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Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
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Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
Why Comics? AS/A Level (age 16-18) Business Studies Lesson Plan for Shamso: Accounting and external influences
IntroductionLooking to engage your students in contemporary human rights and social issues? Based at SOAS University of London, Why Comics? Education Charity brings contemporary humanitarian and social issues into the classroom (such as racism, conflict, migration, trafficking and climate change) through interactive literary comic books based on real-life testimony.
Our free easy-to-use Key Stage 2-5 resources build empathy and enhance learning for 7-18-year-old students and teachers alike, alongside UK national-curriculum relevant lesson plans to support multiple subjects.
Each sample UK National Curriculum based Lesson Plan is provided as a Word.doc – so you can use it as a building block. Please feel free to adjust the content to suit your teaching style and students’ needs, all the content is only suggested.
Our innovative resources help enhance learning to support multiple subjects (such as English, ESOL, Personal, Social, Health and Economic [PSHE] education, Citizenship Studies, Art, Media Studies and Geography). Our support materials are intended to inspire teachers and enhance teaching practices and different ideas.
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Our materials encourage learners to make connections between their own lives and the lives of others throughout the world, promoting critical and reflective thinking on vital global themes. In this way, Why Comics? can help combat racism and intolerance in schools.
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Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
Why Comics? Charity number - 1172791
Table of ContentsIntroduction.............................................................................................................................................2
UK National Curriculum Business Studies requirements............................................................................3
Suggested Why Comics? Business Studies Lesson Plan for Shamso............................................................4
Aims.....................................................................................................................................................4
Learning Objectives...............................................................................................................................4
Lesson plan 1........................................................................................................................................4
Additional Follow on Business Studies Lesson Plan: External Influences....................................................7
Aims.....................................................................................................................................................7
Learning Objectives...............................................................................................................................7
Lesson plan 2........................................................................................................................................8
Feedback..................................................................................................................................................9
Future Plans..............................................................................................................................................9
Who backs Why Comics? - About PositiveNegatives............................................................................10
UK National Curriculum Business Studies requirements:[Source: UK Gov AS and A Level Business Studies Subject Content]
AS and A level specifications in business must encourage students to: Develop an enthusiasm for studying business Gain an holistic understanding of business in a range of contexts Develop a critical understanding of organisations and their ability to meet society’s needs and
wants Understand that business behaviour can be studied from a range of perspectives Generate enterprising and creative approaches to business opportunities, problems and issues Be aware of the ethical dilemmas and responsibilities faced by organisations and individuals Acquire a range of relevant business and generic skills, including decision making, problem solving,
the challenging of assumptions and critical analysis.
Knowledge, understanding and skills set out in the AS and A level specifications must: enable students to investigate different types and sizes of organisations in various business sectors
and environments, with an awareness of local, national and global contexts, recognising that they face varying degrees of competition
enable students to: o identify business opportunities and problems o investigate, analyse and evaluate business opportunities and problems o apply numerical skills, including those indicated in the Annex o make justifiable decisions using both qualitative methods and quantitative methods,
including those indicated in the Annex
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Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
o identify and understand how businesses adapt to operate successfully in a dynamic business environment
o promote a holistic understanding of business and enterprise.
In addition, A level specifications must require students to: apply basic business concepts to a wider range of contexts understand and apply more sophisticated concepts and techniques analyse, interpret and evaluate more complex business information take a more strategic view of business opportunities, problems and issues.
This A Level lesson plan engages with the following topics within Business Studies: Accounting and finance (Budgeting and forecasting, cost analysis and decision-making) External influences (Social and other influences, pressure groups)
Please note teaching notes are in purple.
Suggested Why Comics? Business Studies Lesson Plan for Shamso:
Here is a suggested AS/A Level Business Studies lesson plan about accounting and cost analysis told through the eyes of Shamso and a suggested follow-up lesson plan about external influences. Both lessons are 50 minutes long, consisting of a reading in class, followed by group discussion and an assigned homework. The first lesson plan, pertaining to accounting/finance, will address the topics of cost analysis and decision-making. The second lesson plan will look at external influences that put pressure on and affect businesses. The class can either read the comic collectively via projector, or at home via the web (www.whycomics.org).
