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AQA Applied Business - Unit 12 (Managing People)

Is anyone taking the January exam for AQA Applied Business Unit 12 (Managing People)?, or have taken the same exam in the past.

Any tips on what and how to revise, the structure of the answers or anything else?
Reply 1
Hiya, i'm taking the exam in January :eek: only thing i can suggest for revision is to grab some past papers from the aqa website, have a go at the questions, check your knowledge, but also your application, i.e relating your knowledge to the case studies, without applying it to the case studies its impossible to gain higher marks. Also, you may find it handy to use S.E.X to answer the questions (State, Explain, eXample) this helps to ensure that you cover all of the criteria needed for the exam
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by florenceml
Hiya, i'm taking the exam in January :eek: only thing i can suggest for revision is to grab some past papers from the aqa website, have a go at the questions, check your knowledge, but also your application, i.e relating your knowledge to the case studies, without applying it to the case studies its impossible to gain higher marks. Also, you may find it handy to use S.E.X to answer the questions (State, Explain, eXample) this helps to ensure that you cover all of the criteria needed for the exam


I've made notes from the textbook, but it's hard to know what I actually need to memorise as there is so much waffle in there. Are you revising from the textbook?
Reply 3
To am using the text book to an extent i am but i also have a lot of useful notes from my teachers. powerpoint hand outs, check-lists, case studies, you name it i think i have it lol

heres a main list of what we're gonna need to know...

- 5 management roles ( planning, monitoring, evaluating, reporting, organising)
- What tasks does each of the these roles involve
- The different skills a manager needs (communication, technical, interpersonal, organisational)
- why do managers need these skills
- Organisational Structures ( tall, flat, matrix )
- features of each structure
- ads and disads for each
- how can each of them effect motivation
- the difference between power and authority
- 3 types of authority
- benefits and drawbacks of each
- how does power and authority effect motivation
- 5 types of power ( referent, coercive, referent, reward, expert, legitimate)
- benefits and drawbacks of each
- how each type effects motivation
- best power in crisis - when trying to get people on board
- CPA and how it works
- ads and disads of cpa
- when cpa is best used
- leadership styles ( laissez faire, autocratic, paternalistic, democratic, participative)
- ads and disads of each
- effects of each on motivation
- Statistical process control
- how does it work
- ads and disads
- when is it best used
- decision trees
- how they work
- ads and disads
- when are they best used
- motivational theories
- features of each
- empowerment

not an exam i'm particularly confident on i have to admit
maybe mind maps could be handy
turn the notes into concise facts, make flash cards, work on answering the questions look at the beasty ones at the backs that are like 12, 10 & 8 marks there the ones you want to ace more than anything.

if theres anything else you want to know let me know :smile:
Reply 4
That's fantastic, thank you very much. I'll let you know if I'm unsure about anything else :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by florenceml
To am using the text book to an extent i am but i also have a lot of useful notes from my teachers. powerpoint hand outs, check-lists, case studies, you name it i think i have it lol

heres a main list of what we're gonna need to know...

- 5 management roles ( planning, monitoring, evaluating, reporting, organising)
- What tasks does each of the these roles involve
- The different skills a manager needs (communication, technical, interpersonal, organisational)
- why do managers need these skills
- Organisational Structures ( tall, flat, matrix )
- features of each structure
- ads and disads for each
- how can each of them effect motivation
- the difference between power and authority
- 3 types of authority
- benefits and drawbacks of each
- how does power and authority effect motivation
- 5 types of power ( referent, coercive, referent, reward, expert, legitimate)
- benefits and drawbacks of each
- how each type effects motivation
- best power in crisis - when trying to get people on board
- CPA and how it works
- ads and disads of cpa
- when cpa is best used
- leadership styles ( laissez faire, autocratic, paternalistic, democratic, participative)
- ads and disads of each
- effects of each on motivation
- Statistical process control
- how does it work
- ads and disads
- when is it best used
- decision trees
- how they work
- ads and disads
- when are they best used
- motivational theories
- features of each
- empowerment

not an exam i'm particularly confident on i have to admit
maybe mind maps could be handy
turn the notes into concise facts, make flash cards, work on answering the questions look at the beasty ones at the backs that are like 12, 10 & 8 marks there the ones you want to ace more than anything.

if theres anything else you want to know let me know :smile:


One question is what the mark scheme means when it gives marks for the "development" of an answer?
Any specific things to help get these marks?
Thanks,
Reply 6
Original post by RM-Smith

