Business is a dynamic subject as the business environment is constantly changing and this is what makes the subject so exciting to study.

Business involves studying the internal workings of contemporary business organisations focussing particularly on marketing, production, finance and people in business.  The external environment within which businesses operate is emphasised and the effects this can have upon decision-making within a business.  We also study major topical issues that can generate change for business organisations and the ways in which businesses respond to these issues.

Current case studies are often used in the classroom and students are encouraged to keep up-to-date with business in the news by reading good quality newspapers and watching TV programs such as “The Apprentice” and “Dragon’s Den”.

 

Visit to Jaguar Landrover 

With the right amount of money you can watch your car being made and pay £2000 to pick your car up from the factory to a spectacular dry ice experience as your car emerges from a cracked egg!

A Level Business and Economics students experienced a fascinating visit to Jaguar Landrover - from the dancing robotic riveting right through the production process until the gasping of breath as the engine is fired for the first time. Cars drive off the production line every 36 seconds!  With the right amount of money you can watch your car being made and pay £2000 to pick your car up from the factory to a spectacular dry ice experience as your car emerges from a cracked egg!

A Range Rover Sport takes a mere 36 hours to make, a staggering 500,000 in 2015 and they make to order - deposits or full price received and in the bank! whereas in the four year period from 1948 to 1952 they made a total of 50,000 cars and yet there are still parts of the production process that are very labour intensive.

The Range Rover Sport is 90% aluminium and 52% of that is recycled - imagine the aluminium you used with your roast potatoes having a new life in a car!  The only steel is at the front - the crumple bar, that's the only welding too. On impact, the engine will slide underneath the car to prevent crushing the driver or passenger. 

The die press to mould the various parts of the car has a force of 800 tonnes. It was in a sealed unit - anything getting in will mark the car – imagine poor Freddie the Fly immortalised in aluminium with an Ode to Freddie wittily paying tribute to his demise!

If the line is stopped for 90 seconds it will cost £100,000. Stock is delivered every four hours and put straight into the production process; JIT at its best. Lean production ensures that waste is minimised, positive reminders everywhere improve morale and productivity. The paint shop holds 30,000 cars and the robotic paint sprayers can change colour in 3 seconds - so Henry Ford 100 years on - every colour does not need to be black!