Hi guys! I completed my
HSC in 2017 and one of the subjects I studied was
Business Studies. I'll be honest. When I first entered the course, I knew nothing. I had transferred to it from Chemistry and was absolutely clueless. I didn’t understand “business,” had no idea what shares or stocks were, and the first thing my teacher asked me was to “define what a business was.” I proceeded to recite the dictionary definition of it that I had memorised the night before. I didn’t enter the subject loving it. I just needed to get out of Chemistry, but fast forward to HSC year and I can proudly say that
I LOVE Business Studies to the point that I’m planning to dedicate the next four years of my life to it by studying Commerce in university.
I achieved a mark of 94 for Business Studies and it took a lot of hard work, studying and practice! I’m planning to share with you guys my tips on how I got a Band 6 for the subject, from someone who entered the course knowing nothing about business.
#1 Know the syllabus!Can’t stress how important this is. You have to know the Business Studies syllabus in and out. Not only does it outline what you should be studying, it’s also a great guide for planning essays. I recommend memorising it and referring to it as much as possible.
This ATAR notes post on how study it is what got me through Year 12 Business Studies. Acronyms are amazing! Don’t under-estimate them.
#2 Maximising marks in short answerThe short-answer section makes up
40 marks of your total 100 marks, so evidently it’s super important that you maximise the amount of marks you receive for your responses. I always based the amount of writing I did on the amount of marks allocated to the question.
EXAMPLE: Distinguish between variation in demand and visibility. Use a case study/studies to support your response. (4 marks)
To start off, you have to know what the question is talking about:
Variation in demand + visibility --> Operations --> Transformation process of inputs (This is why it’s important to know the syllabus!!)
“Distinguish” --> To note differences between
1-2 marks --> Actually distinguishing them
Rest of the marks --> Case studies One for variation in demand + one for visibilityI always plan out my short-answer responses, no matter how many marks they’re worth. It takes a couple of seconds to jot down a short plan in pencil in the margin, and not only does it help you construct a good answer, it also ensures that you don’’t go off-topic.
Possible plan:
1. Explanation sentence
2. Define variation in demand
3. Example --> Lego
4. Define visibility
5. Example --> Domino’s PizzaThis was an actual question in my Trial paper and this was my response for it:
Both variation in demand and visibility influence the transformation process of inputs in the operations function. Despite this, they both differ in what they entail or consist of. Variation in demand addresses a business’s operations functions’ ability to be flexible when it comes to consumer demand and whether they are dependable. During the Christmas season, Lego changes their transformation processes to ensure that they produce enough outputs to satisfy this demand. On the other hand, visibility addresses the contact that businesses have with customers to allow feedback or opinions to influence the transformation process. Domino’s Pizza provides surveys at the end of all online orders to receive customer feedback on how they can change their operations processes, influencing transformation.
#3 Case studiesCase studies are super important for your short-answer responses and essays. Without them, your argument
lacks evidence to back up your claims. Case studies are real-life (Well, they’re meant to be. Some people make them up, but we’ll get to that later) examples that are
EVIDENCE used to support your responses.
My biggest tip when integrating a case study into an essay is that you don’t want your essay to be
ABOUT the case study. You’re simply using it to
BACK UP what you’re trying to say. I religiously used the
PEEL/TEEL technique when constructing essay paragraphs. It’s pretty straightforward and ensures I stay on track:
P = Point --> What you’re trying to say
E = Explain --> Give some details about it
E = Example --> Case study!
L = Link --> Bring it back to your thesis or over-arching idea
It’s good to have a bank of case studies to refer to when writing essays. They don’t have to be super complicated or niche. I used everyday real-life examples around me that were easy to remember.
For example, the Domino’s Pizza one I used above. Those surveys always come up after I order a pizza online. I figured out that it was related to the Operations topic and it has stuck with me ever since.
Large businesses like Apple and Lego are good for case studies because you can easily find information about them online that are relevant to all four of the key business functions.
If you HAVE to make up case studies, make them sound legitimate. Give them a legitimate-sounding name with legitimate-sounding issues. For example, Fiona’s Electricians would be less likely to have seasonal issues in comparison to Jim’s Flowers.
#4 Practice essay writingSome people can write essays without a plan and others need a rough scaffold. No two essays are the same. There isn’t a “set” format or established formula to essay writing. As long as you
answer the question, explore your argument and provide evidence for what you’re trying to say, then you’re good! Know what type of essay works for you, and work on refining it.
During Prelim + HSC year, I wrote responses and then sent them in for feedback. If my teachers weren’t available, I’d send them to my classmates instead. Closer to the date of exams, I was pumping out practice essays and papers like crazy, self-marking them and sending them off. I’m pretty sure my teacher was super annoyed, but if that got me the feedback I needed, then I didn’t really care!
It’s important to practice the areas that you’re weak at, since every section is such a HUGE chunk of your total marks.
I learnt that I tend to write A LOT and it would’ve been impossible for me to pump out an essay with four paragraphs within the time I was given. I worked on two-paragraph essays that went into a lot of detail.
Find out what works for you!The structure I used for my essay in the HSC exam:Introduction:1. Thesis
2. Sign-posting of arguments – usually had two
3. What case studies I’d be including – at least one or two for each idea or argument
Paragraph #1:1. Thesis combined with topic sentence --> Over-arching idea #1
2. Explaining and expanding on my argument --> Did a A LOT of explaining, since the question was one that I was super passionate about and keen for
3. Linked back to my thesis
Paragraph #2:1. Thesis combined with topic sentence and over-arching idea #1 AGAIN
2. Linked it to case study #1 --> Went into detail and how it supported my argument
3. Introduced my second case study for idea #1
4. Final linking sentence to sum up idea #1
Paragraph #3 and #4:Repeated the process all over for idea #2
Conclusion:Repeated my thesis, summed up my argument altogether, and wrote how my case studies demonstrated this.
#5 Business reportsWorth 20 marks and should be given the same attention as your essays! In my opinion, writing a business report without an initial plan is quite risky. Some tips I have:
- Use a highlighter to highlight issues and main points in the scenario to address in your report. HIGHLIGHTS ARE OKAY TO USE on the question booklet, not writing booklet. If you don’t have one, just circle with a coloured pen
- Scaffold and plan what you want to write about. Decide on a structure, like grouping your report by key business functions
The structure I used when providing a recommendation for an issue:1. Introducing the issue
2. Explaining the issue
3. Possible strategies (usually had two or three) that can be used to combat the issue --> Strategy, definition or description, advantages and disadvantages
4. Strategy you chose and WHY --> “Despite the disadvantages, it is recommended that business XY adopt this strategy because…”
5. Strategy/ies you rejected and WHY --> “Despite the advantages, this strategy was rejected because of these disadvantages…”
Hopefully all these tips help
I tried my best to squeeze in anything important, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask
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