ATAR Notes: Forum
HSC Stuff => HSC Humanities Stuff => HSC Subjects + Help => HSC Business Studies => Topic started by: sbhandula on June 23, 2015, 02:17:38 am
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My Band 6 notes are available for free here!!
Hey guys, this guide will give a detailed explanation as to how to achieve a band 6 in HSC Business Studies! Business Studies is often described as a subject that “is easy but has too much content” and thus becomes the reason many students aren’t able to achieve their desired marks. The excessive content is obviously very overwhelming (I experienced it myself), especially due to the overlaps between the four topics.
You would find that this can especially be an issue in the short answer and extend response sections of the HSC paper, and this is mainly where students fall behind from achieving a Band 6. The specificity of the syllabus often confuses students and results in a poor response. As I kept on doing more Business past papers before my trials, I began to notice my tendencies of interpreting questions wrong due to my lack of knowledge about the syllabus. I would keep getting confused between processes and strategies, between roles and influences, etc. So I decided to have a look over the syllabus and realised that each topic is divided into “ROLES, INFLUENCES, PROCESSES and STRATEGIES”. However, this still didn’t prove to be enough as the syllabus was absolutely huge and there were tiny little things that you couldn’t remember or kept forgetting, thus leaving out vital points from your essay.
For example, questions such as the following, can be super confusing without in-depth knowledge of the syllabus and where each dot point fits in:
1) Outline and explain three different pricing methods
2) Outline and explain three different pricing strategies
Although the two questions may sound the same, they come under two completely different dotpoints and have different black and white answers.
Various extended response questions could ask you:
1) Discuss how operations strategies respond to operational influences.
2) Explain the marketing strategies available to businesses and their costs and benefits.
3) Discuss the financial strategies businesses could use to ensure sufficient cash flows.
The three examples above, along with hundreds of other combinations could appear in the exam, and students like myself begin to realise that we can’t remember every single little dotpoint of every single topic. There are 8 strategies in marketing itself – and that’s just one aspect of one topic! Remembering each and every dotpoint word-for-word would waste a lot of time.
Now, how exactly can we fix this? Obviously we can’t memorise the entire Business Studies syllabus word-for-word, so students in the past have come up with the perfect solution – an acronym version of the syllabus. Repeat the acronyms and their meanings several times out loud, and eventually you will know the syllabus inside out. As soon as you see a question, the acronym will pop into your head – and this is from experience.
OPERATIONS
Role
"DIG Chicks"
D - Differentiation (part of strategic role)
I - Interdependence w/ other KBFs
G - Goods and services in other industries
C - Cost leadership (other part of strategic role)
Influences
"GTG le coq" + CSR
G - Globalisation
T - Technology
G - Government
L - Legal regulations
E - Environmental
Co - Cost-based competition
Q - Quality expectations
CSR - Corporate social responsibility
- legal v ethical
- env. sustainability and social responsibility
Processes
Haven't got any for processes, sorry, other than the 4 V's under transformation processes (influence of Volume, Variety, Visibility and Variation in demand.)
Strategies
"POGO SQUINT"
P - Performance objectives
O - Outsourcing
G - Global factors
O - Overcoming resistance to change
S - Supply chain management
Qu - Quality management
I - Inventory management
N - New product/service design and development
T – Technology
Performance Objectives
"Quesadilla Football Club" (Mexican food, pronounced kay-sa-dee-a)
Q - Quality
S - Speed
D - Dependability
F - Flexibility
C - Customisation
C – Cost
MARKETING
Role
"Tasi" (pronounce tah-see)
T - Types of markets
A - Approaches to marketing
S - Strategic role
I - Interdependence
Influences
"Feck"
F - Factors influencing customer choice
E - Ethical
C - Consumer laws
Factors Influencing Customer Choice
"Pegs"
P - Psychological
E - Economic
G - Government
S - Sociocultural
Ethical
"Tapes"
T - Truth,
A - Accuracy and good taste in advertising
P - Products that may damage health
E - Engaging in fair competition
S - Sugging
Consumer Laws
"WIPD" (pronounce whipped)
W - Warranties
I - Implied conditions
P - Price discrimination
D - Deceptive and misleading advertising
Processes
"SMEIDI" (pronounce smeedy)
S - Situational analysis (SWOT and product lifecycle)
M - Market research
E - Establish marketing objectives
I - Identify target market(s)
D - Develop marketing strategies
I - Implement, monitor and control
Strategies
"4 P's + PEG"
4 P's - Product, Price, Promotion and Place (channels of distribution)
P - People, processes and physical evidence
E - E-marketing
G - Global marketing
FINANCE
Role
Objectives
"PLEGS"
P - Profitability
L - Liquidity
E - Efficiency
G - Growth
S - Solvency (aka gearing)
Strategic Role
"FID"
F - Finance decisions (where do we get money from?)
I - Investment decisions (what should we do with our money to generate more income?)
D - Dividend decisions (how do we distribute any earnings?)
Influences
"Sigg"
S - Sources of finance (internal v external)
I - Institutions
G - Government
G - Global market influences
Financial Institutions
"Buf sail"
B - Banks
U - Unit trusts
F - Finance companies
S - Superannuation funds
A - Australian Securities Exchange
I - Investment banks
L - Life insurance companies
Processes
"PIMFLE" (pronounce pim-full)
P - Planning
I - and Implementing
M - Monitoring and controlling
F - Financial ratios
L - Limitations of financial reports
E - Ethical issues related to financial reports
Planning and Implementing
"Red and Blue Corner"
R - Record systems
B - Budgets
C - Financial controls
N - Financial needs
R - Financial risks
Limitations of Financial Reports
"DR CEN has TINEA"
DR - Debt repayments
CE - Capitalising expenses
N - Notes to financial statements
TI - Timing issues
NE - Normalised earnings
A - Asset valuation
Strategies
"Good Work Charlie's Pony”
G - Global financial management
W - Working capital management
C - Cash flow management
P - Profitability management
Global financial management
"Hm, die"
H - Hedging
M - Methods of international payment
D - Derivatives
I - Interest rates
E - Exchange rates
HUMAN RESOURCES
Role
"OHUSI" (I'm a huge Dave Hughes fan, so in my head I say this like Oh, Hughesy!)
O - Outsourcing
H - Human resources function
U - Using contractors
S - Strategic role
I - Interdependence
Influences
"STEELS"
S - Stakeholders
T - Technological
E - Economic
E - Ethics and CSR
L - Legal
S - Social
Processes
"ADMS" (I think of it as Adams)
A - Acquisition
D - Development
M - Maintenance
S - Separation
Strategies
"PaRTLy GRaDD" (I think of it as partly gradd, and then just lose all the vowels as well as the 'y')
P - Performance management
R - Recruitment (internal/external; general/specific skills)
T - Training and development (current/future)
L - Leadership style
G - Global (costs, skills, supply)
R - Rewards (monetary/non-monetary; individual/group; performance pay)
D - Design (ie job design; general or specific)
D - Dispute resolution
Effectiveness of Human Resource Management
Indicators
"What black" (again, it's important to remember which letters aren't part of the acronym)
W - Worker satisfaction
A - Absenteeism
T - Turnover
B - Benchmarking key variables
L - Levels of disputation
A - Accidents
C - Corporate culture
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Again, read over these acronyms several times and the answers will pop into your head as soon as you see the questions. Going back to the earlier example, in the case of:
1) Discuss how operations strategies respond to operational influences.
You would instantly think:
“Operations Strategies = POGO SQUINT and Operation Influences = GTG le coq + CSR”, and thus be able to deduce exactly what the question is asking for and answer the question effectively.
It is not the conventional way to study, but it is EFFECTIVE and EFFICIENT, and a true Business student knows exactly why that’s helpful! Apart from knowing the syllabus inside out, do practice past papers that follow the new syllabus and its layout – whether its past HSC, or CSSA, QAT’s, Independent, etc.
If at any point you need some extra detail or explanation, there are awesome notes available in the Notes section.And of course, if anything is unclear, pop a question below! Either myself or one of your fellow HSC-ers will be sure to help you out.
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Thanks, this is really usefull :D ;)
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This is great, thank you!! :)
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Thanks for the great guide! :D
Could you please recommend some advice on how to approach questions stating "how"?
Especially since it's not listed on the BOS glossary, I'm confused about how to go about it.
Thanks,
Cat
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This is so helpful! Thank-you, also is there the abbreviations for economics or modern history?
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Great notes, thanks so much!
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This is so helpful! Thank-you, also is there the abbreviations for economics or modern history?
Hey there! I didn't do economics, but what part of Modern would you be looking at abbreviations for? Source analysis, perhaps?
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Can anyone help me with correcting my business essay?
The question is "Analyse the influences of human resources in achieving the financial objectives of a business" and my case study/business is McDonalds.
Thank you
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Can anyone help me with correcting my business essay?
The question is "Analyse the influences of human resources in achieving the financial objectives of a business" and my case study/business is McDonalds.
Thank you
you may need to post your essay first.
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My Band 6 notes are available for free here!!