Original post by RM-Smith
One question is what the mark scheme means when it gives marks for the "development" of an answer?
Any specific things to help get these marks?
Thanks,


right well, development of answer basically means elaborating upon it take last years paper for example,
"What is meant by a flat organisational structure?"

you get one mark for saying that it is a management structure with not many layers, you would get the second mark (development) for saying that it has a wide span of control

i would have written: " a flat organisational structure is a structure with few few layers, but has a wide span of control, in the case of SET, this is true as Bill is the only manager of four different sites."

for the larger questions that carry the most marks you would need to look at what the question is asking you to do: Describe, explain/how, to what extent,discuss,evaluate or analyse

for all questions though, link back to the case study!!! you cannot get anywhere near full marks otherwise,

Here is an example of a larger question:

question 1(c) January 2011

Using Item A, analyse why Bill's leadership style affects his ability to retain staff (8 marks)

Bills leadership style is very autocratic, this leadership style doesn't let staff make any decisions, the staff are told what to do. For example, Item A states that Bill visits each of the four sites once every day to give orders and address immediate problems. An autocratic leadership style is best used when a quick response is needed or in times of crisis, it could include the use of threats. Bills staff may feel demotivated because they are unable to make decisions or progress within their job. This could suggest that the workers are McGregor's theory y as they are wanting to progress within their job and aren't as worried about the money they make, in the case study Angela Lake states that bill never let us make decisions and no matter how hard i worked i was still paid the same. This suggests that if Bill wishes to retain staff he will need to improve the opportunities available to them within the business and give the staff a say in decision making, this will help them to become motivated and thus improve the retention of staff at SET.


Hope this is of help :smile:
Reply 7
Original post by florenceml
right well, development of answer basically means elaborating upon it take last years paper for example,
"What is meant by a flat organisational structure?"

you get one mark for saying that it is a management structure with not many layers, you would get the second mark (development) for saying that it has a wide span of control

i would have written: " a flat organisational structure is a structure with few few layers, but has a wide span of control, in the case of SET, this is true as Bill is the only manager of four different sites."

for the larger questions that carry the most marks you would need to look at what the question is asking you to do: Describe, explain/how, to what extent,discuss,evaluate or analyse

for all questions though, link back to the case study!!! you cannot get anywhere near full marks otherwise,

Here is an example of a larger question:

question 1(c) January 2011

Using Item A, analyse why Bill's leadership style affects his ability to retain staff (8 marks)

Bills leadership style is very autocratic, this leadership style doesn't let staff make any decisions, the staff are told what to do. For example, Item A states that Bill visits each of the four sites once every day to give orders and address immediate problems. An autocratic leadership style is best used when a quick response is needed or in times of crisis, it could include the use of threats. Bills staff may feel demotivated because they are unable to make decisions or progress within their job. This could suggest that the workers are McGregor's theory y as they are wanting to progress within their job and aren't as worried about the money they make, in the case study Angela Lake states that bill never let us make decisions and no matter how hard i worked i was still paid the same. This suggests that if Bill wishes to retain staff he will need to improve the opportunities available to them within the business and give the staff a say in decision making, this will help them to become motivated and thus improve the retention of staff at SET.


Hope this is of help :smile:


Thanks :biggrin:

How much do you find yourself writing for each question, especially the 12 mark ones?
Reply 8
Hiya sorry i didnt get back to you, i use all the space haha, how did you find the paper?
Reply 9
No problem, I thought it went well. Last question was the worst but nothing particularly bad.
How did you find it?
Reply 10
If anyone has notes for Unit 12...can you send it or post it as I have my exam coming soon and need good notes urgent to revise from :smile:
Reply 11
well that last question was a b**** and that probably was reflected in my grade i got a C lol..... Khadi786 what kinda info you looking for? I am Assuming your sitting the exam in june?
Reply 12
Original post by florenceml
well that last question was a b**** and that probably was reflected in my grade i got a C lol..... Khadi786 what kinda info you looking for? I am Assuming your sitting the exam in june?


Unlucky, that last question was c***, it was the same as the whole last section so I ran out of things to write. I managed to just get an A though.
Hi,

I am doing this exam tomorrow morning! i know the knowledge and the basics but tend to waffle on for example in decision making questions i talk about leadership styles.
Can anyone help with ideas ?

Chad
Does anyone know what structure to use for all the different types of questions on this paper?

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