Aims:
This session will focus on topics within Accounting and Finance embedded in Shamso’s story. Students will:
Read a literary comic depicting a story of a business owner Learn about the accounting and finance aspects of business in broad terms Explore internal decisions that businesses face and evaluate these within a business
framework, as related to simple calculations Examine the cost analysis and decision-making facet of business ownership especially as
related to hiring/direct labour costs.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, students will be able to:
Contextualize issues related to business studies within Shamso’s story Understand some of the aspects that make up business accounting and finance Understand cost analysis and decision-making as related to business Make simple cost analysis calculations as a business owner would - especially as related to
hiring new employees/direct labour costs.
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Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
Lesson plan 1:
1. Read through the comic as a group – Project the story in class and go through the comic panel by panel. If there is time, you could explore several of the additional resources in the interactive boxes dispersed throughout the comic. (15 mins)
2. Ask the students to break into pairs – Have them brainstorm and jot down possible costs for Shamso’s café (rent, equipment, food costs, insurance, labour etc.). Ask them to get as detailed and/or creative as time will allow (i.e. which food costs are likely present, what kind of equipment) (15 mins).
3. Classroom Discussion – Come back together as a class and have a larger discussion on costs. Collate a class list on the board of costs as related to Shamso’s cafe. Using the information below, have the students classify each cost (direct materials, labour, production overheads). If there is time, discuss other topics within cost analysis as related to Shamso’s café, such as costing methods or variances (see Teacher’s Notes below). (15 mins)
4. Homework – Ask the class to re-read and consider the panel in the comic, which reads “The rush picks up again at around twelve. For two hours I need ten pairs of hands”. As a homework assignment, have the students approximately calculate what it would cost Shamso annually to hire an additional assistant at the café for the two-hour rush 5 days a week. They can use the minimum living wage in their region or make up a suitable wage of their own. At £3 per samosa, how many samosas would Shamso have to sell in order to offset this new direct labour cost? After they have made these simple calculations, ask the students to write a reflective piece on other considerations of hiring a new employee (i.e. how much will you pay them, what sick pay will you provide in accordance with national requirements, etc.). (5 mins)
Teacher’s Notes[Source: Revision World ]
Cost Analysis & Decision-making
Absorption costing - Allocation, apportionment and absorption
Overheads are allocated when the cost is incurred wholly by a single department or cost centre. The overhead can then be charged exclusively to that cost centre.
Overheads have to be apportioned when the cost is incurred by more than one cost centre. A good example is factory rent, with the total cost having to be shared between all relevant cost centres in the factory.
The basis of apportionment will vary according to the nature of the overhead. For example:
Overhead Possible basis of apportionment
Rent and rates Floor area
Lighting and heating Volume or floor area
Equipment depreciation Cost or book value of equipment
Maintenance staff Hours clocked for each department
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Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
Stores staff Value of material requisitions
Administrative support: e.g. personnel and canteen costs Number of employees
In absorption costing, all overheads (indirect costs) must be absorbed, i.e. recovered, by the products, otherwise there will be no source of income to pay for these overheads. For example, if a product’s share of total overheads comes to £300 000, this amount needs to be recovered throughout the period when the product is sold.
Costing methods
There are two main categories: specific order costing – costs are charged directly to cost units – such as job, batch and contract costing, and continuous operation costing – costs have to be apportioned to cost units – such as service and process costing.
Job costing is used when work is undertaken to a customer’s specific requirements: all costs are charged to the job. Contract costing is similar, though the contract (e.g. for construction of a ship) tends to be for a longer duration.
Batch costing is used when a quantity of identical articles (such as similar houses on an estate) are manufactured.
Service (or function) costing is concerned with establishing the costs of services rendered, and controlling these costs (e.g. within a hospital).
The process costing method is used when products are made in a single process.
KEY POINT - The costing method chosen must suit the manufacturing method.
Budgeting and forecasting
Budgeting helps control the finance available to a business. Budgetary control produces variances that allow managers to compare the expected (budgeted) performance of their department with its actual performance. These individual variances can be broken down into sub-variances. For example, a favourable sales variance might consist of a favourable volume variance – more are sold than had been planned – and an adverse price variance (the actual selling price is below the budgeted level, which may be the reason for the favourable volume variance).