Hey guys, this guide will give a detailed explanation as to how to achieve a band 6 in HSC Business Studies! Business Studies is often described as a subject that “is easy but has too much content” and thus becomes the reason many students aren’t able to achieve their desired marks. The excessive content is obviously very overwhelming (I experienced it myself), especially due to the overlaps between the four topics.
You would find that this can especially be an issue in the short answer and extend response sections of the HSC paper, and this is mainly where students fall behind from achieving a Band 6. The specificity of the syllabus often confuses students and results in a poor response. As I kept on doing more Business past papers before my trials, I began to notice my tendencies of interpreting questions wrong due to my lack of knowledge about the syllabus. I would keep getting confused between processes and strategies, betw
Moderator action: Cut down massive quote
helpful! Apart from knowing the syllabus inside out, do practice past papers that follow the new syllabus and its layout – whether its past HSC, or CSSA, QAT’s, Independent, etc.
If at any point you need some extra detail or explanation, there are awesome notes available in the Notes section.And of course, if anything is unclear, pop a question below! Either myself or one of your fellow HSC-ers will be sure to help you out.
thank you so much for these!
business is my absolute worst subject~ I don't know where to start studying!
should i memorise the list and then see how the content connects?
Loving the resources!
EDIT:
I've memorised the first two modules!
- the mnemonics really help! :D :D
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thank you so much for these!
business is my absolute worst subject~ I don't know where to start studying!
should i memorise the list and then see how the content connects?
Loving the resources!
Hey sky!
I agree that this is an amazing resource supplied by sbh, mnemonics are one of the best ways to implant knowledge from content-heavy topics such as business in your head!
In regards to your question, i'd have to say in my opinion it is better to learn your content first before you go about memorising the syllabus dot points as provided. From experience, going back through past questions or your notes for business (sequentially from operations to HR) allows you to make heaps of connections that will assist you in the later parts of the exam (e.g. an extended response 20marker that asks you to analyse the influence of globalisation on business functions). Moreover, you'll find that a lot of content in the syllabus repeats e.g. CSR/ethics, global influences and most importantly the interdependence between key business functions which allows you to solidify your understanding of how each function relates to each other - which will no doubt grant you higher marks!
Then of course, once you have all the content down, you'll be able to confidently remember these mnemonics and go "hey, its great that I know S stands for sources of finance but those internal and external sources of finance are obviously debt and equity such as commercial bills or share ownership".
To summarise, just remember these mnemonics are basically a regurgitation of the syllabus (which is pretty much all what business studies is about ;) ) so its good to memorise what each dot point contains, and then maybe a week before your exam consolidating said phrases so it comes to mind instantly in an exam situation.
Hope this helps :)
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Kaye Chen
Finance strategic role include:
-profit maximisation
-finding the most efficient way to manage and obtain funds
Financial objective include:
-growth
-liquidity (the ability of a business to meet its short term commitment)
-solvency (ability to survive in the long term)
-profitability
To link human resource influences, identify them first and choose the most relevant. I would choose technological (as a result of technology, flexible working arrangements can be made such as allowing employees to telecommute) this would eventually lead to increased profitability (financial objective) as employees feel valued as the business is placing importance on employee welfare, are placing trust in the employees to work outside the workplace.
Social influence: people are becoming more job mobile (trying to gain experience and as a result are moving from one job to another) this would affect the businesses ability to grow and maximise profits as it will have a high staff turnover rate. These have high implicit costs
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5 tips to get a band 6:
1. Know the syllabus (inside out-they cannot ask you questions from out of the blue)
2. Link, Link, link (always ask why) if the business wants to gain profit, it has to minimise expenses, and maximise revenue, focus on market needs, motivate employees to increase their output and productivity, to focus on the environment.
3. Use a case study for section 4 only. This could include Qantas which has detailed information that correspond the syllabus
4. In section 3, address the scenario at hand. Look at the problems. Just imagine that was your business. What would you do??
5. Multiple choice: relax, be careful, don't rush it, you have 25% of getting it correct. Read every single option
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My Band 6 notes are available for free here!!
Hey guys, this guide will give a detailed explanation as to how to achieve a band 6 in HSC Business Studies! Business Studies is often described as a subject that “is easy but has too much content” and thus becomes the reason many students aren’t able to achieve their desired marks. The excessive content is obviously very overwhelming (I experienced it myself), especially due to the overlaps between the four topics.
You would find that this can especially be an issue in the short answer and extend response sections of the HSC paper, and this is mainly where students fall behind from achieving a Band 6. The specificity of the syllabus often confuses students and results in a poor response. As I kept on doing more Business past papers before my trials, I began to notice my tendencies of interpreting questions wrong due to my lack of knowledge about the syllabus. I would keep getting confused between processes and strategies, between roles and influences, etc. So I decided to have a look over the syllabus and realised that each topic is divided into “ROLES, INFLUENCES, PROCESSES and STRATEGIES”. However, this still didn’t prove to be enough as the syllabus was absolutely huge and there were tiny little things that you couldn’t remember or kept forgetting, thus leaving out vital points from your essay.
Moderator action: Cut down massive quote
You would instantly think:
“Operations Strategies = POGO SQUINT and Operation Influences = GTG le coq + CSR”, and thus be able to deduce exactly what the question is asking for and answer the question effectively.
It is not the conventional way to study, but it is EFFECTIVE and EFFICIENT, and a true Business student knows exactly why that’s helpful! Apart from knowing the syllabus inside out, do practice past papers that follow the new syllabus and its layout – whether its past HSC, or CSSA, QAT’s, Independent, etc.
If at any point you need some extra detail or explanation, there are awesome notes available in the Notes section.And of course, if anything is unclear, pop a question below! Either myself or one of your fellow HSC-ers will be sure to help you out.
Hi Thanks for your great advice and notes on business!
I'm stuggling with this question, and was wondering if anyone could help me out;
Explain the significance of employment contracts in the Australian workforce. 6 marks
Thanks so much!!
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the Acronyms were really helpful thank you !
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POGOOGOGO SQUIINININTTTT
These are great -- major efficiency booster. Literally the whole syllabus memorised in one day. Cheers!
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Thank you for the guide! I plan on memorising the Business Studies syllabus this coming holidays so this will be very useful.
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Thank you for the guide! I plan on memorising the Business Studies syllabus this coming holidays so this will be very useful.
Welcome to the forums!! Super happy to have you around ;D
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very useful and easy to remember, thankyou! :)
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Hi! I have more than a month left before the HSC business exam and i was wondering how many papers should i practice before the exam?
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Hi! I have more than a month left before the HSC business exam and i was wondering how many papers should i practice before the exam?
As many as you need to get the content stuck in your head Fizzy! And then maybe a few more ;) I did over 20 for some of my subjects, and less than 5 for another one of them, so it totally depends :) I think 5 would be a good starting point! 5 Past Papers, plus study of the concepts along the way, would be a good baseline to try and meet (and then exceed) ;D again though, totally depends on the person ;D
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Hello! I was wondering for a business essay are we allowed to use subheadings or is that considered unsophisticated?
Also I wanted to ask whats the main difference between a business report and essay? Is it just the fact that you cant write case studies in a business report? or a recommendations in an essay?
Moderator Edit: Merged posts, you can use the 'Modify' button to the top right of your previous post to edit it if you want to add to your question before it is answered :)
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Hello! I was wondering for a business essay are we allowed to use subheadings or is that considered unsophisticated?
Also I wanted to ask whats the main difference between a business report and essay? Is it just the fact that you cant write case studies in a business report? or a recommendations in an essay?
Moderator Edit: Merged posts, you can use the 'Modify' button to the top right of your previous post to edit it if you want to add to your question before it is answered :)
Hey Emerald! Unfortunately I can't comment on Business specifically, but subheadings wouldn't normally be considered appropriate for an essay (unless there is an exception for Business?) :)
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Hello! I was wondering for a business essay are we allowed to use subheadings or is that considered unsophisticated?
Also I wanted to ask whats the main difference between a business report and essay? Is it just the fact that you cant write case studies in a business report? or a recommendations in an essay?
From my perspective you can write section IV in one of two ways, a business report format or an essay.
I have seen a number of band 6 responses for both of these methods. The report format consists of headings and subheadings (much like section III of the exam), however, if you choose to write an essay i would advise against subheadings. It would be better to choose the Business report format if you do not feel comfortable writing a cohesive and logical essay which can flow nicely.
Moderator edit: Removed your response from the quote so that we can recognise it :)
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Thanks guys!
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Do we have to put case studies in the business report too? Or just for the essay?
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uh for the business report i'm not 100% sure but i'd think you would not include the case study considering you got the stimulus
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Nop, you don't want to write anything about case studies in the business report. If anything you might even lose marks because it's irrelevant since you want to talk about the hypothetical business and not Qantas or Apple. However, if say the stimulus for this years HSC is about a clothing retailer , I'm not too sure if you can include say industry averages you may have studied for your case studies.
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uh for the business report i'm not 100% sure but i'd think you would not include the case study considering you got the stimulus
As Kevin mentioned above, you should not talk about your case studies in section III (Business Report) at all!!!!! :)
I would also avoid talking about industry averages unless it is specified in the stimulus aswell.
