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The Most Effective Study Strategies for Business Studies

May 10, 2017

When studying for Business Studies, its essential to have a set of detailed and well thought out summary notes for each core topic (Operations, Marketing, Finance and Human Resources) however this alone is not always enough to achieve the highest marks in exams. Listed below are 6 of the most effective strategies for success in HSC Business Studies.

1. Syllabus Flashcards — remembering (and understanding) the entirety of the Business Studies syllabus is of vital importance to each student’s success in this subject. For example, if a question asks a student to “Evaluate the responses to operations management to external influences,” the student will be unable to answer the question unless they know both the strategies and influences section of the Operations syllabus by heart.

Flashcards are a good way of memorising these syllabuses because they are easy to make and use. A student may quickly go over their finance syllabus on the bus ride home or in the morning before an assessment.

Other great ways of memorising the Business Studies syllabus is through syllabus mind maps as well as mnemonics e.g. Marketing Processes –> SMEIDI S ituational analysis M arket Research E stablish marketing objectives I dentifying target market(s) D eveloping marketing strategies I mplement, monitor and control

2. Exemplar Section 4 Essays for each core section of the syllabus i.e. Processes, Strategies and Influences for all four topics — Section 4 of the business studies exam requires students to write a business report on a case study business. Since there is quite a lot of content to learn for this section but quite a limited scope of questions, I would recommend the student to work on 3 key exemplar essays for each topic (processes, strategies and influences) covering all aspects of the syllabus. The questions in this section tend to focus on just one section of the syllabus e.g. marketing processes or financial management strategies. As such, a student’s exemplar reports can be adapted and moulded to fit the changing nature of some of the questions. For example, in the given example; “Evaluate the responses to operations management to external influences” (HSC 2016) , the student could combine their strategies and influences case study essays to gain maximum marks in this area.

3. Content mind maps with case study examples — In this subject, it is essential that students have case study examples for each element of the syllabus. This is useful for; questions that explicitly ask for a real life example, the section 4 business report, and improving the quality of short answer questions that do not explicitly ask for these case studies. As such, creating these mind maps will help the student to visualise these examples and as such, will be more likely to remember them during an exam or assessment! Be sure to put these up in your bedroom or somewhere you will see them daily as this will allow for maximum benefit from this task.

4. Definitions flashcards — Much of the Business Studies course is littered with key terms and definitions that a student should attempt to memorise. Having a specific, clear definition for each of the key syllabus terms will allow the student to quickly and easily demonstrate their understanding and knowledge to a marker during the SAQs and Business Report sections of the exam. This is especially important for “explain” questions such as “Explain a potential conflict between a short-term and a long-term financial” (HSC 2016) which require the student to link cause (definitions) with effect (outcomes.) Having a set of definitions flashcards may really help students to memorise these definitions to use when answering these types of questions during the exam.

5. Consistently doing practise HSC questions or past papers — The only way for a student to understand how to attack an HSC exam is to regularly do HSC style practise questions as well as exam style tasks. Doing these tasks under exam conditions i.e. closed book and timed, will allow the student to be comfortable with the style and types of questions that will be asked of them during the exam, as well as the experience of sitting a high pressure exam such as trials and the HSC. Whilst these types of tasks are important for all of the core topics, it is especially useful for the Finance topic! This is because without real life examples of types of questions, students often have difficulty putting the concepts like financial ratios and statements into practise. In general, the more practise questions you can do the better!

6.  Google alert for case study business — Putting google alerts on for a student’s case study business will allow them to keep up with the developments of the business as they come to light. The student can then use this information in a business report will really enhance the quality of the students business report come the final exam, and show the marker the breadth of the students knowledge.

LITERARY TECHNIQUES

Texts and human experience, module c - the craft of writing, pdf of our planning pad for download, pdf of our mind map pad for download.

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• How to write a Band 6 Business Studies Report - Section III of the HSC

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Re: How to write a Band 6 Business Studies Report - Section III of the HSC

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Multiple Choice Quiz

Business Studies – Operations Topic

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HSC Business Studies - Section IV Questions

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• Creation date Sep 24, 2021

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Everything You Need To Know About HSC Business Studies

Starting HSC Business Studies but aren’t really sure what you’re meant to be learning in the subject?

Here, we’ll show you what HSC Business Studies is about, what the four HSC topics cover, as well as some useful tips for the final exam.

If you haven’t already, make sure you save a soft and hard-copy of the syllabus !

Now, let’s get started!

What is HSC Business Studies about? Course Topics for HSC Business Studies The Exam Structure

What is HSC Business Studies about?

HSC Business Studies can actually be a pretty fun course. If you were asked to name 50 businesses or 50 animals, you’d actually have an easier time thinking of 50 businesses.

This course helps us to realise that business activity (designing, producing, marketing, delivering, supporting) affects all of us.

During our lives we are all consumers, investors and employers/employees and we rely on the business sector for much of our quality of life in terms of goods and services.

What makes Business Studies unique is that you explore entrepreneurship and running a small business in Year 11 . Then, in Year 12, you look specifically at the management of operations, marketing, finance and human resources in large businesses.

In addition to the material that you learn, HSC Business Studies also helps you to develop your intellectual and writing skills!

It also gives you a chance to participate in social and moral debates such as pollution, minimum wages, exploitation, and other ethical issues concerning business.

