studying for csqs · 2018-06-28 · these are vital study and revision aids which can also be found...

Studying for CSQSDr Mike CourtneyMartyn Jones

Contents

1 Getting started 1Introduction 1General information about CSQS 1ICSA study resources 2Planning your study 2Timeframes for study 3Ways of studying 3Tuition providers 4

2 Organising your study 5Introduction 5Becoming an independent learner 5Planning your time 6Using study time effectively 7Deciding what to learn 8Studying with the recommended text 10Studying beyond the text 11

3 Learning styles and techniques 13Introduction 13Types of learner 13More about learning styles 14Approaches to learning 15

4 Critical thinking 17Introduction 17Types of knowledge 17Developing an analytical and critical approach 19Reading critically – facts, opinions, theories 19Being critical about sources of information 20Demonstrating a critical approach in your writing 21

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5 Tackling case studies 23Introduction 23About case studies 23Case studies in ICSA exams 24Scenarios 25Pre-released case studies 27General guidelines for case analysis 28Further research 29Applying practical knowledge and theory 29Working through the case study 30Giving advice or recommendations 31

6 Preparing for the exam 33Introduction 33What are the examiners looking for? 33Subject-specifi c requirements 35A note on handwriting 36Addressing the question set 37Command words 39Bringing in experience and wider reading 44Exam practice 45Coping with stress 45

7 Revision 47Introduction 47Planning your revision 47Making time for revision 48Organising revision sessions 48Last minute preparation 49The day before 49On the day 50

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1

Getting started

INTRODUCTION ■

Welcome to your studies with ICSA. We hope you will have a very positive and successful experience in preparing for the CSQS examinations. Many of you will already have undertaken professional or academic study before, but it may have been some time since you engaged in a programme of study. You may be an experienced professional, but your working practices may be very different from those you will need to employ for successful study. Whatever your background, this guidance is designed to help you get the most out of your studies with ICSA.

General information about CSQS

The CSQS has two levels, with four modules at each level. CSQS Level One is set at the standard of modules in the fi nal year of an undergraduate degree (Level 6 of the UK higher education framework) and CSQS Level Two is set at the standard of modules in a Masters programme (Level 7 of the UK higher educa-tion framework) .

On the ICSA website you can fi nd Programme Outcomes, which are state-ments of the knowledge and skills you will acquire as you study each level of the programme. You can also fi nd Learning Outcomes for each module you study, and detailed syllabus information.

You should familiarise yourself with this important information, and we would recommend that you continue to refer to it during the time you are studying.

Specifi c and up to date information on CSQS can be found on the ICSA web-site (www.icsa.org.uk/join-us).


2 ICSA Study Skills

ICSA study resources

Recommended textsA list of the recommended texts for CSQS can be found on the ICSA website. Each module will have either an ICSA text produced specifi cally for the module, or there will be a nominated text book chosen by the examiner that gives cover-age of the entire module content.

Past and sample exam papers and suggested answersThese are vital study and revision aids which can also be found on the ICSA website. You should refer to them often during your study so that you are famil-iar with the style of questions you will face in the exam.

Case studiesCase studies form an important part of your learning material for the course. You should make sure you have read relevant examples of cases (for example, you can fi nd these in the study texts for each module) as these will be an impor-tant part of developing your knowledge of the subject, and will be an invaluable aid in answering exam questions.

Student supportPractice questions and answers will be available on the My ICSA area of the website to help test your knowledge of a topic and provide additional revision and practice for the exam. Check this area of the website regularly for additional support.

Planning your study

Making sure that you have enough time to study for the module will be the fi rst part of your study plan. We recommend that you commit to around 150 hours of study for each CSQS module as a minimum requirement, although if you want to study more, and are able to do so, this will be of benefi t. As an example of how you might organise your study time, 150 hours would work out at seven and a half hours per week over 20 weeks. This time could be spent in the fol-lowing ways:


3Chapter 1 Getting started

Study of the recommended text: four hours per week (incorporating tuition if ■

required).Wider reading and online research: two hours per week. ■

Revision, memorisation and practice questions: one and a half hours per ■

week.

If you are going to study from the recommended text without any other tuition, then at the outset, you need to calculate how much of the text you need to cover each week in order to get through the material in the time you have allowed. Look at the total number of chapters and consider how long you are planning to spend each week with the recommended text. How many chapters will you need to cover each week to allow adequate time to complete your studying?

For example, the main body of the Corporate Governance text consists of 258 pages. If you were using the 20-week study plan mentioned above, you would need to cover around 13 pages in each four-hour study slot to complete the text in this timescale.

Keeping a record of your study each week will help identify if you really are putting in the time necessary to achieve a good result in the examination.

Timeframes for study

You should also think about when you need to start your study programme, and avoid leaving it until the point that you register for the exam – this may be very late in the day!

As an indication, the 20-week study programme described above could take place over the following periods to tie in with the ICSA examination dates.

Study from start of January–end of May, then revise and sit the examination. ■

Study from start of August–mid November, then revise and sit the ■

examination.

Many students will take two CSQS modules per session, others may take one. This has to be a personal decision which only you can decide.

Ways of studying

Candidates for ICSA examinations will come from a range of backgrounds and will have opted for many different study routes. You can change the way you study during your time as an ICSA student depending on your own circum-stances and the module you are studying. For example, you may move from self-study to studying with a tuition provider, or vice versa.


4 Studying for CSQS

It is useful for us to know your mode of study and you will have an opportu-nity to update your study record in the My ICSA area of the website to tell us about this.

Tuition providers

ICSA has a Registered Tuition Provider scheme which provides assurance to students that the tuition providers within the scheme have met ICSA standards. These providers offer a range of face-to-face, distance learning or online tuition. Check the ICSA website for a full list of Registered Tuition Providers and their contact details in the How and Where to Study pages.


2

Organising your study

INTRODUCTION ■

One of the most diffi cult things for many students, especially those returning to study after a break, is developing effective skills for independent study. This section gives you advice on how to organise your study, starting with making a plan for how you will fi t studying into your week.

Once you have decided when your study sessions will take place, you need to consider what you’re going to do in this time. This section will help you plan the scope of what you need to learn for CSQS, including some of the skills you need to develop and the knowledge base you need to acquire.

We recommend that you plan and keep a record of what you study. This will mainly include material from the recommended text but should also involve wider reading and research.

Becoming an independent learner

There are degrees of independence as a learner. Sometimes, you will receive tui-tion directly, or online. For many students, however, the bulk of your learning is likely to be independent. In every area of professional and higher education today, the ability to become an effective independent learner is recognised as a crucial skill for success. But what does being an independent learner involve? Payne and Whittaker (Developing Essential Study Skills 2006) identify the following criteria:

Taking more control over the process of learning within the framework ■

provided.Showing initiative and persistence. ■

Having a high level of curiosity and seeing problems as challenges rather than ■

obstacles.Identifying their own learning needs. ■

Finding appropriate resources to meet those needs. ■

Evaluating their own progress towards the learning goal. ■


6 Studying for CSQS

Planning your time

As we all know, even if we set aside time to do things like study, we can easily waste that time if we are not motivated or, more importantly, not using good study techniques. For example, it’s important to plan time away from the dis-tractions of family, friends and TV, and once we’ve closed the study door, or set-tled into the library chair, we still need to use that time well. CSQS is defi nitely not a programme that most people can pass simply by, for example, reading a core text in the lunch hour. It requires a proper study plan starting well before the fi nal exams and with effective methods of self assessment in relation to progress.

Time is your greatest resource, so you do need to adopt good strategies to use your time allotted for study wisely. A good start is to schedule specifi c times for your weekly study.

A weekly scheduleOnce you have decided that it is time to begin serious study, you need to sit down and work out a weekly timetable, taking into account all your other work and family commitments.

Draw out the timetable, blocking in the time you will have for study and revision. Be realistic, and don’t over-commit yourself. Your study goals should always be SMART: Specifi c, Manageable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

Box 1 Weekly study schedule

If you were using the 20-week study programme discussed in Chapter One, you would need to arrange for around seven and a half hours of study each week, incorporating four hours of ‘core text study’.

These hours might be arranged as follows:

Saturday afternoon, 1 pm to 3 pm – core text study at home ■

Saturday afternoon, 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm – online research and wider reading ■

Sunday morning, 10 am to 12 noon – core text study at home ■

Sunday afternoon, 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm – online research and wider reading ■

Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings – half an hour each day during your ■

commute revising notes and drawing up plans using practice questions.

Of course this plan assumes that you have certain times free at the weekend and that you are able to work while travelling. These arrangements will not suit everyone, and study plans will always need to be shaped around your particular circumstances.


7Chapter 2 Organising your study

Using study time effectively

The main problems students have when studying are the following (perhaps you will recognise some of them in yourself):

1 Unable to prioritise effectively: you want to do the interesting things like checking your email or talking on the phone – in fact, anything that involves some kind of social interaction or personal interest rather than application to your study.

2 Being a perfectionist: with revising, for example, this can manifest itself in the feeling that you must understand everything about the subject that you have been taught.

3 Studying the wrong thing: you would be surprised how many times this can be a real problem for students who have not adequately researched and organised their studies.

