How to Pass Paper 3.4
by Gareth Owen
05 Nov 2002

Professional Scheme
Relevant to Paper 3.4
Paper 3.4, Business Information Management builds on the knowledge acquired in Paper 2.1, Information Systems. In Paper 3.4, emphasis moves away from and beyond the technical aspects of designing, managing, and evaluating information systems at the operational level. It is primarily concerned with the strategic aspects of knowledge and information management, in support of wider business objectives. As the emphasis of the paper is different, then the approach to study and revision must also reflect these differences.

Structure of the Paper
Section A is devoted to a substantial case study and comprises three compulsory questions, all relating to the same case. Each question is worth 20 marks.
Section B consists of a further three 20 mark questions set from any area of the syllabus. You must answer two out of three questions. These questions may require you to evaluate a short scenario, using general or specific strategic and information management models, or may require an explanation or application of specific models within a given situation. Alternatively, the Examiner may ask you to use a relevant model or technique in the context of your own organisation, or within an appropriate organisation that you are familiar with.

Using Support Materials
When studying for this paper, candidates generally use one recommended study text, usually on the advice or recommendation of their tuition provider. It is essential that you purchase or have continuous access to a copy of the text, and ensure that you read it fully, as well as the material you receive from tutors. If possible, it is also advisable to access other equivalent study texts to compare the approaches taken by the authors and to obtain a richer picture of the material covered within the syllabus.
Please remember that it may be impractical or indeed impossible for tutors to teach all aspects of material covered in the study texts, or to cover all models, techniques, or theories included within them. It is therefore your responsibility to read around the subject as much as you can using study texts and any relevant additional reading, as well as material issued by tuition providers.
Following the June 2002 exam session, some students and tuition providers were concerned that one particular model not specifically identified in the Study Guide was assessed (Nolan’s Stage Hypothesis). This is a widely known model in a core strategic area of systems evolution within organisations, and was covered extensively in both the BPP and Foulks Lynch study texts. There are many other models covered in these texts which are key to explaining information management phenomena, which can be readily applied to real business situations and to case studies. It is quite likely that such models will be assessed from time to time. It is therefore vital that candidates ensure that they are familiar with specific information management models and theories, in addition to the key generic strategic models such as SWOT and PEST, the BCG matrix, and Porter’s ‘Value Chain’.

You should (for example) be familiar with such models and theories as:
•Nolan’s ‘Stage Hypothesis’;
•Checkland’s ‘Soft Systems Methodology’;
•Earl’s ‘System’s Audit Grid’ and his ‘Three Leg’ analysis;
•McFarlan’s ‘Applications Portfolio’ and Peppard’s adaptation;
•Parson’s ‘6 IS Strategies’;
•Zuboff’s ‘Automate, Informate, Transformate’;
•The ‘Three Stage’ change process and ‘Unfreeze, Change, Re-freeze’.

However, this list is not exhaustive, and only gives a broad indication of the core areas that may be assessed by the Examiner, in addition to the generic strategic models mentioned above, and in the Study Guide. As with any syllabus, some areas are covered to a greater or lesser extent in different study texts, so don’t restrict yourself to reading one text only.
Candidates and tuition providers should therefore be aware that ACCA Study Guides are what they say they are. They are ‘guides’, not definitive documents, and cannot be expected to refer to everything that an Examiner might wish to assess in specific terms or in every context. ACCA Study Guides are intended to breakdown the syllabus into sub-sections and to indicate, albeit in some detail, the main areas to be covered under each heading. As well as reading the main study texts, you should also make full use of resources available from www.accaglobal.com, such as the Syllabus and Study Guide, Examiner’s Approach, Examination Notes, Examiners’ Comments and Teachers’ Conference Minutes.
You should also review the pilot paper and all past papers.

Study Approach
After ensuring that the main areas identified within the ACCA Study Guide are covered by your tuition provider and that you read recommended texts from cover to cover, it is important to remember that at Part 3 of the Professional Scheme, ACCA is assessing higher level educational skills.
You need to ensure that at the very least you have acquired essential knowledge from your support materials. However, the acquisition of knowledge is only the beginning. At Part 3 of the Professional Scheme syllabus, you are required to demonstrate higher order skills such as the ability to comprehend, to apply, to analyse, to synthesise, and to evaluate.
Higher order skills such as these require you to use acquired knowledge in different contexts or situations, not simply to explain techniques or conceptual models in isolation. It is through the case study, short scenarios, or asking you to draw on your own personal knowledge and work experience, that these skills are usually assessed.
Examiners often comment that candidates obtain low marks because they fail to relate their answers to the specific requirements of the question, or to the facts and information contained within the case study or scenario. At Part 3, you must ensure that you clearly recognise the normal requirement to apply and analyse information: break it down; draw conclusions; and evaluate these findings within specific and ‘real world’ contexts.

The Two-Stage Revision approach
Revising for papers at Part 3 of the Professional level, particularly for Paper 3.4 requires a two-stage approach. Firstly, you must acquire and absorb the basic knowledge required and become familiar with all key relevant conceptual models and techniques covered in the principal study texts. You should also ensure that you have covered all the broad areas of the syllabus using as wide a range of sources as possible.
It is only from a solid and comprehensive base of acquired knowledge that the second and most important stage of revision should begin, which focuses on practice and application.
You should follow up case study work covered in class by practising your higher level skills on published pilot or past paper questions. Paper 3.4 can be selected from the ‘choose a paper’ option in the students section at www.accaglobal.com and then choosing the ‘past papers’ or ‘past answers’ option.
Within this stage of revision, you should attempt questions without looking at the answers. You should use and apply your knowledge to the specific requirements of the question and within the context of the given case or scenario.
It is essential at this stage that you simulate the exam experience by attempting these questions in an undisturbed environment and within the appropriate time limits. As a general guide, each mark in a three hour paper is worth 1.8 minutes, so 36 minutes should be allocated to a 20 mark question.
Remember this is only a guide and may not be strictly adhered to within an exam situation where five questions have to be answered in a total of three hours. However, by self-imposing time limits when attempting these individual questions, you can gauge how well you have performed, and whether or not you need to significantly improve your speed, and / or the quality of your answer.

Conclusions
Following this advice, recognising the differing assessment requirements and the higher level requirements at Part 3 of the Professional Scheme, should help you prepare more thoroughly to perform well on the day of the examination. Good luck!
Gareth Owen is Senior Education Adviser at ACCA