Business studies tips; answering techniques

BUSINESS studies is an amorphous subject, formed by a body of knowledge eclectically derived from main stream business disciplines and provides a general business threshold for further studies in commerce. It is usually misconstrued as an ‘easy’ subject although in some cases the quality of students’ grades has proven otherwise.

Your business studies syllabus clearly stipulates the examination skills that are required, which are: knowledge and critical understanding, application, analysis, evaluation and judgment.

These skills are arranged chronologically from lower order to higher order. Always provide evidence of your understanding of relevant knowledge of business studies terms/concepts being examined.

Wonder why it is advisable to start by defining the key term(s) in a question.

Our focus on this article is on answering techniques which can be handy to business studies students.

It is true that a business studies examination is not an English exam but you should be able to clearly communicate your ideas in good English that is peppered with relevant business terminology.

You should carefully analyse a question into its various components before you start answering it. Do not just rush into answering a question because you have seen a term you are familiar with.

Do not write everything that you know on a topic but ensure that you are addressing the requirements of a question. You should be clear on ACTION, CONTENT, and CONTEXT i.e. the ACC of a question!

you should be clear on the action word(s) or command words on a question. These action words indicate to candidates the skills that are being tested. The following are common action words and their brief meaning (where necessary) in general:

State- list relevant items, e.g. ‘State any three forms of deintegration’

Identify- name or describe items, e.g. ‘identify two intangible assets from the case’

Action— Outline—

give a brief description, e.g. ‘Outline any three essential organisational elements that can be identified on the organisational chart’.

based on the latin word ‘planus’ or ‘explanare’ meaning to make it plain by describing in more detail or presenting relevant facts e.g. ‘Explain the circumstances in which

Explain—

an autocratic management style may be appropriate’

— examine a concept by breaking it into smaller parts methodically; interpret the concept in detail in order to explain why they matter and their consequences e.g. ‘Analyse the firm’s liquidity position using any two relevant ratios’

Analyse Distinguish—

explain differences between two things e.g. ‘Distinguish between stakeholders and shareholders’. Usually you may use comparative conjunctions such as ‘whereas’, ‘whilst’ and so on.

Evaluate—

Weigh up the different ideas showing why they matter, judge or determine the significance basing on clear facts, e.g. ‘Evaluate the benefits of holding stocks to a business’

Critically show two sides of an argument by developing your ideas coherently e.g. ‘Discuss measures that small firms might undertake to minimize effects of economic constraints’

to draft or produce a statement usually in a prescribed/standard for-

Discuss— Prepare—

mat e.g. preparing an income statement.

give reasons for e.g. ‘In applying Herzberg’s theory, managers must take a situational approach’ Do you agree? Justify.

make a judgment after a careful consideration e.g. ’Assess the importance of benchmarking as a method of ensuring quality’.

Some questions may start with the following; ‘How’-meaning in what way or manner or procedure, ‘Why’-meaning for what reasons, causes or purpose. If a question says, ‘to what extend’ then you need to clearly indicate ‘To a larger extend (clearly develop your argument)….however to a lesser extend (clearly develop your argument)…..’e.g. ‘To what extent are probability tree diagrams useful in decision making’

S Mutsongodza is a Senior Teacher in Business studies and a Business Consultant.

D.C Jaravaza is a lecturer at Bindura University of Science Education. The authors wrote this article in their personal capacity as community service.

Justify— Assess—