Influences on Business | AQA GCSE Business (8132)

Influences on Business

96 questions
6 subtopics
Paper 1
Paper 1 and Paper 2

Influences on Business is examined in both papers, since Paper 1 and Paper 2 each draw on it.

It covers E-commerce and digital communication, ethics, the environment and sustainability, interest rates, employment and consumer spending, globalisation and exchange rates, employment, health and safety and consumer law and competition, risk and uncertainty.

Sample questions from Influences on Business

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

E-commerce and digital communication

Why has e-commerce increased the competition faced by high-street shops?

Show the answer
Online sellers often have lower costs and can charge lower prices. Shoppers can compare prices on their phones before buying in a shop.
E-commerce and digital communication

How can a business use digital communication with its suppliers?

Show the answer
A business can place orders and share stock levels with suppliers online. Faster ordering helps keep stock at the right level.
Ethics, the environment and sustainability

What are the drawbacks of ethical behaviour for a business?

Show the answer
Ethical sourcing and higher wages increase costs and can reduce profit. Higher prices may lose customers who care mainly about price.
Ethics, the environment and sustainability

How are consumers taking more environmental responsibility in their buying decisions?

Show the answer
Many consumers recycle and choose products with less packaging. Some consumers are willing to pay more for goods made sustainably.
Interest rates, employment and consumer spending

How do higher interest rates affect consumer spending?

Show the answer
Mortgage and loan repayments rise, leaving households with less to spend. Savings accounts pay more, so people save more and spend less.
Interest rates, employment and consumer spending

What problems can a business face when employment is very high?

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A business may struggle to find staff with the right skills. The business may have to raise wages to attract and keep workers.
Globalisation and exchange rates

How can UK businesses compete internationally through better design?

Show the answer
Distinctive, well-designed products stand out and can command higher prices. Customers abroad may pay more for a stylish or innovative product.
Globalisation and exchange rates

How does a stronger pound affect a UK business that exports?

Show the answer
The business's products cost more in foreign currency, so overseas sales may fall. The exporter may have to cut its price and accept lower profit.

The 6 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
E-commerce and digital communication	E-commerce and wider markets, new products created by digital technology, pressure on the high street, food delivery apps, digital communication with customers, staff and suppliers, and the risks of relying on it.	16
Ethics, the environment and sustainability	Ethical behaviour and its trade-off with profit, traffic, recycling, waste and pollution, the costs and benefits of going green, consumer pressure, global warming and scarce resources.	16
Interest rates, employment and consumer spending	Interest rates and the Bank of England base rate, borrowing costs worked through a loan example, delayed expansion, unemployment and recruitment, and how luxury and basic products fare when incomes fall.	16
Globalisation and exchange rates	Globalisation, imports, exports and multinationals, competing through design and quality, producing overseas, exchange rates and SPICED, and how a strong or weak pound affects exporters and importers.	16
Employment, health and safety and consumer law	The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, the Equality Act 2010 in recruitment and pay, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, trade descriptions and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.	16
Competition, risk and uncertainty	Markets and competition, monopolies and inefficiency, risk against uncertainty, profit as the reward for risk, reducing risk through research, insurance and a product range, and responding to a large new rival.	16

Influences on Business is 96 of the 659 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.