Market Research

Market research is the process of collecting and processing information about the market that a business operates in. Market research gathers information on:

Demand

Market research into customers’ demands is important for business success.
Insights into customers’ wants and needs can help a business to improve the product, spot market opportunities and stay competitive.
Insights into overall demand trends can help a business to spot opportunities for growth and potential threats from new products/technology.

Competition

Market research into competitors can help a business understand the major threats in the market and then prepare the business to deal with these threats.
Market research for established fashion labels like H&M would identify the threats that come from online platforms like ASOS or Boohoo.

Target market

Market research into a business’ target market will give the business insights into their customers’ wants and needs and how they are changing over time.

Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Businesses can benefit from both qualitative and quantitative research.

Qualitative research

Qualitative research generally collects information about opinions and views rather than things that can be quantified.
For example, research into whether customers think the customer service at Waitrose is good is qualitative research.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research collects factual information on things that can be quantified and recorded easily.
For example, research into the number of cans of Coca Cola sold in the UK last year is quantitative research.

1Business Organisation & Environment

1.1Introduction to Business Management

1.1.1Why Businesses Exist & Sectors

1.2Types of Organisation

1.2.1Sole Traders

1.2.2Limited Liability

1.2.3Non-Profit

1.2.4Franchising

1.2.5End of Topic Test - Franchising

1.3Organisational Objectives

1.3.1External Environments

1.3.2Business Mission & Corporate Objective

1.3.3Mission, Corporate Objectives & Strategy

1.3.4SWOT Analysis

1.3.5End of Topic Test - SWOT Analysis

1.4Stakeholders

1.4.1Stakeholders

1.5External Environment

1.5.1Social & Technological Environment

1.5.2Lifestyle & Technological Environment

1.5.3Corporate Social Responsibility

1.5.4Economic Environment

1.5.5Political & Legal Change

1.6Growth & Evolution

1.6.1Growth & Retrenchment

1.6.2Challenges of Growth

1.6.3Growth Models

1.6.4End of Topic Test - Diseconomies of Scale

1.6.5Internationalisation

1.6.6Sourcing Resources & Entering Markets

1.6.7End of Topic Test - Internationalisation

1.6.8Managing Internationalisation

1.6.9Impact of Internationalisation

1.7HL Only: Organisational Planning Tools

1.7.1Organisational Planning Tools

2Human Resource Management

2.1Functions & Evolution of Human Resource Management

2.1.1Setting Human Resource Objectives

2.1.2Human Resource Management

2.1.3Labour Turnover & Retention

2.1.4Labour Productivity

2.2Organisational Structure

2.2.1Organisational Structures

2.3Leadership & Management

2.3.1Managers

2.3.2Management Theories

2.3.3End of Topic Test - Management

2.4Motivation

2.4.1Motivating & Engaging Employees

2.4.2Taylor's Theory

2.4.3Maslow's Theory

2.4.4Herzberg's Theory

2.4.5Different Incentives

2.4.6Evaluating Incentives

2.5Organisational (Corporate) Culture

2.5.1Managing Organisational Culture

2.5.2Organisational Structures

2.6HL Only: Industrial/Employee Relations

2.6.1Improving Employer-Employee Relations

2.6.2Case Study - The Winter of Discontent

3Finance & Accounts

3.1Sources of Finance

3.1.1Internal Sources of Finance

3.1.2External Sources of Finance

3.1.3Factors for Financing

3.1.4End of Topic Test - Debt

3.2Costs & Revenues

3.2.1Costs & Revenues

3.3Break-Even Analysis

3.3.1Profit

3.3.2Break-Even Analysis

3.4Profitability & Liquidity Ratio Analysis

3.4.1Profitability Analysis

3.5Cash Flow

3.5.1Cash Flow

3.5.2Solutions to Cash Flow Problems

3.5.3Improving Cash Flow & Profits

3.6HL Only: Investment Appraisal

3.6.1Investment Appraisal

3.7HL Only: Budgets

3.7.1Cash-Flow & Budgets

4Marketing

4.1The Role of Marketing

4.1.1Setting Marketing Objectives

4.1.2Market Calculations

4.2Marketing Planning

4.2.1Marketing Mix

4.2.2Segmentation

4.2.3Niche & Mass Markets

4.3Market Research

4.3.1Market Research

4.3.2Market Mapping

4.3.3Methods of Market Research

4.4The 4 Ps

4.4.1Product Decisions

4.4.2Pricing Decisions & Price Skimming

4.4.3Pricing Decisions & Price Penetration

4.4.4End of Topic Test - Pricing & Competition

4.4.5Promotional Decisions

4.4.6Promotional Decisions 2

4.4.7Promotional Decisions 3

4.4.8Digital Marketing

4.4.9Evaluating Digital Marketing

4.4.10Case Study - The Marketing Mix & Promotion

4.4.11Place & Distribution

4.5HL Only: The Extended Marketing Mix

4.5.1The Extended Marketing Mix

4.6HL Only: International Marketing

4.6.1International Marketing

4.7E-Commerce

4.7.1E-Commerce

5Operations Management

5.1The Role of Operations Management

5.1.1Setting Operational Objectives

5.2Production Methods

5.2.1Production Processes Overview

5.2.2Production Processes

5.2.3Production Efficiency

5.2.4Technology & Production

5.3HL Only: Lean Prodution & Quality Management

5.3.1Importance of Quality

5.3.2Measuring & Identifying Quality

5.3.3Total Quality Management

5.3.4Evaluating Total Quality Management

5.3.5Case Study - Toyota Production System

5.4HL Only: Production Planning

5.4.1Capacity

5.4.2Productivity & Efficiency

5.4.3Technology & Efficiency

5.4.4Improving the Supply Chain

5.4.5Inventory

5.4.6Outsourcing

5.5HL Only: Research & Development

5.5.1Organisational Planning Tools

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