Business Management
Advanced Higher
Business Report
Aims
 To provide a guide through the business report.
 To highlight aspects of the business report which
may help to improve candidate performance.
 To enable delegates to improve candidate
performance through clearer guidance to pupils.
General points on the business
report
 Small organisation — easy for candidates to
understand the organisation’s structure and
what it does.
 The strategy should be seen as a plan of
action, a strategic action not an objective.
 Candidates should provide evidence.
Researching a business
 ‘First’ part of the project — the investigation.
 Marked as a NAB.
 A small organisation may make the NAB more
challenging but will make for a better report
and so is a price worth paying.
The business report
 ‘Second’ part.
 Involves explaining, analysing and evaluating
— candidates need to do research eg
customer questionnaire, interviews, surveys,
on-line research.
Explanation — the strategy
 Explain what the strategy is and how the strategy fits in with
the objectives.
 A simple strategy eg update the website, add a nail bar to the
salon, change the menu.
 The strategy can be the business’s own idea or the candidate
can come up with his or her own plan for the organisation.
 The strategy should NOT be fully in place when the candidate
starts their report.
 Timeline — reference to a GANTT chart shown in the
appendices should ensure a mark.
Explanation — the objectives
 Explain how the strategy fits in with the
objectives.
 Explain how the strategy will help achieve the
objectives, not the other way around.
 Objectives mentioned in the report must have
been mentioned in the NAB. If not, and the
candidate brings in a new objective, they must
explain why it is new.
Analysis — the SWOT
 Say how the strategy relates to the SWOT eg why a particular
strength/weakness led to the strategy or how the strategy might help
the organisation take an advantage of a particular opportunity or
reduce a threat.
 Strengths and weaknesses must be internal factors. Opportunities
and threats must be external factors. If not candidates will not gain
marks even if they have been marked correctly in the NAB.
 If candidates mention a strength, weakness, opportunity or threat in
the report it must have been mentioned in the NAB.
 Candidates must make a link to an element of the SWOT with the
strategy. Do not just re-write what was in the NAB.
Analysis — resources
 Candidates should provide evidence when
explaining what resources are required eg a
quote from a printer, a list of properties for sale
from a website.
Evaluation — the functional areas
 Be careful not to overlap this with the previous
section on resources.
 Explain the changes in the functional areas.
Evaluation — strengths and weaknesses of
information used to decide on the future strategy
 The marks in this section are for information about the strategy.
 Candidates must state how the information collected helped the
business decide on what its strategy would be. However:
– if the organisation came up with the strategy then the candidate must
explain the strengths and weakness of the information the business
collected eg the sales figures for the last 6 months.
– if the candidate came up with the strategy then they must refer to the
information the candidate collected.
 Evidence should be shown eg a survey of customers showing that
80% found it hard to navigate the website.
 Marks are not awarded for finding out what the strategy is.
Evaluation — strengths and weaknesses of
information used to decide on the future strategy
One way to lay out this section:
The information the business used to decide
on its strategy was:
 A questionnaire
 An interview
 Researching competitors on the internet
Evaluation — stakeholders
 Stakeholders must have been mentioned in the
NAB to gain marks.
Overall evaluation
 Providing conclusions about the likely
success of the strategy.
 Must be justified by evidence in the report eg
the customer survey showed that 85% want
better tasting products.
 Maximum of two theory marks for explaining
how methods of measuring the success of
the strategy would be used.
For more information visit:
www.sqa.org.uk