PD2 CLASSWORK 10OCT2017 Pfizer Motivation Question 2.4.6

Dear PD2 Students -

Answer Question 2.4.6 Pfizer (p.189) using the CTs, CLs and SWs method.

Here is the quick overview:

COURSE THEORIES---CASE LINK---SO WHAT?

Or as I normally write it. CT´s, CL´s and SW´s

You don´t need to worry too much about the order here. The main thing is that you include a lot of these 3 things, over and over again as you answer the question.

Course Theory [or Concepts]

Courses theories basically mean key words [or concepts] from the course. Find a keyword [or concept] from the course which relates to the question somehow. Use it in a sentence. If you can use two keywords from the course (or more) in this sentence, that even better.

Case Link

A case link is connecting the theory to what´s actually going on in the case. Most people struggle with this part. Students do read the case, but then they forget to use it in their answer. They think it´s all about the key words [or concepts]. But actually these connections are hugely valuable.

So What?

“So what?” pulls your insights together and has you show the reader the value of the points you´ve just made. “So What” is where you make sure the reader gets your point and understands its value (both in answering the question, but also for the business in other aspects).

An example.

“Should fancy restaurant Woods lower its prices? (Assume that I´ve also given you a big case to read about this restaurant.)

You could write:

CTs: Price is one of the elements of marketing mix, along with place, promotion and product. Prices impact sales volume, but also branding. (See all those beautiful words?)

CLs: In this case, the restaurant is struggling to increase its efficiency. It wants to lower its costs, so it can lower its prices because Tim (the manager) worries he is losing customers to their new low-price competitors.

SWs: However, lowering its prices Woods could negatively affect its customer´s perception of its quality. Its customers might value its products less and therefore buy less of it. So by lowering its prices, Woods could end up with less profit.

That might seem hard, but as I said, really you´re just trying to tie together key words [or concepts], with a link to the case and then make sure you´ve linked it back to the question. CT + CL + SW

You don´t need to do this in order every time for it to work, just keep ticking those three boxes as you answer your question.

Just a few more quick things

Also useful to remember when answering business questions is that:

1.       It´s always helpful to start out with a definition of the key words in the question. This shows the marker that you´re going to know what you´re talking about. (i.e. you know what profit is).

2.       Most business questions lean toward a pros vs cons type of question. The example above is one of these. If you can, try to make sure you´re talking about as many reasons TO DO the thing as reasons NOT TO DO the thing – all while doing the CTs, CLs and SWs.

3.       If the question says “evaluate” make sure to come to a conclusion at the end of your answer.

Bibliograhpy:

Woods, T. (7 de 10 de 2017). IBMastery How to Answer IB Business Management Questions. Obtenido de https://www.ibmastery.com/blog/how-to-answer-ib-business-management-questions