1. Principles of Business
CURRICULUM FORMS 3 - 5
A division of the Caribbean Secondary
Education Certificate Syllabus
Effective September 2010
Based on the following allocation of periods
Form 3 3 – 35 minutes periods per week
Form 4 & 5 5 – 35 minutes periods per week
Business Education Officer
Ministry of Education, Sports, Youth and Gender Affairs

2. Introduction
This curriculum breaks down the content of the CSEC Syllabus over a three year period. It should be
used in conjunction with the CSEC Syllabus.
Purpose
The purpose is to standardize when the content of CSEC Syllabus is being taught in all secondary
schools.
Teaching Strategies
In order to cater for the different learning styles in the classroom, teachers are urged to use various
teaching strategies and styles to meet the individual needs of their students. Besides the usual “chalk
and talk” teachers should try to incorporate as many of the following strategies:
Independent Activities
Cooperative Learning
Visuals
Simulations
Peer Tutoring
Hands-on
Technology Integration
Projects
Games
Along with the different teaching styles there should be a variety of class activities to evaluate your
lessons to include:
 Questions & Answers
 Puzzles
 Quiz
 Games
 Web Quest
 Test
 Book Quest
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
2

3. FORM 3
SECTION TOPIC CONTENT
a) Definition and explanation of the following terms and
concepts
- Enterprise -Entrepreneurship
- Barter -Profit
- Loss -Trade
- Organization -Economy
- Producer -Consumer
- Exchange -Goods
- Services -Market
- Commodity -Capital
- Labour -specialization
b) brief history of trading instruments form subsistence
economy, including the use of the following
- bills of exchange - credit cards
- electronic transfer - tele-banking and e-commerce
c) reasons for establishing a business
d) forms of business organizations and arrangements
definition, formation and management of
The Nature of - sole trader - partnership
- Co-operatives
1 Business - Companies (including conglomerates and multi-nationals)
- franchise
- state corporation and nationalized industries
- local and municipal authorities
- government departments
- Concept of private and public sectors
e) types of economic systems
- traditional - command or planned
- free or capitalist - mixed (public and private)
f) owners, employees, customers and all other members of
society
g) role of employers, employees, consumers and
government
h) functions of a business in satisfying needs and wants
through the provision of goods and services
i) economic, financial, social, political and ethical
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
3

4. a) Functional areas of a business
- production - finance
-marketing - personnel
b) The functions of management
- planning -organizing
-directing -controlling
-coordinating -delegating
-motivating
c) Management responsibilities to
- owners and shareholders -society
Internal -employees -costumers
2 -government
Organization
Environment d) The construction of simple organizational charts
d) the interpretation of simple organizational charts
e) The characteristics of a good leader
f) The advantages and disadvantages of different leadership
styles
g) Internal sources of conflict
h) Employer strategies and strategies used by employees
i) Conflict resolution strategies including mediation,
arbitration and the value of trade union representation
j) guidelines for establishing good relations between
managers and employees
k) the value of teamwork within an organization
- definition - advantages
- disadvantages
l) The communication process and strategies for effective
communication within an organization
m) the concept of MIS in an organization
n) Benefits of a MIS system
Challenges of a MIS System
o) Economic, social psychological and physiological needs
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
4

5. a) definition and concepts of a contract
b) offer and acceptance, competence of parties, intentions to
create legal relations, consideration
c) special contracts including mortgages, sale of land and
insurance
d) use of case studies of determine the validity of contracts
e) concepts of offer and invitation to treat
f) concepts of offer and acceptance
Legal aspects
4 of business
g) definition of discharge, types of discharge and methods of
discharge
h) the importance of record keeping in a business, including
its value in satisfying requirements for taxation and auditing
i) preparation of various business documents
j) transport documents including import license, bill of
lading and airway bills
k) instruments of payment including cheque, money order,
bank draft, debit card, credit card and telegraphic money
transfer
l) interpretation and significance of information on
instruments of payment
m) the concept of documentary credit
n) the concept of insurance and assurance
o) the concept of pooling of risks
p) types of insurance policies
q) the value of insurance coverage in lowering the risks
associated with business
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
5

