# WJEC Eduqas A Level Business — Spec Map (teaching from 2015, v2 Jan 2019)

Entry code: A510QS. Full spec: `references/eduqas-spec.pdf` (read only if a topic isn't
covered clearly enough below, or you need the exact "amplification" wording for a niche
content point).

Use this file to (a) identify which component/content area a requested topic sits in,
and (b) get the exact AO definitions and weightings to calibrate question difficulty.

## Assessment Objectives (use this exact wording/logic when writing questions)

- **AO1 — Knowledge**: demonstrate knowledge of terms, concepts, theories, methods and
  models to show an understanding of how individuals and organisations are affected by
  and respond to business issues. *(Quiz stage AO1 questions: pure recall/identification.)*
- **AO2 — Application**: apply knowledge and understanding to various business contexts
  to show how individuals and organisations are affected by and respond to issues.
  *(This is what makes a scenario "Eduqas-flavoured" — always tie AO1/AO3/AO4ANSWERS
  back to specific numbers/facts in the scenario, not generic theory. AO2 is also tested
  directly in the exam-spotter stage as one of the four sentence types.)*
- **AO3 — Analysis**: analyse issues within business, showing an understanding of the
  impact on individuals and organisations of external and internal influences.
  *(Chain-of-reasoning: "This happens → because → which causes → specific consequence
  for this business.")*
- **AO4 — Evaluation**: evaluate quantitative and qualitative information to make
  informed judgements and propose evidence-based solutions to business issues.
  *(Judgement stage: "Overall X will/won't work, UNLESS/DEPENDING ON Y" — must weigh
  up or set a condition, not just assert.)*

Overall qualification weighting is roughly even across all four AOs (24–26% each), so
don't over-index quiz content on AO1 recall — AO3/AO4 depth matters as much or more.

Component 3 (Business in a Changing World) is the synoptic paper and leans heaviest on
AO3 (11–13%) and AO4 (10–12%) — if the topic sits in Component 3, weight your chain
and evaluation stages accordingly (meatier analysis/evaluation, lighter AO1 recall).

## Component 1 — Business Opportunities and Functions (33⅓%)

**Business Opportunities**: Enterprise (entrepreneurs, motives, characteristics,
stakeholders) · Business plans · Markets (types, segmentation, competition
spectrum, demand/supply, elasticity concept) · Market research (primary/secondary,
sampling) · Business structure (private/public sector, sole trader/partnership/Ltd/PLC,
liability, not-for-profit) · Business location · Business finance (sources) ·
Business revenue and costs (fixed/variable/semi-variable, contribution, break-even)

**Business Functions**:
- *Marketing*: marketing mix; Product (product life cycle, extension strategies, Boston
  matrix); Price (penetration, skimming, cost-plus, competitive, psychological,
  contribution pricing); Promotion (above/below the line); Place (distribution channels,
  multi-channel); global marketing context; new technology in marketing
- *Finance*: budgeting; sources of finance (internal/external); cash flow forecasting
  (causes of problems, improvement strategies); the income statement (gross/net profit);
  ratio analysis (gross/net margins)
- *People in organisations (HR)*: flexible workforce/working practices; workforce
  planning; recruitment (internal/external, job analysis/description/person spec,
  selection methods); training (induction, on/off-the-job, apprenticeships); appraisal;
  workforce performance (productivity, absenteeism, labour turnover); organisational
  design (authority, chain of command, span of control, delegation, hierarchy,
  centralisation/decentralisation, empowerment, delayering, flat/tall/matrix structures);
  **Motivation** (Taylor scientific management, Mayo human relations, Maslow hierarchy
  of needs, Herzberg two-factor theory, Vroom/Porter/Lawler expectancy theories;
  financial methods — piece rate, commission, bonus, salary, profit sharing, share
  ownership, PRP; non-financial methods — consultation, job design/enlargement/
  rotation/enrichment, empowerment, team working, flexible working); **Management and
  leadership** (functions of management, MBO, McGregor Theory X/Y, leadership styles —
  autocratic/democratic/paternalistic/bureaucratic/laissez-faire, Fiedler, Wright &
  Taylor); Employer/employee relationships (contracts, health & safety, minimum wage,
  equal opportunities, trade unions, collective bargaining, dispute resolution, ACAS)
- *Operations management*: added value; production methods (job/batch/flow);
  productivity; capacity utilisation; technology (CAD/CAM/robotics); lean production
  (kaizen, JIT, cell production, time-based management); quality (control vs assurance,
  TQM); purchasing/stock control (re-order level, lead time, buffer stock); R&D;
  economies/diseconomies of scale

## Component 2 — Business Analysis and Strategy (33⅓%)

Data analysis (pie charts, histograms, index numbers) · Market analysis (elasticity
calculations) · Sales forecasting (moving averages, scatter graphs/line of best fit,
extrapolation, correlation, qualitative methods — intuition, brainstorming, Delphi) ·
Analysing financial performance (budget variances; balance sheet — working capital,
capital employed, depreciation; ROCE; current/acid test ratio; gearing ratio) ·
Analysing non-financial performance (attitude surveys, market share, productivity,
environmental record) · Aims and objectives (vision, SMART objectives, mission
statements) · Strategy and implementation (corporate/functional strategy, SWOT,
Porter's Five Forces, Ansoff matrix, horizontal/vertical integration, organic vs
external growth, mergers/takeovers, franchising, rationalisation, location/relocation,
outsourcing) · Decision-making models (decision trees, critical path analysis, cost
benefit analysis) · Investment appraisal (payback, ARR, NPV/DCF) · Special orders
(contribution-based accept/reject decisions)

## Component 3 — Business in a Changing World (33⅓%, synoptic)

Change (internal/external causes, planned/unplanned, Storey's approaches, Lewin's
three-step process, resistance to change) · Risk management (insurable/uninsurable
risk, contingency planning, crisis management) · PEST factors (Political — taxation,
subsidies, fiscal/monetary policy, regulation; Economic — business cycle, GDP,
inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, unemployment; Social — demographics,
consumer tastes; Technological — automation, communication tech) · Ethical, legal and
environmental factors (business ethics, CSR, ethics-vs-profit conflict; key legal areas
— company law, employment/anti-discrimination, consumer protection, competition
policy, health & safety, data protection, IP, minimum wage; environmental costs —
pollution, climate change, waste, and business responses) · International trade
(free trade vs protectionism, tariffs/quotas, trading blocs) · Globalisation (drivers,
global branding, glocalisation, multinational companies) · The European Union (single
market, free movement, the euro/Eurozone, costs/benefits of membership)

## Using this map

1. Match the user's requested topic to a bullet above (or a cluster of bullets, e.g.
   "motivation" pulls in the whole Motivation sub-list).
2. Note which Component it sits in — this tells you the AO3/AO4 depth expected
   (Component 3 topics need meatier analysis/evaluation; Component 1 topics can be
   more knowledge/application-led, though AO3/AO4 quiz stages should still be included
   per the template's structure).
3. If the topic spans a named theory/model list (motivation theories, leadership
   styles, growth methods, investment appraisal methods), that's a strong signal to
   use one scenario per theory/method in the quiz stage (matching the template's
   pattern of one scenario per named theorist).
