BUSS3 Exam Skills - Four Ways to Make Your Answers Stand Out

Every student sitting BUSS3 gets to answer the same four questions based on the same case study. Everyone gets the same time allocation. When the examiner starts marking scripts many answers will be similar; relatively few will stand out in terms of the quality of analysis and evaluation. So how can you make yours one of the stand-out scripts?

We've written earlier about ways to maximise your marks in BUSS3. The advice there is all good solid exam technique.

- answer the question;
- focus on the case study;
- develop a small number of points to a greater depth.

You know the score.

Here are four ways in which you can add a little BUSS3 gold dust over your answers to make them even better.

Contrast the short versus the long-term: tactical versus strategic

Most successful business strategies are designed to work in the medium or long-term; not straightaway. Decisions that are intended to have a short-term effect tend to be “tactical", not strategic and they are difficult to sustain. A problem that many managers have is that they want instant success; they don't have the patience or experience to recognise that any chosen strategy will take time to implement and that the path to success will be uncertain.

If the case study firm is looking for a short-term win (e.g. expecting a significant improvement in its financial performance, or instant success from a marketing initiative) then you can make a nice point about how hard it is to achieve success in the short-term. Perhaps the objectives or expectations of the case study business are unrealistic as a result.

Who produced the information supporting the strategic options and is it any good?

Another great source of analysis and evaluation. A typical situation in the BUSS3 case study involves the arrival of new management (e.g. a new CEO, Marketing Director or HRM Director) who then builds a case for change. Ask yourself - who is making the case for a new strategy? Who wants a new approach to HRM or operations? The person/(s) concerned will have a vested interest in presenting the information in the most favourable light (to encourage the firm to support the proposal.

How reliable is the information used to support the proposals? Is it up-to-date? Has it been obtained independently? Does it make a series of key assumptions that can be challenged. If you were in the boardroom being asked to make a recommendation, what other information would you want to help you make the best choice?

A sentence or two questioning the nature of the information provided is a great way to enhance your answers. This is a classic example of a “depends-on" point which shows the examiner that you recognise that strategic choice involves uncertainty and a fair amount of luck or guesswork.

Competitors - an important external influence

BUSS3 is about “strategies for success" and it's pretty easy to come up with various possible strategies. The problem that every business faces? Competitors.

A great way to develop your answers is to reflect on the strength of the competition and the fact that any chosen strategy is almost bound to provoke a reaction from competitors. Do they have a higher market share, a better product or more resources? Are they able to copy or respond to any changes in strategy by the case study firm? What might the implications be if the recommended strategues for the case study were simply copied by competitors? Who wins?

Do you think that the competition facing the case study firm is the most important external influence on whether the firm will achieve its objectives? If you do, then say so and briefly explain (justify) why you think so.

Does the case study firm have the resources to successfully implement the recommended strategies?

Most businesses are resource-constrained and strategic decisions inevitably involve having to make choices between alternative options. Often the options are narrowed by shortages in resources - finance; suitably-skilled workforce; location; strenght of brands and products; capacity.

Look out for evidence of these constraints and refer to them in your analysis. What extra resources (finance, people etc) will the case study firm require in order to improve the chances of the recommended strategy being successful. How likely is it that those resources can be obtained?