1. BUSINESS COGNATE SBA WORKSHOPS
FOR STUDENTS OF
CSEC POB & POA
2018

2. SBA Guidelines SBA report must not exceed 1000 words.
The project is marked out of 40 and worth a total of 20% of your overall mark.
Students doing more than one subject in the business group i.e POA & POB should submit one SBA report that will be based on a topic relevant to the subjects being taken.

3. ORDER OF SBA REPORT Cover page Table of Contents
Topic, Issue or Problem,
Objectives / Research Questions
Background
Methodology
Presentation and Analysis of Data
Conclusion
Recommendations
Bibliography
Appendices :questionnaire, source documents, diagrams, charts, interview questions and statistical data

4. COVER PAGE
Research Topic An assessment of an increase in growth through sales and the effect on profitability for the stationery store at Bright School during the period, January to December Include image here Student Name Toby Gill Business Cognate Subjects POB, POA School St. James Secondary School Centre Number Candidate Number Name of Teacher ………………………..
Fill info on Training Manual

5. Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of contents accurately links pages to content Mark
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topic, issue or Problem………………………………… 1
Objective of the Project…………………………………2
Background
Methodology
Presentation and Analysis of Data
Conclusion
Recommendations
Bibliography
Appendices :
Diagram 1………………………………………………22
Example given on training manual

6. Table of Contents To insert a table of contents, follow these steps:
1. Start Word, and then open your document.
Mark text for table of contents using heading styles on the ribbon
Note: If the text that is contained in your document is not marked to be included in a TOC, you will receive the following error message in your document instead of the TOC:Error! No table of contents entries found.
3. Go to page designated for table of contents
Select References on the ribbon
Select Table of Contents style
Format Table of contents – (Font – Times New Roman; Line Spacing – Double)
Example given on training manual

7. Topic/Issue/Problem MARK SCHEME
Topic/issue/problem is clearly stated – 1 mark
Topic/issue/problem accurately describes the project – 1 mark
The Research Topic is the broad subject matter area to be investigated. It must be :
broad yet specific enough to narrow your research
for a specific period eg. for the year 2018
clear and easy to understand.
well defined to ensure that it does not convey other ideas.
This is an example of a research question. What are your thoughts? Does it meet the criteria? Now turn to Training Manual and create your own question.

8. Topic/Issue/Problem cont’d
The Research Problem : What is the specific issue you want to study and why does it need attention?
This is an example of a research question. What are your thoughts? Does it meet the criteria? Now turn to Training Manual and create your own question.

9. Topic/Issue/Problem SAMPLE : Research Problem (thesis statement)
Research Topic (restate from cover page):
: An assessment of an increase in growth through sales and the effect on profitability for the stationery store at Bright School during the period, January to December 2017.
Research Problem (thesis statement)
: The stationery store at Bright School is unable to determine the impact of sales growth on the factors of production and its effect on the profitability of a business.
This is an example of a research question. What are your thoughts? Does it meet the criteria? Now turn to Training Manual and create your own question.

10. Objectives / Research Questions
MARK SCHEME  
Objectives are clearly stated and linked to the
topic/issue/problem – 1 mark
Objectives are realistic – 1 mark
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
Develop 2 to 3 research questions.
Questions must be clear, focused, concise, arguable and complex.
Must guide your data gathering.
Start your questions with how, what and why.
Using created research topic, develop research questions and match to syllabus objectives. If only doing one subject then focus only on those objectives. If two or more then combine. Student must be doing subjects for combined objectives.

11. Objectives / Research Questions cont’d
SAMPLE RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
To what extent were factors of production utilised by the stationery store at Bright School for expansion during the period Jan to Dec 2017?
How was profitability affected by the increased growth in Sales?
Using created research topic, develop research questions and match to syllabus objectives. If only doing one subject then focus only on those objectives. If two or more then combine. Student must be doing subjects for combined objectives.

