HSC Business Studies: Business Report Master Notes

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the NSW HSC Business Studies curriculum, focusing on Human Resources, Finance, Operations, Marketing, Interdependence, Consumer Law, and Case Studies.

PEAL Formula

A paragraph writing structure for business reports consisting of Point (name the term), Explain (what it is, how it works), Apply (a fact from the scenario), and Link (the result for the business).

R-D-J-R Formula

A report structure used for answering recommendation questions: Recommend by name, Describe how it would work, Justify why it suits the business, and state the Result (what improves, plus one drawback and how to manage it).

Human Resource Management (HRM)

Formal systems designed for managing people in an organisation, focusing on three core responsibilities: staffing, compensation and benefits, and defining or designing work.

Strategic Role of HR

Aligning people management with overarching business goals by strengthening employer-employee relationships, clarifying goals, managing staff skills, and handling transitions such as redundancies and retraining.

Outsourcing

The practice of contracting out business functions to a third-party specialist, either domestically or globally, to achieve lower costs, better quality, or access to specialist skills.

Offshoring

The practice of outsourcing business functions or operations to a third-party provider located in another country.

Industrial Relations (IR)

The formal relationship and interaction between employees and employers regarding pay, working conditions, and rights.

Centralised Wage System

A wage-setting system where a government or tribunal determines pay and working conditions for entire industries, resulting in low flexibility and high rigidity for individual businesses.

Decentralised Wage System

A wage-setting system where employers and employees negotiate pay and working conditions directly at the workplace level, offering high flexibility but risking weaker bargaining power for some workers.

Fair Work Commission (FWC)

Australia's national workplace relations tribunal that sets minimum wages, maintains modern awards, approves enterprise agreements, and prevents or settles disputes via conciliation and arbitration.

Fair Work Ombudsman

An independent statutory agency that enforces compliance with Australian workplace laws, investigates underpayments, and prosecutes employers who breach employment standards.

Modern Award

A legally enforceable document established by the Fair Work Commission that sets minimum wages and conditions for an entire industry or occupation on top of the National Employment Standards.

Enterprise Agreement (EA)

A collective workplace agreement negotiated between an employer and employees (often represented by a union) that must pass the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT) and expires within $4$ years.

Better Off Overall Test (BOOT)

A test conducted by the Fair Work Commission to ensure that each employee covered by a proposed enterprise agreement is better off overall than they would be under the relevant modern award.

National Employment Standards (NES)

A set of $11$ legislated minimum employment entitlements provided to all employees in Australia, including rules regarding maximum weekly hours, leave entitlements, and redundancy pay.

Casual Employment

An employment arrangement with no guaranteed hours of work, where the worker receives a loading (minimum $25\%$) in lieu of paid leave entitlements such as annual and sick leave.

Independent Contractor

A self-employed individual engaged under a contract for service who is not covered by awards, pays their own tax, superannuation, and insurance, and does not receive paid leave.

Work Health and Safety (WHS)

The framework of legal obligations that requires employers (PCBUs) to provide a safe workplace, assess and control risks, consult workers, and prevent injuries under legislation such as the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW).

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

The principle and practice of ensuring fair, merit-based policies in recruitment, selection, training, and promotion, free from discrimination based on irrelevant personal characteristics.

Genuine Redundancy

The termination of employment that occurs because an employer no longer requires the employee's job to be done by anyone due to operational changes, requiring consultation, redeployment review, and severance pay.

Unfair Dismissal

A termination of employment deemed harsh, unjust, or unreasonable by the Fair Work Commission, where eligible employees may seek remedies such as reinstatement or compensation.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

A business's ongoing commitment to behave ethically and contribute to the quality of life of its workforce, local community, and society beyond what is required by legal minimums.

Acquisition

The HR process focused on attracting and recruiting the right staff for the organisation, encompassing recruitment, selection, and job placement.

Development

The HR process of enhancing staff skills, abilities, and knowledge through induction, on-the-job and off-the-job training, coaching, mentoring, and performance appraisal.

Maintenance

The HR process of looking after employee wellbeing and needs to retain productive staff, through communication, positive workplace culture, employee benefits, and flexible work options.

Separation

The HR process involving employees leaving an organisation, either voluntarily (resignation, retirement) or involuntarily (retrenchment, dismissal).

Job Design

The process of specifying the number, kind, and variety of tasks an employee performs, utilizing methods such as rotation, enlargement, enrichment, and job sharing.

