Business Management Aims

The aims of all the individuals and societies subjects are to equip young people to:

1. explore and critically engage with multiple perspectives and ways of thinking

2. investigate and evaluate the interactions between individuals and societies

3. think and act as informed and principled individuals in societies

4. understand and value the variety and diversity of the human experience across time and place.

The aims of the business management course at HL and SL are to:

1. develop as confident, creative and compassionate business leaders, entrepreneurs, social

2. entrepreneurs and as change agents

3. foster an informed understanding of ethical and sustainable business practices

4. explore the connections between individuals, businesses and society

5. engage with decision-making as a process and a skill.

By the end of the business management course, students are expected to reach the following assessment objectives.

1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• business management tools and theories

• course topics and concepts

• business problems, issues and decisions

• HL extension topics (HL only).

2. Demonstrate application and analysis of:

• • • business management tools and theories

    • course topics and concepts

    • business problems, issues and decisions

    • business decisions and issues through the selection and use of appropriate data

    • HL extension topics (HL only).

3. Demonstrate synthesis and evaluation of:

        Synthesize and evaluate:

• • business management tools and theories

  • course topics and concepts

  • business problems, issues and decisions

  • stakeholder interests to reach informed business decisions

  • recommendations for competing future strategic options (HL only)

  • HL extension topics (HL only).

4. Demonstrate a variety of appropriate skills to:

• • Select and apply relevant business management tools, theories and concepts to support research into a business issue or problem.

  • Select, interpret and analyse business materials from a range of primary and secondary sources.

  • Create well-structured materials using business management terminology.

  • Communicate analysis, evaluation and conclusions of research effectively.

Note: The Business Management course is offered only at the HL level at Symbiosis International School.

Three different methods are used to assess students.

• Analytic markschemes specific to each examination paper

• Markbands

• Assessment criteria

The markbands and assessment criteria are published in this guide.

• For paper 1, there are markbands and markschemes.

• For paper 2, there are markbands and markschemes.

• For paper 3, there are assessment criteria and markschemes

The markbands and assessment criteria are related to the assessment objectives established for the business management course and the individuals and societies grade descriptors. The markschemes are specific to each examination.

Command terms

Teachers and students must be familiar with the command terms used at each assessment objective level to understand the depth of treatment required in examination questions. Cognitive demands progress from AO1 to AO3, while AO4 terms are specific to particular skills.

Examination questions may use any command term from the assessment objective level specified in the “Syllabus content” section, or a less demanding command term from a lower level. For example, if the assessment objective level for a topic is AO2, an examination question could contain any of the command terms for AO2, such as “explain”, “distinguish”, and so on. Alternatively, the examination question could contain a command term from AO1, such as “describe”. However, a more demanding command term, such as “evaluate”, from a higher level (AO3 in this case) cannot be used.

The command terms used in each question, or part thereof, indicate the depth required. The command terms are organized by assessment objective level in the “Assessment objectives” section earlier in the guide and defined in the “Glossary of command terms” in the appendices.

Use of examples and case studies

In order to be awarded marks in the higher markbands and levels of assessment criteria, students are expected, where appropriate, to refer to the stimulus material provided in examinations, use case studies explored in class and illustrate their answers with examples. In this way, students highlight their understanding of how business management tools and theories operate in practice. Where the stimulus material, case studies and examples are referred to, students should not simply state the information, but rather offer some explanation of how it relates to the question asked.

Use of business management terms

Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to appropriately define, use and apply the business management terms included in the “Syllabus” section.

Use of calculators

While all questions requiring a calculator can be answered fully using a four-function (plus, minus, multiply, divide) calculator, graphic display calculators (GDCs) are allowed during the examination. Teachers and schools must adhere to the regulations regarding the use of electronic calculators in examinations, and students must be made aware of these. This information can be found in the annually revised version of Calculators guidance for examinations booklet.

Paper 1

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Weighting: 25%

This paper is the same for both SL and HL. It is divided into two sections with questions based on the prereleased

statement issued to students three months before the examination and the unseen case study

issued during the examination. Section A has structured questions while section B has extended response

questions.

Students are expected to demonstrate the following assessment objectives.

Questions in this paper are drawn from units 1 to 5 of the syllabus excluding the HL extension material and

topics studied at HL only.

Section A

• Students answer all structured questions in this section.

• The command terms used in each part indicate the depth required.

• The marks available for each part are indicated on the examination paper.

• Marks are allocated using an analytic markscheme.

• This section is worth a total of 20 marks.

Section B

• Students answer one question from a choice of two.

• The command terms used in each part indicate the depth required.

• The marks available for each part are indicated on the examination paper.

