How to do well in Bus Man?

[stupidfurther]

Probably the hardest out of Methods, English, Psych, Accouting (the other subjects I'm doing this year).

It isn't just regurgitating from the textbook, but it also requires a vast knowledge of the real world and many companies and organisations...

And they say regurgitating from the textbook isn't good, but I feel a lot of the questions are like that. 

Even when I do revise of Bus Man, and even Methods and stuff, I still suck. 

[stupidfurther]

Probably the hardest out of Methods, English, Psych, Accouting (the other subjects I'm doing this year).

It isn't just regurgitating from the textbook, but it also requires a vast knowledge of the real world and many companies and organisations...

And they say regurgitating from the textbook isn't good, but I feel a lot of the questions are like that. 

Even when I do revise of Bus Man, and even Methods and stuff, I still suck. 

Averaging 57% in the 4 SACs so far... They're usaully out of 25 marks, and for every 0.5 mark loss for a wrong defintion, or 0 makrs for not answering the question it really bites.

[CH3ezEC4KE]

I just remembered definitions, that was it. Figured if I knew the definitions it wouldn't be hard to apply them to the questions. Basically just use a similar structure to TEEL for questions. Evaluate is strengths/weaknesses &opinion. It's easy once you learn the definitions, then you can almost make the rest up and try to make it sound good

Also practice exams are good, there's heaps out there.

[stupidfurther]

I just remembered definitions, that was it. Figured if I knew the definitions it wouldn't be hard to apply them to the questions. Basically just use a similar structure to TEEL for questions. Evaluate is strengths/weaknesses &opinion. It's easy once you learn the definitions, then you can almost make the rest up and try to make it sound good

Also practice exams are good, there's heaps out there.

The SACs given to me are so formulaic. They are from VCTA, and they all have a case study and questions pertaining to the study. Do you know where I can find or buy them?

[lala1911]

Business Management is such an easy subject but it's so hard to score full marks. I'm on an A average for Unit 3, which is alright, but getting full marks is so difficult. There's always something you miss out on.
Here's how a lot of people lose marks:
- Forgetting to include definitions.
- Failing to properly read the question, take into account 'discuss', 'outline', 'justify', 'evaluate'.
- Failing to properly respond. Don't rush your responses. Need to keep asking yourself HOW and WHY.
- Time management, to be honest, business management SACs are the only ones where I feel pressured by time.

[stupidfurther]

Business Management is such an easy subject but it's so hard to score full marks. I'm on an A average for Unit 3, which is alright, but getting full marks is so difficult. There's always something you miss out on.
Here's how a lot of people lose marks:
- Forgetting to include definitions.
- Failing to properly read the question, take into account 'discuss', 'outline', 'justify', 'evaluate'.
- Failing to properly respond. Don't rush your responses. Need to keep asking yourself HOW and WHY.
- Time management, to be honest, business management SACs are the only ones where I feel pressured by time.

Is an A 80 - 85%?

[stupidfurther]

Business Management is such an easy subject but it's so hard to score full marks. I'm on an A average for Unit 3, which is alright, but getting full marks is so difficult. There's always something you miss out on.
Here's how a lot of people lose marks:
- Forgetting to include definitions.
- Failing to properly read the question, take into account 'discuss', 'outline', 'justify', 'evaluate'.
- Failing to properly respond. Don't rush your responses. Need to keep asking yourself HOW and WHY.
- Time management, to be honest, business management SACs are the only ones where I feel pressured by time.

On the plus side, even though I am bottom of my class, there are only 5 people in my class, and they aren't doing much better than me (70% or so). But really, since the SACs are usually out of 25 marks, each mark lost so costly...

[stupidfurther]

As long as you all do really well on the exams, your sac scores will scale up.
But 70% for bm sacs mean that your cohort is either really weak or the sacs are extremely hard. For your sake, I hope it's the second option!

As I said, they are the VCTA SACS, if I could find them, I'll get 100% in each...

they have a case study, and questions relating to the study. (eg: so and so did this, what are the characteristics of this management style, etc).

I always screw up with the social and ethical responsiblity questions, maybe a lack of research or... I unno. How do I tackle those questions?