Download our Business Studies Guide

Course Topics for HSC Business Studies

It’s important to understand what’s covered in the HSC Business Studies course, so that you know exactly what you should be covering in your study notes!

Topic 1: Operations

Fundamentally, operations is about the  working  or the  running  of a business. It’s about understanding how a business starts with raw materials and ends up with finished goods or services.

The key points you need to know about for operations include: Operations management (turning inputs into outputs) How businesses compete in markets Differentiation of products and services Ethics in worldwide/global supply chains Transforming inputs (these do the transformation of inputs into outputs and include facilities/factories and human resources) Transformed inputs (materials, information, customers) Influences on operations Balancing cost with quality Inventory management (LIFO, FIFO, JIT) How operations management varies between business in the goods or in the services sector

Topic 2: Marketing

Marketing is perhaps the easiest and most familiar topic. The aim of this topic is to learn how businesses use marketing to try to convince customers to choose their brand over a competitors.

The key points you need to know about include: Marketing successfully to ensure the business continues to generate sales revenues Understand the factors of consumer choices (psychological, social-cultural, economic, government) Ethical marketing Analysing a business’ market position, setting objectives and evaluating results Market segmenting The ‘7Ps’ : Product, Price, Promotion, Place, People, Processes, Physical Evidence Global marketing and global branding

Topic 3: Finance

Finance and financial management is super important in business. This topic uses some maths (don’t worry it’s just addition and a few ratios i.e. division!) however it freaks some students out.

This topic often requires the most practice but it’s also extremely useful later in life.

The main points you need to know include: Finance helps to keep a business running Internal finance comes from retained profits and external sources of finance include debt (borrowing money) and equity (shares) Profitability, growth, efficiency, liquidity (short-term cash flows) and solvency (long-term ability to pay for stuff) Short-term V Long-term borrowing Budgeting ( check out a personal budgeting guide here! )

Our Hills District Business Studies Tutors can provide tailored lessons to you on any topic in HSC Business Studies in your own home, online or at our Castle Hill Campus.

Topic 4: Human Resources

Human Resource Management (HRM) is pretty straight forward and looks at how a business can organise its people to effectively complete tasks and objectives.

The key points include: Stakeholders (employers, employer associations, employees, unions, government organisations, society). Regulation and Legislation Occupation health and safety Workers compensation Anti-discrimination Training and development, maintaining good employees (through wages or other), separation (firing, retirement) Resolving conflict and fights in the workplace Dealing with absenteeism, staff turnover and improving worker satisfaction

Now that you know all the content that will be covered, check out our tips for memorising Business Studies content fast !

The Exam Structure

The exam for HSC Business Studies is divided up into 4 sections. There are a total of 100 marks.

You have 3 hours to complete the exam and you are also giving an extra sneaky 5 minutes of reading time at the start.

Section I – Multiple Choice (20 Marks)

The recommended time is 35 minutes however you should be spending less than this!

There will always be one answer that is slightly better than all of the others.

Section II – Short Answer Section (40 Marks)

Generally, 4, 5, or 6 short-answer questions will be asked. These are then subdivided into more parts.

Take your time and make sure you directly answer the question. This is often the section where students lose the most easy marks!

Learn how to nail the short answer section for HSC Business Studies !

Section III – Business Report (20 Marks)

Here, a large stimulus is provided. Read the question first, then the stimulus, then the question again.

You must remember and make sure you include the following:

• Bullet points
• Diagrams (graphs and tables/photographs or graphics)
• Technical language
• Highlighted key terms
• A clear opening statement
• Financial data (i.e. numbers and percentages) within the text

Get some more in-depth info on how to write a Band 6 Business Studies report !

Section IV – Extended Response (20 Marks)

Woo! You get a choice here. You should choose which of the two questions you’re going to do in your reading time.

Students often write an essay, however if you decide to write a business report for this part you cannot and will not be marked down.

If you do choose to write an essay, check out our guide on how to write a Band 6 essay for Business Studies !

You need to use case studies to support your answer in the section. They show that you know how the information in the Business Studies course can be applied to a business in real life.

Again make sure that you keep reading the question.

Use our Business Studies practice questions to help you master this part of the exam!

Final Thoughts

You can complete the paper in any order. I would always work through it in order .

However some students preferred to start with the business report, then give their hand time to rest while they did the multiple choice, before they finished with the short answer and the other extended response.

Most of all, remember that  you can do this.  HSC Business Studies is a great subject and there is no reason why you can’t get a Band 6!

Now if you’re looking for other Band 6 guides, we’ve got you covered! Check out the ones we’ve made for the following subjects:

• HSC Ancient History
• HSC Modern History
• HSC Biology
• HSC Chemistry
• HSC Physics
• HSC Economics
• HSC Legal Studies
• HSC Advanced English
• HSC Standard English
• HSC Visual Arts

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We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills!

To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today!

Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at  [email protected]  or check us out on  TikTok !

Thomas Woolley loves Economics and Business Studies. He completed his HSC in 2013 and has been working at Art of Smart since 2014. He enjoys helping out his students whilst studying B Commerce / B Education at UNSW to become an actual economics/business studies teacher in 2018. Since high school Thomas has also learned to scuba dive, salsa dance, and he can fly a quadcopter like a pro. However, he still cannot skateboard.

• Topics: 📚 Study , 📈 Business Studies

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