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School of Secretarial Studies |
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| Certificate of Office Administration |
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| SUBJECT CODE |
: COA103 |
| SUBJECT NAME |
: BUSINESS STUDIES |
| SEMESTER |
: 1 |
| CREDIT HOURS |
: 3 |
| SCHOOL |
: School of Secretarial Studies |
| COURSE |
: Certificate in Office Administration |
| Lecture Notes : |
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| Past Exam Paper : |
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| Syllabus : |
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OBJECTIVES
- State facts, use appropriate terminology and give examples of concepts applicable to business.
- Read with understanding and interpret information presented in verbal, numerical and diagrammatical form.
- Recognise, organise and present facts, apply data and information appropriately.
- Apply concepts and information in calculating and solving simple problems.
LEARNING OUTCOME
Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
- Understand various commercial activities, structure of business, finance and the role of government agencies
SYNOPSIS
Unit 1 - Principles of Business
- Concepts such as cycle of wants; supply and demand; goods and services.
- Work and production or result of demand.
- Planned, free market and mixed economies.
- Primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of buisness.
- Specialisation and division of labour.
- Exchange of goods and services and interdependence of business locally, nationally and internationally.
- Visible and invisible trade, imports and exports.
- Factors associated with the location of business – raw materials, population, markets, transport network, natural advantages and government influences.
Unit 2 - Commercial concepts
- Capital, profits and losses, shares, liability, risk as examples.
Unit 3 - Business Units
- Features of sole trader, partnership, limited companies (public and private) and multi-national organisations according to legal status and scale of business. Concept of limited liability.
- Differences between public sector and private sector business in terms of ownership, control, sources of funding and distribution of profit or surplus.
Unit 4 - Business Expansion and Organisation Chart
- Formulation of organisational charts.
- Examples of organisations structured in terms of functions, product and market.
- Growth of business and methods involved: internal expansion, horizontal, vertical and lateral integration.
Unit 5 - Communication
- Internal and external communication.
- Different methods of communication and appropriate solutions to business problems.
Unit 6 - Insurance
- Reduction of business risk through diversification and insurance and types of risk covered.
Unit 7 - Production
- Differences between forms of production (mass and batch); quality control in relation to the importance of the market.
- Concept of chain distribution.
Unit 8 - Marketing
- Development of products to meet market needs; concept of product life cycles; market research.
- Marketing mix and relationships between the ‘4 Ps’ (Product, Place, Price, Promotion).
- Principal marketing methods and their usefulness in particular situations.
- Fixed and variable costs, gross and net profit and profit margin.
- Calculation of product price.
Unit 9 - Sources of Finance
- Sources of financing loans and overdrafts, hire purchase and retained profits.
Unit 10 - Transport
- Main types of transport.
- Selection of suitable methods of transport
Unit 11 - Personnel Management
- Types of work: skilled and unskilled; management and labour.
- Forms of monetary and non-monetary rewards from work.
- Responsibilities of employee and employer in the workplace in respect of health and safety, in resolving disputes and grievances.
- Roles of the personnel department in recruiting including job description and advertisement, selection and training.
Unit 12 - Local and National Agencies
- Local and national agencies, eg Chambers of Commerce, Trade Associations, Banks, Government Agencies.
- Role of pressure groups in influencing business activities.
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