Exploring Business
Mark scheme · Practice material, not an official Pearson document.
Q1 — Give (2 marks)
- Sole trader (1)
- Partnership (1)
- Private limited company (Ltd) (1)
- Public limited company (plc) (1)
- Cooperative (1)
- Franchise (1)
Additional guidance: Accept any two valid forms.
Q2 — Identify (2 marks)
- Hierarchical (1)
- Flat (1)
- Matrix (1)
- Holacratic (1)
Additional guidance: Award up to 2.
Q3 — Identify (2 marks)
- Political (1)
- Economic (1)
- Social (1)
- Technological (1)
- Legal (1)
- Environmental (1)
Additional guidance: Award up to 2.
Q4 — State (2 marks)
- Perfect competition (1)
- Imperfect competition (1)
Q5 — State (2 marks)
- The process of successfully developing and exploiting new ideas — new products, services, processes or ways of working that add value (2)
Q6 — State (2 marks)
- Limited liability: owners' personal assets are protected; they only lose what they invested (1)
- Unlimited liability: owners are personally responsible for all business debts (1)
Q7 — State (2 marks)
- Advantage: clear chain of command / clear lines of authority and accountability (1)
- Disadvantage: slow communication / many layers slow decision-making (1)
Q8 — Give (2 marks)
- Economic growth / recession (1)
- Exchange rates (1)
- Interest rates / monetary policy (1)
- Taxation / fiscal policy (1)
- Inflation (1)
Additional guidance: Award up to 2.
Q9 — Identify (2 marks)
- Many firms (1)
- Freedom of entry (1)
- Homogeneous / identical products (1)
- Firms are price takers (1)
Additional guidance: Award up to 2.
Q10 — State (2 marks)
- Identifying opportunities and taking initiative to develop business activities — e.g. through creative, lateral and 'blue sky' thinking (2)
Q11 — Identify (2 marks)
- Charitable trust (1)
- Voluntary organisation (1)
- Cooperative (not-for-profit) (1)
- Social enterprise (1)
Q12 — Identify (2 marks)
- Human resources (1)
- Marketing (1)
- Finance (1)
- Production / operations (1)
- Sales (1)
- Customer service (1)
- Purchasing (1)
- Research and development (1)
Additional guidance: Award up to 2.
Q13 — Give (2 marks)
- Demographic trends / ageing population (1)
- Changes in consumer tastes and preferences (1)
- Attitudes to saving and spending (1)
- Lifestyle changes (1)
- Cultural changes (1)
Additional guidance: Award up to 2.
Q14 — Explain (4 marks)
- Perfect competition has many small firms selling identical products with no barriers to entry (1); firms are price takers (1)
- Imperfect competition (e.g. monopoly, oligopoly) has fewer firms, differentiated products and barriers to entry (1); firms have some control over price (1)
Q15 — Identify (2 marks)
- Product development (1)
- Service development (1)
- New processes to improve efficiency (1)
- Adding value to existing products (1)
- New ways to improve profitability (1)
Additional guidance: Award up to 2.
Q16 — State (2 marks)
- Primary (1)
- Secondary (1)
- Tertiary (1)
- Quaternary (1)
Additional guidance: Award up to 2 marks; any two correct sectors.