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Hi All,
I’am going to sit for the exam in the coming sitting. Unfortunately , I’am still confused on how to answer the P3 question and i am wasting to much time, e.g. i need almost 150 min to answer Q1 while according to exam kit it should be done in 90 min. Could you please advise what would be more efficient way to practice P3 question?
P3 is my favorite subject. I’m not familiar with open tuition, can a non-moderator give advice?
Anyway, I used to spend like 2 hours to do Q1 but i keep on practicing, and practicing and than i practice again. Obviously, you need to know your key syllabus very well. pastel, Porter’s, Harmon, BCG
1. Don’t ever attempt to write your answer as perfect as per suggested answer.
2. Read the requirement and break it down to smaller manageable components
Eg: Evaluates the current performance and contribution of A co, B co and C co include position of company in xyz portfolio (15 marks)
15 marks equals to 27 minutes. I would break the question above into A co, B co and C co. and spend 5 marks x 1.8 = 9 minutes each.
A co. (9 minutes!)
simple calculation in simplest table says figure1
market : 2013 x%, 2014 y%, remarks: increase/decrease
A co : 2013 x%, 2014 y%, remarks: increase/decrease-According to figure 1, market share growing or declining? how much is A % in market share.
-relates to performance eg: they have small share in a declining industry. competing against a multinationals, competitive industry reflected on thin profit margin of 2%
-contribution to xyz : which position in boston box or Ashridge?that will give you 3 marks in 9 minutes. do the same for co B and C. say you get 10/15 marks that is a cool 67%. once 27 minutes is up, move on. leave some lines just in-case.
3. time management is important. you don’t want to spend 2.5 hours just to get 50 marks in Q1. what are the odds you will get a perfect score? you will win a small battle but will loose the war, thus, failing the exam. what if Q2 and Q3 is something that you can score?
4. make your argument concise. For 1 mark you should be writing about 3 lines. 5 lines above is way too much.
5. select a question, set a timer, and do the question within the mark and time allocation. when i didn’t make it, i read examiner’s answer and examiner’s report. attempt it again within the time frame.
i went through about 10 sittings of past year papers, by the time i sat for the actual exam, it feels like another round of attempting past year papers to me.
good luck guys
you are welcome!
Don’t disregard your 4 professional marks.
Don’t waste time repeating the case study, i found myself trying to be a perfectionist and reiterate part of the case study before making my points. There is no time for that. The marker knows the case study very well. Every sentence should be your opinion and your critical analysis on the case study using appropriate business model, if applicable and must be value added.
good luck!
Thanks, very useful.
Not sure although how much time will be left after reading and understanding all 3 questions, I suspect minimum reading and planning for Q1 (30mins), Q2 and Q3 (30mins) = total 1 hour.
Therefore we come to only 135 minutes of actually writing the answers!! That’s a biggest issue in that exam I think.What is your usual approach – to do Q1 first or to solve it after doing smaller questions?
Do Section A first. Read the question before you read the case study so you know what to look for. Speed read through it and mark any areas that might be useful like strengths or weaknesses, opportunities or threats based on PESTEL etc etc…This way you won’t have to keep going over the massive case study.
Also, Q1 is probably SWOT based so that’s basic.
The other Q’s in Section A will require some recollection of more specific knowledge especially c). You need more time on those q’s than the SWOT or strategic option Q’s.
I feel confident for P3. P1 and P2 were worse. P3 seems like it is common sense mixed with knowledge here and there.
Im not going to be tied up with Section A. Most of the case study is waffle haha. get what you need and move on. Leave space to elaborate further if something click during other parts of the paper.
I’m more focused on the question verbs. I need to master that so I know how specific or detailed the answer needs to be. The difference between evaluate and identify and explain etc etc. Evaluate is just say what is there. Evaluate the strategic option. This option is market development blah blah. requires this and that. benefits are this and that. Suitable Acceptable Feasible done lol Or strategic clock. no frills means cost leadership focus to gain competitive advantage. require this and that. benefits are this and that.
You get in a rhythm then when you go to the exam it’s flows out of you. I love the feeling of opening the page and seeing how many areas I can get marks in. Makes me feel so good. I just let it out. ahhhh
Thanks.
Section A is really a challenge for me. Q1 may be easy question (PESTEL or Porter, SWOT) but it takes a lot to write a good looking answer- especially when question is compounded by financial analysis( in that case time is spent for writing calculations)Usually I answer Q1 in 110 minutes including reading time
But may be its a good strategy to leave challenging parts of section A for the last 15-20 minutes of exam.Regarding question verbs – I dont see any significant difference between
ACCESS
DISCUSS
EVALUATE
CONSTRUCT THE CASEIn all these you have to present arguments for and against. Do you?
time management is very important
– try to know the all concept of model and frame work and try to apply this in particular case study
– look in case and use big imageanton,
try not to be a perfectionist to produce good looking answer & you don’t need to to do a lot of ‘writing calculation’ in your answer script. i believe good answer is well structure and very important, relevant to requirements.
during 15 minutes reading time, you have to calculate a lot of ratios to get the overall picture of the case. than you’ll know which figure is enough to support your argument.
don’t be afraid to spend more than 15 minutes to analyse Q1. I remember on the actual day, when the invigilator said ‘you can start writing’, i still extracting and analyzing Q1. Once I understand what the case i about, my answer flow smoothly.
“Regarding question verbs – I dont see any significant difference between
ACCESS
DISCUSS
EVALUATE
CONSTRUCT THE CASEIn all these you have to present arguments for and against. Do you?”
read the requirement. does question ask for for and against?
Normally it will be super specific :
Analyse how process Y would have addressed the problems in the project X above.Imagine a client ask you, “hey, if my company implement this process Y, how does it solve problems I faced in project Y”
Than you shall:
1. find out what is the problems in project X
2. how process Y will minimize, solve, avoid, mitigate the problems in project X. it will be super specific to case study.Don’t describe the process Y, don’t give for and against, don’t give advantages or disadvantages. I imagine client won’t be so happy to pay you if you do that 🙂
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