• Each question is worth a total of 10 marks.

• Marks are allocated using a combination of an analytic markscheme and markbands.

• This section is worth a total of 10 marks.

Paper 2

Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes

Weighting: 30%

The structure of this paper is the same as SL paper 2. However, questions may be the same as, or different from, the SL paper 2 questions. HL students answer more questions.

Students are expected to demonstrate the following assessment objectives.

Questions in this paper are drawn from units 1 to 5 of the syllabus including the HL extension material and topics studied at HL only.

Section A

• The questions have a quantitative focus.

• Students answer all structured questions in this section.

• The questions are subdivided into parts.

• The command terms used in each part indicate the depth required.

• The marks available for each part are indicated on the examination paper.

• Marks are allocated using an analytic markscheme.

• This section is worth a total of 30 marks.

Section B

• Students answer one question from a choice of two.

• The question is subdivided into parts; structured questions and an extended response question.

• The command terms used in each part indicate the depth required.

• The structured questions are worth a total of 10 marks.

• Each extended response question is worth 10 marks.

• The marks available for each part are indicated on the examination paper.

• Marks are allocated using a combination of an analytic markscheme and markbands.

• This section is worth a total of 20 marks.

Paper 3

Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes

Weighting: 25%

This is an HL only paper.

Students are expected to demonstrate the following assessment objectives.

The question in this paper is drawn from units 1 to 5 of the syllabus including the HL extension material and topics studied at HL only.

• Students answer the three compulsory questions given based on the stimulus material.

• The command terms used in each question indicate the depth required.

• The marks available for each question are indicated on the examination paper.

• Marks are allocated using a combination of an analytic markscheme and the assessment criteria.

Papers 1 and 2

In addition to an analytic markscheme specific to the question papers, markbands are used to allocate marks in section B in papers 1 and 2 for the 10-mark extended response question.

Paper 3

For question 1 and question 2 an analytic markscheme will be used. For question 3 the following assessment criteria will be used.

Criterion A: Use of resource materials

To what extent does the student use the resource materials provided to effectively support the recommended plan of action?

Criterion B: Business management tools and theories

To what extent does the student’s plan of action effectively apply appropriate business management tools and theories?

Criterion C: Evaluation

To what extent does the student effectively evaluate the expected impact of their plan of action on the relevant areas of the business?

Criterion D: Sequencing of ideas and plan of action

To what extent are the student’s ideas and plan of action sequenced in a clear and coherent manner?

Purpose of internal assessment

Internal assessment (IA) is an integral part of the course and is compulsory for both SL and HL students. It enables students to demonstrate the application of their skills and knowledge and to pursue their personal interests, without the time limitations and other constraints that are associated with written examinations. The internal assessment should, as far as possible, be woven into normal classroom teaching and not be a separate activity conducted after a course has been taught. 

The IA requirements at SL and at HL are the same. Students are expected to produce a business research project about a real issue or problem facing a particular organization using a conceptual lens.

Guidance and authenticity

The business research project (SL/HL) submitted for the IA must be the student’s own work. However, it is not the intention that students should decide upon a title or topic and be left to work on the IA component without any further support from the teacher. The teacher should play an important role during both the planning stage and the period when the student is working on the internally assessed work. It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that students are familiar with:

• the requirements of the type of work to be internally assessed

• the assessment criteria; students must understand that the work submitted for assessment must address these criteria effectively.

Teachers and students must discuss the internally assessed work. Students should be encouraged to initiate discussions with the teacher to obtain advice and information; students must not be penalized for seeking guidance. As part of the learning process, teachers should read and give advice to students on one draft of the work. The teacher should provide oral or written advice on how the work could be improved, but not edit the draft. The next version handed to the teacher must be the final version for submission.

It is the responsibility of teachers to ensure that all students understand the basic meaning and significance of concepts that relate to academic integrity, especially authenticity and intellectual property. Teachers must ensure that all student work for assessment is prepared according to the requirements and must explain clearly to students that the internally assessed work must be entirely their own. Where collaboration between students is permitted, the difference between collaboration and collusion must be clear to all students.

All work submitted to the IB for moderation or assessment must be authenticated by a teacher, and must not include any known instances of suspected or confirmed malpractice. Each student must confirm that the work is his or her authentic work and constitutes the final version of that work. Once a student has officially submitted the final version of the work it cannot be retracted. The requirement to confirm the authenticity of work applies to the work of all students, not just the sample work that will be submitted to the IB for the purpose of moderation. For further details refer to the IB publications Academic integrity, Diploma Programme: From principles into practice and the relevant articles in the “General regulations” section in Diploma Programme Assessment procedures.

