ISSUES
: Business and Trade
Assignments
42
Assignments
Brainstorming
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In small groups, discuss what you know about
business in the UK.
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What different types of businesses are there?
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Why do some people choose to become
entrepreneurs?
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What is business education like in your school?
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What do the letters SME stand for, in business
terms?
Research
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Conduct a survey to find out how many students in
your school would consider becoming entrepreneurs
and starting their own business when they leave
school, instead of going to college or university. Write
a report that summarises your findings and include
graphs to illustrate your results.
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The recent film
Joy
starring Jennifer Lawrence is about
a female entrepreneur who invented the Miracle Mop.
Do some research to find out about another famous
entrepreneur then create a presentation to share your
research with your class.
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Research one of the top 20 oldest family businesses
in Britain from page 17 and feedback to your class
about what they do and how the company has
changed over time.
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According to the article on page 29, it could be the
‘end of an empire’ for supermarkets. Conduct a
survey in your local area to find out where people
do their grocery shopping. Summarise your findings
using bullet points and graphs.
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Imagine that you have been given £500 to start a
business. What would you do? In small groups, plan
how you would invest your £500 and then share with
the rest of your class. You should carefully consider
your start-up costs and expected profits.
Design
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Choose an article from this book and create an
illustration to highlight its key themes.
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Read the article
The Tenner Challenge
on page 10.
Then, in pairs, design a similar scheme that could
run within your school to encourage entrepreneurial
activity among students. Write a summary of your
scheme and how it will work.
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Imagine that you work for a website that allows people
to ‘crowdsource’ their business ideas. Create a series
of web banners and draft a marketing e-mail that you
could distribute to raise awareness of your platform.
Oral
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“Universities are the best place to start a business.”
Discuss this statements in small groups.
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Imagine that you are a father or mother who is trying
to persuade their eldest child to become involved in
the family business. What would you say to convince
them of the benefits of family run businesses? Role
play the situation.
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What is ‘competition law’ and do you think it is fair?
Discuss in small groups.
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In groups, stage your own version of the television
programme
The Apprentice
.
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“There is one and only one social responsibility
of business – to use its resources and engage in
activities designed to increase its profit so long as
it stays within the rules of the game, which is to
say, engages in open and free competition, without
deception or fraud.” – Milton Friedman, American
economist. Discuss this quotation in small groups.
Following your discussion, take a vote on whether
you agree or disagree with Mr Friedman’s analysis.
Reading/writing
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Write a one-paragraph definition of a micro-business.
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Look at the infographic on page 6, then visit the
Policy Bee website to find out more about graduate
entrepreneurs and their feelings about the support
they receive from their universities. Write a short
essay summarising your findings.
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Imagine that you have decided to start your own
business. Write a blog post exploring the motivation
behind your decision.
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Choose one of the illustrations from this book and
write 300 words exploring what you think the artist
was trying to portray with their image.
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Visit the Institute of Business Ethics website (www.
ibe.org.uk) and read their report
Ethics at Work
. Write
a summary of the key issues that could be used as an
introduction to the report on a secondary website, for
example as a press release.
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Make a list of the benefits and risks associated with
becoming an entrepreneur. Would you ever consider
starting your own business?
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Write a letter to your headteacher, explaining why you
think it is important for students to have ‘real world’
business experience.
