HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES
MEMORANDUM
Academic Year 2025: January - June
Supplementary Summative Assessment 1: Business Management 3 (HBMN333-2)
NQF Level: 7
Credits: 14
Weighting: 50%
Assessment Type: Examination
Stationery: Black / Blue Pen
Pass Requirement: 50%
Educator: R. Parry
Examiner: R. Parry
Due Date: 04 July 2025
Total: 70 Marks
Time: 2 Hours
Instructions:
1. This examination consists of one section only: Section A (Essay-type Questions), and all
questions are compulsory.
2. Good Luck!
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The following Learning Outcomes (LO’s) are assessed in this paper:
Principles of Global Business Management:
• Unit 5 - Chapter 5:
o Identify technologies that are currently impacting on global business.
• Unit 9 – Chapter 9:
o Clarify the purpose of non-trade barriers, and list some of the most important tariff
barriers.
Introduction to Information Systems (10th Edition):
• Unit 12 – Chapter 2:
o Identify effective IT responses to different kinds of business pressures.
• Unit 13 – Chapter 8:
o Identify advantages and disadvantages of each of the four (4) main types of
wireless transmission media.
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SECTION A: Essay-Type Questions (70 Marks)
Notes to Grader:
Carefully read through the learner’s responses and see whether the content, even if
stated/presented in other words than the Memorandum, agree with the proposed answer.
Refrain from looking for keywords.
Be advised that the theoretical aspects of each question provided in this Memorandum is
extracted from the prescribed courseware for this module and is to be used by the grader for
purposes of guidance.
Question 1 (15 Marks)
You are a third-year student at a globally recognised tertiary institution based in the Western
Cape. Your tutor has requested you to address the following question.
Discuss the characteristics associated with local content requirements (LCR). (15 Marks)
Proposed Solutions:
Principles of Global Business Management: Unit 9: Chapter 9: Page 205.
Notes to Grader:
When grading this question, the following guidelines are provided for your information and
guidance, since students responses will vary.
For grading purposes, the guidelines provided below need to be taken into consideration by the
Grader.
Sometimes a country’s government pressurises manufacturers to make a greater share of a
given product in the local market. This is accomplished through the introduction of local
content requirements (LCR’s).
An LCR is a requirement that some proportion of a product be produced domestically. This
requirement may be in physical terms. This would be a percentage of component parts for the
product to be produced locally, or in value terms, such as 75% of the value to be produced
locally. LCR’s have been widely used in developing countries to shift their manufacturing base
from the simple assembly of products whose parts are manufactured elsewhere, into the local
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manufacture of these component parts. They have also been used in developed countries to
protect local jobs and industries from foreign competition.
LCR’s provide protection for domestic producers in the same manner as an import quota does,
by limiting foreign competition. Domestic producers benefit as a result, but the restriction on
imports raises the prices of imported components. This means the higher prices for imported
components are passed on to the consumer of the final product. Some countries have even
introduced “buy national” restrictions. This limits the consumption of imported goods in order
to promote local manufacture. It is aimed at improving brand loyalty. (15 Marks)
The following Learning Outcome is assessed in this question:
Principles of Global Business Management: Unit 9: Chapter 9.
• Clarify the purpose of non-trade barriers, and list some of the most important tariff barriers.
Question 2 (15 Marks)
Analyse the following technologies, which are reshaping the global business space.
2.1 Augmented reality. (5 Marks)
2.2 Intelligent drones. (5 Marks)
2.3 Mechatronics. (5 Marks)
Proposed Solutions:
Principles of Global Business Management: Unit 5: Chapter 5: Pages 99-100.
Notes to Grader:
When grading these questions, the following guidelines are provided for your information and
guidance, since students responses will vary.
For grading purposes, the guidelines provided below need to be taken into consideration by the
grader.
2.1 Augmented reality: A computer – generated image is created which is overlaid on your
view of the real world (such as a head’s–up display in a motor car). A headset is not
required, but a projector connected to a computer is. ✓ Augmented reality has been
highlighted in movies where actors interact with a visual hologram – like image.✓ Imagine a
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design firm that has developed a new tool, which is projected in front of board members or
customers, allowing them to both see and interact with it. ✓ (5 Marks)
2.2 Intelligent drones: Drones have changed how war is conducted and how journalists carry
out their duties. ✓ Companies such as Amazon are exploring the use of drones to deliver
products, and even smaller drones can change how people manage their homes and
business. ✓ Imagine using a small drone (no larger than a ping - pong ball) to investigate a
problem on the factory floor. ✓ Drones are intelligent, are able to avoid moving obstacles,
and are able to send back streaming video and audio recordings. ✓ (5 Marks)
2.3 Mechatronics: This is where mechanics and electronics meet. Today, many mechanical
products are monitored and controlled by electronics that have their own intelligence to
make connections. For example, modern cars have computer chips that monitor the
mechanical activities of the operations of the car. If something goes wrong, the computer
automatically shuts down the car, and the problem is reported to the car’s owner. This
early detection and quick repair will allow for both money and time to be saved in the long-
term. (5 Marks)
The following Learning Outcome is assessed in this question:
Principles of Global Business Management: Unit 5: Chapter 5.