Authenticity may be checked by discussion with the student on the content of the work, and scrutiny of one or more of the following.

• The student’s initial proposal

• The first draft of the written work

• The references cited

• The style of writing compared with work known to be that of the student

• The analysis of the work by a web-based plagiarism detection service such as www.turnitin.com

The same piece of work cannot be submitted to meet the requirements of both the IA and the EE.

Time allocation

IA is an integral part of the business management course, contributing 30% to the final assessment in the SL course and 20% to the final assessment in the HL course. This weighting should be reflected in the time that is allocated to teaching the knowledge, skills and understanding required to undertake the work, as well as the total time allocated to carry out the work.

It is recommended that a total of approximately 20 hours (SL/HL) of teaching time should be allocated to the work. This should include:

• time for the teacher to explain to students the requirements of the IA

• class time for students to work on the IA component and ask questions

• time for consultation between the teacher and each student

• time to review, monitor progress and to check authenticity.

Requirements and recommendations

It is important for the integrity of the moderation process that the IA by the teacher is based on the same evidence as that available to the moderator. When there is more than one teacher teaching students in this component, internal standardization must take place.

Using assessment criteria for internal assessment

For the IA, a number of assessment criteria have been identified. Each assessment criterion has level descriptors describing specific achievement levels, together with an appropriate range of marks. The level descriptors concentrate on positive achievement, although for the lower levels failure to achieve may be included in the description.

Teachers must judge the internally assessed work at SL and at HL against the criteria using the level descriptors.

• The same assessment criteria are provided for SL and HL.

• The aim is to find, for each criterion, the descriptor that conveys most accurately the level attained by the student, using the best-fit model. A best-fit approach means that compensation should be made when a piece of work matches different aspects of a criterion at different levels. The mark awarded should be one that most fairly reflects the balance of achievement against the criterion. It is not necessary for every single aspect of a level descriptor to be met for that mark to be awarded.

• When assessing a student’s work, teachers should read the level descriptors for each criterion until they reach a descriptor that most appropriately describes the level of the work being assessed. If a piece of work seems to fall between two descriptors, both descriptors should be read again and the one that more appropriately describes the student’s work should be chosen.

• Where there are two or more marks available within a level, teachers should award the upper marks if the student’s work demonstrates the qualities described to a great extent; the work may be close to achieving marks in the level above. Teachers should award the lower marks if the student’s work demonstrates the qualities described to a lesser extent; the work may be close to achieving marks in the level below.

• Only whole numbers should be recorded; partial marks (fractions and decimals) are not acceptable.

• Teachers should not think in terms of a pass or fail boundary but should concentrate on identifying the appropriate descriptor for each assessment criterion. The highest-level descriptors do not imply faultless performance but should be achievable by a student. Teachers should not hesitate to use the extremes if they are appropriate descriptions of the work being assessed.

• A student who attains a high achievement level in relation to one criterion will not necessarily attain high achievement levels in relation to the other criteria. Similarly, a student who attains a low achievement level for one criterion will not necessarily attain low achievement levels for the other criteria. Teachers should not assume that the overall assessment of the students will produce any particular distribution of marks.

• It is recommended that the assessment criteria be made available to students.

Business research project

Duration: 20 hours

Weighting: 30% SL and 20% HL

Introduction

The IA is a research project in which students apply appropriate business management tools and theories to a real organizational issue or problem using a conceptual lens.

Requirements

The students are required to:

• select a real business issue or problem for their business research project that relates to any part of the syllabus

• refer directly to a single business organization but may consider industry-wide issues that impact on that organization

• provide a research question for the business research project that could either be forward looking or backward looking

• base their research on primary and/or secondary research, selected for its suitability, depth and breadth

• attach to the business research project three to five supporting documents from which the majority of the information for the project has been obtained

• produce a business research project that does not exceed 1,800 words

• fully reference all supporting documents and additional sources and include them in a bibliography.

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. This key concept may or may not be stated in the research question; however, it must be clearly indicated on the title page which key concept was used. Five marks are available for the identification and use of a relevant key concept; for these marks to be awarded, students must make explicit the conceptual lens they are applying to their work.

Role of teacher’s guidance

With the teacher’s support, students should choose an issue or problem for investigation, and develop a title in the form of a research question. The teacher should approve students’ questions before work is started, to ensure that they are suitable for investigation and allow access to all levels of the assessment criteria. It is highly advisable that every student is supplied with a copy of the assessment criteria. The teacher should also guide students in the selection of appropriate supporting documents.

Throughout the IA process, students and the teacher should engage in dialogue supportive of the students’ work. The teacher should comment on the students’ work plans and first draft of the project as part of the learning process.

