HSC Business Studies Question Thread

[itsAnuu]

To be perfectly honest with all of you, I have not memorised any, as I feel like I can make some up on the spot that would better suit whatever the question is. As a case study might not perfectly fit a curveball question. Although in my previous exams, I had trouble making up names of businesses that sounded legitimate. So I made a list of businesses that sound real ahaha. I have read some case studies in my last minute cramming just to see what kind of integration would be necessary. What is your case study anuu?

I referred to the 1 business a lot, each paragraph, around 1/3 of it was case study and the rest was theory. And hahahah im just like you man, I make up everything, nobody has time to remember extra content -.-. In trial I bs'ed about a LEGIT airline company (Air Newzealand) and my teacher thought it was amazing, and i told her it was all bs and she was like wow no way, you made it sound so believable xDD

[isaacdelatorre]

I don't understand price points, can someone please help

Hi there,
On the other thread, this question was asked, and here are the answers that some of our fellow business students came up with.
Hope this clears things up, let us know if you are still confused!!

Price points is a pricing strategy were products are set at predetermined prices. This strategy is typically used in retail stores, an example being Target selling most of their T-shirts are for $15. Although the T-Shirts might have cost Target prices ranging from $5-9, the T-Shirts are still listed at $15 therefore different products have different profit margins. The benefits of this strategy is that it makes it easier for customers to find the product they want and according to "business studies in action", it enables the business to also encourage customers to "trade up" to more expensive models (or in Target's case, more expensive shirts).

Hope that cleared up some confusion.

adding on to this, a good example is buying coffee.
where you can buy a small $3 , medium $4 or large $5. It offers a range of similar products that still caters for different customers (those who want a little bit of coffee and those who want lots of coffee)

Just my two cents to the price points strategy which i have a bit of a hard time conceptualising as well, zachary's example on price points is how i think of price points as well. Adding to it using price points is an effective pricing strategy because it stimulates demand for a variety of 'target markets' which you can link back to factors affecting consumer choice - social class. Furthermore, by using price points in a competitive market gives consumers more choice in their decision making which can provide them a competitive advantage leading to increased profits ( this might be a stretch )

Just wanted to have a go explaining to try consolidate my own knowledge on it, hope i provided more information rather than repeating what Zachary and Rikahs said

[fizzy.123]

Hi there,
On the other thread, this question was asked, and here are the answers that some of our fellow business students came up with.
Hope this clears things up, let us know if you are still confused!!

Thanks! Also, is a high accounts receivable turnover ration good or bad?

[isaacdelatorre]

Thanks! Also, is a high accounts receivable turnover ration good or bad?

Hi,

A high accounts receivable turnover ratio is generally considered bad. Since it is a measure of how efficient you are at collecting money owed to you, a high number means that it takes you a long time to collect payments which could lead to cash flow and liquidity problems. Generally a number around 30 days is accepted (unless specified in the question). To improve the ratio, usually use discounts for early payment to encourage those owing money to pay earlier; or using a tighter credit policy to ensure that you don't sell goods to someone who won't be able to pay for them.

Good Luck!!

[Rikahs]

Isaac did you state rank or nah?

[Deng]

Solutions to MC?
I got
D,D,C,C,C,D,D,A,,C, A,B,B,D,C,C,A,C,D,A,B

[jakesilove]

Solutions to MC?
I got
D,D,C,C,C,D,D,A,,C, A,B,B,D,C,C,A,C,D,A,B

Come have a chat on our Answers discussion page for Business studies!

[isaacdelatorre]

Isaac did you state rank or nah?

Ahaha you can never be sure, I did the best I could do. I wasn't aiming for a state rank. Just hoping for the best. Don't worry guys, I'm not some business genius; I'm just another kid who can read a textbook

[jamonwindeyer]

Ahaha you can never be sure, I did the best I could do. I wasn't aiming for a state rank. Just hoping for the best. Don't worry guys, I'm not some business genius; I'm just another kid who can read a textbook

I was another kid who could read a Legal textbook; then I state ranked

Really have my fingers crossed for your success Isaac, whatever form that takes. The modest people deserve it the most 

[CaitlinSavins]

Hi, I've got a question that I have no clue how to approach:

Referring to an example, explain how decisions made in the operations function can affect each key business function.

