The Business Management IA

Structure (May 2024 Onward)

Double-checking Your Version of the Course
The new Business Management IA (the "Business Project") is very different than the
previous Business IA (the one students submitted for May 2023 for example). Be
careful because most of the resources you can currently find online about the IA
are giving you outdated information.

This page is up-to-date for the new version of the course and it will show you, step-
by-step, exactly what to do for students graduating May 2024 or later.

Click here if you're in SL Business and graduating before May 2024 

Click here if you're in HL Business graduating before May 2024.

Okay, now we're all on the right document. On this page I'm going to show you
everything you'll need to know to complete your Business IA. First, we'll go through
all of your initial decisions, so you'll have a good question and resources. Then I'll
go through the actual structure of your IA and show you what to write in each
section.

Overview of the New Business IA

The word limit is 1800 words and it’s out of 25 marks. The Business Management
IA requirements (and the rubric) are now the same for SL and HL students. For SL
students, it’s worth 30% of your final grade, but it’s only worth 20% of the final
grade for HL students.

In this assignment you’ll mainly rely on just 3 to 5 supporting documents to

answer a question which is related to a real organization (i.e. a business or non-
profit). That question also must relate to one of the course core concepts: change,
creativity, ethics or sustainability.
 Decisions you need to make before you
write 
Choosing your organization and your issue or
problem 
You can choose any real organization to do your IA on. However, it shouldn't be the
same one you're using for your EE (if you're doing a Business Management EE).
Given all of this freedom, it can be hard to decide. I recommend choosing a
company you're very interested in and asking a question you're interested in. It can
take some time to figure that out, but it's very doable. Get some initial ideas down
on paper and you'll probably find some overlap between your issue-interests and
your organization-interests. For example, if you're interested in sustainable fashion,
you can find a specific fashion company and a certain option for them, which could
make their clothes more environmentally friendly.   

Your question can be forward looking (i.e. “Should company X change it’s
manufacturing to outsourcing”) in order to increase profitability?”) or backward
looking (i.e. What was the effect on sustainability of company A using approach B?)

Two final things to consider are whether your question is related to a key concept
and answerable using course tools. More on both of those below. 

Choosing your Key Concept

The business research project must use only one of the four key concepts
(change, creativity, ethics or sustainability) as a lens through which to analyse
the IA.

One option is to include that key concept right in your question. For
example, "Should Honda invest $40 billion in Electric Vehicle research and
development, to increase it's sustainability?" 

 Be careful to not include a second concept or an additional concept (ie.

culture, globalisation or innovation). This would likely result in you getting
 zero out of 5 for Criterion A. That's the part of the rubric where you score on
your insights into the key concept aspect.
 As you write, you'll want to show a deep understanding of the key concept
you’ve chosen. This is more than just referring to the key concept.
Instead you'll want to use the key concept as a "conceptual lens" for your
analysis and again you'll want to make sure these links are clear and
developed. I can talk you through this or anything else you're struggling with
if you'd like to meet for a tutoring session.  

Choosing your tools

The key is determining which of the tools and theories are going to help you answer
your question and then using those ones well. SL students should not use any HL
tools in your IA, so I will bold all of those which are available for SL and HL students.

 SWOT analysis
 Ansoff matrix
 STEEPLE analysis
 Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix
 Business plan
 Decision trees
 Descriptive statistics. These include: Mean, Mode, Median, Bar charts, Pie
charts, Infographics, Quartiles, and Standard deviation
 Circular business models. These include: Circular supply models, Resource
recovery models, Product life extension models, Sharing models, and
Product service system models.
 Force field analysis (HL only)
 Gantt chart (HL only)
 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (HL only)
 Porter's generic strategies (HL only)
 Contribution (HL only) These include: Make or buy analysis, Contribution
costing, and Absorption costing
 Critical path analysis (HL only) These include: Completion and analyses of a
critical path diagram (drawing of the diagram is not expected), Identification
of the critical path, Calculation of free and total float.
 Simple linear regression (HL only). This includes: Scatter diagrams, Line of
best fit and Correlation/Extrapolation.

  
Choosing Your 3 to 5 Supporting Documents
These will be where the majority of your information comes from. You'll want to
choose sources which will allow you to complete 3 or 4 Business Tools, so keep that
in mind when you're considering which documents to choose. Your supporting
documents should also be: 

 Recent - They must have been published within a maximum of three years
prior to the submission of your research project to the IB. That means: If
your final IB exams are in May of 2024, your sources can’t be older than April
2021. If your final IB exams are in November 2024, your sources must be no
older than October 2021.
 Diverse - Altogether your sources must cover a range of views and ideas.
This could mean different perspectives, opinions, or focusing on different
types of information. 
 Reliable - From a reliable source
 Detailed - Be sufficiently in depth that you can share and explore details.
Ideally the sources would do much more than include a mention of your key
concept and your organization. Instead they should include a variety of data
you can link to your key concept and use in 1 or 2 of your tools.
 5 pages or shorter - Each source should be five normal A4 pages or less.
(Business Guide, P.55)
 Highlighted - Highlight the aspects of each document that relate to your
project.
 Translated (if applicable) - If your document (i.e. article or video) is in a
different language, all of the highlighted aspects of the document (the points
you relied on for your project) need to be translated.
 Possibly a Video or Audio file - If you use a (reliable) video or audio file,
include a transcript with the essential points of the video or audio file that
you refer to in the project.
 Traceable - You'll need to include the source details as a citation, so keep
track of where you got it from.  
 Not your textbook - None of your 3 to 5 main sources an be your textbook
or class notes.
 Attached to the end of your document - You'll have to your 3-5 supporting
documents. You are able to use additional sources, such as your textbook or
similar sources for extra information, but your IA will rely on your 3-5
supporting documents for the majority of the information.
  Primary and/or secondary. They can all be primary sources (i.e. an
interview, a questionnaire), all be secondary sources (i.e. news articles,
business accounts, or company website pages) or some combination of both.
o Examples of primary sources:
 Surveys. If you use surveys or questionnaires (online or face-to-
face), include a blank copy of the questionnaire and a summary
of the responses as a supporting document.
 Interviews. If you use an interview (online or face-to-face),
include a copy of the interview questions and a summary of the
responses as a supporting document.
 Focus groups. If you use a focus group, include a copy of the
focus group questions and summary of the findings.
o Examples of secondary sources:
 Articles (i.e. local, national or international press), Business
accounts and financial reports. Business plans, Extracts from
company websites, Transcripts of a relevant audio-visual file,
Statistics (i.e. from the government), Journal publications,
Market research surveys, and Mission statements.

