← Internal factors in a global business
Reading the notation
Four internal factors rotate through every paper, but the ANSWER SHAPE is fixed regardless of which factor comes up — learn the shape once.📖 Terms used in this standard
4 termsCover the right column and check you can say what each one means.
- Internal factor
- Something the business itself controls — its quality system, its innovation culture, how it manages change, or how it protects its intellectual property — as opposed to an external factor like a competitor or exchange rate.
- Benefit / cost pair
- Almost every part asks for ONE benefit and ONE cost of a named decision, each tied to a specific measure (market share, brand, profit, economic sustainability) or a specific group (the business, staff, or customers).
- "How likely is it that…"
- A justified judgement, not a description: state a position, give the strongest reason for it, acknowledge the strongest reason against, then say which outweighs the other and why. This is the standard's Excellence hook, and it recurs in almost every part (iii).
- Economic sustainability
- The business can keep operating and generating enough profit to survive long term, without depleting the resources (financial, human, natural) it depends on. Not a synonym for profit — a business can be profitable this year and economically unsustainable.