[lala1911]

You're definitely not in a bad position though. The mean score for the business exam last year was only 40% and that's easily achievable. The top 25% of the state scored ~60% or above, which again, isn't that difficult. If you can try to get your average up and gain a few ranks you'll be fine.
A is 80-89/100
I also screw up the social/ethical responsibility questions.. as do many other people. They are terrible.

[CH3ezEC4KE]

Well I think we did neap practice sacs, although I never took them seriously. Basically for each question we had to define everything, then explain, give an example and link to the case. I think our average was 70% for sacs, I got 198/200 but our cohort was extremely weak. There were about 3 of us sitting on 198 and we all ended up with a 42 raw, but two others finished on 192 and got ss of 44 and 42 respectively.

I didn't think practice sacs were necessary as as long as you knew the definition you should be ok. It is a subject very easy to rote learn.

For ethical and socially responsible questions, I usually define ethics or corporate social responsibility,then apply to the case. What kind of questions do u screw up?

Also I know observer7 on an got a 50 a few years back and they were really helpful

[EspoirTron]

I am doing Business Management this year as well. It is a difficult subject but it is manageable if you keep on-top of it and continually revise.
Firstly, wrote-learning definitions assists you in being able to tackle the definition questions and questions which indirectly prompt you to define key terms.

If I could recommend anything for Business Management (that has helped me so far) it would be the following things:
- Complete textbook questions, a pertinent component in ensuring that you understand the underlying theory.
- Construct a set of detailed or summarised notes, that contain the key concepts of each area of study. To ensure that you are addressing everything in the study design I strongly recommend that you obtain a copy of the study design (you can get that off VCAA's website), ensure that you understand theory from every dot point. I know that sounds like a lot but with continual revision it is manageable. I say this because, VCAA can pull questions on essentially anything. If you recall during the planning process (in respect to P.O.L.C) there is a systematic process known as DADIM (I think some textbooks describe it has SADIM), nonetheless, the second stage involves an analysis of the business environment in which an organisation seeks change. If you remember this involves a SWOT analysis (Strength and Weaknesses - internal assessment, and Opportunities and Threats - external assessment), now just a few years ago there was a four mark question on the exam relating to this. So my point is to learn the finer details of this subject as you just never know.
- I would highly recommend buying a copy of VCE Business Management Checkpoints, it is great to test your knowledge on definitions, it provides a range of practice sacs and some practice exams for you to work through.
- Maybe get a study partner and discuss areas of study and learn key concepts together.
- In relation to understanding the business environment, I would highly recommend that you regularly read the paper and watch the finance reports on the news.
- Read assessors reports to understand what a high-scoring response consists of and what assessors are looking for in an answer.

When I answer questions, let's say we are talking about a compare question. I should point out that 'compare' now encompasses both 'compare' and 'contrast' (similarities and differences).
-Firstly define your key terms within the question, it doesn't have to be four line definition like an explicit 'define' question, it could be a sentence. For example if the question asked about the key elements of an operations system. I would define the system as: There are three key elements that constitute the operations system; inputs, transformations and outputs.. Now if you were asked to compare an operations system of a service organisation compared to a manufacturing organisation, I would highly suggest paragraphing your response (like a mini essay) and one paragraph for similarities and one for differences.

For example;

The similarities between a service and manufacturing orgainsation are that they both use the three key elements of the operations process to produce there products and services; being, inputs, transformations and outputs. That is a general one but you could fine tune that to provide a much more concrete response.

A difference between a service and manufacturing organisation is that a service organisation provides customers with an intangible product, whereas, a manufacturing organisation provides customers with tangible items. In addition the output would be a good(s) - its use is separate from its production. Whereas, for a service organisation, services are produced and usually used during the production process.


As for E+SRM questions;
-Again, define key terms
- Ethics is about moral standards and conforming to legal constraints, for example, Occupational Health and Safety legislation.
- Socially responsible management relates to the 'Triple Bottom Line' - People, Planet (environment) and Profit. Essentially fostering the concern for all three of these factors and extending business operations to take into consideration factors beyond the organiations legal requirements. 

Also, E+SRM questions will be answered different for each area of study (although some do crossover). For example, an Operations manager would have a different approach to Socially Responsible Management than a Human Resources manager.

I hope that helped you out, if there is anything more, please feel free to ask!