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As Kevin mentioned above, you should not talk about your case studies in section III (Business Report) at all!!!!! :)
I would also avoid talking about industry averages unless it is specified in the stimulus aswell.
Cool thanks for clearing that up
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Hi !
Just wondering for our case studies, do they have to be Australian businesses? or can it be International ones too
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Hi !
Just wondering for our case studies, do they have to be Australian businesses? or can it be International ones too
Yep they can be international as well. Apple is a popular choice.
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Yep they can be international as well. Apple is a popular choice.
oh okay thanks !!! :)
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My teacher said that for questions that ask you to "explain" in a business essay you have to also list the positives and negatives for that, but don't you only do that for questions that ask you to "discuss"
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My teacher said that for questions that ask you to "explain" in a business essay you have to also list the positives and negatives for that, but don't you only do that for questions that ask you to "discuss"
Strange thing to say...do you have an example of a question they asked you to do that for?
Generally explain questions in business studies require a regurgitation of the syllabus in outlining a business function or strategy and its impact on the business itself e.g. The adoption of a price penetration strategy would result in increased market share as a business seeks to sell large volumes of a newly-released product, leading to higher revenue in the short term.
If you were then asked to evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies in the question, THEN you would provide points for and against - but i see no reason why an explain question would require such an answer.
Hope this helps ;D
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Hi!
So with about 3 weeks until the business hsc exam (and having to study for 4 exams before business) i was just wondering if i should re-write out all my notes (i've already finished and typed them all out) to remember them, which might take a while or if i should just read over them and do lots past papers
Thanks!
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Hi!
So with about 3 weeks until the business hsc exam (and having to study for 4 exams before business) i was just wondering if i should re-write out all my notes (i've already finished and typed them all out) to remember them, which might take a while or if i should just read over them and do lots past papers
Thanks!
I can't speak specifically for Business, but I'd still say past papers. Practice absolutely makes perfect! You may want to write out sections you struggle with in the papers though, as an idea? But the focus should be on past papers ;D
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Hey guys
What are some good examples for finance case studies? It's the one topic I struggle to think of. A few examples would be a massive help! Thanks in advance.
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Hi!
So with about 3 weeks until the business hsc exam (and having to study for 4 exams before business) i was just wondering if i should re-write out all my notes (i've already finished and typed them all out) to remember them, which might take a while or if i should just read over them and do lots past papers
Thanks!
Jamon nailed it ^^^^
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Hey guys
What are some good examples for finance case studies? It's the one topic I struggle to think of. A few examples would be a massive help! Thanks in advance.
Hi Dylan,
The question was pretty vague in terms of what parts of the finance syllabus you need a case study for. So here are all the ones that I've prepared. This is by no means a definitive list, so you can definitely add your own or make up a realistic example on the day.
I haven't included any on the objectives of financial management as these can be easily made up, e.g. QANTAS stated in their financial review that they were focussing on increasing their net profit by 15% in the next 2 years etc.
Influences of Financial Management
Internal Sources of Finance
Retained profits - ZARA utilises its retained profits to re-invest ($1 billion each year) back into the business each year which generated over $3 billion more than the previous year
External Sources of Finance
Overdraft - Woolworths uses overdrafts to buy stock which can be repaid after it is sold - maintaining liquidity and profitability as overdraft does not exceed $200,000
Factoring - Turkish Rugs Manufacturers used factoring to grow their exports. In order to improve their liquidity, they sold their accounts receivable to a factoring company which helped the firm meet their short term financial obligations as well as decrease their accounts receivable turnover ratio by 5%
Mortgage – Woolworths took out a $4m mortgage. This has allowed Woolworths to open new distribution centres around NSW to reach further locations whilst maintaining product quality due to closer proximity
Leasing – WiseTech Global has an office layout organised into many work stations. As a result, the business uses operating leases for its computers so instead of buying them and end up becoming obsolete and losing value, the business can lease and constantly update its equipment when required. This improves the business’s solvency as well.
Rights Issue – Boral, a major supplier of building products wishes to restructure its operations. As part of these plans Boral wishes to raise $440m through a $4.10 rights issue.
Share Purchase Plan – AMP used a share purchase plan where shareholders could buy shares at $4.82 which was at a 5% discount. This allowed AMP for the expansion of its operations.
ASX – IN 2009, Australia’s largest chain of department stores, Myer, went public and entered the Australian Securities Exchange. It raised approximately $2.3b from the Initial Public Offering. The ASX allowed Myer to raise large amounts of capital so that Myer could fund its aggressive expansion. This included increasing the number of stores and improving their flagship stores.
Finance companies – Apple has a scheme set up where they lease Mac, iPads, iPhones etc over 24 months to business. To do this, Apple has utilised a finance company called BOQ Finance to help fund their Apple Financial Services. As a result, the business has been able to increase the number of sales from businesses.
Influence of Government
Company Taxation – Apple has an income of about $6.1b, but only $247m of that was taxable income. It paid $74m tax.
ASIC – The CBA will refund around 8400 customers approximately $7.6m after it failed to apply fee waivers and ongoing benefits to AgriAdvantage Plus package holders over a number of years. This problem was reported to ASIC under its breach reporting obligations. The problem was actually reported by CBA themselves. As a result, CBA was able to avoid any potential fines and damaged reputation if they tried to cover up the issue.
Global Market Influences
Economic Outlook – In 2009 the GFC caused rapid revenue declines especially in international markets leading to an 88% fall in net profit for QANTAS in 2009. It also reduced its flying capacity, reduced orders for new planes and replacing some parts of Qantas with Jetstar.
Availability of Funds – Since the GFC supply has been lower both in Australia and overseas for Qantas due to the closure of many financial institutions and lending criteria becoming stricter. Qantas was assessed to be riskier for lenders due to its reduced profits in 2014 and this affected Qantas’ availability of funds – their credit rating was higher and therefore more interest.
Interest Rates – Qantas is exposed to movements in interest rates both in Australia and overseas. An increase in interest rates increases the interest repayments Qantas pays on its borrowings. Qantas has a number of operations overseas and it was more cost effective to fund them from overseas banks due to lower interest rates.
Processes of Financial Management
Planning and Implementing - Qantas
- Assessing the current financial information by collecting financial data
- Using the information to frame the business plan
- Preparing financial reports
- Interpreting financial reports by comparing actual to forecast results
- Adjusting financial controls to minimise risks and losses
Monitoring and Controlling
Cash Flow Statement – Qantas produces cash flow statements in its Annual reports for each year. Usually it has around $3000m cash at the end of the financial year.
Balance Sheet
Current assets - $4932m
Non-current assets - $17318m
Current liabilities - $7525m
Non-current liabilities $2866m.
Income Statement
Sales revenue is usually around $15,000m
Fuel costs $4461m.
Net profit 2014 – -$2843m
2013 - $6m
2012 - -$244m
2011 - $249m
Financial Ratios
QANTAS
Net Profit ratio – 2014- -4.2%, 2013-1.2%, 2012, 0.6%, 2011-3.7%. Profitability in the airline industry is relatively poor on average. The airline industry is both highly capital intensive and extremely competitive. Lots of costs.
Return on Owner’s Equity – 2014- -22.5%, 2013 – 3.2%, 2012 – 1.7%, 2011 – 9%
Liquidity ratio – 0.66:1 – 2014. 2010 – 0.93:1. Qantas operates on a negative working capital position, like most other airlines. Qantas holds very little cash reserves and uses the cash received to pay long term debt. Other Airlines – Air NZ – 0.98:1, Singapore 1.4:1.
Gearing – 2014 – 163%, 2013 – 83%, 2012 – 96^, 2011 – 113%, 2010 104%.
COCA COLA AMATIL
Gearing – 2001 – 60%, 2002 – 50%, 2003 – 55%. Their solvency has improved in recent years. The company used much of the revenue from the sales of its Philippines business to pay off debt.
Efficiency – Company’s expense ratio rising from 39% to 40% from 2000 to 2003 due to investment in plant and machinery, so theoretically their efficiency will increase in the future.
Limitations of financial Reports
Notes to the financial statements – Qantas attaches comprehensive notes to its financial statements. These help stakeholders better understand the financial reports and give more clarity to Qantas’ financial position. Some information may include the term of loans, where certain assets are coming from etc. Qantas uses UNDERLYING PBT as its measure of profitability.
Debt Repayments – Qantas’ financial reports don’t give a full picture of their debt as it does not disclose when these debts have to be repaid.
Normalised earnings – Some special circumstances may distort the analysis of Qantas’ results. For example, in 2011 natural disasters and major weather events like Cyclone Yasi, the Christchurch earthquake and japan Tsunami effected Qantas’ profitability.
Valuing assets – It is difficult to value Qantas’ assets because they change over time. Qantas’ long term assets are depreciated over time but the value of these assets may not reflect their true market value.
Ethical Issues related to Financial Management
Here you can say any business undergoes regular review through audits and through bodies such as ASIC to ensure accurate financial reports
Financial Management Strategies
Cash Flow Management
Discounts for early payment – Harvey Norman encourages customers to pay the full amount for expensive goods such as fridges and TVs using discounts for early payment otherwise customers are charged interest for a loan or they have to sign up to an alternative credit card.
