Lesson 4.1.1

4.1.1 Outsourcing Quiz: NCFE Business & Enterprise, Unit 4

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

This lesson explains outsourcing, where a business pays another firm to carry out part of its work. It covers the reasons firms do it, including cost, speed, quality, specialist equipment and flexibility, with real examples such as payroll, cleaning, security and phone assembly, and the main drawback of losing control.

Key points

  • Outsourcing means paying an outside firm to do a task, so the people doing it are employed by that other firm.
  • Apple outsources assembly of its iPhones to Foxconn, avoiding the cost of building its own factories and allowing order sizes to change.
  • A small firm can save money by paying an agency to run payroll instead of employing a full HR department.
  • Outsourcing can meet a tight deadline, because a specialist firm already has the equipment and staff to finish quickly.
  • A specialist supplier can offer a higher standard, such as a cleaning firm with trained staff and industrial equipment.
  • Hiring a firm that owns rarely used equipment, like a drone, is cheaper than buying kit that sits idle.
  • The main drawback is less control, because if the supplier is late or careless it is still the business's name on the product.

Key terms

Outsourcing
Paying another business to carry out a task or process on your behalf.
Supplier
A business that provides goods or services to another business.
Specialist equipment
Costly machinery or tools that are only worth owning if used often.
Flexibility
The ability to buy in extra work or labour only when demand requires it.
Quality of work
How well a job is done, often higher when a specialist firm carries it out.
Control
A business's ability to manage how, when and to what standard work is done.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. What does it mean when a business outsources part of its work?

    • Merging companies
    • Paying another firm
    • Selling the business
    • Hiring extra staff

  2. Apple does not build its own iPhones. Which firm assembles most of them under contract?

    • Sony
    • Samsung
    • Foxconn
    • Huawei

  3. Which primary reason drives outsourcing when printing 200 orders in a day?

    • Better quality
    • Tight deadlines
    • Lower taxes
    • Cheaper rent

  4. What is the main financial benefit of outsourcing a small firm's payroll?

    • Faster delivery
    • Lower costs
    • More floor space
    • Higher sales

  5. Paying a specialist firm for a nightly deep clean relies on what reason?

    • Lower transport
    • Faster speed
    • Cheaper materials
    • Better quality

  6. Which job do small firms typically outsource due to expensive specialist kit?

    • Answering phones
    • Drone photography
    • Basic cleaning
    • Daily accounting

  7. What is a common drawback of outsourcing business tasks?

    • Lower quality staff
    • Higher taxes
    • Loss of control
    • More paperwork

  8. Which business activity counts as outsourcing?

    • Buying new tills
    • Training staff
    • Opening branches
    • Paying an agency

  9. Which type of firm is a nightclub most likely to use for door staff?

    • Security firm
    • IT consultancy
    • Cleaning agency
    • Catering company

  10. How does hiring agency drivers for the summer help a seasonal business?

    • Lower tax
    • Higher revenue
    • Flexible staffing
    • Cheaper fuel

  11. What is the primary aim of quality assurance?

    • Preventing faults
    • Fixing returns
    • Inspecting items
    • Scrapping goods

  12. What is a main drawback of mass customisation compared to standard flow lines?

    • Slower speeds
    • Fewer buyers
    • Lower quality
    • Higher costs

  13. What is the primary long-term gain of providing excellent customer service?

    • Repeat trade
    • Lower overheads
    • Higher taxes
    • Cheaper materials

  14. What does the Japanese term Kaizen translate to in business?

    • Continuous improvement
    • Quick liquidation
    • Total outsourcing
    • Mass production

  15. Which production method involves making single unique items to order?

    • Cell production
    • Job production
    • Flow production
    • Batch production

  16. How are operational staff typically involved in Kaizen schemes?

    • Setting selling prices
    • Auditing annual accounts
    • Suggesting workstation improvements
    • Firing poor managers

  17. A car plant checks each part as it is fitted, so faults are caught before the next stage. Which method is this?

    • Just-in-time stock
    • Total quality management
    • Quality assurance
    • Quality control

  18. What is a major benefit of consistently high product quality?

    • Higher borrowing costs
    • Increased tax rates
    • Word-of-mouth growth
    • Slower staff turnover

  19. What does quality sampling involve during manufacturing checks?

    • Testing 100 percent
    • Ignoring all defects
    • Destroying every product
    • Testing a few items

  20. What is the main objective of lean production?

    • Maximising stock levels
    • Cutting waste
    • Increasing idle time
    • Raising production costs

All NCFE Business & Enterprise quizzes