HSC Business Studies – NSW Australia

If you have any questions for the Amcor assignment please post them here and we’ll get back to you asap.

A few helpful pointers;

1. There is no figure for expenses in your data. For the sake of this assignment you can assume that expenses can be calculate by the following formula. Gross Profit minus Net Profit equals Expenses.
2. For the financial figures you use refer to the Concise report you will notice that it looks very similar to the 1996 information given to you.

Want to test your knowledge of the Change Management acrostics we set up in class? Then go to this link http://quizlet.com/set/124403/ and work through the familiarise, learn and test sections.

Things to do over the holidays in order to be prepared for 2008.

1. Enjoy your holidays. Recharge your batteries. It’s a long year ahead and you need to pace yourself. Then, once you’ve recharged…
2. Complete the test in the green book to see how much of Change Management you’ve understood. Check your answers against the answer sheet given to you.
3. Complete your summary notes of Change Management and Qantas. Take some time to study these and to memorise the acrostics we have developed in class.
4. Page 513 of your text contains a good topic test of Change Management to retest your knowledge after you have studied from your study notes.
5. OK. Now that you have got Change Management under control its time to read ahead on Marketing. Skim through Topic 2 (pg. 198-289) to give you an idea of what the topic contains.
6. Read through Chapter 9 (pg 200-214) to be prepared for the first few lessons back.
7. Skim through your pink book. Try and answer what you can from your existing Year 11 knowledge. If you find the time start working through the rest of the book.
8. That’s it. Not too much but enough to imbed your knowledge of Change Management and to ensure you’ve reviewed Marketing and are ready to go for 2008.
9. If you want to know what to do beyond this add a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Today’s Acrostic is for Change & Social Responsibility with thanks to Hannah & Tahlia.

Students Eat Quirky Turkey, Gobble Everything

Which stands for;

• Social responsibility
• Ecological responsibility
• Quality of working life
• Technology
• Globalisation and cultural diversity
• E-commerce

Every business undergoes change and, as we have seen from our case studies, some do this more successfully (SPC & General Motors) than others (Ansett). However successfully managing change is not only about profit (the bottom line) but also about how well you fulfill your obligations to other stakeholders aside from just the owners and managers. This is often referred to as the “triple bottom line” which states that a business should fulfill three goals (economic, social and environmental) in ordered to be considered succesful.

From our work in class you will know of Kurt Lewin the psychologist who helped to define the process of change with his Unfreeze/Change/Refreeze and Force Field Analsyis Models.

Below is further information on his Force Field Analysis theory of change management.       

We have currently been covering Managing Change Effectively in class. How this will be questioned in the 2008 HSC is unknown but below you will find a classic question from the 2004 paper that blends effective change management with marketing strategies and emplyoment relations. This is an effective way for examiners to measure your learning in this partiicular area.

You are advised to read over this question and to see how you would approach answering this question. Note that this question tests your knowledge from 3 separate topic areas. Whilst we haven’t done much on Employment Relations yet you may still recall enough on the Marketing Strategies we did in Year 11 to answer that part of the question as well.

Answer the question in a writing booklet. Extra writing booklets are available.

In your answer you will be assessed on how well you:

¦ use your knowledge and the information provided
¦ communicate using relevant business terminology and concepts
¦ present a logical, well-structured answer to the question in the form of a business report
Question 26 (20 marks)

Business Basic Phone Company is a retailer of mobile phones. Most of its products have
been sold to customers 25 years of age and over, mainly for business purposes. Its product range, promotion and pricing strategies are tailored to appeal to business organisations.

Business Basic Phone Company has retail outlets in major shopping centres. Customers
need to come to the shop to purchase products and pay accounts. Its employees are mainly  permanent, working 9.00 am–5.00 pm, with some casual staff employed on weekends and  for late-night trading on Thursdays.

In recent years there has been:

• increasing competition in the mobile phone market;
• changes in the type of consumers buying mobile phones;
• changing expectations for mobile phone products and services; and
• changing retailing methods, such as web-based marketing of mobile phones.
These changes have forced Business Basic Phone Company to seek the advice of a
consultant about the directions the business needs to take if it is to remain competitive.

You have been engaged as a consultant by the managing director of Business Basic Phone
Company to prepare a report for the Board.

In your report: propose a marketing strategy that would enable the business to expand its market share; explain the impact of this new strategy on effective employment relations; and recommend strategies for managing this change effectively.

The Marking guidelines given to examiners for this question were as follows;

MARKING GUIDELINES
Criteria Marks for an A response (17-20 out of 20)
• Presents a sustained, logical and well-structured business report and clearly communicates using features of a business report with appropriate business terminology and concepts.
• Puts forward for consideration an appropriate marketing strategy that would enable the business to expand its market share
• Relates cause and effect of the impact of the marketing strategy on effective employment relations
• Provides detailed reasons in favour of strategies for managing the change effectively

Find below our comments on your first assessment task (Change Management). Assessment tasks will be handed back tomorrow (Friday 30th November) at recess in room 8.

Feedback on Assessment Task 1 (Change Management – Qantas)

The acrostic you developed (thanks Bec and Sam) for Reasons for Resistance to Change was; 

Fish Is Chicken In Seafood Crumbs

Which stands for;

Reasons for Resistance to Change

• Financial Costs
• Inertia of Managers & Owners
• Cultural Incompatibility
• Staffing Consideratioons

A reminder about the acrostic we developed for Structural Responses to Change.

Orangutans Feel Students Noses

Which, as you recall, stands for;

Structural Responses to Change

• Outsourcing
• Flatter Structures
• Strategic Alliances
• Network Structures

Just to remind you of the acrostic (not an acronym as I’ve mistakenly called it before) we came up with for Internal Sources of Change.

Angry Educated New Students Now Collide

Which stands for,

Internal Sources of Change

• Accelerating Technology
• E-Commerce
• New Systems & procedures
• New (Business) Cultures