Business, The

The Business, Steve Morris and Graham Willcocks, Hodder & Stoughton, 2001, paperback, 134 pages, L9.99, ISBN: 0 340 78911 5. Tel: 020 7873 6247.

Published under the 'Business Dynamics' banner by Hodder & Stoughton, this business resource book is bulging with challenging questions and 'real world' references. It is intended for students in the 14-19 age range.

The text aims to answer questions related to business principles by direct linkage with the real world of work. It aims to live up to the front cover claim of 'bringing business to life for students'.

The book's handling of business principles is dynamic. It takes a fresh approach to the basics and provides evidence on which to base investigations. It makes use of case studies to draw students into concepts and 'explain how companies operate and how they contribute to the economy'. The book is organised into four interesting sections, categorising key concepts and illustrating the application of these concepts through discussion of various organisations within relevant industries.

The slim, soft back format is typeset clearly with good use of varying font style and pitch. It uses bullet points, shading, tables, graphs, pictures and charts to illustrate its points although not excessively; the pages are not too 'busy'. Discussion points and activities are generally placed in the right hand margin, making them easy to find at a glance. The main text is set in clearly labelled paragraphs and case studies are highlighted with border and grey background.

The text is easy to use and has a comprehensive index. The structure leads teachers and students to concepts with clear chapter headings and case study references.

Enquiring in nature, the introduction takes the reader through the sections and chapters by way of a series of questions explaining how the following content will explore important subject coverage. It is clear that the book is written with the student in mind; the questions are directed at them and key terminology is often highlighted. It appears that the authors intend to coax the student reader into thought. Why is business organised in this way? Where does the process start? Who is benefiting form business activity? Is there an alternative way of doing things? The student should be gripped by a desire to explore the answers and the text does aim to help them to answer the questions for themselves. Section one covers the key theory by describing how business works beginning with a crowd pleaser; marketing. The various chapters move through the concepts of design, operations, logistics, human resources, finance and management. The text is not littered with models or diagrammatical representation but one or two classics can be found. Section two then puts business in an expanding global setting discussing expansion, integration and innovative development. It uses global organisations such as Unilever, Esso and Deutsche Bank to illustrate the interaction of business with its environment. The focus of the third section is the development of the entrepreneur, highlighting the skills necessary for running and maintaining a business. The fourth section pinpoints the engineering technology and communication industries, providing solid case study investigation of the operation of various companies within these industries. It provides useful information on career pathways within engineering technology and communication for those thinking about the future.

Throughout the book, useful discussion points provide stimulus for the teacher and learner. The text gives a bedrock from which the teacher can further challenge and inspire students. The discussion points, if handled appropriately, could spark investigation and facilitate sound class/group discussion. The activities, although accessible for most learners, are reliant on teacher input to help organise thought processes for the younger end of the target group but would stand alone for year 12 and 13 students as private study.

The nature of the concepts covered enables the text to remain relevant across the whole 14 - 19 age range targeted. However, due to this overlap in levels of study some concepts may be too challenging for the less able or younger learners. A greater use of diagrammatical representation and image would help to make some concepts more accessible. Having said that, the authors seem to have gone to great lengths to make even the most abstract of concepts accessible through the language used to explain issues and the illustration by way of real life example.

The book will be most helpful to students in years 12 and 13 on business programmes that encourage investigation and careful evaluation. Although many of the activities are standard issue, the context in which they are set is interesting. The discussion points surrounding the text provide an alternative approach at times, and the use of case study material is excellent. All these factors go towards making this book an excellent reference for business education departments. It would be particularly useful for students completing individual studies as part of their AS/A2/AVCE courses and I would recommend that teachers take a closer look. The good company data/information in excellent settings make it a very worthwhile purchase. The drawback of this is of course the 'dynamic nature' of these firms. The information will not be 'current' for very long although the text will always show useful illustrations of concepts.

Copyright Economics and Business Education Association Autumn 2001
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