Topic One (1.1): Political and Legal Influences
Introduction
This topic introduces you to the concepts of nationalisation and privatisation. You will explore why a government of a state (country) will make political decisions to influence the business environment in that country to (hopefully) maximise the success of the country. Additionally, you will learn about some of the legislation (laws) used to regulate business activity and how these influence a business’ decision-making process and strategy.
Read and Make Notes
- Please note: Chapters 1-5 in the textbook relate to the AS part of the syllabus.
- Read pages 73 to 79 in Chapter 6 of your textbook and make notes under the following headings:
- Political and legal influences;
- Advantages and disadvantages of privatisation;
- Advantages and disadvantages of nationalisation;
- Legal constraints on business activity;
- The law and employment practices;
- Recruitment, employment contracts and termination of employment;
- Health and safety at work;
- Minimum wages;
- Impact on business of changes in employment and health and safety laws;
- The law, marketing behaviour and consumer rights;
- Consumer protection laws;
- Impact on business of consumer protection laws;
- The law and business competition.
Tasks
Now watch the following videos and add to your notes:
WATCH – Privatisation – 2021 Revision Update (tutor2u)
Links to an external site.
WATCH – Labour Market Legislation (tutor2u) Links to an external site.
WATCH – Employer Employee Relations (tutor2u) Links to an external site.
WATCH – Competition Legislation (tutor2u) Links to an external site.
Activities in the Book
- Complete Activities 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4 in Chapter 6 of your textbook.
- Suggested answers can be found in the digital textbook and in General Resources.
Consolidate
The following videos will help draw together what you have learnt so far. Watch them and add to your notes:
Terminology
- Write down (in your own words) definitions of all the key terms from Chapter 6 (pages 73 to 79).
- Tick off these terms on your glossary.
- A helpful tip is to make flashcards for key terms as you go along, with the word on one side and the definition on the other. This makes revision later on much easier.