Instructions for Answering Business Management questions

In order to answer the long questions for both papers you need to do 3 things quickly:

1. Define the terms that are included in the question or any you use in your
answer. Moreover, effectively explain and use a range of course concepts and
terminology to prove you’ve learned the course material.
2. Ensure you’re following a clear structure, to make a clear argument that the
reader (marker) can follow, and
3. Repeatedly connect the course concepts to your specific case

You can make sure your answer is balanced (thorough) by addressing each of the
three areas each time. If you need more marks, simply make several points in each.
You can use several of these to build up a balanced answer to the longer answer
questions.

When you get a question, look at it from these three perspectives (Cash, Customers
and Staff) –what my students call the “Mr Woods Triangle”. Every answer should
touch on all of the three areas at least once (or 2-3 times for a longer answer) and then
come to a conclusion. This is harder to do near the beginning of the course, when you
haven’t learned as many concepts, but do your best.
Note: this method will work for any long-answer business question where the teacher
is looking for analysis.

There are some questions where we’re simply looking for you to explain a list (i.e.
explain 3 stakeholder conflicts) or where the question is actually a technical question
(i.e. draw a break-even graph).

Here are the sub-concepts that go under each heading.

PEEL Structure
The Triangle will make sure you’ve covered the course concepts and made
connections to your case. The PEEL structure will tell you exactly how to get this
down on paper clearly, in a hurry.

P – Make a point. For example (cash), that “this would hurt the company’s liquidity.”
E – Explain the point. Elaborate or clarify it.
E – Example. Connect it to the case. Use a specific fact from the case that shows this
is a valid issue for them. (Quotes aren’t necessary).
L – Lines pace. Literally, just skip a line, so the marker can see that you’ve completed
that development point and you’re moving on to another one.

So, if the question is asking you to analyse the effectiveness of democratic leadership
in a business, you would come up with a thesis: “Democratic leadership is likely to
increase company X’s success.” Then PEEL about their Cash, PEEL their Customers,
PEEL about their Staff and come to a conclusion.

For a <9 Mark Question

For longer questions (i.e. 9 mark questions) you could argue two-points in favour of
your thesis (+) and 1 point against it (-).
Thesis

Cash PEEL +
Cash PEEL +
Cash PEEL -

Customers PEEL +
Customers PEEL +
Customers PEEL -

Staff PEEL +
Staff PEEL +
Staff PEEL -

Conclusion

For a 4 mark question

For shorter questions (i.e. 4 marks) you might simply do a:

Cash PEEL (+ or -)
Customers PEEL (+ or -)
Staff PEEL (+ or -)

Conclusion