APPROACH TO STRATEGIC BUSINESS LEADER (SBL) EXAM

How to begin?

Take this paper as a novel that you need to finish. Try and just read the entire study material
once. You can choose between BPP and Kaplan. Complete reading the entire study material in a
week’s time. The case studies mentioned in the material will surely make it an interesting read.

Next step forward

The next step is to take any of the revision notes available online, be it ACCA India revisionary
notes or First Intuition Summary notes. I would highly recommend the ACCA India summary
notes because you will find the language similar to the study text you have already read once.
Please read through these notes at least twice. They will also come handy for your final revision.

Final Revision

You can make short notes for each of the theories mentioned in the material. If you are one of the
lazy ones like I was, please mark important words in the ACCA India revision notes.

Also, please practice as many case studies as you can, or if you do not have the time, at least read
through them to have an idea on how to frame answers.

At the Examination Centre

Do not panic. Feeling a little nervous is alright but as soon as the question paper is distributed,
try to channelize the nervousness into confidence.

Don’t look left or right, just concentrate on the question paper. Look at what has been provided
in the question as support documents, say an extract of the financial statements, press releases,
minutes of a meeting, etc. Next step would be to read what the questions are asking for. Then
again go back to the first line of the question and start reading the scenario more thoroughly.
Please note that this process will at least consume 30 mins of your time.

General Tips

- This paper tests you on your common sense. Please write the answer in such a manner, as
if you were present in the management’s shoes. Try to keep it very basic and simple.
- It is not necessary to use the theories completely or to use them at all. Not all scenarios
will fit into the frame of a proposed theory.
- Try and make some flowcharts if you can. A diagrammatic form given to any answer is a
win win for both the examiner and the examinee.
- A student from a college background or someone who has participated in case study
competitions will find this paper easier than others. Also, if you have a keen interest in
reading Business articles, it will surely help you relate the questions with real life
scenarios.
- Please stick to short summary notes in the last two days before the exam.
- Keep your mind fresh and open to ideas. Try to keep a very broad perspective while
answering questions in the paper.
- Do not restrict your answers to whatever you have studied in the course material. You
can go beyond, which will surely give you an edge over others.

All of the above is from my 20 days preparation of the SBL paper for the September
2018 session. You could have a different way of approaching the paper or even could add
better things to the above mentioned approach.

Please feel free to contact via email for any queries. Hope this helps!

All the best!

Yoshita Patney
(AIR-1 WR-8- SBL September 2018 Session)
yoshitapatney@gmail.com