The A Level course will bring the subject up-to-date. This will enable students to engage with, explore and understand business behaviour and develop a critical understanding of what business is and does. Students on this course will study business in a variety of contexts (e.g. large/small, UK focused/global, service/manufacturing). The study of strategic decision making will also build on the study of decision making in the functional areas. The A Level incorporates the following topics: - What is business? - Managers, leadership and decision making - Decision making to improve marketing performance - Decision making to improve operational performance - Decision making to improve financial performance - Decision making to improve human resource performance - Analysing the strategic position of a business - Choosing strategic direction - Strategic methods: how to pursue strategies - Managing strategic change The topics lend themselves to studying and engaging with the business world. The specification and assessment should encourage students to follow business developments and think critically about contemporary business issues. Most of the assessment material is based on real business situations. By examining and thinking critically about real business situations as they study the subject, students will gain an insight into different contexts which will help them to understand the key issues in any situation and compare and contrast this with other situations and apply their understanding. The A Level course will bring the subject up-to-date. This will enable students to engage with, explore and understand business behaviour and develop a critical understanding of what business is and does. Students on this course will study business in a variety of contexts (e.g. large/small, UK focused/global, service/manufacturing). The study of strategic decision making will also build on the study of decision making in the functional areas. The A Level incorporates the following topics: