Hey all! My name is Andrew and I am the Business Studies lecturer and author of the notes. Firstly..
. CONGRATS ON FINISHING THIS EXAM!!! Trust me when I say this... you've probably done better than what you expect!
This thread is here for you to share your thoughts of the exam. Let it out below! Im working on the answers now and I'll post them as they come!
THE MULTIPLE CHOICE!
Spoiler
1. B (Human resources)
2. D (Total Quality Management)
3. A (A strength to overcome a threat
4. D (All means short and long term, the answer is: Solvency)
5. C (Selective)
6. D (Internal Equity Finance)
7. C (Sociocultural)
8. A (Implied Conditions)
9. D (Transformation)
10. D (Price discrimination)
11. B (Employers)
12. D (Accounts receivable turnover ratio)
13. A (To improve cash flow)
14. (Industrial - first I thought Resource but you guys make great points. I am now erring on industrial side as most likely)
15. D (Comparative radio analysis)
16. C (possibly A, however unlikely - so I believe the answer is Introducing a community health program)
17. Not sure on this one - what do you guys think?
18. A (Australian Securities and Investments Commission)
19.C (Social)
20. Also not sure on this one - what did you put down? The general consensus from the comment section is that everyone put down D! Which is: Sales: $600,000, Net Profit: $300,000
Spoiler
2 Strategies to Improve Financial Performance
Since profit is reducing we can use strategies like profitability management:
•Profitability Management
–Maximise difference between revenue and costs
–To resolve:
•Cost Controls:
–Fixed and Variable: reduce labour and inputs costs (variable easier), outsource non-core functions, reduce waste, negotiate discounts, JIT, increase customer self-service, ‘casualised’ workforce, share firm resources
–Cost Centers: ea dept. has own budget to monitor and minimise waste and maximise resource use – helps identify improvement areas and sets budgets to fix it
–Expense Minimisation: find area which contributes highest cost, and minimise them first via budgets , reducing cash outflow
•Revenue Controls:
–Marketing objectives: ensure plans achieve higher sales revenue via forecasts, sales mix, pricing policy
–Adjust Prices: according to demand, over stocking, quantity sold to maximise revenue in any situation
Since they are becoming a more globalised business we could also talk about Global Financial Management Strategies
•Global Financial Management
–Exchange Rates: value of country’s currency calculated against another
•Influence profits, prices and stability of business (is always uncertain/changes)
•Impacts of appreciation/depreciation when exporting/importing
–Interest Rates: cost of borrowing money
•Rate volatility, risk, banking technology, different laws
•Impacts of higher/lower interest rates domestically and overseas
–To resolve:
•Methods of International Payment
–Payment in Advance: payment received before goods sent - least risk for exporter
–Letter of Credit: secure bank doc authorises specific deposit under specific conditions
–Bills of Exchange: seller provides written order requesting amount @ time when official shipping documents are received
–Clean Payment: goods sent before payment received - most exporter risk
•Hedging: enter contracts using one single currency – Aus/China = USA - even out
•Derivative: Forward Exchange (future rate/date), currency option (buy/sell spot rate), Swap contract (use the same, agreed upon rates to swap currency)
Any 2 of these with detailed discussion is great. What makes papers AMAZING is their ability to LINK THE STRATEGY TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE GOAL. YOU SHOULD BE CLEAR ON FOCUSING DISCUSSION TO THE COMPANY WHICH YOU ARE DESCRIBING - Sportyz Goodz. Ask how does this help sporty goods be more financially stable, effective, efficient. What can we do to make shareholders happier?
Spoiler
This question requires structure. See how i have used headings (and sub points) to answer this question. This is very important.
You should be careful to stray outside of these 3 areas.
It's okay for you to have different amounts/lengths for the 3 topics. Economic is quite small in my opinion. However covering all 3 is a must for higher marks!
Economic Influences
Economic Cycle (diagram here would have looked great!)
Inflation (seeking higher real wages)
Talk about how staff require increases in wages to match (or exceed) inflation.
Technological Influences
Increases efficient production
Robotics, CAD and CAM are tools used to make staff more effective and efficient in the workplace
Seeking cost savings
Technology is an investment. HR see technology as AIDS to staff, as well as REPLACEMENTS to staff.
Training
Online training has taken a huge leap. Means that employers save costs, yet have more effective training modules.
Reduced repetitiveness of tasks
Machones now can be programmed to complete the boring, or even dangerous tasks.
E.g. look to any car manufacturer and see how they have used tech to manufacture cars.
Fosters teamwork (and somewhat doesn't also)
Online groups and learning (e.g. Optus use a PHUB (Personal Hub) to connect all staff together. However, in the alternative, it may foster negativity. Sometimes online teams aren't effective!