Factoring - Turkish Rugs Manufacturers used factoring to grow their exports. They were in a panic situation in their cash flow as they had run out of money and had to chase their customers aggressively to get paid. In order to improve their liquidity, they sold their accounts receivable to a factoring company.
Working Capital Management
Leasing – Leasing more aircraft, building and plant and equipment. Leasing has freed cash that can be used elsewhere in the business. Debt market trends, tax depreciation, deterioration in aircraft residual rates and the need to provide greater fleet flexibility have increased the attractiveness of leasing. (Qantas)
Sale and lease back – Qantas is one of the few airlines in the world to own its own terminals and is considering selling and leasing them back to improve its working capital.
Control of current assets (inventory) – The value of APPLE’s inventory is calculated using the FIFO method. The value of inventory increased by 123% in 2013. This was due to the reduced demand for the iPhone 5C suggesting demand was lower than expected. As a result, Apple significantly reduced production for the 5c.
Profitability Management
Cost Controls – Expense Minimisation (Qantas)
Qantas has reduced its cost by 20% over the last 10 years by
- Cutting flying capacity and cutting services back
- Cancelling orders for new planes
- Restructuring
- Fuel conservation
- Reforming employment relations – increased use of technology, casualisation
- Outsourcing more business functions
- Encouraging more sales through the internet.
Revenue controls – Marketing Objectives (Qantas)
- Setting clear sales objectives
- Setting up a sales reporting system that reports sales figures regularly and breaks them down into business segments
- Discounting of airfares to maintain loads in a shrinking market
- Targeting different markets through Jetstar
- Increasing revenue through other services such as travel, catering and freight
- New business class services, self-service kiosks, next generation check in, new advertising campaign.
Global Financial Management
Exchange Rates (Qantas)
Qantas is exposed to various financial risks in international businesses.
- Changes in foreign exchange rates – expenditures of jet fuel, lease payments and interest repayments are usually made in a foreign currency.
- Qantas generates about 38% of revenue from other currencies.
APPRECIATION – Qantas pays less for fuel, lease repayments, loan repayments and overseas capital expenditure.
DEPRECIATION – Qantas pays more for fuel, lease repayments, loan repayments and overseas capital expenditure.
Interest Rates (Qantas)
Qantas is exposed to movements in interest rates both in Australia and overseas. An increase in interest rates increases the interest repayments Qantas pays on its borrowings. Qantas has a number of operations overseas and it was more cost effective to fund them from overseas banks due to lower interest rates.
Hedging and Derivatives (Qantas)
Forward Cover and Options – Qantas uses these to hedge future fuel purchases, future interest payments and future capital expenditure payments.
Qantas has hedged about 94% of its fuel needs for 2015. Most of these hedges are in the form of options.
Swap Contracts – Qantas earns revenue in many currencies and incurs costs especially fuel, maintenance and leasing in other countries. Swaps is another derivative used by Qantas which involves foreign currency denominated costs being paid out of revenue in the same currency. Qantas also denominates some borrowings in net surplus currencies to provide a natural hedge.
Methods of International Payment (Noventus Pty Ltd)
Payment in Advance – For its computing/electric products as it guarantees cash inflows. Noventus does this as it recently lost $10,000 in exporting products overseas without payment which had significant impact on its profitability management and liquidity which could have been used to repay debts.
There is no international legislation or body that regulates payment overseas.
Bill of exchange against payment – MIR-AUS is a company specialising in installation of ink systems for printers. They import a large amount of ink from overseas companies and therefore it can be risky if payment is sent before the quality of the ink is checked. When the business picks up the ink, a bill against payment is used so that MIR-AUS can inspect the ink delivered before accepting and paying for it.
Sorry, that was a bit excessive. But I hope this was of some help to you :) Good luck[/list][/list]
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Hi Dylan,
The question was pretty vague in terms of what parts of the finance syllabus you need a case study for. So here are all the ones that I've prepared. This is by no means a definitive list, so you can definitely add your own or make up a realistic example on the day.
I haven't included any on the objectives of financial management as these can be easily made up, e.g. QANTAS stated in their financial review that they were focussing on increasing their net profit by 15% in the next 2 years etc.
Influences of Financial Management
Internal Sources of Finance
Retained profits - ZARA utilises its retained profits to re-invest ($1 billion each year) back into the business each year which generated over $3 billion more than the previous year
External Sources of Finance
Overdraft - Woolworths uses overdrafts to buy stock which can be repaid after it is sold - maintaining liquidity and profitability as overdraft does not exceed $200,000
Factoring - Turkish Rugs Manufacturers used factoring to grow their exports. In order to improve their liquidity, they sold their accounts receivable to a factoring company which helped the firm meet their short term financial obligations as well as decrease their accounts receivable turnover ratio by 5%
Mortgage – Woolworths took out a $4m mortgage. This has allowed Woolworths to open new distribution centres around NSW to reach further locations whilst maintaining product quality due to closer proximity
Leasing – WiseTech Global has an office layout organised into many work stations. As a result, the business uses operating leases for its computers so instead of buying them and end up becoming obsolete and losing value, the business can lease and constantly update its equipment when required. This improves the business’s solvency as well.
Rights Issue – Boral, a major supplier of building products wishes to restructure its operations. As part of these plans Boral wishes to raise $440m through a $4.10 rights issue.
Share Purchase Plan – AMP used a share purchase plan where shareholders could buy shares at $4.82 which was at a 5% discount. This allowed AMP for the expansion of its operations.
ASX – IN 2009, Australia’s largest chain of department stores, Myer, went public and entered the Australian Securities Exchange. It raised approximately $2.3b from the Initial Public Offering. The ASX allowed Myer to raise large amounts of capital so that Myer could fund its aggressive expansion. This included increasing the number of stores and improving their flagship stores.
Finance companies – Apple has a scheme set up where they lease Mac, iPads, iPhones etc over 24 months to business. To do this, Apple has utilised a finance company called BOQ Finance to help fund their Apple Financial Services. As a result, the business has been able to increase the number of sales from businesses.
Influence of Government
Company Taxation – Apple has an income of about $6.1b, but only $247m of that was taxable income. It paid $74m tax.
ASIC – The CBA will refund around 8400 customers approximately $7.6m after it failed to apply fee waivers and ongoing benefits to AgriAdvantage Plus package holders over a number of years. This problem was reported to ASIC under its breach reporting obligations. The problem was actually reported by CBA themselves. As a result, CBA was able to avoid any potential fines and damaged reputation if they tried to cover up the issue.
Global Market Influences
Economic Outlook – In 2009 the GFC caused rapid revenue declines especially in international markets leading to an 88% fall in net profit for QANTAS in 2009. It also reduced its flying capacity, reduced orders for new planes and replacing some parts of Qantas with Jetstar.
Availability of Funds – Since the GFC supply has been lower both in Australia and overseas for Qantas due to the closure of many financial institutions and lending criteria becoming stricter. Qantas was assessed to be riskier for lenders due to its reduced profits in 2014 and this affected Qantas’ availability of funds – their credit rating was higher and therefore more interest.
Interest Rates – Qantas is exposed to movements in interest rates both in Australia and overseas. An increase in interest rates increases the interest repayments Qantas pays on its borrowings. Qantas has a number of operations overseas and it was more cost effective to fund them from overseas banks due to lower interest rates.
Processes of Financial Management
Planning and Implementing - Qantas
- Assessing the current financial information by collecting financial data
- Using the information to frame the business plan
- Preparing financial reports
- Interpreting financial reports by comparing actual to forecast results
- Adjusting financial controls to minimise risks and losses
Monitoring and Controlling
Cash Flow Statement – Qantas produces cash flow statements in its Annual reports for each year. Usually it has around $3000m cash at the end of the financial year.
Balance Sheet
Current assets - $4932m
Non-current assets - $17318m
Current liabilities - $7525m
Non-current liabilities $2866m.
Income Statement
Sales revenue is usually around $15,000m
Fuel costs $4461m.
Net profit 2014 – -$2843m
2013 - $6m
2012 - -$244m
2011 - $249m
Financial Ratios
QANTAS
Net Profit ratio – 2014- -4.2%, 2013-1.2%, 2012, 0.6%, 2011-3.7%. Profitability in the airline industry is relatively poor on average. The airline industry is both highly capital intensive and extremely competitive. Lots of costs.
Return on Owner’s Equity – 2014- -22.5%, 2013 – 3.2%, 2012 – 1.7%, 2011 – 9%
Liquidity ratio – 0.66:1 – 2014. 2010 – 0.93:1. Qantas operates on a negative working capital position, like most other airlines. Qantas holds very little cash reserves and uses the cash received to pay long term debt. Other Airlines – Air NZ – 0.98:1, Singapore 1.4:1.
Gearing – 2014 – 163%, 2013 – 83%, 2012 – 96^, 2011 – 113%, 2010 104%.