4 Poor time management: failing to apportion time effectively between differ-ent study topics or tasks.

It is worth considering how these common problems might be avoided. Some strategies for using your time effectively might be:

1 Prioritising your study – avoid distractions like television and phones by fi nding a place to study where they are not present. Perhaps give yourself a set break time during which you can check internet and emails, to avoid doing this continually when studying.

2 Accepting that you can’t study everything – there is always a need to select and prioritise what is really important. This involves prioritising skills, but also some prior research into what the ICSA syllabus, core text and past papers indicate to be the most important priorities.

3 Study the right thing – use the programme outcomes, syllabus, core text and other information to direct your studies.

4 Divide time effectively between different study tasks – as described in Chapter One, try to work out how much time you need to apportion to studying each core text chapter. Try to keep to your study timetable so that you do wider reading, practice and revision as well as studying the text.

Above all, fi nd a cure for procrastination. We all tend to do this when faced with challenging and stressful tasks. Perhaps the cure might be telling yourself that your stress will be higher if you do procrastinate! Some people fi nd that just getting the fi rst small part of study or revision completed helps them start to feel motivated and in control. This doesn’t mean just making the study sched-ule, but actually starting it. The worst way to study is to procrastinate, and to feel that sense of stress building up as you continue to eat into valuable time resources without actually achieving anything.


8 Studying for CSQS

However, it is also important to be fl exible. You may have to change the sched-ule due to unforeseen commitments, or, even if you keep to schedule, you may fi nd that you need to take more breaks than you had originally envisaged. As these changes occur, try to amend your schedule to take account of them rather than abandoning it as unworkable.

Deciding what to learn

Deciding what to learn is an important part of successful study. Many unsuccess-ful students try to learn everything presented to them and fail, simply because of the sheer volume of material. So being selective and setting priorities is clearly an important skill to develop in itself. But when we are talking about what to learn, we are really talking about two different types of subject area – skills and knowledge. What is the difference between them, and what are the key skills which you will need to develop in order to study the ICSA course successfully?

Knowledge and skillsDefi ning the differences between knowledge and skills is something you could spend hours of research on, but a brief defi nition in the context of this course might be that knowledge is the factual information which you will aim to learn from the text and wider reading, while skill is the ability to use what you have learnt, in practice and to good effect.

It is worth going back to the CSQS Programme Outcomes to note how knowl-edge and skills are represented there. The list below details some skill areas you will need to focus on in your studies:

Box 2 Key Skills for CSQS

Cognitive skillsThese are skills such as critical thinking, analysis and synthesis. There is also the requirement to evaluate data sources and determine the difference between ‘facts’ and ‘opinions’.

Problem solving and decision-making skillsGood students need to develop the ability to identify, formulate and ultimately solve problems related to organisations, and be able to establish and evaluate alternative solutions.



Box 2 continued

Research and investigative skillsGood students need to be able to identify good sources of information and distinguish them from poor and unreliable sources. They also ideally need to know some basic research methodology approaches in order to be able to evaluate case study research. For example, it is not possible to generalise to a larger population from one case study (that, is, you can’t assume that what happens in one case will happen in all other situations).

Communication skillsClarity in your examination answers is paramount. Planning your examination question answer and then writing to that plan, ensuring you include all the required information asked for in the question, is a skill and needs practice, particularly if you have not studied for a while.

Numeracy and quantitative skillsThis might include data analysis, interpretation and extrapolation in relation to company data such as WACC calculations or ratios for fi nancial decision making.

Personal management skillsEffective students have good personal management skills: time planning, prioritisation and study planning skills.

IT skillsDeveloping IT skills in relation to study is clearly a transferable skill to the business environment. In terms of study skill success, the ability to search the internet for relevant and reliable data is very important. As discussed earlier, you must also be able to make judgements about how reliable such information is.

Learning and refl ective skillsThe ability to recognise effective learning styles and the ability to refl ect on effective learning strategies is clearly an important set of skills to develop, as are the skills necessary for successful independent learning.

Examination question skillsLast but certainly not least, a key skill is learning (and practising) good examination technique. All modules are assessed by examination and ensuring that you show your ability and knowledge in the exam must remain a key aim – examination technique is covered later in this guide.


10 Studying for CSQS

Studying with the recommended text

Unless you are one of the lucky few who can retain all the information when you read a text, you probably won’t learn a lot by just reading. You will need to read and make some kind of record of the text which you can return to for your revi-sion. Before you start making a record, it is worth thinking about how you are going to read the text to extract the useful information which you will transfer to your notes.

Skimming and scanningYou may be aware of the terms ‘skimming’ and ‘scanning’ – they are both meth-ods of working through a text quickly to get certain information, without reading every word.

When skimming a text, you use information which stands out, such as chap-ter headings, sub-headings, titles of lists, diagrams and so on to get a general gist of the text. Many study texts are specifi cally designed to help this approach and skimming in this way can be useful to get an idea of the direction of a section of the text – where does it start, where does it lead to and how does it end – before you go into more detailed reading.

Scanning is when you run your eye over a text to pick out certain information – you might do this on an internet search page, for example. Using the recom-mended text, after you have read a section you might go back and scan it to fi nd the information you want to make notes on.

Effective note-takingThe most basic form of note-taking is annotation. This means highlighting what you regard as important points to remember in the text, or making brief notes in the margins of the text. Although this is a good start in working with the text, it is advisable to go one step further and actually create your own record of what you need to remember from the text.

Note-taking is one common way of recording information, and is a crucial skill for study and revision success. It is also much more than just recording information – it is a key component in active learning.

When you take notes, you are already selecting, prioritising and organising information. This active process of organising what you read into notes helps you to focus and helps you to understand the material since you will be decon-structing, unpacking or unpicking the concepts and issues as you read them. The notes that you end up with should then be more useful than the original text since you have already accessed the text and recorded the essential informa-tion in a form which is easy to use for your own fi nal revision purposes.



The basic principles of effective note taking are summarised below

Box 3 Principles of note taking

1 Don’t write down everything that you see or hear.2 Make sure you know why you are taking notes – what you are trying to focus on.3 Keep your notes short and brief.4 Vary your notes, using lists and diagrams for example, to make them memorable.5 Make sure your notes are tidy and well organised.6 Review your notes regularly.7 Don’t worry about missing things – you can always add to the notes later. It’s a

good idea to leave space at the end of each section to add more.

Other record-keeping techniquesIn the next chapter we will examine the idea that people have different learning styles and preferences. This may mean that writing notes is not the best tech-nique for you, and you might consider other ways of keeping a record.

For example, for more visual learners, using a graphical technique can some-times be very effective. Most people are familiar with mind maps – if you haven’t seen this technique before, try searching for ‘mind maps’ online.

Expanding your notesHowever you make a record, it is worth doing so in such a way that you can add to and expand it (for example, if you are writing notes in a book, leave some blank pages after each section). You may need to add to your notes on the recom-mended text as you do wider reading, refl ect on your experience or make connec-tions to other parts of the syllabus, refl ecting the practical skill and application elements of the course.

Studying beyond the text

Many ICSA students will be very experienced professionals. Incorporating relevant experience into your study of the module and exam answers is to be encouraged. Ideally, try to demonstrate knowledge of the syllabus content and the ability to approach it with a critical perspective. If you illustrate such an answer with one or two well chosen examples from your practical experience this will add weight to your views. However it is also important to avoid the temptation to be too assertive in relation to your own established ideas and expe-rience. Phrases such as ‘When I was at ZYZ Company, we always used to fi nd



that this particular strategy was counter-productive...’, ‘My experience defi nitely showed that...’ may demonstrate that too much weight is being given to experi-ence over theory.

Wider readingReading more than just the recommended text is crucial to exam success, and you should use the Directory of wider reading for your module to round out your study and knowledge. However, always make sure that you cover the recom-mended text in detail fi rst since reading more widely should be seen as a rein-forcement study activity, rather than a main study activity.

You should also keep up to date with current events in business and fi nance through newspapers and news websites. You might subscribe to live feeds and updates from online news sites, such as Chartered Secretary magazine’s Newswire service.

ICSA sourcesBrowsing the ICSA website regularly will ensure that you get up-to-the-minute information on the ICSA’s activities and forthcoming training events, confer-ences, and briefi ngs. Having a broader understanding of ICSA activities should benefi t your knowledge of the module and the work of a Chartered Secretary in general.


3

Learning styles and techniques

INTRODUCTION ■

Before you commence your study it is worth pausing to consider the way in which you learn, and how you might adapt your study techniques to fi t with your preferences. This chapter describes some of the theories about learning styles and personalising study techniques.

We also describe the approaches to study associated with ‘deep’ and ‘strategic’ learning, which are more likely to lead to success.

Types of learner

We all learn in different ways and it is very important that we adopt a style of learning which is right for us. A distinction is often made between three broad learner types:

Visual ■ learners fi nd it easier to learn if information is presented so they can see it and where they use their eyes to learn.Auditory ■ learners learn best by hearing and using their ears.Kinaesthetic ■ learners tend to learn best where there is a physical sensation, such as movement, touch or a feeling.