Reduced staff requirements (reduces morale and lowers productivity)
With technology improvements, we reduce the number of staff required. E.g. Telstra use automated services now rather than real people for thing like bill payments and call transfers. This means cost savings for the business, but may make existing staff scared for their job security. We must combat this by retarining staff from old areas to new ones to keep them happy, productive and employed!
Social Influences
Changing work patterns
Women in workforce (think about changes to accommodate this… and the gender pay gap)
Changed hours of work
Ppl expect later start times to drop kids off to school (what have businesses done to accommodate this)
Longer to cater for our need to be instant (our work hours are now longer. E.g. people work more, do more night shifts etc because of society’s need to be available.
Good example is ANZ Bank (or any bank) and the need to have a phone line open 24/7 for banking issues!
24/7 need to be connected to work
Employers somewhat expect us to be in the frame of mind of work 24/7. With emails on phones accessible outside the office, more and more people are working outside normal hours.
Living standards increased (and the impact on income, education and skills)
Social changes have occurred because of this. We now eat out more. Have different expectations of our employers. We also demand better pay and work conditions. (E.g. Apple’s employment benefits are amazing for retail and corporate staff! This is great! However, what about the factory workers in Foxconn?!)
Spoiler
For the question regarding globalisation on operations, you have a lot to work with here! I’m assuming most decided on this topic since it was broad!
You should have started off by defining what globalisation is. Its broad, so it’s okay to not match exact definitions. But I define globalisation as the increased interaction of people and businesses around the world due to the growth of technology and social integration.
Good papers talk about the benefits of globalisation. GREAT papers talk about the pros and cons of globalisation. EXCELLENT papers talk about pros, and cons, and how to combat those cons!
Here are some ideas of topics and issues i would have brought up! Some headings i would use (and the info below that) would be something like this:
Product
-Gloablisation has made the number of products available to consumers much wider
-This has meant differentiation strategies must be more diverse to compete with greater market openness.
-Having products which are better quality at a cheaper price is becoming a must in a globalised economy
-Customisation is key! If you customise your product enough to make it unique and hard to imitate, you will be able to create a stronger competitive advantage in the long run in a gloablised market
Location
The availability of manufacturing plant locations is now world wide. What i mean is that you can literally set up shop (and start producing) almost anywhere. This is thanks to technology and shipping advancements, making it easier (and cheaper) than ever before to make something in China (a cheaper manufacturing economy) and ship it to Australia.
Case example: I would use either Apple or Holden. For Apple, they manufacture products in Foxconn, CHina, yet ship all around the world. Without gloablisation, this supply chain would not be able to occur on such an efficient and cost effective manner. For holden, consider the fact they left Australia! No more manufacturing in Aus because they were no longer globally efficient to create cars here. Instead, we see gloablisation has caused us to move from manufacturing to service based industries.
Quality
Globalisation means we compare products from all around the world. Consumers expect higher quality items than ever before, because now they get made in the most economically efficient locations and manner. Consumers expectations grow, and businesses operations must meet these demands.
Global Business
You can now source your suppliers and customers from anywhere in the world! This brings amazing benefits in that you can now get higher quality inputs, at cheaper prices.
Different Currencies
Dealing with global supply chains means you must now protect your business by ensuring currency changes don't impact your profits and costs. We must look at exchange rates more closely, and find ways to ensure suppliers and customers are dealing with businesses in a way that protects them from unexpected increases/decreases in currency exchange rates over time.
Trade Agreements
Gloablisation has caused governments to realise the benefits of trade agreements. This means countries sign international agreements to trade with each other at discounted rates. With reduced taxes, tariffs and quotas, this means businesses are more competitive in more local markets around the world.
Great example here are trade deals australia has with China and NZ. E.g. Closer Economic Relations (CER) and AANZFTA.
Global Consumers
Gloablisation has created the idea of global consumers. That is, consumers expect more from businesses. They expect faster deliveries, higher quality, more features etc. and for it to all cost less. This means we must deploy operations strategies to tackle these issues.
Overall, you could honestly speak about almost anything related to OPERATIONS and GLOBALISATION. I hope you were careful to make sure this didn't creep into other areas. So many great examples here too! The GFC is a great case study here… showing how global stock prices and banking effects from overseas reduced our consumption, which reduced our production and operations in australia.
I also hope you sprinkled cases throughout this essay. So many opportunities above like i already have! Great papers would link these cases to real life changes businesses have made to combat globalisation. E.g. we can see Apple’s and Holden’s effect of gloablisation in both positive and negative ways (respectively).
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Topic: Business Studies HSC Exam 2017 (Read 47845 times)