AQA A-Level Business sample questions and answers (7132)
Guide overview All 11 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
55 sample questions and answers
Taken from every topic of AQA A-Level Business, specification 7132. The full guide has 1,819.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
What Is Business?
95 questions in the guide, across 8 subtopics. More from this topic
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Why businesses exist and their objectives
What does cash flow mean as a business objective?
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Cash flow as an objective involves ensuring sufficient liquid funds are available to meet day-to-day financial obligations. -
Revenue, costs and profit
Calculate the total costs when fixed costs = £39,000, variable costs = £18,000.
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Total costs = 39000 + 18000 = £57,000. -
Calculating and presenting business data
Why is it important for a business to calculate profit accurately?
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To assess financial performance, make informed decisions about pricing and costs, plan for the future, and report to stakeholders. -
Business forms, sectors and liability
What is a non-profit organisation?
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An organisation that operates to achieve social, charitable or community goals rather than to generate profit for owners. -
Share capital, market capitalisation and dividends
State the formula for calculating market capitalisation.
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Market capitalisation = Share price × Number of shares issued.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Managers, Leadership and Decision Making
104 questions in the guide, across 9 subtopics. More from this topic
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Management, leadership and the four leadership styles
What is the primary concern of a paternalistic leader when making decisions?
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Acting in the best interests of employees. -
The Tannenbaum Schmidt continuum
Can managers change their position on the Tannenbaum Schmidt continuum?
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Yes, managers can move along the continuum depending on circumstances. -
Choosing a leadership style and its limitations
How does a manager's personality influence their leadership style?
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Personal traits, preferences and natural tendencies affect how a manager chooses to lead. -
Scientific and intuitive decision making, and expected value
What does each term in the expected value formula represent?
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Probability refers to the likelihood of each outcome occurring (expressed as a decimal or fraction), and outcome value refers to the financial return associated with that outcome. -
Reading a decision tree
How are the weighted values used at each chance node in a decision tree?
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The weighted values are summed at each chance node to calculate the expected value.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Marketing Management
154 questions in the guide, across 13 subtopics. More from this topic
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Why businesses set marketing objectives
How do marketing objectives support coordination between marketing and other functional areas of a business?
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Marketing objectives facilitate coordination between marketing and other business functions by establishing shared targets that different departments can work towards together. -
Brand loyalty and calculating the marketing measures
Calculate the sales growth when original sales = £8,250,000, new sales = £14,900,000.
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Sales growth = ((14900000 − 8250000) ÷ 8250000) × 100 = 80.6 %. -
Sampling methods
What is stratified sampling?
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Dividing the population into distinct subgroups based on shared characteristics and then selecting randomly from each subgroup in proportion to its size. -
Correlation, confidence intervals and extrapolation
If a scatter graph shows data points closely clustered around an upward-sloping line, what does this indicate?
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A strong positive correlation between the two variables. -
Calculating market share, market growth and sales growth
What is sales growth?
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The percentage change in a business's sales over a period of time.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Operational Management
202 questions in the guide, across 17 subtopics. More from this topic
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Operational objectives: cost and quality
How do operational objectives support strategic decision-making?
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They translate corporate goals into actionable operational targets, linking day-to-day activities to the overall business strategy. -
Added value and the trade-offs between objectives
In what way does enhancing quality contribute to added value?
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Higher quality can justify premium pricing, increasing the gap between input costs and selling price. -
Capacity and capacity utilisation
Calculate the capacity utilisation when actual output = 1900 units, maximum possible output = 4000 units.
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Capacity utilisation = (1900 ÷ 4000) × 100 = 47.5 %. -
Raising labour productivity, and the obstacles
Explain how higher labour productivity can improve a firm's profitability.
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Higher labour productivity reduces the labour cost per unit, lowering overall costs and increasing profit margins. -
Labour-intensive and capital-intensive production
How do the relative costs of labour and capital influence the choice of production method?
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If labour is cheap relative to machinery, labour-intensive methods may be more cost-effective, and vice versa.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Financial Management
198 questions in the guide, across 15 subtopics. More from this topic
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Financial objectives and return on investment
Calculate the return on investment when net gain = £23,000, cost of investment = £74,000.
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Return on investment = (23000 ÷ 74000) × 100 = 31.1 %. -
Gross profit, operating profit and profit for the year
Why is interest deducted when calculating profit for the year?
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Interest is deducted because it represents the cost of financing the business through borrowing, which must be paid before profit is available to shareholders. -
Cash flow forecasts
Where does the opening balance for each month of a cash flow forecast come from?
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It is the closing balance of the previous month. -
Break-even, contribution and the margin of safety
State the formula for margin of safety.
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Margin of safety = Actual output − Break-even output. -
The uses and limits of break-even analysis
How does break-even analysis help evaluate the viability of new products or projects?
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It indicates whether projected sales are likely to exceed the break-even point, helping assess whether the venture is worthwhile.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Human Resource Management
203 questions in the guide, across 17 subtopics. More from this topic
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Human resource objectives and their value
What is the focus of training as an HR objective?
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Improving employees' skills, knowledge and capabilities to perform their current and future roles effectively. -
Calculating labour turnover and labour productivity
Calculate the labour turnover when number of leavers = 21 employees, average number employed = 330 employees.
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Labour turnover = (21 ÷ 330) × 100 = 6.36 %. -
Using and interpreting human resource data
What does a high employee costs as a percentage of turnover figure suggest about a business?