In reality, most of us are probably a mixture of all three types but it is also true that one factor tends to dominate – perhaps we need to see things more than we need to hear or feel things in order to learn effi ciently. If we are able to identify our preferences as learners we can tailor the way we study accordingly. For exam-ple, someone with an auditory preference might want to experiment with record-ing and playing back notes rather than writing them, and see if this is effective.



There are plenty of test questionnaires online which aim to determine your learning preference. It’s worth going online and searching for ‘learning styles test’ before you read more about learner preferences.

Depending on what kind of learner you are, you may fi nd that any or a mix-ture of the following study methods helps you understand and remember what you have studied. Think about which methods might suit the different learning styles:

Writing notes, either handwritten, or directly into a computer. ■

Making a mind map which links all the topics and sub-topics. ■

Highlighting notes and handouts. ■

Making audio recordings to listen to in the car or when exercising. ■

Posting information in places you visit every day, at home or the offi ce. ■

More about learning styles

When you were at school, learning may have been equated with rote learning – memorising facts in order to pass exams. There is clearly still an element of this in passing any exams, even at a professional level. For example CSQS will require you to know certain aspects of the law or specifi c procedures. What dis-tinguishes the good student is the ability to really understand what has been taught during the course at a deep learning level, and to be able to demonstrate this understanding by applying theory and knowledge to practical situations to reach sensible and appropriate solutions. This is refl ected in the following com-ment from an ICSA examiner:

“Answers to part (b) were often impractical or unrealistic, and did not consider information given in the question…In general, answers to part (b) were narrow in focus, and discussed a limited range of issues…The best answers were those that demonstrated a practical approach to analysing the situation”

A well known and well respected learning theory has been developed by Kolb (Experiential Learning 1984). Basically, it is a model of how the ideas and theo-ries which you learn are integrated with your experience in the work situation. The theory is quite simple but is useful since it does explain how we gener-ally learn – we do something, we refl ect on the experience and develop new ideas about the situation which we then go on to ‘test’ through more experience. Learning then becomes a constant process of trial and error, but importantly, refl ecting on the ‘errors’ and making sure we apply better strategies to improve the situation. Of course, many of us repeat the same mistakes, and therefore learning clearly hasn’t taken place.


15Chapter 3 Learning styles and techniques

Honey and Mumford (Using your learning styles 1986) suggested that learn-ers can be classifi ed in terms of Kolb’s theory into four main types. Although these descriptions are necessarily simplistic, you might recognise a dominant characteristic in yourself. The following should set you thinking about the kind of learning task that you relate best to:

Box 4 Honey and Mumford’s learning styles

ActivistsActivists are characterised as open minded people who thrive on new experiences, are highly sociable and like group work. However, since they get bored easily, they are not very good at tasks which require sustained effort and consolidation.

Refl ectorsRefl ectors are characterised as learners who like to think carefully about possible consequences and options before they reach a decision. They tend to be careful and methodical learners, but prefer to work individually.

TheoristsTheorists, as the name suggests, tend to approach problems logically, step by step, establishing basic assumptions then analysing and synthesising. Theorists like to have all the necessary information when they study, but are not very good at applying what they learn to real situations.

PragmatistsPragmatists, on the other hand, like to put ideas into practice. They often don’t relate well to the theoretical aspects of a course, but enjoy activities where feedback is provided. Pragmatists tend to do well on case study tasks, applying theory to real world situations.

The important point to note here is that you need to make sure that you are tai-loring the way you learn to maximise your potential examination results – and understanding how you learn best is a vital step towards ensuring this.

Approaches to learning

So far we have discussed how far our individual characteristics and personality might create a preferred approach to learning. In this last section, we look at how attitudes to study and learning might affect performance.

The terms ‘deep’ and ‘surface’ approaches to learning are commonly used. As you might imagine, students who take a ‘deep’ approach to learning tend to be



the best and most successful students, motivated to ‘learn’ the course material in a way that makes for effective application of the theory and general principles. The characteristics of such students are generally the following:

They actively seek to understand the material/the subject. ■

They interact continually with the content. ■

They use evidence, rather than assumption, and can analyse and evaluate. ■

They can see the big picture and can relate ideas to one another. ■

They are personally very motivated to understand rather than just remember. ■

They can relate new ideas to previous knowledge. ■

They can relate what they learn to everyday experience. ■

They read a lot, and widely. ■

They tend to study beyond the course requirements. ■

Students who take a ‘surface’ approach to learning are often not interested in the subject as a whole, and study only what is necessary to pass the fi nal course exam. The characteristics of students who take a surface approach tend to be these:

They only try to memorise information needed for the fi nal exam. ■

They make use of rote learning techniques. ■

They take a narrower view and concentrate on detail. ■

They have diffi culty seeing the links between theory and practice. ■

They tend to only study what they expect will be assessed. ■

They are generally motivated by fear of failure rather than a desire to do very ■

well.

Of course, there is a necessary element of rote learning in all educational endeav-ours. And it is not the case that a student taking a surface approach is only a rote learner. If you look at the characteristics above, you will see there are more important defi ciencies, particularly the inability to appreciate that conclusions must be evidence-based, rather than prejudicial assumptions, and that theory is only useful if it explains and predicts ‘reality’.

A student successfully combining both rote-learning techniques and many of the characteristics of a deep approach to learning, can be seen to be taking a ‘strategic’, or ‘achieving’, approach to study. This is the approach which students are said to take when they wish to achieve positive outcomes. These students can be characterised thus:

They are ambitious for high grades. ■

Their time management and study techniques are effective. ■

They ensure that the conditions and materials for study are adequate. ■

They use past exam papers to consider potential questions and practice ■

answers.They are very familiar with marking and assessment protocols for the course. ■


4

Critical thinking

INTRODUCTION ■

In this chapter we move from considering what you need to study to how you should approach the syllabus content, and in particular the ideas and theories you encounter in your wider reading.

We start by considering different kinds of knowledge, including that which is opinion-based. It is suggested that you develop a critical approach in your reading and research, learning to distinguish fact from opinion or theory and considering the reliability of the source material. This will be particularly useful when you are approaching scenario-based or case study questions.

Having adopted an analytical and critical approach in your study, you will need to demonstrate this ability in your writing, and some practical suggestions are made here for how you might introduce critical elements in your own answers.

Types of knowledge

We previously considered the mix of knowledge and skills required for CSQS and looked in detail at some of the different skills. We have regarded knowledge as a fi xed entity – facts and information that you need to learn. As we move to consider how you can develop an analytical and critical approach, it is useful to start by classifying knowledge into the different types required for success in the course.

1 Practical knowledgeThis is what we would term the important factual content of your course – for example knowledge of law, regulation and procedure. It forms a large part of the material of your course and is also an important part of what is assessed in the fi nal exams.



2 Contextual knowledgeThis might be termed big picture knowledge. This can only be developed from a wider reading of the subject and is more concerned with current issues, global and local, which might be expected to impact on the application of the practical knowledge from the course. This big picture might encompass fi elds such as economics, politics, globalism and current affairs.

Having good big picture knowledge is often referred to as being widely read, but the knowledge does not come exclusively from reading. Development of big picture knowledge can also come from discussion with other students and prac-titioners – and not necessarily those studying or working in the corporate fi eld.

3 Synthetic or constructed knowledgeThis is new knowledge, constructed from analysis, evaluation and synthesis of existing knowledge and evidence. As such, it is neither true nor false, but is opinion, based on the information available. The ability to synthesise, or pull together, the links between practical knowledge, theory, and current real world conditions is a really important skill for Chartered Secretaries and the ability to evaluate this synthesis is perhaps the most important skill for success.

On a simple level, to evaluate just means to say how good or bad something is – to ascribe value to it. If you are assessing the relative merits of two different managerial strategies, you look at the possible pros and cons of both and fi nally decide which you think is the best or most appropriate strategy for the situa-tion. An easy way to tell if you are evaluating in your writing is to check to see if you are using evaluative words and phrases, e.g. however, but and on the other hand.

If you look closely at the CSQS Programme Outcomes and the individual module learning outcomes, you will fi nd that they are a mix of the three types of knowledge mentioned above. Here are some of the outcomes from the Financial Reporting and Analysis module which demonstrate these three types of knowledge:

1 ‘Apply the skills necessary for the preparation and presentation of fi nancial statements for different forms of organisation in compliance with legal or regulatory requirements’ (practical knowledge).

2 ‘Show an understanding of selected current issues in fi nancial reporting and analysis’ (contextual knowledge).

3 ‘Interpret and critically analyse corporate fi nancial accounts and reports refl ecting on the limitations of both published accounts and standard ana-lytical techniques’ (synthetic evaluative knowledge).


19Chapter 4 Critical thinking

Type 1 knowledge is roughly equivalent to what we have referred to as a surface approach to learning, and Type 3 to a deep approach to learning.

