Section IV of the HSC is the CASE STUDY question.

You'll be given two options - only choose ONE.

This question typically draws together two sections of a single topic (Operations, Marketing, Human Resources and Finance).

A usual hot topic is about the 'correct' structure of the response - with a particular confusion around the use of sub-headings and business report format. We are looking for sustained, logical and cohesive responses ONLY. Whether a student uses an executive summary and sub-headings or not is beside the point. The formatting is a trivial matter according to the marking criteria - what you must aim for is to produce a sustained, logical and cohesive response, drawing from ONE case study or MANY.

There are usually two components to a Section IV question:

• one part of the question being highly specific to one or two syllabus points and 

• the other part being open for student selection from a syllabus section.

Example 1:

"Analyse how human resource management strategies can improve the process of employee acquisition and maintenance." (2021) 

In this question, the specific are the HR processes of acquisition and maintenance - students then have a choice as to what HR strategies to use in their response. Students need to identify components and draw implications (analyse) - see NESA Directive Terms.

Example 2:

"Evaluate the effectiveness of financial management strategies used to achieve profit and growth objectives." (2020)

Here, the student choice is the selection of strategies, but students must relate these directly to the specific strategic objectives of Growth and Profit. Students need to make a judgement based criteria (evaluate) - again, see NESA Directive Terms