6. FORM 4
SECTION TOPIC CONTENT
a) factors of production: Land, Labour, Capital, Enterprise
b) Caribbean industries developed from agricultural produce
and mining
c) The effects of efficiency in the production of goods and
services
d) Productivity as it relates to the efficiency of labour
e) Migration and its positive and negative effects on the
labour force
f) Importance of entrepreneurial organizational skills
g) Fixed, working and venture capital
h) Production levels: subsistence, domestic consumption,
surplus and export
i) types of production
- extractive - construction
- manufacturing - service
j) Cottage industries
5 Production - home-based
- small scale
- mainly manual
- use of local raw materials
- use of family members labour
k) Linkage industries
- backward - forward
l) Factors affecting location
- geographical
- availability of raw materials and supplies
- infrastructure - power
- water - transport
- health facilities - governmental regulation
m) Functions of a small
n) Growth of a Business and effects on
- organizational structure - capital
- labour - scale of production
- use of technology - potential for export
o) capital-intensive versus labour-intensive production in
developing , countries, mechanization and automation,
computer aided design and computer aided Instruction
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
6

7. a) Definition of market and marketing
b) Marketing activities
- market research - pricing
- packaging - branding
- sales promotion - advertising
- distribution
c) Marketing mix
- product - price
- place - promotion
d) Market Research
- concept - definition
e) Reasons for conducting market research. Identification of
- consumer taste - competition
- consumer behaviour
f) Factors that influence consumer behaviour
- price - price of substitutes
-quality - taste
-tradition - income
- spending patterns - brand loyalty
g) market structures
- perfect competition - monopoly
6 Marketing - monopolistic competition - oligopoly
h) Pricing: determinants of price
- demand and supply
-concept of equilibrium price or market clearing price
i) packaging
- presentation - use of brand names
j) concept of copyright
- producers or entrepreneurs - consumers
k) concept of patent
l) methods of promoting sales
- advertising - public relations
- sales promotion - personal selling
m) Selling
- salesmen and their approaches
- merchandising and adjusting of pricing policy
- methods of maintaining good consumer – firm
Relationship
n) Terms of Sales
- cash - credit
- hire purchase - cash and trade discount
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
7

8. o) Functions of consumer organizations
- the rights and protection of consumers
- role of the Bureau of Standards
- role of the Ombudsman
p) The distribution chain
- manufacturer - wholesaler
- retailer - consumer
q) Methods of retailing
- shops - department stores
- mail order - e-commerce
- tele-marketing - vending machines
r) Forms of Transport
-land -air - sea
s) Importance of transport in domestic, regional and foreign
trade
t) Methods of transporting specific goods
- oil and gas – pipelines and tankers
- timber – rivers and barges
u) Relationship between the availability of airport, harbour
and docking facilities and the efficient distribution of
goods
v) Measures of mitigate problems of distribution
a) Functions of commercial banks
b) Services offered by commercial banks
c) Functions of the central bank
d) Regulatory role of the Central Bank in its dealings with
commercial banks
e) Allocation of income relative to commitments through the
use of a budget
Business
7 f) Sources of short-term and long-term financing including
Finance loans from government agencies
g) Forms of savings
- as deferred income and investment as risk bearing to
make profit
- forms of savings
- forms of investments
h) The role of the stock market
- concept of the stock market
- terminologies
- on-line trading
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
8