Developing an analytical and critical approach

Maintaining a critical perspective is essential as you should be asking yourself questions about the knowledge you encounter as you read – this can help you understand and retain the information. You will be aware of the expression read-ing between the lines. This refers to the fact that there are usually many ways to interpret a piece of writing unless it is a simple instructional text – and even then it may be open to different interpretations. You should certainly bear this in mind when reading any newspaper articles or media reporting on business activities. Why is this? It’s mainly due to the following aspects of text:

1 The author’s prejudices and context – philosophical, political, economic, social.

2 Semantics – the multiple interpretations of words and phrases.3 The reader’s prejudices.

True objectivity, either by the reader or the writer, is not possible. We are all posi-tioned in society and take different views because of many factors. Shareholders may take a different view from a company secretary on the direction the com-pany should be taking, for example. Neither the shareholder’s view nor the com-pany secretary’s view is the true or correct one, though one may be the best view to take in terms of the long-term health of the company.

So, when we read, it is important to be sceptical. Try to unpick it and reduce it to what might be fact and what might be opinion.

Reading critically – facts, opinions, theories

There are everyday facts, such as that every company with limited liability is required to deliver accounts to the Registrar of Companies, and there are opin-ions, such as that a qualifi ed Chartered Secretary is best placed to coordinate this process.

Critical reading requires that you can quickly determine the difference, which is not always as easy as this example. This is particularly the case when you are reading about theory. It is important to realise that theories and models are neither right nor wrong, but only constructs of opinions. Theories are based on assumptions – sometimes called hypotheses – that if X, then Y. For example, if company profi ts increase with increased gearing, then you might form the hypothesis that increased gearing will always increase company profi ts – until



you come across cases where this does not seem to apply, in which case, you will either drop the theory as not useful, or modify it.

Theories remain with us if they stand the test of time (like supply and demand) and predict reasonably accurately what will happen in the future. It is important to remember that you cannot ever prove a theory – theories can only be supported or not supported by the gathering of relevant evidence. It’s probably best to drop the word prove from your thinking and writing. Even in a court of law, where ultimate proof remains an aspiration, guilt is determined only by the evidence showing beyond reasonable doubt that X was guilty of the crime.

However, in an increasingly complex world, accepted theories such as ‘the free market economy is the best type of economy for economic growth’ are increas-ingly coming under academic and practitioner scrutiny. When you read critically therefore, you should apply a FOG test:F: What are the facts?O: What are the opinions?G: What are the guesses (that is, the hypotheses or theories)?

Being critical about sources of information

Before we move from reading to writing, it is important to consider another way in which it is necessary to be critical about texts – is the text you are reading a reliable source?

One of the main advantages of the internet is that information is instantly accessible, but you do need to apply a critical stance when using this informa-tion. For example, if you go to the website of a large international bank for information on the credit crisis you are hardly likely to fi nd them implicating themselves. You will always need to go to reputable sources such as the Financial Times or the Economist in order to get an even handed view.

However, even with these more independent sources be aware of the editorial bias of all publications, and the fact that an individual contributor to a journal or newspaper may have their own position to defend. For example, politicians sometimes write comment articles in UK national newspapers.

You should of course be especially cautious when reading user-generated con-tent on the internet, such as forums, weblogs and Q&A pages, and you should remain aware that you are not necessarily reading an opinion from someone who’s qualifi ed to comment.


21Chapter 4 Critical thinking

Demonstrating a critical approach in your writing

One of the most important skills you will need to develop in order to attain a good result in your examination is the ability to refl ect your skill in analysing problems and evaluating them critically.

To analyse something just means to break it into its component parts. These parts will often be hypothetical in the sense that they are only possible factors in the situation. For example, if you were asked to analyse the banking crisis of 2007–2008, you might identify the following factors as possibly having a causal role in the crisis:

1 Lax regulation by the banks themselves (e.g., rogue trading).2 Liberal governmental regulatory environments. 3 Sub-prime lending (e.g., sub-prime house mortgages in the US).4 Geo-economic power shifts from West to East.5 Greedy bankers.6 Greedy consumers.7 Non-ideal global markets.8 Poor explanatory economic theories.9 High oil prices.10 Complex debt bundling in derivative products.

This list is not fi nite or defi nitive – it is only a list of high profi le factors which have been discussed in relation to the crisis. Which factors might have been more infl uential is a matter of evidence-based research. Unfortunately, in the media in particular, we have seen the logical fallacy of reductionism – that there is ultimately only one cause for anything – as popular public opinion settled on number 5 (greedy bankers) as being the cause of the crisis.

Try to avoid this mistake in your own writing. Always identify and consider a range of factors – in many cases, this analytical range will be given to you ini-tially, for you to evaluate.

Verbal clues for deconstructing theories in textAll texts contain verbal clues about an author’s intentions and arguments. By knowing these clues, you can deconstruct (unpack) the text to expose the underlying theories and assumptions. The following lists of words are grouped together depending on their rhetorical functions – the role they play in the text. Understanding these functions allows us to more readily understand texts.



You should be aware of the ways in which writers present their arguments, and practice using the same techniques in your own writing. Here are some examples of phrases that can be used:

Showing the results of something:

That implies; that shows; that supports the idea that; that supports the theory ■

that; hence; therefore; because of this; for this reason; as a result; this suggests that; it follows therefore; it is evident that; it appears to be the case that; it can therefore be inferred that; thus; thereby.

Listing points in an argument:

To begin with; fi rst of all; primarily; fi rst and foremost; initially; second; in addi- ■

tion; furthermore; after that; next; additionally; then; fi nally; to conclude.

Introducing a counter argument:

By contrast; alternatively; however; another approach is; on the other hand; ■

alternatively; in comparison; a different viewpoint is; whereas, nevertheless; on the contrary.

Summarising and concluding:

Therefore; in short; overall; to conclude; to summarise; in summary; in con- ■

clusion; fi nally; the main points are; the most important points are; overall; to return to the initial question.


5

Tackling Case Studies

INTRODUCTION ■

This chapter introduces the way in which scenarios and case studies are used in the CSQS exams, explaining why this approach to assessment has been adopted. You will learn how to approach a scenario-based question in an exam, and how to analyse scenarios to link your exam answer to the issues it raises. This chapter also teaches you how to work with a pre-released case study, suggesting ways in which you can work with the case to analyse it and conduct further research which will help you prepare for the exam.

Finally, as the case study approach is usually geared toward assessing how well you provide advice and solutions on a set of problems, we look at how you can introduce recommendations in your exam answers.

About case studies

ICSA exam questions contain scenarios and case studies throughout Level One and Level Two. In order to understand why these are used and what is expected in students’ answers, it is useful to consider case studies generally and why they are used in business education.

Analysis of case studies of actual companies and their day-to-day operating problems can be a powerful learning tool and has a long history in business edu-cation. In the absence of textbooks, the fi rst business schools, such as Harvard, taught their students through examining real cases of businesses dealing with issues linked to the curriculum. It was thought then, as it still is now, that it is essential to know how business operates in the real world, what the busi-ness people and companies actually do, rather than just theorising on what they ought to do.

Cases are based on hypothetical or empirical (real) situations. Hypothetical cases present you with fi ctitious company information and fi ctitious personnel but the situation and events will be based on real world examples. Empirical cases are based on real companies, real events and real personnel. Business cases



will often include historical descriptions of real-life business situations. When commenting on this type of case, you are not only expected to research the organisation thoroughly and provide a summary of the current or past business situation, you are also expected to critically evaluate the case study issues and recommend strategies and tactics that you think the company should adopt in the future.

Case studies can also focus on a critique of a company, an extreme or unique case, or a revelatory case. Alternatively, multiple cases may look at an industry with literal or theoretical replication.

Whatever the type, a case study generally presents an account of what hap-pened to a business, an organisation or industry over a period of time. It includes the events that managers and employees had to deal with, such as changes in the competitive or regulatory environment, and charts the organisational response. Cases are valuable in business and professional studies for two main reasons:

1 They provide students with practitioner experience of organisational prob-lems that they probably would not have the opportunity to experience fi rsthand.

2 Case studies may also illustrate the theories and models which form the foundation of the course subject material. The meaning of this information is made clearer when it is applied. The theory and concepts help reveal what is going on in the organisations studied, and allow students to critically ana-lyse and evaluate the solutions that specifi c organisations adopt/consider to deal with their problems.

Case studies in ICSA exams

Case studies are used in three ways in ICSA exams:

1 Scenarios are used in Levels One and Two to introduce questions and set them in context. You will see the scenario for the fi rst time in the exam when you read the question paper.

2 Pre-released case studies are set for the Level Two modules, Strategy in Practice and Corporate Secretarial Practice. You will be able to download and study these cases before you go into the exam.

3 The Chartered Secretaries Case Study is the fi nal module at Level Two. This consists of a pre-released case study, supplemented with unseen material which will be given to you in the exam.

In all three question types, the case study will usually be hypothetical, meaning that the organisation and people it describes are fi ctitious, but it will usually be based on a real world example.


25Chapter 5 Tackling Case Studies

Scenarios

At CSQS Level One, most questions are set with scenarios which you will need to read and refer to when answering the question. You will also see some ques-tions like this on exam papers at Level Two. The aim of a scenario-based, ques-tion is to test your knowledge of a certain part of the syllabus, while also testing how well you can apply that knowledge to a realistic case.

