Poor Business Teacher - Help Needed Please

[user001]

So due to what I found a very hard Methods and PE exam yesterday, both of which subjects I was planning on being my top 4 prior to the exams, I'm facing the reality that I'm gonna have to make Business one of my top 4 instead of Methods due to a major stuff up...

All year I had been kinda fobbing off Business as our teacher was unbelievably horrid and had no idea what she was teaching. It was her first time teaching it in 5 years so she wasn't really up to date so many of us in the class decided to focus more on the likes of PE and English etc, you know how it is.

Outcome results have been ok, about 75-80% average which in about 30 students (2 classes) that do it at my school am ranked about 3rd or 4th (says a lot about the teacher there, also the country school but meh)

To give you an example of the poor teaching, I only found out 3 days ago from here on this forum that Kotters Theory will be the only accepted change theory and that you can only pick out of the selected 3 Theories of Motivation.. Hmmm 

So please can someone give me a detailed summary about anything major I need to do in preperation for the exam (apart from study  ), as in what your teachers have told you to do in these next few days.

Thanks in advance guys... Peace  :coolsmiley:

[_avO]

This year, they want a more in-depth discussion in your response, so as opposed to previous years you have to weigh up the pros and cons more frequently (Compare and Contrast, Analyse & Discuss questions).

Take a look at the sample questions on VCAA http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce/studies/busmngmnt/publications/busman-sample.pdf, suggested responses are in this thread http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,31573.0.html.

However you can expect that not all of these new concepts will be covered in this years exam (I know because for economics 2010 was a new study design as well, and they only had a few new concepts on the exam which was seen on the exam). But these responses are a good idea of what they expect of you in the exam (separates from the 30s to the 40s).

A good representation of your knowledge of busman concepts can be shown by the use of real life, recent examples seen in the media or elsewhere as it shows you have a good understanding (this is what examiners will be looking out for among your responses)

As you may or may not know, there will be a 10 mark question in the paper and you can expect to be discussing relevant issues of change management with real examples (this example does not need to be recent eg. in 2009 or 2010 however it should cover all the aspects you are trying to talk about).

Just make sure you are not bias in your responses as it shows lack of understanding and thinking process. You will need to weigh both sides of the table before making a judgement (in those 6-10 mark questions)

All the best for your exam and good luck on results day

[_avO]

Also I'm assuming your teacher did not provide you with 2010 exams. Here they are http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,29777.0.html

[user001]

Thanks a lot for that.

Had been told about a 10 mark question to do with change, but was unaware it had to be related to an organisation. What would be some good examples of such organisations and how?

Also thanks for those 2010 exams, haven't seen them yet so are definitely helpful. This knowledge should give me a major boost in revision. Much appreciated.

Anything else guys?

[Scoota.]

Thanks a lot for that.

Had been told about a 10 mark question to do with change, but was unaware it had to be related to an organisation. What would be some good examples of such organisations and how?

Also thanks for those 2010 exams, haven't seen them yet so are definitely helpful. This knowledge should give me a major boost in revision. Much appreciated.

Anything else guys?

if your planning to cram it, then the best thing to do is just look at past papers on vcaa website and the responses provided in the assessment report. If you look at about 4 or 5 exams u will notice that the questions become repeated and the concepts are very similar. AND most important thing to know is STRATEGIES, both for human resources and for operations management.

HRM strategies are (the main ones):

-training and development
-performance appraisals and there outcomes.

OM strategies:

-Supply chain/inventory management: such as 'procurement of inputs' and MORE IMPORTANTLY the JUST IN TIME (JIT) method of inventory management.

-Technology: Computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM), Robotics etc.

- Quality management: total quality management (TQM), Quality control etc.

-Facilities design and layout: Optimal use of physical space, regular maintenance programs, layout of plant and equipment (in a logical place so it can be accessed quickly during production, reducing bottlenecks during the process, thus  enhancing efficiency of the operations process)

AND know the MOTIVATIONAL theories like Maslow, Hertzberg, Locke's smart goal setting (not as important as the other two theories but still learn it).
AND obviously know the change management theories.
AND know how to thoroughly explain Corporate Social responsibility and point out its advantages and disadvantages.
AND definitely know the roles of POLC (planning, organising, leading and controlling). they will most likely be on the exam.
AND know the operations process or elements - Inputs, processes, and outputs. they have come up a bit on past exams.
AND know the problem solving methodology. I think there's like 5 or 6 steps. Its not as frequent on exams but it still comes up.
AND know Employee relations terms such as enterprise bargaining, AWAs, decentralised and centralised systems etc etc.

If you can learn these and know how to answer in an exam style, then you will be able to pull a decent score for BM.

Good luck and something i did was put all the above concepts on large posters on my bedroom wall and i just memorised them, now  i can recall them without thought.
You can do it, just don't let yourself get overwhelmed by the workload.

[user001]

Ta mate, huge cramming session coming up today and tomorrow after Chem haha.