit kept in the business.

It is used to check what the business is worth, how much it owes, and whether it can pay its debts.

You can judge a business by working out ratios 比率 from its accounts. A ratio compares two figures.

Profitability ratios

Profitability 盈利能力 ratios show how good a business is at making profit.

• gross profit margin 毛利率 — gross profit as a percentage of revenue.
• profit margin 利润率 — profit for the year as a percentage of revenue.
• return on capital employed 资本回报率 (ROCE) — profit as a percentage of the capital employed 所用资本 (money invested). It shows how well the investment is used.

A higher percentage is better for all three.

Worked example. The same business (revenue £200,000, gross profit £80,000, profit for the year £30,000) has capital employed of £150,000. Find its three profitability ratios.

Liquidity ratios

Liquidity 流动性 ratios show whether a business can pay its short-term debts.

• the current ratio 流动比率 compares current assets with current liabilities. Around 1.5 to 2 is healthy.
• the acid test ratio 速动比率 is stricter: it leaves out inventory, because inventory is not yet sold.

Worked example. A business has current assets of £40,000 (including £10,000 of inventory) and current liabilities of £20,000. Find its current ratio and acid test ratio.

Who uses account analysis

• internal users (owners and managers) use it to control the business and to plan.
• external users (banks, suppliers, the government and investors) use it to decide whether to lend, supply or invest.

• Cash is not profit: a profitable business can still run out of cash if customers pay late. Watch the closing balance on a cash-flow forecast.
• Separate internal sources (retained profit, sale of assets, owners' savings) from external ones (bank loan, overdraft, shares, leasing, trade credit).
• Key formulas: net cash flow = inflows − outflows; closing balance = opening balance + net cash flow; working capital = current assets − current liabilities.
• Profitability ratios (gross margin, profit margin, ROCE) — higher is better. Liquidity: the current ratio (healthy ≈ 1.5–2) and the stricter acid test (which leaves out inventory).
• Only limited companies can raise money by issuing shares; a sole trader or partnership cannot.