How to use this guide
This exam is mostly ideas you explain, compare and apply to a short business scenario, with a handful of quick calculations. The material falls into three groups. Running the organization: what managers do, how a company is organized into jobs, departments and levels. People: hiring and keeping employees, what motivates them, and how unions bargain with management. Marketing: who the customer is, what they are offered, and how it is priced, including break-even analysis, the main piece of math.
Topic order. Work the tabs left to right; if your course follows the usual chapter order, these are the seven chapters after the first exam. 01 Management covers the four functions, levels, skills, leadership styles and decision making. 02 Organizing covers job design, departments, authority, span of control and teams. 03 Human resources, 04 Motivation and 05 Unions are the people chapters. 06 Marketing covers the marketing concept, the mix, buyers and research, and 07 Product & price finishes with products, the life cycle, break-even and pricing strategy.
Inside each topic: read the idea, do each worked example on paper before opening the solution (they run simplest first), then use the lab: change the numbers, or classify the scenarios with Quiz me. Finish with the Drill until you get several in a row right.
| Level | What it asks | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | One definition, or one formula in one step | Which management function is this? Contribution margin per unit |
| Intermediate | A standard calculation or classification with a few steps | Break-even in units and dollars; which reinforcement type is this? |
| Exam level | A full exam-style question with several parts | Managers needed at every level; comparing two pay plans |
| Hard | Twists: combining ideas, working backwards, traps | The smallest span that keeps three levels; the price needed to hit a profit target |
The drill starts at Beginner and steps up a level after three correct answers in a row; you can also pick a level yourself. The written questions, multiple choice and flashcards are ordered easy → hard, so working through them in order builds each idea from the ground up.
The core formulas
- Gap = desired result − actual result · gap % = gap ÷ desired
- Managers needed at a level = people below ÷ span, rounded up; repeat until one person is at the top
- Expectancy: motivation = E × I × V
- Equity: compare your outcomes ÷ inputs with someone else's
- Pay: regular hours × rate + overtime hours × 1.5 × rate · commission = base + rate × sales above quota
- Contribution margin = price − variable cost · break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin
- Break-even sales $ = fixed costs ÷ CM ratio · units for a target profit = (fixed costs + profit) ÷ CM
- Price with a markup on cost = cost × (1 + markup)
Rules people forget: memorize
- Controlling compares results with the plan; planning sets the plan
- Top managers lean on conceptual skill, front-line managers on technical; interpersonal matters at every level
- A narrower span means more managers and a taller structure
- Job description = the job; job specification = the person who fits it
- Herzberg's hygiene factors (pay, conditions) only stop dissatisfaction; they don't motivate
- Negative reinforcement removes something unpleasant to make a behaviour happen more. It is not punishment
- Once certified, the union bargains for everyone in the bargaining unit, members or not
- Possession utility = ownership changes hands easily (financing, payment plans)
- Break-even units always round up
Exam format, weight and allowed aids differ between sections and terms. Check your own course outline.
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This is the first section. The full guide has every topic, the labs and the practice questions.
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