COCA COLA AMATIL
Gearing – 2001 – 60%, 2002 – 50%, 2003 – 55%. Their solvency has improved in recent years. The company used much of the revenue from the sales of its Philippines business to pay off debt.
Efficiency – Company’s expense ratio rising from 39% to 40% from 2000 to 2003 due to investment in plant and machinery, so theoretically their efficiency will increase in the future.
Limitations of financial Reports
Notes to the financial statements – Qantas attaches comprehensive notes to its financial statements. These help stakeholders better understand the financial reports and give more clarity to Qantas’ financial position. Some information may include the term of loans, where certain assets are coming from etc. Qantas uses UNDERLYING PBT as its measure of profitability.
Debt Repayments – Qantas’ financial reports don’t give a full picture of their debt as it does not disclose when these debts have to be repaid.
Normalised earnings – Some special circumstances may distort the analysis of Qantas’ results. For example, in 2011 natural disasters and major weather events like Cyclone Yasi, the Christchurch earthquake and japan Tsunami effected Qantas’ profitability.
Valuing assets – It is difficult to value Qantas’ assets because they change over time. Qantas’ long term assets are depreciated over time but the value of these assets may not reflect their true market value.
Ethical Issues related to Financial Management
Here you can say any business undergoes regular review through audits and through bodies such as ASIC to ensure accurate financial reports
Financial Management Strategies
Cash Flow Management
Discounts for early payment – Harvey Norman encourages customers to pay the full amount for expensive goods such as fridges and TVs using discounts for early payment otherwise customers are charged interest for a loan or they have to sign up to an alternative credit card.
Factoring - Turkish Rugs Manufacturers used factoring to grow their exports. They were in a panic situation in their cash flow as they had run out of money and had to chase their customers aggressively to get paid. In order to improve their liquidity, they sold their accounts receivable to a factoring company.
Working Capital Management
Leasing – Leasing more aircraft, building and plant and equipment. Leasing has freed cash that can be used elsewhere in the business. Debt market trends, tax depreciation, deterioration in aircraft residual rates and the need to provide greater fleet flexibility have increased the attractiveness of leasing. (Qantas)
Sale and lease back – Qantas is one of the few airlines in the world to own its own terminals and is considering selling and leasing them back to improve its working capital.
Control of current assets (inventory) – The value of APPLE’s inventory is calculated using the FIFO method. The value of inventory increased by 123% in 2013. This was due to the reduced demand for the iPhone 5C suggesting demand was lower than expected. As a result, Apple significantly reduced production for the 5c.
Profitability Management
Cost Controls – Expense Minimisation (Qantas)
Qantas has reduced its cost by 20% over the last 10 years by
- Cutting flying capacity and cutting services back
- Cancelling orders for new planes
- Restructuring
- Fuel conservation
- Reforming employment relations – increased use of technology, casualisation
- Outsourcing more business functions
- Encouraging more sales through the internet.
Revenue controls – Marketing Objectives (Qantas)
- Setting clear sales objectives
- Setting up a sales reporting system that reports sales figures regularly and breaks them down into business segments
- Discounting of airfares to maintain loads in a shrinking market
- Targeting different markets through Jetstar
- Increasing revenue through other services such as travel, catering and freight
- New business class services, self-service kiosks, next generation check in, new advertising campaign.
Global Financial Management
Exchange Rates (Qantas)
Qantas is exposed to various financial risks in international businesses.
- Changes in foreign exchange rates – expenditures of jet fuel, lease payments and interest repayments are usually made in a foreign currency.
- Qantas generates about 38% of revenue from other currencies.
APPRECIATION – Qantas pays less for fuel, lease repayments, loan repayments and overseas capital expenditure.
DEPRECIATION – Qantas pays more for fuel, lease repayments, loan repayments and overseas capital expenditure.
Interest Rates (Qantas)
Qantas is exposed to movements in interest rates both in Australia and overseas. An increase in interest rates increases the interest repayments Qantas pays on its borrowings. Qantas has a number of operations overseas and it was more cost effective to fund them from overseas banks due to lower interest rates.
Hedging and Derivatives (Qantas)
Forward Cover and Options – Qantas uses these to hedge future fuel purchases, future interest payments and future capital expenditure payments.
Qantas has hedged about 94% of its fuel needs for 2015. Most of these hedges are in the form of options.
Swap Contracts – Qantas earns revenue in many currencies and incurs costs especially fuel, maintenance and leasing in other countries. Swaps is another derivative used by Qantas which involves foreign currency denominated costs being paid out of revenue in the same currency. Qantas also denominates some borrowings in net surplus currencies to provide a natural hedge.
Methods of International Payment (Noventus Pty Ltd)
Payment in Advance – For its computing/electric products as it guarantees cash inflows. Noventus does this as it recently lost $10,000 in exporting products overseas without payment which had significant impact on its profitability management and liquidity which could have been used to repay debts.
There is no international legislation or body that regulates payment overseas.
Bill of exchange against payment – MIR-AUS is a company specialising in installation of ink systems for printers. They import a large amount of ink from overseas companies and therefore it can be risky if payment is sent before the quality of the ink is checked. When the business picks up the ink, a bill against payment is used so that MIR-AUS can inspect the ink delivered before accepting and paying for it.
Sorry, that was a bit excessive. But I hope this was of some help to you :) Good luck[/list][/list]
Wow this is great! Thank you!
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Omg thank you so much Isaac!! Could not have asked for anything better!!! :D
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Hey.... I was wondering if you have any good notes on case studies for topics;
- operations
-marketing
- Human Resources
I know it's a big ask but I can't seem to find any.... Thanks in advance.
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I think there are some here on atar notes, and also on another website acehsc. I think some other site had heaps of case studies, mostly for the old syllabus but quite a few for the new syllabus. Sorry I can't remember the site right now! Will post it if i do...
Also, aren't we meant to get our internal ranks before the HSC?? Our school hasn't handed ours out....
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I think there are some here on atar notes, and also on another website acehsc. I think some other site had heaps of case studies, mostly for the old syllabus but quite a few for the new syllabus. Sorry I can't remember the site right now! Will post it if i do...
Also, aren't we meant to get our internal ranks before the HSC?? Our school hasn't handed ours out....
Yep, I got my internal ranks through my report. Did you not receive one?
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Yep, I got my internal ranks through my report. Did you not receive one?
For some subjects, but not Business & Legal studies....not sure why though.
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Can i ask a question on here?
Can anyone explain what this mean to me:
Providing work. Employers are not allowed to ‘stand down’ employees if there
is no work. They are not generally required to provide work if there is none;
however, they must pay the correct wages.
its from HR--> influences--> legal--> obligations of Employers
idk if im brain dead, but i think its worded weirdly and im not sure what stand down means.
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Can i ask a question on here?
Can anyone explain what this mean to me:
Providing work. Employers are not allowed to ‘stand down’ employees if there
is no work. They are not generally required to provide work if there is none;
however, they must pay the correct wages.
its from HR--> influences--> legal--> obligations of Employers
idk if im brain dead, but i think its worded weirdly and im not sure what stand down means.
Hey Melprocrastinator,
Under common law rights of an employee if they are rostered to work specific hours or it's in their contract to work 9-5 etc; an employer cannot tell them not to work or "stand them down" if there isn't as much work to do. This can happen a lot in shift work type jobs if an employee comes to work and expects to do 8 hours, an employer might want to cut cost and tell this person not to work so they don't have to pay their wage for that shift. But under common law rights, they can't do this or they still have to pay whatever they were entitled to if they don't work.
Hope this helps :)
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Hey Guys,
I was just wondering what the difference between developmental and administrative performance management is?
Thank You
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Hey Guys,
I was just wondering what the difference between developmental and administrative performance management is?
Thank You
Hey Kawther,
Developmental performance management is an ongoing process to increase motivation and performance through things like setting objectives that can be measured, analysed and improved continually. Whereas administrative performance management is like a once a year thing, where you sit down with your boss and talk about what you did well, what you could have improved, your goals for the next year to achieve the strategic goal etc. Developmental management is also an individual process whereas administrative can be a business wide assessment.
Those are some of the main differences, hope this cleared it up!!
Good luck :)
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guys i need advice! this whole week i have 5 exams and i feel as if im not prepared for the business exam. i still have a lot of content to learn and i probably wont have time for past papers. Can someone help me out here! What should i do, finish learning all of the content and only do like one past paper a night before or to just read the content and start doing past papers (at least 5)? Is past papers a better way of scoring a band 6 or to learn the content in and out?
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guys i need advice! this whole week i have 5 exams and i feel as if im not prepared for the business exam. i still have a lot of content to learn and i probably wont have time for past papers. Can someone help me out here! What should i do, finish learning all of the content and only do like one past paper a night before or to just read the content and start doing past papers (at least 5)? Is past papers a better way of scoring a band 6 or to learn the content in and out?
Hey, since it is so close to the exam, and I also haven't done a whole lot of studying for business studies.
My advice is to firstly get the syllabus and circle anything that you see that you have no idea what it is. After read that section of the textbook or your notes (if you have any) and just learn the bits that you have no idea.