When examiners mark your answers, they will need to see that you have referred to the scenario in your answer. Usually the question will ask you to do this in some way. Here is an example of a scenario question in the Corporate Governance module:

1. You have just been appointed as company secretary of a medium-sized listed company. In discussions with your chairman, you discover that he has serious concerns about the quality of decision-making by the board of directors. He believes that decisions by the board are often taken on the basis of insuffi cient information and without due regard for either risk or the environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues involved. He mentioned a recent example of poor decision-making had been a decision by the board to invest a large amount of money in developing a major new product, only to discover later that there were serious concerns about the environmental impact of the product and a very high probability that the product would be banned by the government’s Product Standards Agency. The board had therefore cancelled the product development project, with a large write-off of the expenditure already incurred.

This was just one example of badly-informed decision-making by the board and the chairman says that there have been others. He wants to improve the work of the board, but is unsure about what needs to be done, and he has asked for your views and advice in the form of a report.

Required Write a report to the chairman, advising him on the measures that might be

taken to improve the quality of decision-making by the board. In the report, you should take into consideration the concerns that he has expressed and the recent example of poor decision-making that he mentioned.

(25 marks)

The syllabus areas this question covers fall into the area of risk management and effectiveness of the board. However, you are not asked to say all you know about these areas, but to produce a specifi c type of answer which refers to the scenario and builds on the details provided there.



For example, if you look at the Required section above carefully you will see that you are asked to:

Write your answer in the form of a report to the chairman of the board ■

described in the scenario. Refer to the problems mentioned in the scenario when you write your report: ■

in particular, the chairman’s concerns and the example of poor decision-mak-ing he mentions.

We can identify the chairman’s concerns and the example of poor decision-mak-ing in the scenario by underlining them, as follows:

1. You have just been appointed as company secretary of a medium-sized listed company. In discussions with your chairman, you discover that he has seri-ous concerns about the quality of decision-making by the board of direc-tors. He believes that decisions by the board are often taken on the basis of insuffi cient information and without due regard for either risk or the envi-ronmental, social and governance (ESG) issues involved. He mentioned a recent example of poor decision-making had been a decision by the board to invest a large amount of money in developing a major new product, only to discover later that there were serious concerns about the environmental impact of the product and a very high probability that the product would be banned by the government’s Product Standards Agency. The board had therefore cancelled the product development project, with a large write-off of the expenditure already incurred.

This was just one example of badly-informed decision-making by the board and the chairman says that there have been others. He wants to improve the work of the board, but is unsure about what needs to be done, and he has asked for your views and advice in the form of a report.

With reference to the underlined points above, your report might refer to the following areas:

How to improve the quality of board decision-making generally. ■

Advice on the effectiveness or not of the risk management policies, systems ■

and procedures within the company.Providing information to the board so it can make informed decisions. ■

Ensuring the board considers risk and ESG factors in new developments. ■

There may be other facts in the scenario which have a bearing on the type of answer you give. For example, the scenario states that the organisation is a medium-sized listed company: depending on the question, factors such as the size of the company and whether it is listed will affect the type of answer you pro-vide, so you need to take care to note this type of information in the scenario.



When practising with exam questions a useful exercise is to underline infor-mation in the scenario and questions and summarise the points which need to be included, as demonstrated above. The summary of points to include can then form the basis of a plan for your written answer – we will focus more on how you answer exam questions in the next chapter.

Pre-released case studies

Two of the Level Two modules, Corporate Secretarial Practice and Strategy in Practice will have pre-released case studies. Four of the questions in each exam paper will be based on the pre-released case, so you will need to read this case and do some reading associated with it before you sit the exam.

Pre-released case studies will usually include a longer and more detailed description of an organisation. There will be details of certain problems in the company, perhaps as the result of an inability to change and adapt to modern cir-cumstances. There may also be details about where the organisation stands now, or about what it is considering for the future. The questions based on such cases may involve, for example, analysing the problems that have arisen and advising the board or a director about the best course of action to take in response.

The aim of pre-releasing cases is to give the learner some control and direc-tion in preparing for the exam – in some ways it is like an advance warning of what is likely to come up in the exam. You can see what kind of organisation you are going to be asked about and the kind of issues and challenges it is facing. On the basis of this information you can:

Research and read about similar real world organisations or organisations in ■

similar circumstances.Analyse the organisation in the case, using models and applying theory. ■

Identify the syllabus areas you think may be relevant to the questions. ■

A word about the fi nal point here: a common exam strategy is to question-spot. This is when students identify the question they think they will be asked and prepare a model answer to reproduce in the exam. Question-spotting is rarely a successful strategy – what often happens is that the question in the exam is not exactly the same as the predicted one. If the student then gives the pre-prepared model answer, it may not be relevant to the question asked.

When identifying the syllabus areas which you think may come up, it is better to consider as many possible areas as you can and think about all the potential questions which might come up in each area, rather than concentrating on one possible question.

The following sections show how you might go about researching and analys-ing the case before coming to the exam.



General guidelines for case analysis

Read the case study fi rstly for the big picture, then re-read for important details:

1 Isolate the main problems.2 Decide on what the most infl uential factors might be.3 Defi ne the problem, facing the organisation, using module language, theo-

ries and concepts.4 Generate alternative courses of action for the organisation.5 Evaluate these possible options critically – what resources would be required?

How realistic would these options be, given the circumstances? What practi-tioner and theoretical evidence exists that these options would be viable and effective?

6 Design an implementation strategy which would enable your proposed solu-tion to be applied.

7 Identify costs, possible drawbacks, timescales, etc.

Asking the following questions may help you to highlight the information that you will need in order to understand the case study:

1 What business is the organisation in?2 Does the organisation want to change this business?3 What facilities does the organisation have?4 What are the core competences of the organisation? 5 Will these competences need upgrading for any new business plans?6 Is the organisation compliant with current law, regulation and best

practice?7 What is the fi nancial situation of the organisation?8 Are there any areas of confl ict or potential confl ict within the organisation?9 Is there a strong corporate culture? Are there any aspects of culture which

may need to be changed?10 What is the predominant management style? Is this constructive or could it

be improved?11 What is the communication structure of the organisation?12 Have any system problems been identifi ed?13 What is the business operating environment like?14 Who are the main characters identifi ed in the case study?15 What are their responsibilities, identifi ed shortcomings, etc.?16 How has the current situation developed over time?17 What are the underlying themes and issues?18 What is the seriousness or extent of the problem?19 What is the timescale of the fi x?



Further research

There are many sources of secondary information which you could consult in relation to the analysis of a case. For example:

The internet – especially archives of business newsProfessional and Trade AssociationsBanks, building societies and other fi nancial institutionsCommercial Research organisationsLocal authoritiesPublic bodies.

Applying practical knowledge and theory

You can use theory and practical knowledge to understand cases, and in your examination answers you should demonstrate that you can synthesise and eval-uate the evidence you have been given. When you analyse cases, use a deductive method to fi nd clues and information to fi nd out the causes of the problems under investigation. There are no right answers – just good and bad solutions to problems, which are either short-term or long-term. Every problem solved can also be another problem created, so keep that in mind if you are asked to make recommendations. This is the famous law of unintended consequences, which sociologists call the latent functions of organisations. Every new system creates a potential downside. This should be fi rmly kept in mind when evaluating com-pany policies and strategies.

What does applying theory and knowledge mean? There are two main ways in which you might do this:

Comparing reality to theory:

1 How does XYZ Company apply CSR theory in practice?

Comparing theory to reality:

2 CSR theory states that CSR techniques can increase company profi tability. Is this the case with XYZ company?

It is important to remember always that to obtain the highest marks you should analyse and evaluate the case critically. For example, in the Strategy in Practice module this might be done using a combination of analytical models and tools such as SWOT, PEST, Five Forces, Value Chains, etc. These analytical tools will provide you with an organising principle which shapes the way that you write the case study.



Use clear headings and sub-headings throughout your answer to structure your analysis and evaluation. The actual headings and sub-headings you use will depend on the specifi c case issues. You do not need to describe or defi ne the models or tools of your analysis, but you do need to state why certain tools, models and theories are relevant to the case analysis.

Working through the case study

Here are some suggestions of what you might need to do when working on a pre-released case study. You may also use these techniques to help you with any unseen examination papers, but in that situation you will confi ne yourself to the information provided to you in the examination:

1 Analyse the organisation’s history, development, and growth. Investigate how the organisation’s past strategy and structure affects it now. Some events may be linked to the initial start up or to the individuals involved. If it is a company, perhaps its listing or initial product launch have been infl uential in its development. If relevant, include how the company makes product diversifi cation/development and market decisions, and how it chooses its internal and external business strategies.

2 Identify the organisation’s internal strengths and weaknesses. Use the inci-dents you have charted to develop an account of the organisation’s strengths and weaknesses. Identify the functions, structures and processes in which it is strong and weak and where, for example, it might be exposed to risk. In some organisations, governance and decision-making might be ineffective. Others might be strong in research and development but their fi nancial sys-tems might be inadequate.

3 Analyse the external environment. The next step is to identify environmen-tal opportunities and threats. Use tools, such as SWOT, PEST, Five Forces, Value Chains. Apply all the information you have learned about the indus-try and regulatory context to analyse the environment the organisation is confronting. The particular factors in the macro environment which will be important depend on the specifi c organisation being analysed. Having done this analysis, you will have generated both an analysis of the organisation’s environment and a list of opportunities and threats specifi c to the particular organisation in your case study.