Now I'll show you exactly how you can structure your IA and exactly what you
should include in each section. 

 
The Business Management IA Structure
(for May 2024 Onward)

Title Page 
Include:

 Your Research Question

 Your Key Concept (Change, Creativity, Ethics or Sustainability)
 The IB Number (Something in the format "abc123" (i.e. fjk932)
 Session (i.e. May 2024)
 IA word count. (1800 words or fewer). (See the blue note at the bottom, for
clarification on what words are included). 
  (Also, notice that the student’s name, school, candidate number and student
number should not be on the cover sheet anymore).

   

Table of Contents  
Include:  

 Introduction
 Analysis
 Conclusion
 Bibliography
 Supporting Documents

Introduction - Around 200 words

In this section, include:

 Clarify the context of your question.  

 Provide brief background information about the business organisation (i.e.
their name and what they do). 
 State the issue or problem under investigation and how it links to
your chosen key concept. 
 Explain the methodology used to investigate this issue or problem. Convince
us that you chose your sources thoughtfully and that they give a range of
viewpoints/perspectives, which will aid your analysis.
 Use in-text citations as necessary here and in the Main Body and Conclusion
sections.
 (No research proposal or executive summary are needed).

Analysis (The Main Body) - Approximately 1350

words
This is where you present your analysis (use business management tools and
theories) and link this to the key concept. 

In this section, make sure to:

 Present the findings and analysis from your supporting documents 

 Relevant business management tools and theories including integrating
the key concept. There is no set limit to the number of tools you can use
for your IA. However, using 4 is often appropriate. Be careful to select
tools which are definitely relevant, which will definitely help you
address your research question. 
 Consider using the JAM (Justification, Analysis, Mini-Conclusion)
approach for your Business Management Analysis. If you do, then try to
include at least one link to the key concept in each of your
“Justification” and “Mini-conclusion” sections. 
 As you write, comment on the reliability of your sources. Remember
that we want to be convinced that you have chosen generally reliable
sources. However, it can be useful to comment on the limitations of
each. 
 In each mini-conclusion:
o How your insights (from course tools and theories) relate to the
key concept
o Explore what insights and themes emerge from your analysis of
that tool and why and how are they helpful (or not) in answering
the research question.  
o Evaluate your findings. For example, state any relevant
assumptions or implications involved in your analysis
o Synthesize your insights, from the tools and theories you've used
in that section and to the insights from previous tools, if
appropriate. 
o Make it really clear how the insights of your tool have been
helpful (or not) in answering your research question. 

Conclusion (Around 250 words) 

In this section, make sure to:
  Answer your research question explicitly
 Refer to your key concept several times, showing how your insights (from
course tools and theories) relate to the key concept
 Share your insights into what main themes emerge from your analysis and
how these relate to your question. 
 Clearly refer back to the insights from each tool and theory you have used
(i.e. mention the key insights from each of your mini-conclusions) and show
how these insights support your conclusion.  
 Don’t introduce facts or arguments that have not been discussed in previous
sections of the project. 
 Share some implications of your insights
 Share which aspects of the research question have not been fully answered
in the project or that might need further investigation in order to be judged
more effectively. 
 No recommendations for the organizations are needed.

Bibliography 
In this section, include:

 Include details of your 3-5 main sources and any other sources you used as
well (if any). 
 Ensure the reader can clearly see which reference in your bibliography refers
to which supporting document. For example, “Supporting Document 1:
Bezos, Jeff. Interview. Conducted by T. Woods.” 
 Remember to include full referencing for the video or audio file (if you used
one), so that the original source is clear. 
 Sources such as textbooks and class notes should also be referenced, if they
are used. 
 Use a standard referencing system, such as MLA.  

Supporting Documents 
In this section, make sure to:
  Include your sources (i.e. articles, transcripts) after your bibliography. This
can be done using embedded pictures of each page. However do ensure that
all words are all clearly readable and that the highlighting can also be seen. 
 Label each supporting document clearly, such as “Supporting document 1”,
“Supporting document 2”, and so on. 

Final things to check, before you hand in your work: 

 To help with the two "Criterion G: Presentation" marks, make sure you have:
o Included clear subheadings and page numbers, and 
o Make sure your document is easy to read (i.e. the numbers on
diagrams are easy to read) and it looks professional. 
 Make sure you haven't gone over the 1800 word limit. Only the first 1800
words can be marked. However, the following are not included in this word
count: Acknowledgments, Contents page, Tables of statistical data, Diagrams
or figures, Equations, formulae and calculations, Supporting documents,
Citations (which, if used, must be in the body of the project), References
(which, if used, must be in the footnotes/endnotes), and your Bibliography.