Then do 1-2 past papers (closed book in timed conditions) and the sections that you get wrong or any dot points that you struggled with - go and look back on. You probably don't have enough time to research case studies, so either make them up or use a guide like qantas and just find the statistics that back up your points.
Then do another past paper and see which section you are having trouble with the most - MC, SA, Report or extended response and maybe do some practice on your 2 weakest areas - i.e. maybe write a few reports or a few extended responses or use the BOSTES MC although some of those questions are outdated.
Also definitely ask questions on any areas that you are unsure of to teachers, friends or on Atarnotes!!
Good luck :)
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Hey, since it is so close to the exam, and I also haven't done a whole lot of studying for business studies.
My advice is to firstly get the syllabus and circle anything that you see that you have no idea what it is. After read that section of the textbook or your notes (if you have any) and just learn the bits that you have no idea.
Then do 1-2 past papers (closed book in timed conditions) and the sections that you get wrong or any dot points that you struggled with - go and look back on. You probably don't have enough time to research case studies, so either make them up or use a guide like qantas and just find the statistics that back up your points.
Then do another past paper and see which section you are having trouble with the most - MC, SA, Report or extended response and maybe do some practice on your 2 weakest areas - i.e. maybe write a few reports or a few extended responses or use the BOSTES MC although some of those questions are outdated.
Also definitely ask questions on any areas that you are unsure of to teachers, friends or on Atarnotes!!
Good luck :)
Thank you for your help Isaac!! Also, for the business extended response, if the question asks us to write about strategies for a particular topic, how many strategies are we expected to write about? Do we need to write about all or only pick a few?
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Thank you for your help Isaac!! Also, for the business extended response, if the question asks us to write about strategies for a particular topic, how many strategies are we expected to write about? Do we need to write about all or only pick a few?
Hey,
If the question is on strategies, I would recommend 3 -4 paragraphs, depending on how fast you write and how in depth your knowledge is as well as how succinctly you write. You are definitely not expected to write about all of them, choose the ones that apply to the question best and then the ones that you know the best. Make sure you have a case study for each paragraph as well :)
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Case study for each paragraph?! I thought one was good enough. Do you think it'd make it more likely to achieve an increased mark? And how prepared are you out of 10?
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Case study for each paragraph?! I thought one was good enough. Do you think it'd make it more likely to achieve an increased mark? And how prepared are you out of 10?
You dont have to have a different case study for each paragraph, as long as you know one really well, that is fine. I went to a lecture from the person who used to be head of the marking center and she said you can just have one :)
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Case study for each paragraph?! I thought one was good enough. Do you think it'd make it more likely to achieve an increased mark? And how prepared are you out of 10?
My teacher has said that one is enough to reach the high bands. However, given your current predicament, I would advise just knowing Qantas for everything you can get information on. If you really want to diversify your business essay, probably picking the marketing or operations question is best because I found those two functions easier to 'BS' on.
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Case study for each paragraph?! I thought one was good enough. Do you think it'd make it more likely to achieve an increased mark? And how prepared are you out of 10?
Sorry for the confusion, when I said a case study for each paragraph; I mean have reference to a case study in each paragraph. It can be the same case study throughout you just can't mention it once and forget about it. It has to be integrated throughout your essay. Having more doesn't increase your mark, you just need to mention it; some people prefer to have more than one as different businesses do things differently and it may adapt to the question better. But having one is enough as long as you refer to it preferably in each paragraph
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Thanks for helping out Isaac!
Can someone please explain 'price points' (pricing strategy - Marketing) to me?
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Price points is a pricing strategy were products are set at predetermined prices. This strategy is typically used in retail stores, an example being Target selling most of their T-shirts are for $15. Although the T-Shirts might have cost Target prices ranging from $5-9, the T-Shirts are still listed at $15 therefore different products have different profit margins. The benefits of this strategy is that it makes it easier for customers to find the product they want and according to "business studies in action", it enables the business to also encourage customers to "trade up" to more expensive models (or in Target's case, more expensive shirts).
Hope that cleared up some confusion.
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Price points is a pricing strategy were products are set at predetermined prices. This strategy is typically used in retail stores, an example being Target selling most of their T-shirts are for $15. Although the T-Shirts might have cost Target prices ranging from $5-9, the T-Shirts are still listed at $15 therefore different products have different profit margins. The benefits of this strategy is that it makes it easier for customers to find the product they want and according to "business studies in action", it enables the business to also encourage customers to "trade up" to more expensive models (or in Target's case, more expensive shirts).
Hope that cleared up some confusion.
adding on to this, a good example is buying coffee.
where you can buy a small $3 , medium $4 or large $5. It offers a range of similar products that still caters for different customers (those who want a little bit of coffee and those who want lots of coffee) :)
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Just my two cents to the price points strategy which i have a bit of a hard time conceptualising as well, zachary's example on price points is how i think of price points as well. Adding to it using price points is an effective pricing strategy because it stimulates demand for a variety of 'target markets' which you can link back to factors affecting consumer choice - social class. Furthermore, by using price points in a competitive market gives consumers more choice in their decision making which can provide them a competitive advantage leading to increased profits ( this might be a stretch )
Just wanted to have a go explaining to try consolidate my own knowledge on it, hope i provided more information rather than repeating what Zachary and Rikahs said
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Hi,
Could someone please explain to me what a "placement" is in regards to ordinary shares (finance module)?
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Placement is essentially rather than going on the ASX and listing them publicly you offer them directly to investors (reduces their brokeages fees (?)). You basically get to choose who you want to have part ownership of the business and is usually used for expansions
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Hey Guys,
What does "processes" mean in Marketing? like the "people, processes, physical evidence"? Does it mean the customers total experience from the simple stage of searching for the product to the final stage of experiencing its benefits OR the flow of activities a business follows in its delivery of the service? Ive read a million different versions of what "processes" is haha so I'm a little confused
Thank you!
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Hi,
Could someone please explain to me what a "placement" is in regards to ordinary shares (finance module)?
Hey Rikahs,
In a private sale of equity, the issuing firm sells a block of securities only to an individual or a small group of investors at a discounted price to entice certain investors or a certain group. As there is no prospectus given to investors, it poses greater risk; meaning firms are usually large and reputable businesses; or have the potential for the greatest reward. Non-participating shareholders not only suffer from ownership dilution but also lose the opportunity to enjoy the private placement discount.
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What is even the difference between pricing methods and pricing strategies
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What is even the difference between pricing methods and pricing strategies
Pricing methods are simply how a business would price their products depending on the circumstances e.g highly competitive means they would use competition based pricing. Now this becomes the base price for the product/ market based is used depending on supply and demand for the good and service, if there is high demand for a good it will have a higher base price/ cost up is just to generate profit
Pricing strategies are then applied to the base price to achieve the businesses marketing objectives and goals. So if it wants to gain market share, the business would apply a price penetration strategy on top of the base price
Hope i helped
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Hey Guys,
What does "processes" mean in Marketing? like the "people, processes, physical evidence"? Does it mean the customers total experience from the simple stage of searching for the product to the final stage of experiencing its benefits OR the flow of activities a business follows in its delivery of the service? Ive read a million different versions of what "processes" is haha so I'm a little confused
Thank you!
Hey there,
People, processes and physical evidence is an extension to the 4P's of product, place, promotion, price except that the 3 extra P's relate only to service based businesses. Therefore processes refers to the flow of activities that a business will follow in its delivery of a service - this means the all aspects of the systems/programs in place to ensure customer satisfaction. These processes need to be continually monitored and adapted to suit a variety of different customers, demographics, technology to have the greatest efficiency and customer service. So really, you can see how this does relate to the total experience for the customer as it is their entire interaction with the business through these set processes.
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Hey Melprocrastinator,
Under common law rights of an employee if they are rostered to work specific hours or it's in their contract to work 9-5 etc; an employer cannot tell them not to work or "stand them down" if there isn't as much work to do. This can happen a lot in shift work type jobs if an employee comes to work and expects to do 8 hours, an employer might want to cut cost and tell this person not to work so they don't have to pay their wage for that shift. But under common law rights, they can't do this or they still have to pay whatever they were entitled to if they don't work.
Hope this helps :)
OMG thankyou so much. saving lives haha
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Hi,
Could someone please explain cost centres and revenue controls (Both regarding finance)? All that seems to be under revenue controls is "marketing objectives" but how would this being a revenue controlling method? BTW if you could provide examples that would also be super helpful.
Thanks!
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Hi,
Could someone please explain cost centres and revenue controls (Both regarding finance)? All that seems to be under revenue controls is "marketing objectives" but how would this being a revenue controlling method? BTW if you could provide examples that would also be super helpful.
Thanks!
Are particular areas, departments or sections of business to which costs can be directly attributed to, so it makes it easier to identify the sources of costs for the business making it easier to reduce expenses . E.g Large business called Shak has multiple departments in his business, he can have a cost centre for each department so one for IT, one for HR, one for marketing etc, this way Shak can work out where the costs are coming from
Think revenue control as aim to increase revenue which inherently increases your profits i.e Revenue - COGS = Gross Profit, higher rev = higher profit
When it says marketing objectives it is essentially linking the strategic plan of marketing and finance together. For example, in marketing you would have pricing strats, changes to your price would therefore affect your revenue which affects your profit/working capital.