4 Analyse structure. The aim of this part of the analysis is to identify what structure and control systems the organisation is using to implement its strategy and to evaluate whether that structure is appropriate. It might also be important to analyse governance and CSR issues. Different corporate and business strategies require different structures. Are managers being



appropriately rewarded in relation to their job specifi cations and industry or sector norms? Are the right rewards in place for encouraging cooperation among divisions?

Organisational change is an issue which is particularly relevant in the modern business environment. This will be typically due to advances in technology, new market opportunities and threats and the infl uence of macro factors such as credit tightening and high energy prices.

Organisational confl ict, power and politics will be important issues for some organisations, but not for others. Try to analyse why problems in these areas are occurring. Do they occur because of poor strategy formulation or because of poor strategy implementation? Or is decision-making at the board level weak?

5 Evaluate your analysis. Having identifi ed the organistion’s external oppor-tunities and threats as well as its internal strengths and weaknesses, con-sider what your fi ndings mean and evaluate them, i.e. compare strengths and weaknesses with opportunities and threats. Some of the questions you might ask are:

Is the organisation in a strong position overall? Why? ■

Can it continue to pursue its current business or corporate-level strategy ■

profi tably?What can it do to turn weaknesses into strengths and threats into ■

opportunities? Can it develop new functional, business or corporate strategies to accom- ■

plish this? As a fi nal part of your analysis, you might have to suggest an action plan, on

the basis of your presented evidence, that the organisation in question could use to achieve its goals. For example, you might consider listing in a logical sequence the steps it would need to follow to change or reform its govern-ance structures, or to tighten up its fi nancial processes.

Giving advice or recommendations

Questions are often structured so that you are asked to provide advice or recom-mendations. The examiner will be able to see how much preparation you have put into the case study from the quality and realism of your recommendations. They should be clearly linked to your critical analysis and will need to centre on the specifi c scope of the question that you are answering. This is your chance to show independent thought and, to a certain extent, creativity.

Use modal verbs such as ‘should’ and ‘must’ to strongly suggest, and ‘might consider’ or ‘could consider’ to make less assertive recommendations, perhaps where the situation or potential consequences are not clear. There might be



alternative recommendations, conditional on possible events or results. For example, you might write ‘if the organisation were to do X then Y might result’, ‘if X happens then the company might consider...’, ‘if X carries out this course of action, it could have the following consequences...’ or ‘provided the following conditions are met, the organisation would be able to proceed with the proposal’. In this way you can connect ideas and actions to make relationships clear.

When you are asked for recommendations this may be in the context of a specifi c type of document such as a report. Try to emulate the layout and style of the type of document you have been asked to produce. The examiner will under-stand that you cannot produce a perfect report under exam conditions, but will need to see that you have an understanding of what is required.


6

Preparing for the exam

INTRODUCTION ■

From the moment that you begin the course you are, in effect, preparing for the examination. If you read carefully and critically, and take effective notes which you can then use for revision, you are preparing well for the exam. However, it is advisable to be aware of the exam requirements and keep the exam in mind throughout your studies.

You must fi rstly be very clear about what will be required of you. What are the examiners looking for? The best way to do this is to familiarise yourself with the syllabus and desired learning outcomes. Close reading of past exam papers is invaluable. Look for the type of questions asked, and the most popular topics. There are certain core topics which you will see are clearly vital to understanding the role of the Chartered Secretary.

Ensure that you know the format of the paper, the number and type of questions, and the time available for answering them.

What are the examiners looking for?

Examiners prefer it when candidates pass their exams. They do not design ques-tions to trap candidates, but to allow candidates to display their understanding of the course and their engagement with it. However, examiners also work to a set of rules governing how they can attribute marks to candidates and they must operate within these rules; most awarding bodies have procedures in place to check that this is happening.

One of the most important rules, true for nearly all exams, is that the exam-iner can only give you marks if your answer addresses the question set. For example, if a history exam sets a question about King Henry V and an exam can-didate writes about King Henry IV, this will not receive any marks – even if what is written about Henry IV is accurate, well-researched and critically engaged. All of the above is true of ICSA exams, so when we consider what examiners want



to see in your answers the most important point is that your answer must be relevant to the question which has been asked.

To summarise some other main points, examiners are generally looking for:

A good command of the subject. ■

Good reasoning ability (good logical and critical ability). ■

Evidence of deep as opposed to surface learning. ■

Ability to draw on your own experience or wider reading and research in a ■

relevant way.A sense of what is appropriate to the context, particularly in problem-based ■

questions.Good writing ability, with attention to detail in terms of writing style and ■

accuracy. Good numerical ability, with attention to detail. ■

Effective organisational skills. ■

Time management skills in relation to question and paper completion. ■

Theory may be important, but examiners want to see sensible, practical and appropriate solutions, demonstrating the application of knowledge gained from the course textbooks. Credit will also be given for knowledge gained from wider reading. Examiners will particularly appreciate candidates who can demonstrate a broad grasp of the subject, but with a good command of detail when necessary. Just relying on a broad or superfi cial knowledge of the subject will not produce good exam answers. Examiners are also impressed by candidates who show an up to date awareness of legal and economic factors as well as political, social, technological and industry trends which are relevant to the question.

It is worth also considering some things exam candidates do which examiners want to see as opposed to things examiners do not expect or want.

Box 5 What do examiners look for?

Do Don’t

Label your answers clearly with numbers and letters in the margin so the examiner can see which question or part of the question you are answering.

Copy out the question in your answer. You can if this helps you, but it is not required.

Underline key words and concepts in the question to help you address the relevant points.

Start writing your answer before you have read the question properly.


35Chapter 6 Preparing for the exam

Do Don’t

Directly address the question from the fi rst sentence of your answer onward.

Spend the fi rst few sentences of your answer on a general introduction to the topic. The examiner will be waiting for you to start answering the question.

If you run out of time, use notes or plans to show the examiner the content you would have included in your answer.

Write a letter to the examiner to explain why you haven’t done well or have run out of time.

Leave a spare line after each line you write; put a single clear line through any text you don’t want the examiner to read.

Do messy and crowded crossing out, scribbling or other editing of your answers.

Make sure you have done all the things that the question is asking you to do – many questions have more than one requirement.

Simply write everything you know about the topic.

Use ‘sign-posting’ in your answer to tell the examiner what is happening next (‘fi rstly’, ‘next’, ‘in conclusion’ and so on).

Write a ‘rambling’ answer which has no beginning, middle and end.

Check how many marks are allocated to each part of the question and do a quick calculation of how much time you can spend on each part.

Write very long answers to parts of questions with low mark allocations.

Underline words like ‘report’, ‘memorandum’, ‘briefi ng note’ or ‘letter’ when you read the question.

Ignore any requirements for specifi c formats of answer, such as a letter.

Subject-specifi c requirements

The ICSA curriculum is broad-based, encompassing a number of different disci-plines such as law, fi nance and governance.

For law and fi nance in particular, there are expectations of how you should answer questions, and you should familiarise yourself with these expectations and practise them in your answers.

Box 5 continued



FinanceChartered Secretaries need to be able to read and understand fi nancial informa-tion, draw conclusions and offer advice which incorporates fi nance and account-ing data. ICSA exams will ask you to perform some accounting tasks in order to check that you understand how such information is arrived at.

When you perform calculations in ICSA fi nance and accounting exams you are expected to show your workings – that is, part of your answer should show the calculations you used when calculating the answer. If you show your work-ings then, even if your calculations are wrong, the examiner can still award you marks for performing the calculation with the correct procedure.

Many of the fi nancial questions in ICSA exams will ask you to comment on or offer advice and recommendations on the basis of the fi nancial informa-tion you have generated. You need to be prepared to draw conclusions from the accounting information contained in the question and your answer and offer advice which refl ects the fi ndings in your calculations.

LawA Chartered Secretary may well be expected to deal with day-to-day legal mat-ters without engaging the services (and extra costs) of a lawyer. The questions included in ICSA’s law exams are intended to refl ect the types of situation a Chartered Secretary may have to deal with.

When answering questions on law papers, there will usually be a scenario so you are being asked a problem-based question. It is important, as with other exams, that you address your answer to the particular problem raised and keep your answer relevant to the question.

You should know, and be able to refer to, the established cases which form a precedent for the matter you are advising on. You should refer to these cases, where relevant, in your exam answers to show that you are aware of the legal authority supporting your decisions or advice. Learn the names of cases as you study these subjects and be prepared to refer to them.

A note on handwriting

Unless you have been granted permission to use a computer as a result of spe-cial circumstances, you will need to handwrite your answers. Since most of us do very little handwriting these days, you will fi nd it useful to practise writing answers to past questions, under timed conditions. Aim to make your handwrit-ing as clear as possible since this will help the examiner to access your work to award it the marks it deserves. If your handwriting is usually poor, then take



some time to practice making it clearer, especially for exam purposes. You will not be marked down for poor handwriting, but if parts of your script are illegible then you may lose out on available marks because the examiner cannot under-stand what you have written. Generally speaking, clear writing in the exam is helpful to the examiner thus helping you to make a good impression.

