miss chambers 21st march

Question 1

THE FACTORS THAT COMPRISE THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Answer 1

They can be summarised as STEEPLE.COM
• Social factors
• Technological factors
• Economic factors
• Environmental factors
• Political factors
• Legal factors
• Ethical factors
• Competitor factors

Question 2

Demographic issues

Answer 2

size of the population and its characteristics in terms of age, race, gender, income and education

Question 3

Attitudes to work

Answer 3

positive/negative and levels of absenteeism

Question 4

Disposable income

Answer 4

how much money people have to spend after tax and NIC are deducted from their gross income

Question 5

social trends

Answer 5

widespread changes in attitudes and behaviour

Question 6

cultural beliefs

Answer 6

collective attitudes based on race, religion, nationality or other factors

Question 7

automation

Answer 7

This means using machines instead of people in factories to carry out tasks

Question 8

communication

Answer 8

This includes the use of intranets for internal communication, and e-commerce to buy and/or sell products

Question 9

purchasing/sales

Answer 9

This includes the use of inventory control systems that automatically re-order stock when needed

Question 10

mobile

Answer 10

Using mobile phones to buy products, make payments, and carry out market research.

Question 11

interest rate

Answer 11

the cost of borrowing money, expressed as a percentage of the amount borrowed. Businesses prefer interest rates to be lower, as this encourages consumer spending and makes it cheaper for businesses to borrow

Question 12

exchange rate

Answer 12

the price of one currency expressed in terms of another.
We can use the acronym SPICED to remember the effects of a changing value of the pound:
Strong Pound, Imports Cheaper, Exports Dearer

Question 13

inflation

Answer 13

the percentage increase in the general level of prices.
The main way of measuring inflation in the UK is the Consumer price Index (CPI).
Businesses prefer the rate of inflation to be low, as it controls costs and prices, which makes the businesses more competitive.

Question 14

unemployment

Answer 14

people who are out of work but trying to find work.

Question 15

Taxation

Answer 15

TAXATION may be direct taxation (Income Tax, National Insurance Contributions and Corporation Tax) or indirect taxation (VAT and duties on alcohol, tobacco, etc.)

Question 16

energy management

Answer 16

saving energy in the workplace (e.g. using less electricity).

Question 17

carbon emissions

Answer 17

refers to the amount of carbon dioxide that is created by using fossil fuel.

Question 18

waste reduction

Answer 18

achieved by getting things right first time in the production process and careful use of other resources (e.g. packaging materials and paper used in admin. tasks)

Question 19

recycling

Answer 19

converting waste into useful materials

Question 20

pollution

Answer 20

can take the form of air, land, water or noise pollution.

Question 21

political instability

Answer 21

the possibility of the collapse of a Government and the danger of violence or riots.

Question 22

change of government

Answer 22

may happen after a general election, or events such as the independence referendum in Scotland.

Question 23

government initiatives

Answer 23

legislation, actions or projects.

Question 24

brexit

Answer 24

another example recent political change.