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thanks man
whats the difference between mentoring and coaching in HR
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Mentoring and coaching are both used to develop an employee's leadership. The difference between mentoring and coaching is that mentoring is more personal whilst coaching is more professional. I break it down into 5 categories ( excuse the poor formatting )
Mentoring
Focus - Individual life development
Function - provides experiences and advice on how to deal with certain scenarios
Role - its a personal relationship between mentor and mentee which is based on experience
Time - no time frame
Benefit - develops and provides growth for individual
Coaching
Focus - To train and develop the individual by improving their skills and knowledge
Function - To share skills, knowledge, methods of accomplishing tasks
Role - To coach the employee in an area
Time - Specific
Benefit - Increases teamwork, performance etc
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Any suggestions why the answer is A? Not sure why it can't be B or C
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Any suggestions why the answer is A? Not sure why it can't be B or C
The question says the best strategy to increase gross profit, whilst minimising expenses and/or reducing fix costs will reduce costs, cost centres are more direct and targeted to certain parts e.g COGS for a business. This makes it a 'better strategy' since GP is calculated by Revenue - COGS.
Hope i cleared up some confusion.
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Any suggestions why the answer is A? Not sure why it can't be B or C
Hey Kevin,
So the question asks for a strategy to increase gross profit. We know that Gross Profit = Sales - Cost of Good Sold;
So to increase Gross profit we either increase sales or decrease COGS.
B - fixed costs - is wrong because a fixed cost is like rent, insurance etc. These are expenses but they are not part of COGS.
C - minimise expenses is your distractor; but be aware that it says expenses which normally means selling, administrative or financial expenses and not necessarily COGS which is it's own expense. Expense minimisation refers mainly to reducing unnecessary costs; not necessarily COGS thus it is quite broad and not as correct as A
D - sale and lease back - is wrong as this is a working capital strategy to improve liquidity and not profitability
A - Use cost centres is most correct is it would enable the firm to isolate where exactly the cost in COGS is coming from so that it can be addressed - i.e. might be supplier, might be inflation, might be hedging - without doing this the firm cannot minimise COGS and thus can't maximise Gross Profit
Although, this was a confusing question; and in a rush I most probably would have chosen C - sorry Deng, didn't see you already replied!!
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Hey Kevin,
So the question asks for a strategy to increase gross profit. We know that Gross Profit = Sales - Cost of Good Sold;
So to increase Gross profit we either increase sales or decrease COGS.
B is wrong because a fixed cost is like rent, insurance etc. These are expenses but they are not part of COGS
C - minimise expenses is your distractor; but be aware that it says expenses which normally means selling, administrative or financial expenses and not COGS which is it's own expense. Expense minimisation refers mainly to reducing unnecessary costs; not necessarily COGS
D - sale and lease back - is wrong as this is a working capital strategy to improve liquidity and not profitability
A - Use cost centres is most correct is it would enable the firm to isolate where exactly the cost in COGS is coming from so that it can be addressed - i.e. might be supplier, might be labour, might be hedging - without doing this the firm cannot minimise COGS and thus can't maximise Gross Profit
Although, this was a confusing question; and in a rush I most probably would have chosen C
Wow, thanks for your explanation, made it more simpler than it really is. Good catch on cost centres targeting specific expenses related to COGS.
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Heyy,
Can anyone please help me with the limitations of reports?
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Heyy,
Can anyone please help me with the limitations of reports?
Hey justdoit,
That's kind of a broad question; what part are you not getting? Is there a specific limitation? or are you not sure on what how they are relevant?
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Hey Guys,
I was wondering how the global strategy for Human Resources "cost, skills, supply" is a strategy?? Like I understand finding cheaper labour who possess the required skill is key for any business, but how does supply come in?
Thank you!
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Hey Guys,
I was wondering how the global strategy for Human Resources "cost, skills, supply" is a strategy?? Like I understand finding cheaper labour who possess the required skill is key for any business, but how does supply come in?
Thank you!
Hey Kawther,
To be honest, it isn't really a strategy; mainly the ability to look globally for labour is the strategy. The supply part refers to where the pool of applicants/labour is from - domestic or overseas --> Australia might have an undersupply domestically so have to look overseas. On the other hand, a place like China or India might have an oversupply of labour who are willing to work at a cheaper price in foreign subsidiaries. Further, the abundant supply of unskilled, semi skilled and skilled labour has seen Australia allowing more migrants as well as some firms bringing in workers from overseas - e.g. Gina Reinhart
Hope this helps
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Hi can someone please explain what hedging and derivatives are and do?
Thanks
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Hi can someone please explain what hedging and derivatives are and do?
Thanks
Hi there!
To my knowledge, this is what I understand hedging and derivatives to be:
Hedging is any investment into an asset to reduce its risk of volatile price changes. Its sorta similar to an insurance but because the asset is less risky, there are less gains from the asset. (Known as the Risk-Reward Tradeoff)
Derivatives are securities that are dependent on other underlying assets such as interest rates or exchange rates.
Hope this helps :)
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Adding to Hermansia, there are various forms of derivatives such as options, forward exchange and swap contract.
Using examples an option refers to an agreement between two parties which gives one party the right but not the obligation to purchase. Qantas uses options to hedge their fuel, where they have the right to purchase fuel but not the obligation to purchase if the price of fuel is cheaper otherwise. This allows Qantas to reduce their costs of operations since they are an airline and inherently use a lot of fuel.
Forward exchange is simply buying a currency in the future at a predetermined price ( helps remove volatility and risk )
A swap contract is an agreement to exchange currency in spot market with agreement to reverse transaction in the future
and is done when business needs to raise finance in country they are not well known in (can be forced to pay higher interest rate). From the textbook, if an Australian business needs Yen, it will ask a Japanses business to purchase the Yen for them ( at a cheaper price, they know the market better ), and the Australian business will then purchase Australian dollars for the Japanese country. They will swap the two currencies which helps both businesses alter their exposure to exchange rate fluctuations
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Valuing assest, Debt repayments and Timing issues :)
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Hey Kawther,
To be honest, it isn't really a strategy; mainly the ability to look globally for labour is the strategy. The supply part refers to where the pool of applicants/labour is from - domestic or overseas --> Australia might have an undersupply domestically so have to look overseas. On the other hand, a place like China or India might have an oversupply of labour who are willing to work at a cheaper price in foreign subsidiaries. Further, the abundant supply of unskilled, semi skilled and skilled labour has seen Australia allowing more migrants as well as some firms bringing in workers from overseas - e.g. Gina Reinhart
Hope this helps
THANK YOU SO MUCH! Really appreciate your help :)
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Hey,
Whats the difference between coaching and mentoring
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Hey,
Whats the difference between coaching and mentoring
Scroll up to post #73
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Valuing assest, Debt repayments and Timing issues :)
Hey justdoit!
So limitations on financial reports are issues that you should be aware about that can distort the true figures or give a more accurate representation of a business' position.
Valuing assets:
Valuing assets is a limitation to financial reports/statements. This is because it is sometimes hard to estimate how much an asset is worth - creating inaccuracies.
Sometimes, assets are recorded using its historical cost or cost when the asset was purchased. This becomes an inaccurate representation of the assets worth over time as depreciation occurs, in which the value of the asset decreasing over time as it becomes obsolete. If the historical cost is used on a balance sheet for example a year after it was purchased, this would distort and overstate the value of total asset. - thus limitation to financial resources as it is prone to inaccuracies.
Note - this also occurs when non-current assets like land appreciate.
This is also a limitation since intangible assets such as goodwill, patents, brand names which are listed on balance sheets are hard to calculate since there is no monetary value attached to them. Thus the valuing of assets can be overstated or understated = limitation of financial reports since it may be inaccurate or misleading.
Debt repayments:
Any form of debt or liability primarily on balance sheet (can be P&L or cash flow) is normally considered bad. However, in order to make an informed judgement over the business' solvency, we need to know things like:
- How long the business has had the debt
- Capacity of the business to pay it's debt
- Adequacy of provisions or methods the business has for recovery of debt
- Provisions in place for doubtful debts
- Debt repayments under another financial period
- When the debts are due - monthly repayments
E.G A loan of $5000 on a balance sheet might seem bad, but if the repayments are only $20 a month and the business earns $2000 in sales a month; then it doesn't seem like a large amount and won't affect liquidity that much.
Timing Issues:
This revolves around the "matching principle" in which whenever revenue is recorded, there should be matching expenses for that revenue. I.e. any profit generated should have a cost associated - $500 in sales should be attributed to some sort of cost in buying the products.
This especially becomes an issue when the cost is recorded in the previous financial year, but the product is sold in the following year - this causes an understatement of profits in the first year and hence lower tax paid. This becomes a major issue if this practice were
widespread in a business where sales were hundreds of millions a year. inflows of cash and the payment of debt can be easily manipulated in financial reports. Thus, most large businesses publish six-monthly reports so that the potential to mislead needs to be carefully considered.