• Identify technologies that are currently impacting on global business.
Question 3 (25 Marks)
Organisations respond to various business pressures through the implementation of IT systems.
Assess the following IT responses that organisations can adopt, to manage business pressures.
3.1 Strategic systems. (4 Marks)
3.2 Customer focus. (4 Marks)
3.3 Make-to-order and mass-customisation. (9 Marks)
3.4 E-Business and E-Commerce. (8 Marks)
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Proposed Solutions:
Introduction to Information Systems (10th Edition): Unit 12: Chapter 2: Pages 50 - 53.
Notes to Grader:
When grading these questions, the following guidelines are provided for your information and
guidance, since students responses will vary.
For grading purposes, the guidelines provided below need to be taken into consideration by the
grader.
3.1 Strategic systems provide organisations with advantages that enable them to increase their
market share and profits to better negotiate with suppliersand to prevent competitors from
entering their markets. Many information systems are so strategically important to
organisations that if they are inadequate or fail altogether, their organisations are at risk of
failing as well. (4 Marks)
3.2 Customer Focus. Organisational attempts to provide superb customer service can make
the difference between attracting and retaining customers versus losing them to
competitors. Numerous IT tools and business processes have been designed to keep
customers happy. A business process is a collection of related activities that produce a
product or a service of value to the organisation, its business partners, and its customers.
When you visit Amazon’s website any time after your first visit, the site welcomes you back
by name, and it presents you with information about items that you might like, based on your
previous purchases. (4 Marks)
3.3 Make-to-Order and Mass Customisation. Make-to-order is a strategy of producing
customised (made to individual specifications) products and services. The business
problem is how to manufacture customised goods efficiently and at a reasonably low cost.
Part of the solution is to change manufacturing processes from mass production to mass
customisation. In mass production, a company produces a large quantity of identical
items. Consumer segmentation takes place when companies provide standard
specifications for different consumer groups, or segments.
The next step was configured mass customisation, in which companies offer features that
allow each shopper to customise his or her product or service with a range of components.
In the current strategy, known as mass customisation, the company produces a large
quantity of items, but it customises them to match the needs and preferences of individual
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customers. Mass customisation is essentially an attempt to perform make-to-order on a
large scale. (9 Marks)
3.4 E-Business and E-Commerce. Conducting business electronically is an essential strategy
for companies that are competing in today’s business environment. Electronic commerce
(EC or e-commerce) describes the process of buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging
products, services, or information through computer networks, including the Internet. E-
business is a somewhat broader concept. In addition to the buying and selling of goods
and services, e-business also refers to servicing customers, collaborating with business
partners, and performing electronic transactions within an organisation. In the new digital
economy, these strategies rely heavily on information technology, especially strategic
information systems. (8 Marks)
The following Learning Outcome is assessed in this question:
Introduction to Information Systems (10th Edition): Unit 12: Chapter 2.
• Identify effective IT responses to different kinds of business pressures.
Question 4 (15 Marks)
The traditional working environment no longer requires users to sit at a wired computer, since
this is both ineffective and inefficient.
Evaluate the advantages of portable computers which communicate through wireless networks.
Proposed Solutions:
Introduction to Information Systems (10th Edition): Unit 13: Chapter 8: Page 248 - 249.
Notes to Grader:
When grading these questions, the following guidelines are provided for your information and
guidance, since students responses will vary.
For grading purposes, the guidelines provided below need to be taken into consideration by the
grader.
The traditional working environment that required users to sit at a wired computer is ineffective
and inefficient. The solution was to build computers that are small enough to carry or wear and
that can communicate through wireless networks. That is, your computing device now comes
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with you.The ability to communicate anytime and anywhere provides organisations with a
strategic advantage by increasing productivity and speed and improving customer service. We
use the term wireless to describe telecommunications in which electromagnetic waves, rather
than some form of wire or cable, carry the signal between communicating devices such as
computers, smartphones, and iPads.
It is important to distinguish between the terms wireless and mobile. The term wireless means
exactly what it says: without wires. In contrast, mobile refers to something that changes its
location over time. Some wireless networks, such as MiFi (discussed later in this chapter), are
also mobile, whilst others are fixed. For example, microwave towers form fixed wireless
networks. Wireless technologies enable individuals and organisations to conduct mobile
computing, mobile commerce, and the Internet of Things.Mobile computing refers to a real-
time, wireless connection between a mobile device and other computing environments, such as
the Internet or an intranet. Mobile commerce—also known as m-commerce—refers to e-
commerce (EC) transactions conducted with a mobile device. The Internet of Things means
that virtually every object contains embedded sensors and has processing power with either
wireless or wired connections to a global network.Almost all (if not all) organisations use
wireless computing. The wireless infrastructure upon which mobile computing is built is re-
shaping the entire IT field. (15 Marks)
The following Learning Outcome is assessed in this question:
Introduction to Information Systems (10th Edition): Unit 13: Chapter 8.
• Identify advantages and disadvantages of each of the four (4) main types of wireless
transmission media.
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