BUSS2 revision and exam technique - Competitiveness

AQA BUSS2 examiners have been fond of examining the concept of competitiveness - but what does it actually mean?

Competitiveness is quite a hard term to define without using the word 'compete' - in fact, BUSS2 mark schemes have defined it as 'being able to compete effectively in its market' - which doesn't actually help much, at least not in itself!

Might I suggest the following: Being competitive means being as good as or better than its competitors in one or more aspects of the business. If a business is better than others in a particular area, it can be said to have a competitive advantage.

At AS level, we do not really have any clear model or theory on which to hang this idea and I wrote the attached worksheet for my students to help them get to grips with the concept. As always, this paper is mainly about application and analysis, so rather than worry about knowledge or theory, your challenge is to work out how the business in your case study derives competitive advantage and (importantly) what does this mean for its business results - e.g. a higher quality product might allow the firm to charge a higher price and enjoy a higher profit margin. Better customer service might improve customer loyalty and reduce the need to spend on advertising to attract new customers. Remember, when you are looking for the application, the clues are in the case study and are likely to be supported by data.

Anyway, have a look at this and hopefully all will be a little clearer. A_competitive_business.docx