9. a) The concept of entrepreneurship
b) Role of the entrepreneur in conceptualizing, planning,
accessing funds, organizing, operating and evaluating the
Performance of a business.
c) Personal traits and leadership qualities
- creative - innovative
- flexible - goal-oriented
- persistent - persevering
- propensity to take calculated risks
d) Reasons for wanting to start a business
- desire for financial independence
- self-fulfilment - self-actualization
e) steps for establishing a business
- conceptualization - research
-identification of resources -creation of business plan
- acquisition of funds - operation of the business
f) role of the production, marketing and finance, legal, and
development departments in a business
g) primary and secondary sources of information for
Establishing conducting research
3
a Business h) the necessity for short-term, medium- term and long-term
planning in operating a business
i) local, regional and global rules for conducting business,
including local government regulations
j) opportunities and challenges encountered by different
types of organization
k) sources of capital including venture capital
l) collateral
- concept -Evaluation of different types
-the value of collateral
m) analysis of all the elements of a business plan, including
the executive summary and the operational, marketing
and financial
n) the purposes of a feasibility study
o) ethical and legal issues,
p) consequences of unethical and illegal practices in
business
- misleading advertisements -withholding of tax
- unethical disposal of waste - money laundering
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
9

10. FORM 5
SECTION TOPIC CONTENT
a) Responsibilities of government in an economy
- security of the State
-protection and general welfare of citizens
-job security and severance benefits to workers
-protection of the environment
-maintenance of a safe environment for investors
b) Adherence by businesses to laws
c) Consumer protection legislation
Role of
8 Government in d) The role of taxes in raising revenue, income redistribution
an Economy and control of spending
e) Direct taxes and indirect taxes
f) Concepts of progressive, regressive and proportional taxation
g) Forms of government assistance to business
h) Impact of social services provided by government
- health care - National Insurance Scheme
- education - roads and transportation
a) Indicators of a country’s standards of living
- level of consumption of goods and services
- average disposable income of the population
- level of national ownership of capital equipment
- access of modern technology
- level of investment in research and technology
b) Indicators of a country’s quality of life
Social - extent of security enjoyed
Accounting - availability of health, educational and recreational facilities
9 and Global
- diet and nutrition
- life expectancy
Trade - rate of infant mortality
- access to public utilities
c) The concept of national income and its variants
d) Approaches to measure
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- Gross National Product (GNP)
- National Income (NI)
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
10

11. - Per Capita Income
-Advantages and disadvantages of each approach
e) Concepts of economic growth, negative growth, growth
without development, the quantitative nature of growth and
the qualitative nature of development
f) The role of human resources development in economic
growth and development
g) Reasons for international trade
h) Concepts of balance of trade and balance of payments
i) Measures to address balance of payments problems
- tariffs - licenses
- quotas - exchange control
- devaluation - borrowing from another country
- accepting gifts from other countries
- importing on credit
- drawing on the resources of the International Monetary Fund
or other international financial institutions
a) Major Economic Institutions and Systems
- Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
- Caribbean Single Market and Economy(CSME)
- Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
- World Bank
- Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
- Organization of Eastern Caribbean States(OECS)
- Organization of American States(OAS)
- Economic Commission for Latin American
Countries(ECLAC)
- Association of Caribbean States(ACS)
Regional and - European Union(EU)
Global - World Trade Organization(WTO)
10 - Caribbean Basin Initiative(CBI)
Business
- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC)
Environment - Eastern Caribbean Common Market (ECCM)
- North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA)
- Caribbean Canadian Agreement(CARIBCAN)
- Free Trade Area of the Americas(FTAA)
b) Major economic problems in the Caribbean
c) Possible solutions of economic problems
- access to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
- development of human resources
- development of manufacturing sector
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
11

12. Students should be tested using past paper question under exam conditions.
Teachers should follow the guidelines for the SBA Assignments as outlined in the
Syllabus. Students should be given clear guidelines on their SBA Projects as
outlined in the Syllabus. The SBA component should begin no later than Term 1
in Form 5.
Term 2 Form 5 should be used for completion of SBA Projects, revision and
further practice of Past Papers.
Prepared by Jacqueline Richardson
Business Education Officer
12