12. Objectives/Research Questions cont’d
1. Re-read your research topic;
2. Determine relevant syllabus objectives for your research topic.
Syllabus Objectives: POB Section ____ Obj ____
POA Section _____ Obj _____
The specific purpose and focus of the research project, and therefore what the instruments, activities and report will cover. These must be:
directly linked to the stated topic/issue/problem; and,
realistic/doable especially within the timeframe and requirements of the CSEC® level.
Using created research topic, develop research questions and match to syllabus objectives. If only doing one subject then focus only on those objectives. If two or more then combine. Student must be doing subjects for combined objectives.

13. Objectives/Research Questions cont’d
SAMPLE OBJECTIVE 1: To determine the impact on the factors of production from sales growth. OBJECTIVE 2: To analyse the impact of sales growth on profitability at the stationery store.
Using created research topic, develop research questions and match to syllabus objectives. If only doing one subject then focus only on those objectives. If two or more then combine. Student must be doing subjects for combined objectives.

14. Background Includes a description of the topic/issue/problem
  MARK SCHEME
Includes a description of the topic/issue/problem
Description includes the history – 1 mark
Description includes the development – 1 mark
Establishes the need for research
- Why/how is the topic/issue/problem important to
student – 1 mark
- Impact of topic/issue/problem on society – 1 mark

15. Background cont’d
The stationery store of Bright School is a sole trading establishment that has been in existence for the past 10 years. It retails paper products inclusive of envelopes, stationery and folders. With the constant increase in demand from 2013 to 2016, the owner decided to expand sales. He noticed that this action caused an increase in costs.

16. Background cont’d
Many businesses face a similar dilemma as owners seek to expand, additional cost is incurred which can affect profitability. In order to increase sales additional factors of production must be acquired. The owner has to ensure that the increased cost of production to enable growth can be covered by the increased profitability. According to Maverick (2015), both profitability and growth are important and necessary. However, while some studies show a positive relationship between growth and profitability (Coban, 2014) others show a negative relationship (Yoo and Kim, 2015). Some studies also show that profitability has a positive relationship with growth but growth can have either a negative or positive relationship with profitability (Kouser, 2012). The negative relationship tends to occur more in the short run and the positive relationship in the long-run.

17. Background cont’d
It is important to study the relationship between growth and profitability as all firms will want to expand if it will lead to maximisation of profits. This study seeks to determine the relationship between growth and profitability and as a young entrepreneur I am interested in what this study will reveal as the findings will guide my actions for my own business.

18. Methodology MARK SCHEME
Data collection instrument clearly described – –2 marks
Data collection instrument appropriate for type of data – mark
Included at least two instruments of data collection – mark
Method of data collection clearly described – –2 marks
Method of data collection adequately justified – –2 marks
Limitations of data collection method clearly stated – –2 marks
Remember you need to create an actual instrument which will be placed in the Appendix. Any interviewees will be mentioned in References. If using a questionnaire then population size and sample size will have to be included.

19. Methodology cont’d
To collect the appropriate data, an interview schedule – primary (Appendix 1) was designed which included 6 questions. This instrument was used with both the owner and one of the initial employees at pre- arranged interview times. Interviews were conducted to obtain detailed insights about the expansion at Bright School Stationery Store (qualitative info). Interviews allowed clarification of questions and responses. Final accounts, ledgers and journals – secondary (Appendix 2) were used to gauge profitability before and after expansion (quantitative info).
One limitation of this process was that some interview questions had to be supported by additional questions so as to obtain direct responses. Also, financial information was not updated regularly. However, source documents helped to clear up any inconsistencies. There was also limited time to collect data.
Remember you need to create an actual instrument which will be placed in the Appendix. Any interviewees will be mentioned in References. If using a questionnaire then population size and sample size will have to be included.

20. Presentation and Analysis of Data
MARK SCHEME
Data is presented in appropriate form using
tables, charts, graphs – 1–2 marks
Data presented are relevant to the
objectives of the project – 1–2 marks
Data is adequately analysed – 1–2 marks
Data is analysed using appropriate statistics
– mean, median, mode – 1–2 marks
Findings are consistent with analyses – 1–2 marks
Use mark scheme to prepare data for presentation. Then analyse. Make conclusion and recommendation.

