Entries from November 2007 ↓

 

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.

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2004 HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION Business Studies Section III 20 marks
Attempt Question 26
Allow about 35 minutes for this section

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.

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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

This is the syllabus for both Preliminary and HSC Business Studies containing all topics areas. You can download it from here (right click and ‘Save Target as’) or view it directly on this site by clicking ‘view’.

Business Studies Syllabus

In the HSC paper the very last section (Section IV) has 2 questions. Both questions assess your knowledge from multiple topic areas but, most importantly, they require you to “use your knowledge and relevant business case study/studies“.

What this means is that in this section you must refer to the Qantas case study. However you may also refer to additional material on businesses that you have read about or that you recall from our class discussions.

In this year’s paper the 2 questions you had a choice between were as follows;

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Question 27 (20 marks)Outline the external sources of change for a business to expand internationally, and critically analyse the strategies a business may use to ensure ethical practices in a global environment.

OR

Question 28 (20 marks)

Outline the external sources of change for a business to expand internationally, and critically analyse the strategies a business may use to manage employment relations in a global environment.

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By this stage of the course you should be able to answer the first part of the question (which is the same for both Q27 and Q28). To give you a guideline about length you should be able to produce about 5-6, exam booklet, pages of material to “outline the external sources of change for a business to expand internationally”. Some of you have already been working on this as part of the in class extension work so could you post (in the comments) the plans you drew up in response to the first half of Q27 & Q28.

As a parting gift Claudia has left us with her drawing of the acronym we made up for External Sources of Change. From the syllabus;

Charging Elephants Fall, Giraffes Sleep, Lions Play Tag

nature and sources of change in business
– external influences —

• the changing nature of markets;
• economic,
• financial,
• geographic,
• social,
• legal,
• political and
• technological developments

Leading Edge is a supplier of student resources such as HSC lectures, textbooks and study guides. You can sign up at their website for free Business Studies (and Economics) resources.

The following questions come from their website. The answers to each question can be found here. It is worth taking your time to answer each of these questions and then see the suggested answers given by Leading Edge.

1. Briefly discuss how management theory evolved.

2. Identify the key function of classical-scientific management theory.

3. Using the classical-scientific management theory, justify the use of rigid hierarchies in a business.

4. Lianne is thinking of starting up her own fashion business for women. It would employaround ten full-time designers and retail workers. Discuss two functions of management that the classical-scientific school suggests Lianne will need to perform.

5. Compare and contrast the views of the worker in both the classical-scientific and behavioural schools of management.

6. Examine how Lianne’s management functions would differ from those identified in Question 4, if you used the behavioural approach to management.

7. Briefly examine the role of flat organisational structures and teams in behavioural management.

8. Summarise the role of politics and coalitions in a business as seen by political management theory.

9. Consider a large corporation such as Coles. Explain how the systems approach to management would assist in the management of this company.

10. Explain the link between the contingency theory of management and the othertheories you have studied.

Just a quick post to say that we’re both impressed with the amount of work all of you have been putting in over the last few weeks. We’re especially happy with the effort you’ve been putting into your Qantas report. Keep up the excellent start all of you have made to Year 12.