Zimbabwe Form 1 Business Enterprise and Skills Syllabus

This syllabus introduces students to the foundational concepts of entrepreneurship and business operations. It covers topics such as the enterprising environment, business formulation and growth, business planning, operations management, enterprise finance and accounting, and people in business enterprises.

The Enterprising Environment

• Economic Systems: This topic covers the different types of economic systems (command, free market, mixed) and their implications for businesses. It also explores economic philosophies such as capitalism, socialism, communism, and indigenization.
• Overview of Enterprising: Students learn about the concept of enterprising, the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, and the benefits and drawbacks of entrepreneurship. Activities may include assessing enterprising activities that learners practice at school and home.
• The Internal and External Environment: This section focuses on analyzing the internal and external factors that influence a business using tools like SWOT, PESTEL, and Porter's Five Forces model.
• Multinational Corporations (MNCs): Students examine the objectives and challenges faced by MNCs, as well as their impact on host countries.
• Globalization and the Business Enterprise: This topic explores the effects of globalization on businesses.
• Economic Integration: Students learn about the concept of economic integration and its importance for enterprises.
• Business Stakeholders: This section identifies internal and external stakeholders and their roles within a business.
• Resources and Capabilities: Students learn to differentiate between resources and capabilities and explain their importance for a business.

Enterprise Formulation and Growth

• Forms of Business Enterprises: This topic covers different forms of businesses, such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations, and how to start them. Students also evaluate the different forms of business enterprises.
• Main Features of Business Enterprises: This section explores the characteristics of businesses in the private and public sectors, including incorporated and unincorporated businesses, limited liability, and separate legal personality.
• Privatization: Students learn about privatization, commercialization, and nationalization, and their impact.
• Assistance to Business Start-Ups: This topic identifies the challenges faced by new businesses and the forms of assistance available to them.

Business Planning

• Business Enterprise Objectives: Students analyze business objectives such as growth, profit, and survival, and their importance.
• Business Plan: This section covers the concept, purpose, and evaluation of a business plan.
• Designing and Implementing Business Plans: Students learn the processes involved in creating and implementing business plans.
• Enterprise Project: Students may undertake an enterprise project and develop a business plan and implementation scheme.

Enterprise Finance and Accounting

• Enterprise Finance: This topic explores the need for finance in a business, including revenue expenditure, capital expenditure, and operational expenditure. It also covers ways of managing working capital.
• Sources of Finance: Students assess various internal and external sources of finance and the factors to consider when choosing them.
• Accounting Concepts: This section introduces basic accounting concepts such as double-entry, accruals, money measurement, prudence, realization, and business entity.
• Users of Accounting Information: Students identify the users of accounting information and evaluate its usefulness to different stakeholders.
• Financial Statements: This topic covers the preparation and interpretation of financial statements, including the income statement and statement of financial position.
• Depreciation: Students learn about the concept of depreciation and different methods of calculating it.
• Stock Valuation: This section covers methods of stock valuation, such as FIFO, LIFO, and AVCO.

People in Business Enterprises

• Management: Students learn about management concepts, functions, roles, and theories.
• Motivation: This topic explores the concept of motivation, different motivation theories, and financial and non-financial methods of motivating employees.
• Leadership: Students examine leadership concepts, qualities, styles, and theories.
• Organizational Structure: This section covers the need for and nature of organizational structure, organizational charts, and different approaches to organizational structure.
• Communication in Business: Students analyze the importance of communication, different communication methods, barriers to effective communication, and ways to reduce these barriers.

Markets and Marketing

• Purpose of Marketing: This topic defines market and marketing and analyzes the role of marketing in a business.
• Enterprise and Markets: Students learn about different types of markets, including local, regional, global, physical, and virtual markets.
• Market Research: This section covers market research techniques, sources of data, sampling techniques, and data presentation and analysis.
• Market Segmentation: Students learn about the basis for market segmentation and how to segment a market.
• Marketing Strategies: This topic covers various marketing strategies, including target marketing, product positioning, differentiation, mass marketing, and niche marketing.

Operations Management

• Nature of Production: This topic covers the stages of production (primary, secondary, and tertiary), the production process, and the concepts of value addition and beneficiation.
• Costing: Students learn about different types of production costs and costing approaches.
• Production and Productivity: This section covers measures of productivity and ways to improve productivity.
• Production Methods: Students explore different production methods, such as job, batch, flow, and line production.
• Capital vs. Labor Intensity: This topic explains the concepts of labor and capital intensity and their benefits and limitations.
• Scale of Operation: Students discuss the advantages and disadvantages of operating at different scales.

This comprehensive syllabus provides a strong foundation for students interested in pursuing business and entrepreneurship.