Variances may be controllable by managers. In the above example the sales manager may have made a conscious decision to lower prices and increase sales volume, the product’s price elasticity of demand leading to the increase in total revenue (the overall favourable variance). Other variances may be non-controllable, e.g. an adverse labour variance being due to a national wage agreement. Managers can only be held responsible for the variances they can control.
Flexing the budgetBudgets and variances must be adjusted for changes in volume. Comparing production budget figures based on an expected output of, say, 3000 units with the actual costs based on an actual output of 3500 units is not comparing like with like. The budget figures have to be flexed – scaled – accordingly, and these amended budget figures can then be compared accurately with the actual ones.
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Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
Standard costingA ‘standard cost’ is a cost estimated by managers from information on expected prices and efficiency levels of production. Like budgets, standard costs provide targets for managers against which their individual performances can be appraised. It is linked with budgetary control: for example, it is easy to establish sales and production budgets once standard costs have been set.
Direct labour:a rate variance based on thedifference between actual andstandard pay; an efficiency variancebased on whether output is aboveor below standard.
(standard – actual rate) × actual hours worked
(standard – actual hours) × standard hourly rate
Direct materials:a price variance based on thedifference between actual andstandard unit prices; a usage variancebased on the difference betweenactual and standard quantities.
(standard – actual price) × actual quantity
(standard – actual quantity) × standard price
Production overheads:variances based on differencesbetween expected and actualvolumes of use, efficiency andexpenditure.
Fixed overhead total variance, subdivided intoexpenditure (budgeted – actual expenditure) andvolume ( [budgeted – actual volume] × unitabsorption rate)
KEY POINT - Management accounting draws on financial accounting information, but also involves detailed internal analyses through setting budgets and standard costs.
Please help us by filling out a short anonymous SurveyMonkey questionnaire after you have used our materials for our funders. This helps ensure that our great resources remain free.
Please email [email protected] for more information. Thank you.
Additional Follow on Business Studies Lesson PlanExternal Influences
Aims:
This session will focus on external influences in a business. Students will:
Learn about what external influences are present in a business setting; Learn about the various types of external influences that businesses face; Consider the various responses to external pressures that businesses can employ.
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Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, students will be able to:
Identify some of the external influences that businesses face today; Classify various external influences into their respective categories (social, economic,
governmental); Think critically about how businesses can best respond to various external influences.
Lesson plan 2:
1. Summarise the previous lesson – Recap on the comic and on what the class discussed in the previous lesson about accounting/finance as related to cost analysis. Go over the homework assignment and discuss any points that need clarifying. (10 mins)
2. Classroom Discussion/Focus groups – Have a discussion with the class regarding external influences that businesses face using the information below (10 mins). Split the class into 5 groups and assign each group a different factor to consider and discuss - social, legal, economic, political, and technological. In their groups, have the students write down specific examples of factors within their assigned category (10 mins). Come back together as a class and share ideas. Then discuss which external factors could affect Shamso’s café in particular. (10 min)
3. Assign the class a homework – Ask the students to address the following external factors and craft a hypothetical solution and/or response to each: (5 mins) Social factor: Residents in your city have been increasingly eating more of a vegetarian
diet. Lambs samosa sales have exponentially declined in the last few months because of this fad.
Legal Factor: Suppose that the minimum wage in the country increases by £2/hr for workers aged 18-24 (which includes your café assistant).
Economic Factor: The national economy is booming! As a result, individuals have more disposable income and are spending more. The café is doing so well that it is looking to grow and/or expand. In what ways can you do this? (Examples: opening another branch, expand scope, etc.)
Political: come up with your own political factor and solution! Technological: A new samosa maker machine has hit the market. This machine would slash
individual labour time for samosa making, but would also take out the personal touch of homemade samosas.
Teacher’s Notes[Source: Business Case Studies UK ]
External influences
Businesses operate in an external environment in which as well as competition from rivals businesses have to take account of legal, political, social and economic influences.
A SLEPT (Social, Legal, Economic, Political, Technological) analysis is often carried out by business planners, which enables them to develop more informed strategies (i.e. long term plans).