Note that this practice can be used for any kind of income or cost including long service leave, holiday payments etc.
Also, Deng has an excellent explanation on the difference between mentoring and coaching above :)
Hope this clears things up!!
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Can someone explain these multiple choice questions to me, thanks
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THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH :D
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Can someone explain these multiple choice questions to me, thanks
Hey Deng,
17. Flexible work structures - C
"Common methods used in job design today are developing broader, more generalised and flexible jobs, so they can attract, motivate, retain and use labour more flexibly and efficiently." Job design is basically setting up what sort of jobs the employee will do, thus having a flexible working structure is a method that employers can use to create the job structure for new employees. Common these days due to social influences of flexible working arrangements.
20. Working capital - C
Working capital is calculated through current assets-current liabilities as working capital is used for liquidity. From this we can see:
Stock + Cash + Accounts receivable - Overdraft - Accounts payable = net working capital
35,000 + 23,000 + 20,000 - 8,000 - 8,000 = 62,000
14. Cash flow statement - A
To calculate the closing balance for each month you have your opening balance + cash receipts - cash payments
The closing balance of the previous month becomes the opening balance of the next month.
From this logic, Jan starts with $2,000 then receives $12,000 but has to pay $8,000 leaving Virginia with $6,000 as her January closing balance and as her February opening balance. Keep doing this until May and you should be left with $7,000.
Hope this helps :)
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Just another one, why is this one demographic and psychographic
From my understanding, it is psychographic because they are fitness-conscious however wouldnt it also be behavioural as my definition of behavioural is • Includes customer knowledge of, attitudes towards, use of or benefits sought from the product. Gym = physical benefits
Whilst demographic is more traits that distinguishes people e.g age, income, sex etc unless its because its office people that why its demographic other than that i dont understand why it is demographic and not behavioural
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Demographic is specifically who are we targeting, office people. Do you remember in junor years where they ask us who is the demographic for a movie- those that like chick flicks.That is why officeworkers fit under demographic. I hope this idea helped :)
Behavivioural may be right, but demographic is the better answe. Its one of those annoying little MC's.
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just to add onto that, i think behavioural is also to do with consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions of the consumer which is influenced by their attitude and knowledge of the product e.g. the purpose of buying something (purchase occasion), how often a consumer buys a product and what customer group uses the product more than others (usage rate) and the additional benefits desired such as customer service and personal attention from staff etc.
behavioural more so refers to their behaviour when buying products rather than behaviour in their everyday life which is what i first thought when they said 'fitness conscious'... very frustrating haha
hope this helps
Just another one, why is this one demographic and psychographic
From my understanding, it is psychographic because they are fitness-conscious however wouldnt it also be behavioural as my definition of behavioural is • Includes customer knowledge of, attitudes towards, use of or benefits sought from the product. Gym = physical benefits
Whilst demographic is more traits that distinguishes people e.g age, income, sex etc unless its because its office people that why its demographic other than that i dont understand why it is demographic and not behavioural
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Hi everyone,
Could someone explain to me what a Modern Award is?
Thanks.
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Can someone break down the mathematical aspects of FIFO and LIFO --> eg how to calculate inventory if they are given a scenario ( sorry i dont have an example to give )
I understand the definitions of each and how it works i guess, i just dont understand the maths behind it
Thanks
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Hi everyone,
Could someone explain to me what a Modern Award is?
Thanks.
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/awards-and-agreements/awards
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Hey Guys,
What does the dot point "Job design - general or specific tasks" mean for HR? Does "general tasks" mean that employees are given a wide range of tasks to perform, while specific tasks includes employees specialising in more of the same kind of work, so like they specialise in one activity/job?
Thank You!
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Guys, I didn't realise this wasn't a question thread.. I read the title and got really confused for a second.
Business Studies Question Thread
I thought this might make more sense :D
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Hey Guys,
What does the dot point "Job design - general or specific tasks" mean for HR? Does "general tasks" mean that employees are given a wide range of tasks to perform, while specific tasks includes employees specialising in more of the same kind of work, so like they specialise in one activity/job?
Thank You!
To my knowledge its essentially what you said, general tasks are just basic tasks, "general", and specific tasks involves jobs being broken down into specialist skills areas and employees selected are matched to demands of jobs and are then trained.
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Just downloaded them then and last week recevied your Complete Course Note books for a range of subjects which are also really good
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I would just like to thank you for making this post again because it's really helped me. Because I could memorise the syllabus through this method, I managed to get nearly full marks for my first assessment task. Thanks so much!
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I would just like to thank you for making this post again because it's really helped me. Because I could memorise the syllabus through this method, I managed to get nearly full marks for my first assessment task. Thanks so much!
Awesome work Priscy! What an awesome start ;D
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So so helpfultthankyou !!
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Thank you this is great!!
Acronyms help so much more.
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Hi I was wondering if people are recommending doing hypothetical businesses or having specific case studies??
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Sorry just regarding the question above, if people are recomending the case studies where are they getting the infomation from (as its taking me ages) and how are you/what is the best way to remember them as this was my big struggle for half yearlies. Thank you
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Hi I was wondering if people are recommending doing hypothetical businesses or having specific case studies??
My teacher has suggested that it doesn't matter if you use real or hypothetical case studies as long as you can demonstrate how it connects to the theory. I find it easier to use real case studies as it can be hard to make up your own
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Sorry just regarding the question above, if people are recomending the case studies where are they getting the infomation from (as its taking me ages) and how are you/what is the best way to remember them as this was my big struggle for half yearlies. Thank you
There are a few business case studies designed specifically around the Business Studies syllabus that you can get. The major one is Qantas (http://businesscasestudy.com.au/) and I have seen one for Ikea.
This is a link for an Apple case study: https://tablo.io/christanphotography/everything-business-studies
Hope this helps! ;D
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Hi! how does one really study for business trial? I have my trials in week 1 and studying this much contents is a bit overwhelming. Any tips???
;)
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Hi! how does one really study for business trial? I have my trials in week 1 and studying this much contents is a bit overwhelming. Any tips???
;)
Hi, have you written any studies notes so far?
If you have I find summarising those notes into flashcards helpful as these are easy to read and quickly go over.
I also find it helpful to link my case studies into the notes.
For example, for Liquidity I would have a quick definition of what it is, how it is measured and what strategies can be used to improve it. Then on the same card or on another card I would write what Qantas's liquidity ratio is and then list the strategies they use to improve their liquidity.
If you haven't written any notes I would suggest looking at the notes section on ATAR Notes and use some of those notes to make summaries.
Practice HSC questions are REALLY helpful!! You could do a practice paper and then mark it. This will give you an idea of what content you are confident with and what areas you may need to focus on. I would suggest you make flashcards of key things to remember that you may have gotten wrong.
And I find that reading through study notes before going to sleep a useful way to remember them, but this might not work for everyone.
This is basically how study the week or a few days before a business studies exam.
Hope this helps! ;D
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Hi, have you written any studies notes so far?
If you have I find summarising those notes into flashcards helpful as these are easy to read and quickly go over.
I also find it helpful to link my case studies into the notes.
For example, for Liquidity I would have a quick definition of what it is, how it is measured and what strategies can be used to improve it. Then on the same card or on another card I would write what Qantas's liquidity ratio is and then list the strategies they use to improve their liquidity.
If you haven't written any notes I would suggest looking at the notes section on ATAR Notes and use some of those notes to make summaries.
Practice HSC questions are REALLY helpful!! You could do a practice paper and then mark it. This will give you an idea of what content you are confident with and what areas you may need to focus on. I would suggest you make flashcards of key things to remember that you may have gotten wrong.
And I find that reading through study notes before going to sleep a useful way to remember them, but this might not work for everyone.
This is basically how study the week or a few days before a business studies exam.
Hope this helps! ;D
haha thanks, I am up to date with my notes as I tend to do them as I go. and I have finished 3 business past papers and reviewed them. i'm not confident with the finance topic expecially applying expense ratio... to real life scenarios. I don't think I get it. ahha
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haha thanks, I am up to date with my notes as I tend to do them as I go. and I have finished 3 business past papers and reviewed them. i'm not confident with the finance topic expecially applying expense ratio... to real life scenarios. I don't think I get it. ahha
Hi, so the expense ratio is a way of measuring efficiency, which is one of the financial objectives, and it helps the business to see if it's costs are too high. This link might be helpful https://aishscbusinessstudies.wikispaces.com/file/view/Efficiency+Ratios.pdf
And finance is quite a hard topic for most people but the best way to improve is probably to doing practice questions
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Hey, could you possibly repost the link for the notes? I'm getting to a blank page
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Hey, could you possibly repost the link for the notes? I'm getting to a blank page
Hey there, do you need to get to the notes section?? You can super easily get there by going up to the top of the page and hovering over the notes section and clicking on HSC notes - then search for business studies. You'll see heaaapsss of FREE notes here not just for business but for a range of other subjects like English, Economics, History etc. If you had some time, it would be awesome if you could upload any notes or anything you have donee!!!
Lemme know if you need help navigating anywhere else :)
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How do I study for finance - there's so much to remember and its so confusing