Industrial Dispute

A formal disagreement between an employer and employees that results in employees ceasing or disrupting work, taking either covert forms (absenteeism, go-slows) or overt forms (strikes).

Strike

An overt form of industrial action where employees collectively withdraw their labour and stop working to pressure an employer during a dispute.

Lockout

An industrial action initiated by an employer that involves closing the workplace and refusing to allow employees to work.

Benchmarking

An indicator of HR effectiveness that involves comparing organisation performance standards (such as HR costs, time to fill vacancies, and satisfaction) against industry benchmarks or established targets.

Absenteeism

An indicator of HR effectiveness measuring unplanned employee absence from work; high rates typically signal low staff morale, excessive stress, or poor hires.

Staff Turnover

An indicator of HR effectiveness that tracks the rate at which employees leave a business; high turnover indicates dissatisfaction and creates recruitment and training costs.

Liquidity

A business's ability to satisfy its short-term financial commitments and debts as they fall due using its current assets.

Solvency

A business's ability to meet its long-term financial commitments and obligations over time, demonstrated when total assets exceed total liabilities.

Liquidation

The formal legal process of winding up an insolvent business and selling off its assets to repay outstanding creditors.

Working Capital

The funds available to finance day-to-day business operations, defined mathematically as: $\text{Working capital} = \text{current assets} - \text{current liabilities}$.

Factoring

A cash flow management strategy where a business sells its accounts receivable to a finance company to obtain immediate cash at a discounted rate minus a service fee.

Discounts for Early Payment

A cash flow strategy that offers customers a percentage reduction on invoice totals (e.g. $2\%$ for payment within $10$ days) to encourage faster settlement of receivables.

Distribution of Payments

A cash flow strategy of planning, staggering, or delaying bill payments to suppliers and creditors so that cash outflows match the timing of cash inflows.

Current Ratio

A liquidity ratio that measures short-term debt repayment capacity, calculated as: $\text{Current ratio} = \frac{\text{current assets}}{\text{current liabilities}}$ (target is generally above $1$).

Gearing

A financial ratio measuring a business's solvency and proportional reliance on external debt compared to internal equity, expressed as: $\text{Gearing} = \frac{\text{debt}}{\text{equity}}$.

Operations Management

The management function that plans, organises, and controls the process that transforms raw inputs into finished goods and services.

Interdependence

The mutual reliance between key business functions (human resources, finance, operations, and marketing), requiring them to coordinate to achieve common business objectives.

Australian Consumer Law (ACL)

The uniform national consumer protection law set out in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and enforced by the ACCC and state fair trading bodies.

Misleading or Deceptive Conduct

Prohibited behaviour under the ACL where businesses make false representations or misleading claims in advertising, packaging, or sales about product quality, results, or benefits.

Consumer Guarantees

Statutory rights under the ACL requiring products to be of acceptable quality, fit for purpose, and match their description, entitling consumers to a repair, replacement, or refund regardless of store refund policies.

Unconscionable Conduct

Commercial behaviour prohibited under the ACL that is extremely harsh or unfair, involving high-pressure sales tactics or taking unfair advantage of a consumer's vulnerability.

Conciliation

A formal dispute resolution method where an independent third party (such as the Fair Work Commission) assists disputing parties in exploring options and suggests a potential settlement.

Arbitration

A formal dispute resolution process in which an independent tribunal or commissioner hears legal arguments and evidence from both sides and issues a legally binding decision.

Automation

The implementation of machinery, robotics, and computerised systems to perform tasks previously handled by human labour, lowering unit costs while often requiring redundancies and retraining.

Fenner Dunlop Case

A WHS case where the company was fined $\$212,500$ in NSW after a worker was seriously injured by a conveyor belt, illustrating the legal and financial indicators of workplace accidents.

Qantas 2011 Dispute

A landmark industrial dispute where Qantas grounded its entire fleet of $108$ aircraft on 29 October 2011, triggering Fair Work Australia intervention that ended industrial action and ordered arbitration.

Atlassian 'Team Anywhere'

A workplace flexibility strategy enabling employees to work from anywhere, cited by $91\%$ of employees as a major factor in their retention and satisfaction.

Qantas 2020 Outsourcing

The unlawful outsourcing of approximately $1,820$ ground handling jobs during COVID-19, which the High Court ruled illegal, resulting in $\$120\text{m}$ in compensation and a $\$90\text{m}$ penalty.