BUSS3 Exam Technique - Application: Appendices: Combining Data

The appendices in BUSS3 are often the gateway to application and securing better grades. Time spend reading and analysing the appendices and the data presented really is time well spent.Take the January 2012 paper on Scott Electronics. Here, the business was a manufacturer of mobile phones and pagers with a reputation for producing reliable, functional products. The business places little emphasis on innovation and preferred to make cheaper versions of the products its competitors were making and was only making modest profits. A new head of product development has joined the business and believes that the business needs to implement a strategy of innovation.Question 1 asked students to 'analyse the possible issues that Scott Electronics PLC would have to consider if it is to implement a strategy of innovation'.The key to success here was (as is often the case) in the appendices. One way of scoring high marks for application is to combine information and data to form an argument. So, we can see from the above information (which was taken from the case study) that the business prefers to make cheaper versions of competitors products, placing little emphasis on innovation. This is a potential issue in following a strategy of innovation. However, if we look at the data in the appendices we can see that Scott Electronics only spends 1% of its revenue on R&D compared to the industry average of 10%. This information, combined with the previous information makes a much stronger argument.Lets look at the start of two possible student answers:'One issue that Scott Electronics PLC would have to consider if it is to implement a strategy of innovation is that it currently prefers to copy competitors products, placing little emphasis on innovation. This is a key issue for the business when implementing a strategy of innovation because.....................'Here, the students has only used the information from the case study.'One issue that Scott Electronics PLC would have to consider if it is to implement a strategy of innovation is that it currently prefers to copy competitors products, placing little emphasis on innovation. This can be seen in Appendix C where Scott Electronics currently only spends 1% of its revenue on R&D compared to the industry average of 10%. This is a key issue for the business when implementing a strategy of innovation because...................'This student would score far higher application marks as they have combined data from within the case study and appendices.In summary, before you make any argument, just look at the relevant appendices and see what information you can use to support your answer.