Division

A Level Business Studies Unit 4 –

Analysis and decision making

Sales forecasting as an aid to decision-making

I understand the role of sales forecasting in decision-making relating to marketing strategies.

I understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative methods of sales trend analysis.

I understand the making of, and can make, sales forecasts.

I understand how each of the following can be used to make forecasts:

Panel surveys

Delphi method.

Time-series analysis

Scatter-graphs

Line of best fit.

Test markets.

Sales budgets and variances

I understand the purpose of sales budgets

I understand the use of sales budgets

I can construct a sales budget

I understand what a budget variance is

I can calculate budget variances calculations

I understand the contribution of variances to business decision-making.

New product decisions

Research and development

I understand what NPD is

I understand the impact of NPD on other business functions

I understand the role and contribution of other areas on NPD.

New product design and development

I understand the different stages in new product development from concept to launch.

I understand the role of computer-aided design in NPD.

I understand the impact of IT on the design process.

I understand the term ‘Value analysis’

I understand the term ‘Value engineering’

I understand the purpose of value analysis and its application to decision-making.

I understand the purpose of value engineering and its application to decision-making.

I understand the implications of shorter product development time.

I understand the concept of time-based competition.

Probability and decision-making techniques

I understand different quantitative data spreads including mean and mean deviation.

I understand the term ‘normal distribution’.

I understand the term ‘standard deviation’

I understand how standard deviation is...