How do I answer this???

[isaacdelatorre]

Hi, I've got a question that I have no clue how to approach:

Referring to an example, explain how decisions made in the operations function can affect each key business function.

How do I answer this???

Hi Caitlin,

This question is essentially asking you about the interdependence between the key business functions. This can be approached using a case study/ies.

So pretty much you explain how anything operations does affects the other functions and back it up with an example.
E.g. Operations functions of business X decides to utilise leading edge technology in the manufacturing product Y. This affects finance who will have to adjust budgets due to the expenditure which may affect short term liquidity and reflect badly on financial reports but in long term can increase efficiency and reduce expenses; maximising profits. Can affect human resources who will be required to train staff to correctly use machinery - link to business. Affect marketing through ...

Something like that would suffice and the amount of marks it is worth would dictate how in depth you would have to go

Hope this helps, Good luck

[TheCommando]

Hi, I've got a question that I have no clue how to approach:

Referring to an example, explain how decisions made in the operations function can affect each key business function.

How do I answer this???

The business functions include  the HR, Operations, R&D and  Marketing functions.
With this questions it offers a range of flexibility in that there are many ways to answer this question.
All you have to do is talk about anything in the operations functions and how it can effect any of the business functions. And than refer it to a perhaps a case study you have learnt this year

For eg. You could talk about how how Fairfax's changes in it's core product offering (which relates to the operations function since the operations function is responsible for the transformation of inputs into outputs), which was a change from a printed product offering to an online news platform effected the human resource funtion. Which would be because of the job losses as a result of Fairfax closing down it's major printing facilities

Sample answer:  Operations refer to the transformation of inputs into outputs. It is responsible for the end product of a good or servce including it's quality, how it is proccessed. For Fairfax, due to recent changes in the operations function which saw Fairfax changing it main core product offering, it decided to to focus mainly on proving news to a more online consumer based platform rather than a printed newspaper product. As a result, this decision has resulted in some major changes.

It has directly effected the human rescources as this function will need to facilitate for this change. The human rescource function is responsible for the management of the relationship between the employee and employer. Due the change, Fairfax will need less workers and have had to close down major printing facilities as a result of this on-going restructure. The human rescource funtion will need to facilitate the transition of employees leaving the organisation. This would involve the human rescource manager (HRM) notifying employees of their redundacy. This can be done through one on one interviews on by a mass meeting of emplyees. The HRM may then offer for the payment and retraining of staff who have been made redundant in order to increase the chances of redundant staff to get a job elsewhere. This showing a commitment to ethical and socially responsible practises. The HRM will also have to update training programs, in order to move from the old core offering to the new core offering which requires different skills. The HRM may also need to train existing employees which can be done through an on the job process or via the employee seeking futher educational studies. The HRM may need to update new job vaccancies such as through job descritpions, specifications etc. to seek new employees with the neccessary skills to help fairfax achieve it's change in it's core servies, this would than involve the HRM having to recruit new employees, which can be done extrernally, as it is unlikley that current employees will have e neccessary skills to fullfill these jobs.

If it's not a 10mark question your answer doesnt have to be detailed as this. Even if it is, it doesnt have to be as long as this.  Also i know im in a different state but arent the exams already done? Mine was done on october 30th
Hope that helps

[jamonwindeyer]

If it's not a 10mark question your answer doesnt have to be detailed as this. Even if it is, it doesnt have to be as long as this.  Also i know im in a different state but arent the exams already done? Mine was done on october 30th
Hope that helps

It's pretty likely that Caitlin is a student graduating next year, they start their content late 2016

Thanks for your answer though!

[CaitlinSavins]

Thank you thank you thank you for answering my question! However I have another one :[

Outline the notion of perishability with respect to services.

Argh I started writing then realised I was talking about goods, not services. How do I answer this?

[SSSS]

Hey Guys! I have an assessment nearing where I have to write a report in class that can assess anything within operations. I know my syllabus and content. In my reports, the only bad thing is that sometimes I don't address the verb to the extent to get full marks. What should I do so I can recover this issue? Thanks guys