Red Tape and Minimum Wage – GCSE Business Studies Revision

Posted on 2012/May/Fri by

Minimum

  • Before minimum wage was introduced in 1997, workers could be paid very low amounts!
  • This meant employees would just get a job at wherever paid the most
  • The minimum wage is the lowest amount a worker can be paid per hour’s work
  • There are some advantages, and some disadvantages
  • Advantages:
    Workers are paid fairly – they have enough money to live
    It motivates workers more… which helps productivity
    It ensures quality
  • Disadvantages:
    It costs businesses more, which damages their profits, etc.
    They might have to make some workers redundant so they can afford to pay the rest higher amounts
    Employment is now less competitive here than in places with no minimum wage… such as developing countries

Red Tape and Taxation

  • Corporation Tax is paid by a business on its profits
  • VAT (Value Added Tax) is paid on goods / services
  • Income Tax is paid by employees the money they earn
  • Government decisions about tax affect all businesses in the country
  • ‘Red tape’ is a type of law that the government makes very difficult for businesses to avoid
  • Businesses like to bend the rules to increase their profits, so they’re not too keen on red tape
Posted in GCSE Business Studies Revision, School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The European Union – GCSE Business Studies Revision

Posted on 2012/May/Fri by

EU

  • At the time of writing there are 27 countries in it, and 16 use the single currency (euro)
  • I can’t be bothered to list them here, and I’m sure there won’t be a question asking you to list them in the exam, but if you think there will, feel free to use a different revision guide for a while…
  • The European Union (EU) is kind of an international government for Europe
  • It makes laws that businesses have to conform to when operating in Europe (as well as national laws)
  • These regulations add to the costs of a business, but do benefit the customers and employees

What’s the EU done for you?

  • They made some health and safety regulation
  • Imports and exports can be traded freely between members of the EU – without payment
  • They cut down on how long 13 – 16 year olds can be made to work
  • They helped make minimum wage rates for people 16 and over
  • They created a two-week paternity leave for new fathers
  • They stopped people having to week over 48 hours a week
  • Unfair dismissal laws now apply to part-time workers, to protect their employment
  • They also created the Maastricht Treaty, which encourages all member states of the EU to work within the same rules and agree to the same standards for workers
Posted in GCSE Business Studies Revision, School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Import Protection (International Trade) – GCSE Business Studies Revision

Posted on 2012/May/Fri by

Income Differences

  • The world’s income isn’t distributed evenly – some countries have much higher incomes than others
  • Developed countries are those with high incomes
  • Low to middle-income countries are called developing countries
  • Developing countries often have no minimum wage
  • Businesses from developed countries take advantage of this and see developing countries as a source of cheap imports

Import Protection and Export Subsidy

  • Governments in developing countries want to decrease imports and increase exports, to help the national economy
  • An export subsidy is paid by the government to a business when it makes a successful export
  • This is designed to encourage businesses to export more, and make it cheap to do so
  • Import protection laws are designed to stop countries importing too much
  • Customs duties and tariffs are taxes businesses have to pay when importing goods
  • Quotas are limits on the amount of items that can be imported from one country
  • An example of a quota is “only 7000 baguettes can be imported to the UK from France, per month”
  • You can get around quotas by sending the goods via another country - shipping the baguettes from France to Ireland, then to the UK… (BUT you don’t have to, because France and the UK are both in the European Union, so there are no trade restrictions – revise the EU)
Related articles
Posted in GCSE Business Studies Revision, School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Environmental Issues – GCSE Business Studies Revision

Posted on 2012/May/Fri by

 

 Environment

  • The supply chain is the route taken by a product (and the processes involved) from the raw materials to the customer
  • This can have a large environmental impact
  • The effects can be divided into long-term effects and short-term effects

Short Term

  • Traffic congestion can be caused by delivery vans (well, they contribute)
  • This is frustrating as it increases the journey time for everyone on the road, and makes them use more fuel
  • (This adds to long-term effects, but traffic congestion itself is a short-term effect)
  • The vast majority of business activity contributes to this because customers and employees drive to the business and products are transported down the supply chain by van / lorry
  • Air / noise / water pollution is also a short-term issue
  • Businesses can contribute directly (e.g. by dumping chemicals) or indirectly (by using electricity… which pollutes the atmosphere with coal dust, for example)

Long Term

  • Climate change, obviously… (greenhouse effect, caused by carbon dioxide emissions, traps heat in the atmosphere, leading to global warming… you know how it goes)
  • Most businesses contribute to this by transporting things by van / lorry (burning petrol) and using electricity made from fossil fuels. Industrial stuff contributes a lot to global warming.
  • Resource depletion is where important  resources such, as rare metals, come close to running out, because they are used so much by businesses
  • You can kind of think of ways around these issues, for businesses that want to be more environmentally friendly
  • You could redesign products to use less rare materials, to reduce resource depletion
  • You could transport things by train to reduce traffic congestion
Related articles
Posted in GCSE Business Studies Revision, School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment