Section II
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- understanding the effect of rewards on business performance and dispute resolution on workplace conflict (Q.21)
- outlining two indicators relevant to human resource management (Q.22a)
- understanding issues relating to supply chain management as a part of operations and applying this to a specific business scenario (Q.23)
- knowledge of financial management as it relates to payment for imports and protection against currency fluctuations (Q.24)
- providing a judgement that showed points for and/or against adopting a niche market approach (Q.25).
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- applying relevant detail to support a response (Q.21)
- knowledge of the effect of decisions on a business’s gearing (Q.22)
- responding to the specific scenario given in the question (Q.23)
- identifying the risks of conducting international business (Q.24)
- providing an informed judgement that incorporated the stimulus information (Q.25).
Section III
Question 26
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- providing reasons for marketing strategies such as branding, product differentiation and product mix, and pricing methods and/or pricing strategies in relation to the problems identified in the hypothetical situation
- providing reasons for financial strategies such as cash flow management, working capital and profitability management to address the issues identified in the hypothetical situation
- using business report format and referring to the stimulus.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- focusing on the issues of the hypothetical business rather than addressing all dot points from the syllabus
- recognising that a SWOT analysis is not always appropriate in a report question
- recognising that additional case study material that is not related to the stimulus is not necessary.
Section IV
Question 27
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- demonstrating the relationship between several operations, strategies and influences on operations and making a judgement based on outcomes, quality, value or results
- presenting a sustained application of one or several case studies to support an assessment of operational strategies
- using relevant business terminology.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- providing a judgement based on value, quality, outcomes or results of strategies that management can use to respond to influences on operations
- using the case study to support a judgement
- demonstrating an understanding of contemporary events that may affect strategies that can be used, for example carbon tax, GFC, recent interest rate movements
- applying their judgement to both strategy and influence
- addressing specific influences of operations rather than the more general terms from the Preliminary course
- distinguishing between strategies and influences.
Question 28
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- making evident the relationships between several human resources strategies and influences on human resources and making judgements based on outcomes, quality, value or results
- integrating case studies by presenting a sustained application of one case study or several case studies to draw out valid assessment of human resources strategies
- using relevant business terminology
- demonstrating knowledge of the topic.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- using the case study to support the judgement or relationships made between human resources strategies and influences
- providing a judgement based on value, quality, outcomes or results of strategies
- making a judgement, applying it to both strategy and influence
- distinguishing between and linking strategies and influences.
