Business Studies 2020 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• read the question carefully to ensure that they do not miss important components of the question
• have a clear understanding of key words in the question and recognise the intent of the question and its requirements
• use the first page of the answer booklet for an extended response to develop a plan to assist in the logical sequencing of information
• engage with what the question is asking rather than presenting a pre-prepared response
• relate to the question throughout the response rather than just at the beginning
• sustain their judgements, where appropriate, throughout the response with a clear connection to the question
• use relevant business terms and concepts, where appropriate, to support their response
• apply relevant business case study/studies and contemporary business issues where appropriate
• present a sustained, logical and cohesive response that addresses the question where appropriate
• review their response to ensure that it addresses the question requirements.

Question 21

In better responses, students were able to:

• respond to the question directly using correct terms, such as internal stakeholders and human resource influences.

Areas for students to improve include:

• interpreting the question including responding appropriately to key terms
• integrating examples and case studies into responses.

Question 22

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify the elements of a SWOT and reference its purpose in planning and developing marketing strategies
• understand the difference between pricing methods and pricing strategies
• provide reasons for use of an appropriate pricing method
• differentiate standardised marketing strategy from standardised operations
• provide supported reasons for the use of a standardised marketing strategy including global branding, economies of scale of promotional materials leading to reduced costs
• reference the guitar manufacturer of the stimulus.

Areas for students to improve include:

• referring to the purpose for conducting a SWOT
• distinguishing between pricing methods and pricing strategies
• understanding the impact of a standardised marketing strategy.

Question 23

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify the strategic role using the terms ‘cost leadership’ and/or ‘product/service differentiation’
• provide detailed ways the strategic role could be used to assist the business
• demonstrate knowledge of the influences and appropriate strategies for two relevant operations the business could use  
• provide detailed implications of the strategies.

Areas for students to improve include:

• engaging with the stimulus material and not just rewording it
• knowing the difference between operations and marketing concepts
• improving the structure of their responses by clearly linking operations’ influences with the strategies
• providing analysis by drawing out relevant implications.

Question 24  

In better responses, students were able to:

• engage with the stimulus material to correctly calculate key financial ratios using the correct units
• demonstrate their understanding of comparative ratio analysis by interpreting how the selected business compares to the industry standard
• assess business performance using comparative ratio analysis
• recommend and explain valid strategies to improve financial performance.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding place value when calculating ratios and using the correct units associated with each ratio
• demonstrating a clear understanding of key financial ratios and their interpretation.

Question 25

In better responses, students were able to: 

• correctly provide characteristics and features of two distribution issues, such as transport, warehousing or inventory
• provide clear reasons in favour of a promotional strategy
• link possible changes the business needs to make to address both volume and quality concerns
• interpret and apply the stimulus material to make links across all three areas of the question
• address the different key words in the different parts of the question.

Areas for students to improve include:

• being able to describe specific physical distribution issues, for example, warehousing, inventory and transport
• clearly justifying a promotional strategy for this business, not simply explaining a promotional strategy this business could use
• relating operations processes to volume and quality. Some students were unable to adequately link the operations process to volume and/or quality
• greater integration of the stimulus material throughout the entire response, particularly the final section.

Question 26

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide a comprehensive explanation of a range of financial management strategies
• clearly articulate financial strategies in detail, with links to improving profit and growth
• evaluate appropriate financial strategies which businesses use to achieve profit and growth using criteria or evidence from case studies
• use integrated case study examples to illustrate profit and growth objectives
• respond in a sustained and logical manner, typically with one strategy linking to profit and/or growth objectives per paragraph integrating case studies, followed by judgement.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using effective methods of judgement in evaluating the relationships between financial management strategies and profit/growth
• making clear distinctions between financial management strategies and both growth and profit objectives, rather than simply implying that profit causes the growth of a business
• linking case study examples to illustrate the focus of the question, rather than a general unrelated description of a case study.

Question 27

In better responses, students were able to:

• choose the correct indicators and strategies
• provide a variety of detailed indicators that link well with the selected strategies  
• provide depth of knowledge specific for each strategy using sub-points to expand, for example, internal versus external recruitment; details on how a grievance procedure can assist in workplace disputes
• make clear links between the indicator and the strategy
• make a clear judgement of the relationship between the strategies and indicators through the case study
• draw out both the positive and negative relationships between the strategies and the indicators
• demonstrate sustained judgement of each indicator throughout the response
• move beyond the indicator as the criteria of their evaluation and consider the other positive/negative impacts of implementing the strategy
• investigate more than one strategy that could be used to improve an indicator, or how one strategy could improve a number of indicators.

Areas for students to improve include:

• making specific judgements/criteria when evaluating, rather than just saying a strategy is effective. For example, the positive or negative impacts of using a strategy
• incorporating and applying case studies into their response rather than using them as a sentence at the end of a paragraph
• providing the why and the how of the relationship between strategies and indicators
• including sufficient depth to demonstrate an understanding of the strategies/indicators.