A Level Business (A2) MCQs with answers
Practise A Level Business (A2) (9609) with 361 exam-style MCQs, each with the answer and a short explanation. Every test is marked the moment you finish and shows your score chapter by chapter, so you know what to revise next. It is free and needs no sign-up.
361 questions · 5 chapters
What each chapter covers 5 chapters
The questions follow the syllabus chapter by chapter. You can test the whole subject or one chapter at a time.
- Business and its environment 49 questionsExternal influences on business activity, Business strategy
- Human resource management 62 questionsOrganisational structure, Business communication, Leadership, Human resource management (HRM) strategy
- Marketing 39 questionsMarketing analysis, Marketing strategy
- Operations management 90 questionsLocation and scale, Quality management, Operations strategy
- Finance and accounting 121 questionsFinancial statements, Analysis of published accounts, Investment appraisal, Finance and accounting strategy
Sample A Level Business (A2) MCQs with answers 12 questions
12 questions from the test, one or two from each chapter. Try each one, then open the answer.
1. What is an environmental audit?
- A
a review of a business's environmental impact against its targets and regulations
- B
a check that a business's accounts give a true and fair view of its profit for the year
- C
a measure of the number of customers who buy a business's products each month
- D
a survey of what employees think about their working conditions and pay
Show answer
Answer: A. An environmental audit assesses the impact of a business on the environment, for example waste, emissions and energy use, against targets or legal standards.
2. Shop managers complain that instructions from head office often arrive late and contradict each other. Which improvement is most likely to help?
- A
a single weekly bulletin from head office that each shop confirms it has read
- B
more informal conversations between individual head office staff and shop staff over the phone
- C
more messages sent directly to shop managers by each head office department
- D
removing the shop managers from the chain of communication with head office
Show answer
Answer: A. A single, regular, confirmed channel avoids contradiction and delay. More uncoordinated messages would make the problem worse.
3. A food company finds that tastes, religious rules and packaging regulations differ widely between the countries it sells in. Which approach is most appropriate?
- A
use one standard product and one advertisement in every market it enters
- B
stop selling in every market that is very different from the home market
- C
fix a single price in all markets whatever the local costs and incomes are
- D
keep local differences by adapting products and promotion in each market
Show answer
Answer: D. Where preferences and regulations differ, adapting the marketing mix to local conditions keeps products acceptable, although it raises costs.
4. Which of the following is a common problem when a business introduces TQM?
- A
Employees resist the changes to their working methods and responsibilities
- B
Employees are given less training than before
- C
Quality problems are hidden until they are found at final inspection by managers
- D
Customers complain more about delivery times
Show answer
Answer: A. TQM needs a change of culture, which can meet resistance, and it requires more training and involvement rather than less. It aims to find problems early rather than at final inspection.
5. What is the purpose of the auditors’ report in a company’s annual report?
- A
To give an independent opinion that the accounts give a true and fair view
- B
To prepare the accounts and the notes on behalf of the company’s directors
- C
To forecast the company’s profit for the year after the accounts date
- D
To decide the size of the dividend paid to the shareholders each year
Show answer
Answer: A. Auditors are independent of the directors and report on whether the financial statements are properly prepared and fairly presented. They do not write the accounts or set dividends.
6. More consumers now prefer products from sustainable sources. Which decision by a coffee retailer is the clearest response to this trend?
- A
cutting prices for all drinks by 10% for a month to raise the number of customers
- B
opening extra shops in the city centre to reach a larger number of customers
- C
buying beans from certified sustainable farms and promoting this in its marketing
- D
extending its opening hours in the evenings to increase sales of coffee
Show answer
Answer: C. The retailer responds to the shift in preferences by changing its sourcing and marketing. The other options are pricing and location decisions that do not address sustainability.
7. Which leadership role usually involves setting the long-term direction of the company and being answerable to shareholders?
- A
the supervisors
- B
the worker representatives
- C
the directors
- D
the team members
Show answer
Answer: C. Directors, led by the board, decide overall strategy and are accountable to the owners. Supervisors manage day-to-day work at the operating level.
8. Which is a benefit of marketing planning?
- A
it removes all uncertainty about the market in which the firm sells
- B
it guarantees that the firm will always beat its competitors in the market
- C
it sets targets against which marketing performance can be measured
- D
it removes the need for the firm to carry out any market research
Show answer
Answer: C. A plan sets measurable targets and coordinates activity, so results can be reviewed. It cannot remove uncertainty or guarantee success.
9. A firm with three factories uses ERP to see machine usage in each plant and moves orders to the plant with spare capacity. Which improvement is this?
- A
Faster payment of dividends
- B
Lower rates of taxation
- C
Better capacity utilisation
- D
A wider product range
Show answer
Answer: C. Shared data on capacity lets the firm balance the workload between sites, so less capacity is idle. It does not affect tax or dividends.
10. What is the effect of a depreciation charge on the financial statements?
- A
It reduces cash held and also increases the profit for the year
- B
It increases the value of the non-current asset in the statement of financial position
- C
It reduces profit and also reduces the amount of cash held by the business
- D
It reduces profit and the carrying value of the non-current asset
Show answer
Answer: D. Depreciation is an expense in the statement of profit or loss, lowering profit, and it reduces the asset’s value in the statement of financial position. No cash leaves the business when depreciation is charged.
11. In a country the population is 100 million and 32% are under 15. Twenty years later the population is 140 million and 24% are under 15. A school-supplies company says that demand from children must have fallen. Which is a correct comment?
- A
the number of children has risen from 32 million to 33.6 million, so demand from children has not fallen
- B
the number of children has fallen from 32 million to 24 million, so demand from children has fallen
- C
the number of children has fallen from 32 million to 26.6 million, so demand from children has fallen
- D
the number of children is unchanged, because the fall in the proportion offsets the rise in total population
Show answer
Answer: A. 24% × 140 million = 33.6 million, up from 32 million. A falling percentage does not mean a falling number when the total population grows strongly.
12. A chief executive has a span of control of 5, and every manager below has a span of 5. There are four levels of employees below the chief executive. How many employees are at the lowest level?
- A
125
- B
3,125
- C
20
- D
625
Show answer
Answer: D. Level 1 has 5, level 2 has 25, level 3 has 125 and level 4 has 54 = 625 employees. 125 stops one level short and 3,125 adds one level too many.
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- Quick check. 10 questions drawn fresh each time, about 10 minutes.
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When you get a question wrong, a short note called "The idea behind this" explains the topic it belongs to, with the rules to remember and a worked example.
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The 361 MCQs are our own, written to the syllabus in the style of the exam.
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