21. Presentation and Analysis of Data cont’d
Restate research question
Present data
Analyze data
Use mark scheme to prepare data for presentation. Then analyse. Make conclusion and recommendation.

22. Research Question (RQ) 1
To what extent were factors of production utilised by the stationery store at Bright School for expansion during the period Jan to Dec 2017? To answer RQ 1, Interview questions 2), 3), 4) and 5) and the final accounts, ledgers and journals were utilised. 2) In order to increase sales did you have to acquire more land? 3) What was the effect on employment of workers as a result of expansion? 4) Was it necessary to acquire more capital to increase sales? 5) Was more effort required from you the entrepreneur/employee due to desire to increase sales?

23. Data Analysis RQ 1
There was an increase in the number of employees by 100% in Capital was expanded by 20% and the owner was now required to expend more effort in supervising the additional employees and managing the additional risk. There was no change to the factor of production land.
Factors of Production
2016
2017
Labour
2 employees
4 employees
Capital
$50 000
Additional loan from bank for $10 000
Used to purchase additional stock
Land
$20 000
Entrepreneurship
Managing 2 employees
Managing 4 employees
Additional risk from new loan
Decision to expand

24. Graph showing % increase in utilisation of Factors of Production (Presentation RQ1)

25. Conclusion MARK SCHEME
Conclusion succinctly summarizes the project – 1–2 marks
Conclusion is logical and based on findings – 1–2 marks

26. Conclusion cont’d
 1. There was greater utilisation of factors of production in than Utilisation of capital, labour and entrepreneurship all increased while there was no change to land.

27. Recommendations
Recommendations are realistic and informed by findings – 1–2 marks
Recommendations contribute to a better
understanding of the topic/issue/problem –1–2 marks

28. Recommendations cont’d
1. The firm can continue to expand to meet increasing demand in the short-run until it reaches full capacity.
2. The firm can open another branch at another location.

29. References
Bibliography contains names of authors, name of publisher(s), names and dates of publication, and are written in alphabetical order – 1 mark

30. References cont’d APA - www.apastyle.org Websites
Websites
Author, A. (date). Title of document [Format description]. Retrieved from
Interviews
Informational interviews: If you have interviewed someone for information about your topic and that person has agreed to be identified as a source, cite the source as a personal communication (in text only):
G. Fink-Nottle, personal communication, April 5, 2011
Chicago Manual Example
Last, First M. Book. City: Publisher, Year Published.

31. References
Chicago Manual - Book by One Author 1. William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! (New York: Vintage Books, 1990), 271.

32. Appendices Data collection instruments Financial Statements
Other sources of data
Please remember to include the mark scheme utilized to mark each candidates project

33. Overall presentation MARK SCHEME
Consistently uses correct spelling and grammar – 1 mark
Expression of ideas logical and unambiguous – 1 mark

34. Assignments and due dates
The listing below is due for September 3rd 2018.
Cover page
Table of Contents
Topic, Issue or Problem, Research Questions
Objectives of the Project
Background
Methodology
Presentation and Analysis of Data

35. List of Suggested Topics
The effectiveness of implementing a point of sale system at a school cafeteria: a case study.
An investigation into ways in which ICT affects what people do at home, school and the work environment.
The impact of increasing petrol prices on the taxi operators in the community of Seaside.
The impact of unemployment in my community.
A study of the feasibility of offering a courier service to my community.
An investigation to determine how the employed marketing strategy affects the demand for banana bread at Lue’s Bakery

36. List of Suggested Topics cont’d
How does the availability of resources affect production on the school farm.
An investigation into the reasons why students prefer to purchase lunch from outside vendors as opposed to the school’s cafeteria.
An analysis of the impact of the implementation of the Property Tax on a named Sole Trader.
An analysis of the impact of an increase in expenditure on productivity and profitability at A & B Limited for the period January 2017 to December 2017.
To investigate how the introduction of ICT has impacted on the sales and profitability of the school’s co-operative.

37. WEBSITE AND INFO ACCESS
Use the website below for further assistance and clarification.
sjsbuisness.wordpress.com