Addressing the question set

We have discussed the importance of making your answer relevant to the ques-tion asked. This section offers some practical advice on how you can ensure that your answer is relevant. Many exam questions are essentially tasks – a list of things that you are required to do in relation to the main question.

As an example of the number of different instructions which can be contained in a question, look at the following sample question taken from the Corporate Governance module:

6. The remuneration committee of a UK listed company is having problems in reaching an agreement about the remuneration package of Ross Tuck (‘Mr Tuck’), an individual who has been invited by the board of directors to become the company’s new Chief Executive Offi cer (CEO). The lawyer representing Mr Tuck has recently made several demands that the remuneration committee is now considering. According to the lawyer, Mr Tuck would like a higher basic salary and pension contributions: he has suggested that the company should contribute an amount each year equal to 5% of Mr Tuck’s total remuneration from the company, excluding the pension contributions themselves. The company operates a share option scheme for its senior executives, but Mr Tuck would like to receive long-term incentives in the form of grants of shares, depending on the achievement of agreed performance targets. He would also like his employment contract to provide for the payment of two years’ basic salary in the event that the company is taken over and, if he is dismissed for any other reason, he would want to receive one year’s basic salary in full at the time of dismissal.

The remuneration committee has used the services of remuneration consultants, who have suggested that Mr Tuck’s demand for a higher basic salary may be reasonable. The company is in the top 50% by size of its peer group of companies, and the salary that the individual is demanding is comparable with the salary for a CEO in the top 10% – 20%. Since it is the objective of the company to increase its market share, a higher basic salary could be justifi ed.



The chairman of the remuneration committee doubts the value of using remuneration consultants, and is not sure how the committee should respond to the demands of the prospective CEO. Required(a) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using remuneration

consultants when negotiating a remuneration package for an incoming senior executive. (8 marks)

(b) Suggest, with reasons, how the remuneration committee should respond to the demands of the lawyer for the prospective CEO in order to maintain best standards in corporate governance practice within the company.

(13 marks)(c) Explain how the company secretary, as secretary to the remuneration

committee, may assist the committee in its dealings with Mr Tuck. (4 marks)

(Total: 25 marks)

Look at what part (b) of the question is asking and consider the following questions – you may want to underline the words which you identify in the question:

Is there a ‘command word’ in the question, such as ‘state’ or ‘analyse’? If so, ■

what does it mean?What information do these words relate to – exactly ■ what do you have to ‘state’?Is there a requirement to refer to the question scenario in your answer? ■

Are there any indicators of how many pieces of information you need to pro- ■

vide, such as ‘a’, ‘some’ or ‘four’?Are there any question words that will affect how you answer, such as ‘what’, ■

‘why’ or ‘how’?Are there any other requirements, such as a need to provide examples? ■

Do you need to write the answer in any specifi c format, such as a letter? ■

What is the mark allocation? ■

Here is a suggested version of the question with key words underlined:

(b) Suggest, with reasons, how the remuneration committee should respond to the demands of the lawyer for the prospective CEO in order to maintain best standards in corporate governance practice within the company.

(13 marks)



If we examine the key words and think about the questions above, we can break the requirements of this question down to the following instructions. You need to:

Suggest how the remuneration committee should respond. ■

Relate the committee’s response to the lawyer’s demands as outlined in the ■

scenario.Provide reasons for your suggestions. ■

Relate these reasons to best practice in corporate governance. ■

Write an answer in line with the 13 mark allocation in terms of length and ■

complexity of your response.

So what kind of answer would be irrelevant? Answers which do not address the question set, or do not address all parts of the question set, might include:

Answers dealing with the topic in general terms, such as a description of what ■

remuneration committees do.Answers which are too brief – for example, only one short paragraph – as this ■

has 13 marks attached, which is around half of the full mark allocation.Failing to align the committee’s responses with the lawyer’s demands as out- ■

lined in the scenario. Not providing reasons for these suggestions. ■

Aligning the suggestions with personal opinion or other subjective standards, ■

rather than with best practice in corporate governance.

It is worth incorporating this kind of analysis of question requirements into your studies, when working with practice questions and sample or past exam materials. That way you will get used to defi ning the instructions contained in questions and you should aim to do so, briefl y, in the exam before you start writ-ing each answer.

Command words

‘Command words’ in the question are verbs that indicate how you should answer. They provide clues as to what level of analysis is required and how much you should write. For example:

State asks you to recall facts and briefl y express them in a clear and complete way. This is associated with shorter answers at low mark allocations.

Analyse asks you to examine something critically. You’re required to ‘take apart’ an idea or statement, examine it in depth (considering how the parts interrelate), and deliver your thoughts and judgements. This would usually be a longer answer with a higher mark allocation.



Advise asks you to relate your answer to a real life task that you may face in a working situation. It’s often found in problem-based case study questions.

Of course, the length and complexity of the answer depends not only on the command word, but on what, exactly, you are being asked to state or analyse. It will probably be easier to describe the stages of a train journey than it is to describe the stages of nuclear fusion. However, the command word remains an important indicator of the type of answer required, and therefore is an important consideration for the student trying to keep their exam answer relevant.

Consider the command words in the box below and think about whether they would be associated with surface or deep learning approaches. Would they tend to appear in an exam with longer answers at high mark allocations or with short answers and low marks?

Identify Evaluate

Outline

Explain Suggest Discuss

Calculate Defi ne

Appraise

Prepare Summarise

Compare and contrastDraft

Critically

A possible division of these would be to group the ‘short answer’ words together as:

Identify Explain OutlineDefi neSummarise

The other words would tend to be associated with deeper learning and longer, more critical answers:

DiscussEvaluateAppraiseCriticallyCompare and contrast



Some of the words could go into either group, but they are particularly associated with case study or scenario questions:

SuggestCalculatePrepareDraft

The most important consideration about command words, of course, is exactly what they are commanding you to do. Some of these words are part of general academic convention, and looking them up in the dictionary may give you a dif-ferent impression of their meaning to what the examiner will expect. For exam-ple, ‘discuss’, in academic convention, means to consider from several points of view and explore implications. In a written answer you would need to structure your argument so that you put the case for and against a proposition and end with some statement of your own position. If you ignored the ‘discuss’ com-mand and just wrote generally about the topic or simply listed courses of action, for example, your answer would not be relevant to the question asked.

Another common term used at higher levels of education is ‘evaluate’, which means stating the value of something. In CSQS exams this might typically be associated with evaluating a course of action or a proposal and deciding whether it is worth going ahead with it. The academic expectation is that you will include consideration of different options in your written answer and explain how you have arrived at your fi nal judgement or evaluation.

Here is a more complete list of common command words with explanations of the meaning/expectations attached to them:

Box 6 Command words

Term Meaning

Advise Give suggestions based on your judgement/views about future actions, with explanations/evidence/reasons.

Analyse ‘Take apart’ an idea or statement; examine in depth and consider how the parts interrelate, give reasons and answers to questions (e.g. Who? What? Where? When? Which? Why? How?).

Appraise/Assess

Judge the importance/value/ quality/worth of something and give reasons.



Term Meaning

Calculate Work out/fi nd out using your judgement; determine; weigh reasons carefully.

Compare Examine/judge two or more things/ideas in order to focus on their likeness/relationship and only mention/acknowledge differences.

Contrast Compare two or more objects/things/people to focus on the differences.

Critically/Critique

Comment on the merit of data/theories/opinions/relevance; judge evidence; weigh up strengths/benefi ts and faults/weaknesses.

Defi ne Explain precisely; state the meaning of; give details to show boundaries/distinguish it from others.

Demonstrate Show clearly by giving evidence/proof/examples. Develop the idea by reasoning and with examples.

Describe State a detailed account; information showing what/why/when/where/how/who something/one is.

Differentiate Explain/show how something is different from something else.

Discuss Consider from several points of view and explore implications; put the case for and against a proposition and end with some statement of your own position.

Distinguish Identify the differences between/separate/discriminate.

Evaluate Make an appraisal as to the worth of; judge effectiveness/value/quality/nature/use of/amount of.

Examine Consider; look closely at a question to fi nd out the answer.

Explain Make clear and understandable; give reasons for; interpret and account for.

Box 6 continued



Term Meaning

Forecast Predict, estimate or calculate possible results linked to criteria, complete or incomplete facts/reasoning.

Formulate Express/compose/devise something by using a formula model or specifi c words/defi nitions.

Highlight Emphasise; stress; underline; show up, focus; attention on, give prominence to.

Identify Name; specify; point out; pick out key facts; features and criteria, etc.

Illustrate Make clear by using examples; use fi gures or diagrams to explain; show the meaning of something by giving related examples.

Indicate Show; point out; draw attention to; give evidence of; make clear.

Justify Argue/defend/support an issue/case; provide explanations and reasons/facts/information/strong evidence and examples.

Organise Put in some order; sort out people; plans; facts/issues; arrange/systemise.

Plan Arrange something or event; with aims, times, stages, sequence, outcomes.

Prepare Get ready; set up; practise and/or make something, e.g. a presentation.

Present To introduce and deliver/depict/portray/display/demonstrate/show; put forward arguments for and expound a case; to bring to notice.

Produce Make, create, construct something, or make clear case for.

