Business Management and Marketing
The Business Management and Marketing domain tests application of management and marketing principles to realistic school and small-business scenarios and the technology tools that support them. Expect questions on managerial functions, the marketing mix, break-even analysis, and spreadsheet formulas.
Management functions and organization
The four functions are planning (goals/strategies), organizing (resources/reporting), leading (motivating/directing), and controlling (monitoring/correcting). A manager comparing actual sales with a budget is controlling, not leading. Sole proprietorships carry unlimited liability and pass-through taxation; corporations are separate legal entities with limited liability but double taxation; LLCs offer limited liability with pass-through taxation by default.
Marketing core
The marketing concept is satisfying customer needs profitably. The marketing mix is product, price, place, and promotion. Segmentation uses demographic, geographic, psychographic, or behavioral variables to define a target market. Positioning is the image a product holds relative to competitors. The promotional mix-advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct/digital marketing-is only one part of the marketing mix.
Technology
Relative spreadsheet references (A1) change when copied; absolute references ($A$1) do not. Use parentheses to control order of operations. Databases use fields, records, and a primary key that uniquely identifies each record. Digital-citizenship items address privacy, copyright, and acceptable use.
Worked example
Fixed costs $12,000, variable cost $8/unit, price $20. Contribution margin = $20 − $8 = $12. Break-even = $12,000 ÷ $12 = 1,000 units. For $6,000 target profit: ($12,000 + $6,000) ÷ $12 = 1,500 units. Reasoning: each unit contributes $12 to fixed costs first, then to profit.
Traps
- Markup on cost vs. margin on price: a 50% markup on an $8 cost yields a $12 price, but margin is 33%.
- Omitting target profit from the numerator.
- Calling an LLC double-taxed (that is a C corporation).
- Choosing leading when performance is being monitored (controlling).
- Equating the promotional mix with the marketing mix.