The course encourages candidates to develop a critical understanding of the internal functions of businesses, external factors, decision making, choosing strategies and stakeholder perspectives. Topics studied include: • What is business? • Managers, leadership and decision making • Decision making to improve marketing performance • Decision making to improve operational performance • Decision making to improve financial performance • Decision making to improve human resource performance • Analysing the strategic position of a business (A Level only) • Choosing strategic direction (A Level only) • Strategic methods: how to pursue strategies (A Level only) • Managing strategic change (A Level only) Students sit three external examinations at the end of two years of study. Each examination has equal weighting.