ECE - Business Policy And Strategy

Has anyone taken this exam that could give a good idea of how difficult it is compared to other exams? I noticed Lawrie (of Bain4weeks) lists this as the hardest exam of the bunch. However, when I was looking at military pass rates I saw this test was passed by a much larger percentage than several other business tests.

 

I took this course at an RA college (B&M). I had to analyze at least 6 case studies and write a major research paper. The students needed to have a solid foundation in these courses:
accounting, finance, information technology, marketing, management, business law and economics.

I enjoyed the course because it really made us review and analyze scenarios as if we were CEOs.

Good luck.

Working1, CBM, MBA, BS, BA, AAS, AAS, AA

 

I noticed the same discrepancy that Randy stated and am wondering about it too. I have to take this exam before I graduate as well. I plan to take this exam after I complete all other requirements so that I will obtain credit directly from Excelsior in the same VA quarter as my graduation date. This will allow the VA to reimburse me for the graduation fee through my MGIB. That being said, I really don't want to have any trouble with this exam since this will be the last thing stopping me from completing my 9 year degree plan. I plan to have my other requirements done and be ready to take this exam in Feb. Any information on it would help a great deal.

 

Well, I should certainly have info for you on the exam by then, Texas. I'll be taking the exam this upcoming Thursday. If anyone out there could offer some advice or share their experience with this test before then, that'd be just great. =)

 

Yes, I don't know what to make of this statistic. I guess it could be that it is based on the performance of reservists who all hold keys to the executive bathrooms of Fortune 500 companies.

I spent some time in consideration the BA in 4 Weeks Exam Difficulty Index. It was the view of the Business program academic advisors I spoke to at Excelsior (nee Regents) that the Business Policy and Strategy exam was at a level of relative difficulty commensurate with that noted in the index.

Your mileage may vary. Of course. Let’s know how it goes, Randy.

 

How difficult did you find the exam Randy? How do you think you did on it? I have to take it next week. Any pointers will be highly appreciated.

 

Hmm...it was an interesting exam, I must say.

You are given 3 different scenariors, each about 3-4 paragraphs in length. Then each scenario has 3 questions. All the questions seemed to either ask you to analyze/identify something about the situation, or suggest specific strategies that would need to be implemented in the company. There are no criteria given on how long each answer should be, but I was able to type out around 3 paragraphs for each answer. If you're a slow typer, finishing this exam could be a serious problem...I decided I was satisfied with my answers with about 30 minutes remaining, and typically I'm pretty quick with putting my thoughts into words.

Unfortunately, I haven't a clue on how well I did. I do know I did not know everything asked of me...a couple questions were complete shots in the dark. However, they may be very lenient on grading. It's hard to give advice without seeing my score and knowing you may get completely different topics. However, my intuition tells me that anyone sitting this test should be familiar with most all business analysis models, especially SWOT, and understand the basics of all important business activities (Manging/Leading, Marketing, Staffing, Organization, ect). Previous study for other business tests is definitely recommended, but your particular Business Policy/Strategy text may briefly cover all these areas as well.

I created an outline that may be of help to you or could be completely useless. However, you're welcome to download it and see if it is of any use. http://www.clovisfresnohomes.com/policystrategy.rtf



One an unrelated note: I also took Statistics and Ethics on this current testing trip. When hitting "Finished" for statistics, I was scared I wouldn't pass, but an "A" popped on the screen. When finishing Ethics, I was certain I aced it, and was awaiting my "A"...to my surprise a "B" popped on the screen. I've now decided that I have no idea how these test scores work. =P

 

Thanks for your reply Randy. Hopefully you did well on it and so will I! Thanks for the outline. I'm sure it will come in handy. This should be the last exam I have to take towards my degree. I've already taken 4 exams on this trip and I'm still waiting for my score in Statistics and M.I.S. I think I easily passed both of them. For some reason Dantes has taken longer than in the past to send me my score. Maybe it's that time of year, who knows. All I know is I've got one exam to go and I'm pumped! I just pray it's not too hard.

 

Hey Randy. I'm prepping for this test now. Do you still have that outline around you could email me? Help is appreciated. And how did you manage to do on this test?

Anyone else have some experience with this test? Any study pointers?

Thanks.

 

If you happen to find time to type up some study notes on those last two exams, I would really appreciate it, as I'm sure others would, too. I'll be taking both of those next month.

Thanks and keep up the good work on the exams.

 

I do have it around somewhere, yes. The link I have here is outdated, since I recently let that domain expire. As I said, I honestly have no idea if it is a help, but if you send me a PM with your e-mail I'll be glad to send it to you. I got my results back a couple weeks ago and managed to score an A; I'd say I felt confident with about 2 of the 9 essay questions.

 

Great Resource for this exam:

http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/


Gotta go study so I can get to bed early and be ready to test in the morning!

 

Eric, be sure to let us know how it went. I have this one coming soon, possibly next week.

 

Interesting. I can easily say I disliked this exam the most out of all the exams I've taken so far. The subject matter was fairly interesting to me, but the format of the test was poor at best. I was at a regular DANTES testing center which means I had a pen and paper style test. Prometric testing centers allow you to use a computer to do this test, which would be a tremendous advantage. I can probably type about 5 times faster than I can write.

The hardest part about this test is budgeting your time to make sure you finish. The 9 essay questions in 3 hours left my hand cramped.

The questions aren't necessarily hard, meaning that many of them didn't even have a wrong or right answer. After reading a case study, a question might say, given company X's increased market competition and higher production costs, outline a business strategy to allow company X to be profitable. Since there are many theories you could argue, a lot of answers could be right. The key is to demonstrate your knowledge of business strategy theory while answering the question.

I found the test to be a very poor judge of my knowledge because I was so busy just trying to finish that I couldn't adequately demonstrate my knowledge. I feel somewhat cheated. I think I passed, but honestly my score could range from 30 to 95. I'm just not sure. Wether I get a 30 or a 95, I'll still think this is a bad test.

Excelsior needs to change this test. I think it should be about 50 questions on Business Strategy theory, and then 1 or 2 case studies with essay responses.



I finished the test 2.5 hrs ago and my hand still hurts.

 

I like your suggestion!

Although I'm not doing a Business degree, I am including a minor concentration in business within my program. I have, therefore, taken a handful of Dantes/CLEP business exams.

I'vealso been in the curious position of teaching business strategy to a substantial family business myself. And therefore I had to review B Strategy textbooks.

Combining my experience of the two, your suggestion makes sense: combine objective assesment with a subjective problem solving task.

What about TECEPs? Don't they offer a B-strategy exam like this? Or am I completely wrong?

--Orson

 

I can't speak to your question about TECEPs.

I took this exam on 2 April and my score was finally posted today (28 May) for a grand total of almost 2 months of grading time. I received an A. I still don't think this is a very good test. In any case, I lack 3 hours of Data Comms (ugh) and then I'll be done with this BS (pun intended).