Social factors - Relate to change is society and social structures. Changes in the structure of the population, and in consumer lifestyles and behaviour affect buying patterns.
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Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
Legal factors - Relate to changes in laws and regulations. Businesses must be careful to keep within the law and to anticipate ways in which changes in laws will affect the way they must behave.
Economic factors - Relate to changes in the wider economy. A growing economy provides greater opportunities for businesses to make profits, so businesses welcome rising living standards.
Political factors- Relate to ways in which changes in government and government policy can influence business.
Technological factors- Provide opportunities for businesses to adopt new breakthroughs, innovations, and inventions to cut costs and develop new products.
A business producing confectionery like Cadbury Schweppes examines SLEPT factors in designing new products. For example, social factors that it needs to be aware of include changing patterns of eating. Today many consumers like to eat 'on the go' so bite sized chocolate treats are in great demand to top up consumers energy supplies. Legal factors to be kept an eye on include European Union regulations about the content of products that can be advertised as chocolate. Economic factors relate to changes in living standards and how these affect consumptions patters.
Technological change is particularly important today, for example, the development of new technologies that have enabled variations on chocolate bars to be produced in an ice cream format. Political changes are closely tied up with economic ones and relate to changing governmental influence. For example, a change from a Labour to a Conservative government would effect taxation policies which would impact on the cost of chocolate production.
Environmental scanning - The process whereby businesses examine the external environment to identify key structural changes in the world around them which affect demand and supply conditions for their products.
FeedbackPlease help us by filling out a short anonymous SurveyMonkey questionnaire for our funders. This will help keep our great resources free. We will be happy to hear about how it works in the classroom, and are keen to receive any comments or feedback.
We are particularly interested if you would like to receive more resources like this. If so please include on the SurveyMonkey questionnaire which topics you would like us to cover (e.g. Divorce, Migration, Racism/Prejudice, Cyber/Bullying, Identity, Memory, Racism, Conflict, Natural Disasters, Human Trafficking/Slavery, Asylum/Refugees, Homelessness, Climate Change, Remittances & Migrant Workers, and Drug Trafficking & Addiction).
We are also interested to have feedback from pupils so if it is possible, please pass on the SurveyMonkey questionnaire link to them as well. Many thanks again, your help is most appreciated.
Future Plans
Over the coming year, we’re intending to expand our bank of database for KS2 (age 7-11) and KS3 (age 11-14) and KS4-5 (age 14-18) and their teachers, and produce national curriculum based accompanying lesson plans for multiple subjects. You can view all our resources on our Teachers Resources page.
We will continue to design and test our resources to ensure that they are made by teachers for teachers. 9
Why Comics? AS/A Level Business Studies Lesson Plan
If you would like any more information or would like to be involved further, please contact [email protected]. Thank you.
With very best wishes,
Dr Benjamin Dix
Director: Why Comics? Education CharitySenior Fellow: SOAS University of London
Web: http://www.whycomics.org/Email: [email protected] Twitter and Instagram: @WhyComicsOrg Facebook: Why Comics? Education Charity
Why Comics? Education Charity is based at the Faber Building, SOAS University of London.Why Comics? Charity number - 1172791
Who backs Why Comics? - About PositiveNegatives
The award-winning non-profit PositiveNegatives produce literary comics, animations and podcasts about contemporary social and human rights issues. We combine ethnographic research with illustration and photography, adapting personal testimonies into art, education and advocacy materials. Since 2012, PositiveNegatives has worked extensively for an array of international organisations such as United Nations (UN), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Open Society Foundations (OSF), The Nobel Peace Centre, The Guardian, BBC, and with leading academic institutions such as; Harvard South Asia Centre, SOAS University of London and University of Sussex.
Our work endeavours to combine literature, journalism and education. Visual story-telling engages audiences of all ages, backgrounds and levels of literacy. Approaching subjects like conflict and forced migration through the prism of personal narratives emotionally engages general readers and students alike. We have developed comics from research, policy papers and first hand testimonies for organisations such as these and many more. Each comic has reached millions of viewers, and many have been translated into multiple languages
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