This paper is designed to assess students’ ability to recommend a plan for the social enterprise / organization in meeting the identified human need. In doing so, students will be required to demonstrate knowledge and understanding, and their ability to explain, synthesize and evaluate evidence, and formulate a recommendation.

Use of examples and case studies

In order to be awarded marks in the higher markbands and levels of assessment criteria, students are expected, where appropriate, to refer to the stimulus material provided in examinations and illustrate their answers with examples. In this way, students highlight their understanding of how business management tools and theories operate in practice. Where the stimulus material, case studies and examples are referred to, students should not simply state the information, but rather offer some explanation of how it relates to the question asked.

Use of business management terms

Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to appropriately define, use and apply the business management terms included in the business “Syllabus” section.

Please provide both positive feedback on what things the writing has done well and feedback on what parts can improve in the document. Also provide a summary of how the writing did for each of the Criteria A to D, which you can find in the attached markscheme and below:

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Criterion A - Use of resource materials (worth 4 marks)

This assessment criterion assesses the extent to which the candidate uses the stimulus materials to effectively support the recommended plan of action. It is worth up to 4 marks.

So, to score top marks, the student must show evidence of the following throughout their written response:

reference to all stimulus materials provided in the exam, namely all 5 or 6 excerpts from various documents (such as emails, special media feeds, and newspaper articles).

use of the stimulus materials from the excerpts in an effective way to support the recommendations (plan of action), i.e., application of how the evidence provided will strengthen the recommended business strategy.

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Criterion B - Business management tools and theories (worth 4 marks)

This assessment criterion assesses the extent to which a candidate’s plan of action (recommendations) effectively apply appropriate business management tools and theories. It is also worth up to 4 marks.

As this is an academic piece of work, the response must demonstrate clear, appropriate, and effective use of relevant business management tools and theories, throughout the extended response question.

Remember that any of the 15 tools from the Business Management Toolkit (BMT) can be used, where appropriate, for this purpose. However, any relevant tools or theories beyond the BMT (but within the syllabus) can be used.

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Criterion C - Evaluation (worth 6 marks)

The student must effectively evaluate the expected impact of their plan of action on the relevant areas of the business and considers the trade-offs between those areas.

So, to score top marks, students must demonstrate evidence of evaluation in terms of:

the realistically expected impacts (short and long term) of their recommendations (plan of action).

reference to the relevant areas of the business that are likely to be impacted, such as human resource, finance and accounts, operations management, and/or marketing functions of the social enterprise.

the probable opportunity costs (sacrifices or trade-offs) due to the recommendations (plan of action)

consider impact on multiple stakeholders

 Top tip!

As a general rule, remember that all business decisions (the recommendations in the plan of action) will have at least two wider implications on an organization:

The impact on human resources - Students should consider how their recommendations (in the plan of action) are likely to affect employees, perhaps in terms of training needs or their level of motivation and productivity.

The impact on finances - Every business decision / plan of action / strategy will have a direct impact on the organization's finances. Students should consider how their recommendations (in the plan of action) will affect the organization's finances. For example, are the recommendations viable (realistic) given the firm's budgets and current financial position?

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Criterion D - Sequencing of ideas and plan of action - Structure (worth 3 marks)

This final assessment criterion for Question 3 assesses the extent to which the candidate’s ideas and plan of action are sequenced in a clear and coherent manner. This assessment criterion is worth up to 3 marks.

Therefore, to score top marks, candidates must:

Use fit for purpose paragraphs (use the Paragraph Structure frameworks for this)

Have an introduction, body (analysis and evaluation), and conclusion.

Ensure the ideas and the plan of action in the essay flow in a clear, logical, and well-organized way.

The conclusion must answer the question in its entirety.

Use of examples and case studies

In order to be awarded marks in the higher markbands and levels of assessment criteria, students are expected, where appropriate, to refer to the stimulus material provided in examinations and illustrate their answers with examples. In this way, students highlight their understanding of how business management tools and theories operate in practice. Where the stimulus material, case studies and examples are referred to, students should not simply state the information, but rather offer some explanation of how it relates to the question asked.

Use of business management terms

Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to appropriately define, use and apply the business management terms included in the business “Syllabus” section.

Please provide both positive feedback on what things the writing has done well and feedback on what parts can improve in the document. You can find in the attached and explanations on how to get top marks on the 10 mark question below:

To score 9 – 10 marks (the top mark band), students must demonstrate evidence of the following:

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• Clear focus on addressing the demands of the question

  • • Refer to the impacts of business decisions (include implications of doing the action or not doing the action, 

      • • eg. "Recommend if Dales should stop outsourcing the cleaning of hotel rooms"; what would be the implications of Dale stopping outsourcing and of not stopping outsourcing? If Dales stops outsourcing its cleaners, the costs are likely to rise, but they would be able to monitor and improve quality

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• Relevant and accurate use of business management tools and theories. 

  • • Explain and Justify the tools and theories you use in y our answer

      • • Eg. if you use staff turnover rate, tell the examiner why you believe it's relevant (a high turnover rate means high costs for ongoing recruitment and training)

    • Use business terminology as much as possible such as "profit", "wages", "recruitment", competitive environment", quality

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• Relevant information from the stimulus material is integrated effectively to support the argument.

  • • Quote short extracts of the case study to help make a point 

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• Arguments are substantiated and balanced, with an explanation of the limitations of the case study or stimulus material.

  • • Balance refers to positives (+) and negatives (-), but also quantitative (#, $) and qualitative (finance versus human resources)

    • Justify your judgements and your final recommendation: provide evidence and justification for all of the points that you make, using elements from the case study (quoting it) as well as your knowledge of business management

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• • • Explanation of Limitations of the case study: explain what information is missing from the case study that would be needed to provide better evaluation of the business problem.

      • • Incomplete or biased Information

        • Limited scope or generalizations

        • Lack of current or up-to-date information

        • Assumptions and uncertainties

        • Limited perspectives