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BTEC
Higher Nationals in Business and Business Learning
Contents
Introduction
to Business Learning
Resources
Readings
In the fields of neuropsychology, personal development and education, learning is one of the most important mental function of humans, animals and artificial cognitive systems. It relies on the acquisition of different types of knowledge supported by perceived information. It leads to the development of new capacities, skills, values, understanding, and preferences. Its goal is the increasing of individual and group experience. Learning functions can be performed by different brain learning processes, which depend on the mental capacities of learning subject, the type of knowledge which has to be acquitted, as well as on socio-cognitive and environmental circumstances[1].
A depiction of the world's oldest university, the University of Bologna, Italy
Learning ranges from simple forms of learning such as habituation and classical conditioning seen in many animal species, to more complex activities such as play, seen only in relatively intelligent animals[2][3] and humans. Therefore, in general, a learning can be conscious and not conscious.
For example, for small children, non-conscious learning processes are as natural as breathing. In fact, there is evidence for behavioral learning prenatally, in which habituation has been observed as early as 32 weeks into gestation, indicating that the central nervous system is sufficiently developed and primed for learning and memory to occur very early on in development.[4]
From the social perspective, learning should be the goal of teaching and education.
Conscious learning is a capacity requested by students, therefore is usually goal-oriented and requires a motivation.
Learning has also been mathematically modeled using a differential equation related to an arbitrarily defined knowledge indicator with respect to time, and dependent on a number of interacting factors (constants and variables) such as initial knowledge, motivation, intelligence, knowledge anchorage or resistance, etc.[5][6] Thus, learning does not occur if there is no change in the amount of knowledge even for a long time, and learning is negative if the amount of knowledge is decreasing in time. Inspection of the solution to the differential equation also shows the sigmoid and logarithmic decay learning curves, as well as the knowledge carrying capacity for a given learner.
Introduction
to Business Studies
Tutorials
Related
Workshops
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Activity
The
Functions and Purpose of Businesses - A Business Success?
eBay
was founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. In less than ten
years eBay has grown into one of the world's most recognised
companies. eBay is an on-line auction house and market place,
putting millions of buyers in touch with millions of sellers.
These buyers and sellers trade goods worth in excess of
$15 billion (£9.3 billion). eBay itself makes annual
profits of around $400 million (£248 million). The
company began when Omidyar received complaints from his
wife who was an avid collector of small plastic dispensers
of candy called Pez. She complained that there was little
opportunity for people who collected these items to be able
to exchange them! The company takes a commission from the
transactions that occur between traders; in the first three
months of 2003 it generated revenues of $476,492,000 (£296,000,000)!
The cost to the company of generating those revenues was
$92,000,000, whilst overhead costs were $236,250,000.
'eBay's mission is to provide a global trading platform
where practically anyone can trade practically anything.'
Source: BizEd and eBay
Company Information
Task:
Read
the Learner Support and the information above and answer the questions that
follow:
- eBay
does not 'make' anything in the traditional sense - is it
therefore a business? Justify your answer. (5 Marks)
- Using
examples, explain what inputs eBay might use in conducting
its business. What are eBay's outputs? (5 Marks)
- Explain
eBay'a organisational structure. (4 Marks)
- Using
the figures in the evidence above, calculate the profit
made by eBay in the first 3 months of 2003. Show all your
workings and calculations clearly. (4 Marks)
- What
might a company like eBay use this profit for? (4 Marks)
- What
other factors might help you in deciding whether eBay has
been a success as a business? (Hint: think of other objectives
the business might have - the mission is one example!) (8
Marks)
Total
Marks = 30
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Recommended
Texts
 |
The
Future of Business,
Inter@ctive Edition
Gitman,
Lawrence J.
San Diego State University
McDaniel, Carl
University of Texas, Arlington |
Resources
Learner
Support
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