The essay question you're given either on the take-home assignment or exam paper would normally relate to one syllabus dot point.
For example, one of the section IV essay questions in last year's HSC paper asked you to "
Explain the importance to a business of having human resources strategies that reduce workplace disputes and increase worker satisfaction". With respect to this specific question, human resource strategies has eight dot points:
- Leadership style
- Job design - general or specific tasks
- Recruitment - internal or external, general or specific skills
- Training and development - current or future skills
- Performance management - developmental or administrative
- Rewards - monetary and non-monetary, individual or group, performance pay
- Global - costs, skills, supply
- Workplace disputes - resolution (negotiation, mediation, greivance procedures, involvement of courts and tribunals)
If your task is an assingment that touches on a similar amount of dot points, I would guess that there would be a word limit of around 900 attached. That would give you enough room for an introduction, three paragraphs and a one-sentence conclusion. Bearing that in mind, you should choose three dot points from the relevant syllabus topic the question is sourcing out of the roles, influences, processes and strategies and align each paragraph to one of the dot points you choose.
For exams, Business Studies markers share a well-kept secret: essays are often marked on content as much as the 'impression' they provide, as the sheer volume of responses required to mark from trial and HSC exams leads to markers skimming papers for content that answers the question. As essays have less structure than business reports, we were told that you're essentially given free reign to write as much as you want as long as it remains relevant to the question. I answered this question in last year's HSC exam, and I chose four of the eight dot points above, doing my best under the time constraint to synergise them into a response. Some people chose to do five paragraphs - others more - but bear in mind the need for quality over quantity. I would definitely recommend at least three in an exam environment, as that is considered the conventional minimum for most HSC essay responses.