BTEC Level 3 Business Studies. Unit 7: Business Decision Making

'What if' scenarios - Making informal speculations about a future project by predicting outcomes in order to create solutions ahead of time.

Business presentations - Using a combination of public speaking and visual materials to communicate business information.

Business risk - The probability of a company having insufficient income as a result of uncertainties

Contingency plans - Plans for alternative courses of action that can be carried out in the face of future uncertainties.

Critical path analysis - A project planning diagram that uses a diagram to show the earliest start and latest finish times to discover the quickest route to complete all activities.

Data analysis - The compilation, analysis, and interpretation of primary and secondary research findings.

Data comparison - Identifying and evaluating various study findings and their relationships with one another.

Data evaluation - Examining the possibly various meanings of research data sets.

Economic factors - Economic growth (GDP), inflation, unemployment, interest rates, exchange rates, fiscal policy, monetary policy, supply side policy etc

Environmental factors - The physical surroundings of an organisation that can affect its operations. E.g. climate, climate change, availability of resources and pollution.

Ethical factors - The moral beliefs and values held by the external stakeholders of a business.

Executive summary - A concise overview of the key points of a longer document, such as a report.

Financial risk - The likelihood of a company losing money as a result of decisions made.

Formal reports - Documents used to convey information in a professional manner.

Gannt charts - A planning tool for organising project activities by shading in the day, week, or month on a timeline in which they are to be done.

Legal factors - Guidelines set out by the government that outline how businesses and their stakeholders must operate.

Legal risk - The threat of legal action as a result of business activity.

Networking - Techniques for project planning that consider how distinct activities interact with one another.

Opportunities - Features of the external environment that the business can exploit for it's benefit.

Political factors - The influence of the government in a country, including government policies, membership of trade blocs and government stability.

Presentation software - Computer programmes that create visuals to accompany a speech or presentation.

Reputation - Public perceptions about an organisation.

Risk management strategy - Methods businesses use to identify, assess and respond to factors that could be damaging.

Sensitivity analysis - Methods of testing the impact of changing variables on the outcome of a decision.

Social factors - The ways in which people live or the values of people in a community in which a business operates.

STEEPLE Analysis - A method of analysing an external environment by breaking it down into social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal and ethical factors.

Strengths - The characteristics of a business that give it an advantage over competitors.

SWOT analysis - A strategic planning tool used to understand a business's current situation.

Threats - Features in the external environment that can have a negative impact on the business.

Weaknesses - The characteristics of a business that give them a disadvantage compared to competitors.

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