Propose To offer or put forward for consideration or acceptance, something to be undertaken.

Box 6 continued



Term Meaning

Recommend Suggest possible actions/routes/outcomes; linked to and based on previously shown knowledge and understanding, may include your views and advice.

Reconcile Bring together, settle or resolve issues, e.g. levels of acceptance of a statement/proposition.

Refl ect Consider and assess strengths and weaknesses/usefulness/quality/performance and draw conclusions.

Report Give an account of; inform; recount; relate; record.

Review Make a survey of, examining the subject critically; consider and judge carefully.

Solve Unravel the issues; work out the answer; decipher and explain.

State Express main points carefully, completely, briefl y and clearly; specify.

Summarise Give an account/overview of the topic/main points of; make a short general statement about.

Synthesise Consider different materials/views to bring common points together.

Bringing in experience and wider reading

As we have mentioned previously, many students will already have had extensive corporate and related experience which will enable them to more easily contex-tualise the material they are studying. What has to be guarded against, however, is the assumption that this experience has made you an expert who is entitled to disregard module content, particularly in exams, and just provide your own opinions based on your own experience. Remember that the main function of the exam is not to allow you to demonstrate your wide industry experience but to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the module. Your own experience will be very useful to you in enabling good contextualisation and

Box 6 continued



understanding of the material, but you should avoid giving opinions that are not supported by other evidence.

Knowledge gained from wider reading can be usefully applied, but care must be taken to use module material fi rst. Inclusion of insights from wider reading should be used with care, but is generally valuable in the sense that it does dem-onstrate that you are engaged in this important activity.

Exam practice

It is a good idea to set yourself a complete mock exam, using past papers. If this seems too daunting, start with answering just one question under exam conditions.

If you feel confi dent about following the plan in your head which you formed when you fi rst read the question, do so. But many students will fi nd it useful to write out a brief plan of each answer on a piece of spare paper, or at the top of the question answering space. Sketch out the parts of the task you need to address and the essential things you think must be included. This might consist of a functional list of such problems, causes, options, and recommended solu-tions, or a topic list. In the exam, you won’t be able to write very much for each paragraph, so make sure you identify only the most important areas and arrange your plan to refl ect this.

Ideally, you should try to get some feedback from either your tutor or your peers on the course. Exchanging your mock answers with other course members is a very useful way to collaboratively revise. Some students fi nd that this type of collaboration makes them feel less isolated and stressed, and reassures them that they are ‘on the right track’ in terms of their answer coverage.

Coping with stress

Stress is a natural response to situations which we perceive as challenging. However, with good preparation and organisation, it is quite possible to actually enjoy the challenge of an important exam, even though you can still expect to feel some stress on the day. It’s very important that you also prepare yourself mentally and physically for important exams. Following a good revision sched-ule, in plenty of time, and getting feedback on practice answers should help you to feel more in control of the situation. But you also need to make sure that you eat and sleep well in the run up to the exam. If you can, get into a regular daily routine incorporating revision, exercise, break times and sleep.

Many people mistakenly think that caffeine stimulants will enhance their brain performance. Unfortunately, the scientifi c evidence is exactly the opposite.



Too much caffeine in the form of coffee or stimulant drinks can actually impair memory, so it’s best to avoid excessive use of caffeine on the day of the exam, and during revision periods.

Stress is clearly linked to feeling out of control, but if you have made an effective study plan, as outlined above, and kept to a good revision plan which included past exam papers and a mock exam, you should feel more in control and actually feel confi dent that you can complete a good fi nal exam which effec-tively displays what you have learnt.


7

Revision

INTRODUCTION ■

This chapter aims to increase your awareness of how effective revision needs to be planned carefully, particularly around the use of past papers and practice questions. We also offer some advice about the exam day and how best to prepare for what is, for some, quite a stressful experience.

Planning your revision

A revision plan, like a study plan, will not only help you to check that you are covering everything, but will also help to reduce your stress by allowing you to feel more organised and in control. Your revision plan should show when you will work on each part of the course and should be SMART in terms of its objec-tives. You also need to include the different types of knowledge we covered in Chapter 4:

1 What knowledge you should learn by heart.2 The general concepts and signifi cant issues you need to know – the big pic-

ture, or contextual knowledge. 3 Aspects you might be asked to contextualise and evaluate – the contexts will

be particularly relevant, and what factors might be signifi cant in any analysis and evaluation – the synthetic or constructed knowledge.

A good tip is to think about revision of course material not as just a massive rote learning task, but as a series of interactive tasks with your material. When you take notes for a summary, you are already interacting with the material – under-standing and selecting the material for a particular purpose.



Making time for revision

Your general schedule for studying should be arranged so that you complete your initial learning input with at least two weeks before the exam date so you have time to revise what you’ve studied.

The process of revision is advisable fi rstly because there is certain information that you will want to memorise before going into the exam. Studies into learn-ing demonstrate that most people will need to study points they want to retain in this way over and over again in order to commit information to memory. Furthermore, going back over material you’ve already studied may also help you to engage with the material differently – you’re seeing it again with a fresh per-spective and may have new ideas or make new connections. Finally, revising can also be a confi dence-building exercise: you realise just how much you studied and have learnt and can feel good about the progress you’ve made.

Organising revision sessions

What you do when you revise is a matter of personal preference and will also be determined by the way in which you have kept records of your initial study. For example, if you have made notes when studying this might lead to a dif-ferent revision process to someone who has made audio recordings. Whatever approach you take, it is advisable to incorporate the following elements into your revision:

MemorisationCandidates will not be able to pass the CSQS exams simply by recalling and repeating information. Exam answers, will require analysis and critical thought often linked to the case studies or scenarios used in the question and will need to show evidence of application to real world events and practice. However, there will be information for each subject that you do need to memorise. For exam-ple, in accounting exams you will need to know ratios and formulae, in law exams you will need to memorise legal authority in the form of past cases and in Company Secretarial Practice there are processes and procedures which you will be required to describe.

It is worth thinking about the techniques you have used in the past to memo-rise and recall information, or look up tips on the internet to fi nd a technique that works for you.


49Chapter 7 Revision

InteractionEarlier, we looked at how you might interact with the text and other study mate-rial to put it in the context of wider opinions, debates, arguments and changes. Revision should incorporate this kind of interaction, and it is a good idea to have ideas, for example, from your own professional experience or your wider reading which relate to each topic you revise.

Exam historyYou will be able to access sample or past exam questions on the ICSA website as well as practice questions in the text and online. It is a good idea for you to use these in your general study, and particularly during your revision time. You may use such questions to:

Practise reading questions, identifying key words and requirements and pre- ■

paring brief plans.Along with the above preparation, write answers under timed conditions and ■

try to get feedback on your answers. Study the ‘Suggested Answers and Examiner’s Comments’ documents for tips ■

on answering questions and pitfalls to avoid.

Last minute preparation

If you have followed the revision guidance, your last minute preparation should consist only of reviewing your note cards, summaries or other revision material. This will help you to remember the information.

Ensure that you have all the equipment you need for the exam room, with spare pens. You should also have considered how you are going to get to the exam venue and how you can avoid any unexpected delays.

The day before

There are different schools of thought about how you should approach the day before an important exam. One school of thought advocates revising right up until the last minute, the other, taking a complete break, going for a walk, social-ising, playing sport, in fact any activity which helps takes your mind off things. Ultimately, the decision is a personal one – perhaps a mix of both strategies would be best. For instance, you could schedule an hour in the morning and an hour in early evening for revising key points, and make sure that you do other things for the rest of the day.



On the day

Assuming that you have followed the above advice, and not just run late into the exam room from a traffi c jam, or a bus journey spent frantically trying to revise a new text, the fi rst thing you should do after the exam starts is to spend a few minutes reading each question through carefully. Usually, it is then best policy to start to answer the question you know most about.

This still requires a few minutes to make a small plan – either at the top of the answer paper, or on a separate piece of paper if you are allowed to do this. The plan should be brief, but explicit enough to allow you to answer all the parts of the question, provide a fl owing and coherent answer, and keep focused on the essential items.

Work out how much time you have for each question (minus a few minutes planning and checking time) and then stick to the timings. You must be very disciplined about this, noting the question weightings in order to help you use the time well. Keeping to time is far more important than trying to answer a question perfectly or to put everything you know into the question.

Try not to write down everything you know about the topic in a jumbled order – it’s always better to present a coherent and well argued answer that has a defi -nite introduction, main body of the answer and a conclusion.

Frequent checks against the original question requirements are also necessary to make sure you are staying on track with your answers. It’s very easy to start writing another answer that is perhaps one you’ve prepared, rather than the answer that is actually required.

As a last resort, if you really feel you don’t know much about the question, try to remain calm, make a few notes in a plan of areas you do know that might be related, and at least write about those, rather than return a blank answer. You may well pick up marks for at least indicating that you know something that is relevant to the question.

Lastly, after the exam, it’s probably best not to indulge in elaborate post-mor-tems with other students. This can often depress you unnecessarily if you are suddenly reminded about an important area of the question you missed out completely. Tell yourself that you have done your best, and then either focus on the next exam, or take a well earned break.


studying for csqs · 2018-06-28 · these are vital study and revision aids which can also be found...

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