Business Management and Economics
Not just a subject for those seeking to be self-employed in the future or interested in a career in finance, both Business Management and Economics courses encourage pupils to think differently and strategically about the country they live in and provide an understanding of economic drivers and the foundations for building a successful business.
With experience as business owners and management consultants, as a department we are particularly well placed to provide real life insight and examples enabling us to contextualise theoretical knowledge.
A key aim is to supplement in class learning with as much practical application as possible with for example N5 Business Management pupils exploring business theories through activities such as preparing advertising campaigns, conducting market research and co-ordinating the Mary’s Meals Campaign. Our S6 pupils participate in the Young Enterprise competition each year and we also make use of the Cambridge University Exchange Rate Programme.
Business Management is offered at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher along with  Economics at Higher level.
Business Management - National 5
At National 5, pupils are introduced to key concepts and theory across three areas:
Understanding Business
- what businesses and other organisations do and why
- why customer satisfaction is crucial
- objectives and features of private and public business
- impact on the activities of businesses and other organisations by:
- external factors
- internal factors
- stakeholders
Management of People and Finance
- types of employment
- motivation of employees
- recruitment and selection
- training and development
- legislation
- sources of finance
- break-even analysis
- cash budgets
- trading and profit and loss accounts
- balance sheets
Management of Marketing and Operations
- primary and secondary marketing
- product lifecycles
- branding
- pricing and promotion
- distribution methods
- choosing a suitable supplier
- over- or under-stocking
- ethical production methods
- quality
Business Management - Advanced Higher
Further building on knowledge gained at lower levels, the Advanced Higher course aims to ensure pupils can:
- apply business and management concepts and theories to reach conclusions
- evaluate the social, ethical and global factors that affect local, national and multinational organisations
- analyse and evaluate leadership theories, management schools of thought and approaches to managing change
- prepare and critically evaluate a range of analytical techniques and management techniques used to assist in effective planning and decision-making at a strategic level
Pupils will study the external and internal business environment and will cover the below areas:
The External Business Environment
- analyse the activities of multinational companies in a global context
- evaluate the impact of external factors on organisations
The Internal Business Environment
- evaluate management and leadership theories and practices used to improve effectiveness
- analyse and evaluate approaches used to manage change
- evaluating business information
- reach justified conclusions based on analysis and evaluation of business information
Economics - Higher
Higher economics encourages pupils to think differently and strategically about the country they live in. As well as providing an understanding of general supply and demand theory, the course also examines the UK and Global Economies. Higher Economics challenges a pupil to apply their knowledge depending on case studies or circumstance and is different to other courses in terms of application.
The course aims to enable learners to develop and to:
- apply economic concepts and theories to reach conclusions
- evaluate the social, ethical and global factors that affect our economy
- analyse and evaluate the impact of government decision of economic performance
- analyse and evaluate the impact on international trading and movement on the UK Economy
It covers three main areas:
- The Economics of the Market – scarcity, production possibility curves, supply and demand and production costs
- The UK Economic Activity – Government revenue and expenditure, Government aims for inflation, growth, employment and trade
- The Global Economic Activity – exchange rates, balance of payments and developing countries
This department brings real life into the classroom, and with its experience as business leaders and management consultants, is able to contextualise theory and ensure learners can make valuable connections to the world around them.
We explore business theories through active learning such as preparing advertising campaigns, conducting market research and co-ordinating the Mary’s Meals Campaign.
The department offers:
- Homework club on Friday lunchtime
- Young enterprise is an extra-curricular competition solely for S6 pupils
- Cambridge University Exchange rate programme
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To find out more about how we engender hard work and determination in our young people, come and visit us and meet our dedicated teaching staff and speak to our pupils.