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It suggests the business is labour-intensive. -
Span of control, hierarchy and delegation
Explain the relationship between span of control and organisational height.
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When spans of control are narrow (few subordinates per manager), more management layers are required to supervise all employees, creating a taller structure. Conversely, wider spans lead to fewer layers and a flatter structure. -
The value of a motivated workforce, and Taylor
How does staff motivation affect customer service?
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Motivated staff provide better customer service, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Analysing the Strategic Position of a Business
352 questions in the guide, across 27 subtopics. More from this topic
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Influences on the mission and corporate objectives
Why are stakeholder demands considered an external influence on a business mission?
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Different stakeholder groups such as customers, communities and pressure groups have expectations that can shape or constrain the purpose and values a business adopts. -
SWOT analysis and its limitations
What does the 'T' in SWOT analysis represent?
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Threats – external factors or trends that could cause problems or harm to the business. -
Financial statements and the categories of ratio
What do efficiency ratios measure?
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How effectively a business manages its working capital and assets -
Benchmarking and core competences
Why are core competences important for strategic decision-making?
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Core competences form the basis of sustainable competitive advantage, so strategic decisions should build on and protect these distinctive capabilities. -
Environmental legislation and government support
What do packaging requirements under environmental law typically mandate?
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Rules on reducing packaging waste, using recyclable materials, meeting recycling targets and providing clear disposal information to consumers.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Choosing Strategic Direction
75 questions in the guide, across 6 subtopics. More from this topic
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The Ansoff matrix: penetration and market development
Why is market penetration typically considered the lowest risk strategy in the Ansoff matrix?
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Because the business operates with familiar products and customers, reducing uncertainty. -
The Ansoff matrix: penetration and market development
Why does market development carry moderate risk?
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The product is already proven, but the business must understand new customer segments or geographic regions. -
New product development and diversification
Define diversification as a growth strategy.
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A growth strategy that involves selling new products to new markets. -
New product development and diversification
What is unrelated diversification?
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When a business moves into completely different markets and products with no connection to current activities. -
Influences on the choice of strategic direction
How do customer needs influence product decisions?
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Products should be designed to meet identified customer requirements and preferences to ensure demand.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Strategic Methods: How to Pursue Strategies
169 questions in the guide, across 13 subtopics. More from this topic
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Organic growth, external growth and retrenchment
What happens to organisational culture under organic versus external growth?
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Organic growth maintains existing culture, whereas external growth involves integrating different organisations with potentially different cultures. -
Economies and diseconomies of scale, synergy and overtrading
How does growth impact the operations function?
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It creates the need for increased capacity, new production facilities, supply chain management challenges, and quality control across larger scale. -
The advantages and disadvantages of organic and external growth
How might organic growth cause a business to miss market opportunities?
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The slow pace may mean the business cannot respond quickly enough to exploit emerging trends or gaps in the market. -
Product and process innovation and its drivers
Why might innovation improve profit margins?
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Innovation can justify premium pricing or reduce costs, widening the gap between revenue and expenses. -
The causes of globalisation and its opportunities
How does globalisation enable businesses to access larger markets?
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It allows firms to sell products and services beyond their domestic borders, reaching a much greater number of potential customers worldwide.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Managing Strategic Change
144 questions in the guide, across 10 subtopics. More from this topic
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Types of change and Lewin's force field analysis
Define incremental change.
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Small, gradual adjustments to existing practices over time, allowing adaptation without major disruption. -
Flexible organisations, restructuring and delayering
Give three examples of flexible employment contracts.
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Part-time contracts, temporary contracts, and zero-hours contracts. -
Reasons for resistance and overcoming it through education, participation and support
What does 'participation and involvement' mean as a method of overcoming resistance to change?
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Including those who resist change in the design and implementation process, giving them a role in shaping the change. -
Overcoming resistance: negotiation, manipulation and coercion
What risks might arise from using manipulation and co-optation to overcome resistance?
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If employees discover they were manipulated, trust is damaged, leading to greater resistance, cynicism, and potential long-term relationship breakdown. -
Organisational culture and Handy's four types
How quickly are decisions typically made in a power culture?
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Decisions are made rapidly due to the centralised nature of authority.
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3
Problems with Strategy and Why Strategies Fail
123 questions in the guide, across 8 subtopics. More from this topic
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Uncertainty and cognitive bias in strategic decisions
What is overconfidence bias in strategic decision making?
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A cognitive bias where decision makers overestimate their ability to predict outcomes or the accuracy of their judgements, distorting strategic choices. -
Resource and organisational barriers to implementation
What happens when leadership lacks commitment to strategic change?
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It undermines the credibility and momentum of the change, as employees take cues from leaders and may not take the strategy seriously. -
Planned and emergent strategy
What is a key advantage of planned strategy for an organisation?
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It provides clear direction and coordination across the organisation. -
Reasons for strategic drift
Why does incremental change often fail to prevent strategic drift?
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Small adjustments fail to keep pace with the rate of environmental change, meaning the organisation gradually falls behind rather than making the transformational changes needed to stay aligned. -
Financial and non-financial measures of strategic performance
Why is return on investment (ROI) used as a financial measure of strategic performance?
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It measures the efficiency of an investment by comparing the gain or return to its cost, helping assess whether strategic investments are generating adequate returns.
AQA A-Level Business Active Recall Guide
The other 1,764 questions, with the answers printed after each section.