If more than one student chooses the same organization for their research, it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that the business research projects reflect the students’ own individual research, interpretation and analysis.

If a student also writes an EE in business management, it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that the student’s IA and EE are distinct pieces of work using different research approaches. As there are different requirements and assessment criteria, students should choose different organizations for these different tasks.

Examples of appropriate questions

Examples of appropriate questions for the business research project might be as follows.

• Should company Y change its manufacturing to outsourcing?

The project could then examine areas within business management such as operations management and human resource management using change as a conceptual lens.

• How can airline X successfully target segment Y?

The project could then examine business management topics such as market segmentation, promotion, and measure of financial success using sustainability as a conceptual lens.

Supporting documents

The selection of supporting documents is very important. To achieve the highest levels of each assessment criterion, it is strongly recommended that the supporting documents present a range of ideas and views. For example, the selection of three to five documents published by a single company, or three to five surveys of similar populations, would not provide balance or objectivity.

Relevant supporting documents must be contemporary in nature and published within a maximum of three years prior to the submission of the business research project to the IB. Submission of the business research project occurs in April or October of the final year of the course, depending on the examination session of the school.

A maximum of one of the supporting documents may be a transcript of video or audio material. The transcript must provide the essential points of the video or audio file used for the purposes of the project. Only video or audio material published by a reliable organization should be used (such as the business organization itself, an organization commissioned by the business or an NGO). Particular attention needs to be paid to referencing the original video or audio file so that this may be traced.

The project can be based on primary and/or secondary sources that will form the basis of the supporting documents.

Primary sources provide first-hand information or direct evidence for the research. Examples of primary sources include:

• face-to-face and online surveys/questionnaires; students should include a blank copy of the questionnaire and a tally/summary of responses

• face-to-face and online interviews; students should include a copy of the interview questions and summary of the responses

• focus group discussions; students should include a copy of the focus group questions and summary of the findings.

Secondary sources provide second-hand information or already existing data for the research. Examples of secondary sources include:

• articles from the local, national or international press

• business accounts

• business plans

• extracts from company websites

• transcripts of a relevant audio-visual file

• financial reports

• government and other statistics

• journal publications

• market research surveys

• mission statements.

Students must select three to five of their own supporting documents, which must not be provided to the student by the teacher. Providing supporting documents with many pages is highly discouraged and hence it is recommended that no one supporting document should exceed the equivalent of five A4 pages.

Students must highlight the parts of each supporting document that relate directly to their project. Any highlighted parts of supporting documents that are not in the language for which the student is registered must be translated.

Students should label each supporting document clearly, such as “Supporting document 1”, “Supporting document 2”, and so on. This will help with referencing in the project. These should be located at the appropriate section at the end of the document.

It is expected that students will include in-text citations/references of the supporting documents and a bibliography, which should be formatted in an appropriate way. Refer to the IB publication Effective citing and referencing for further guidance.

Any additional sources such as textbooks and class notes must be referenced but will not be accepted as supporting documents.

Structure

The business research project is intended to be a structured piece of well-organized writing that effectively presents findings and conclusions. There are many different ways that a student might approach the project, but students should ensure that the submitted business research project evidences the following elements.

• An introduction that sets the context. The introduction should briefly demonstrate some background information about the business organization, give a clear outline of the issue or problem under investigation and explain the methodology used to investigate this issue or problem.

• The main body of the project in which findings from the supporting documents should be presented and analysed with the help of relevant business management tools and theories including integrating the key concept. The findings should also be interpreted: what main themes emerge from the analysis of the supporting documents, and why and how are they helpful (or not) to answering the research question? An evaluative approach to this discussion of findings should be pursued, for example, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the various positions on the issue or problem and what are their implications?

• A conclusion that answers the research question. In the conclusion, the research question should be explicitly answered. The conclusion should not introduce facts or arguments that have not been discussed in previous sections of the project. Rather, it is good practice to include those aspects of the research question that have not been fully answered in the project or that might need further investigation in order to be judged more effectively.

Presentation

Effectively presented projects require a title page, an accurate table of contents page, appropriate headings and sub-headings and numbered pages.

For the presentation of references and bibliography, please see the information on acknowledging the ideas or work of another person in the “The Diploma Programme” section of this subject guide.

Word count

The business research project must not exceed 1,800 words. The word count must be included on the cover page of the project. If the word limit is exceeded, the teacher’s assessment must be based on the first 1,800 words.

Note: Moderators will not read beyond 1,800 words for the project.

The following are not included in the 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)

• Bibliography

Please note that footnotes or endnotes may be used for references only. Definitions of business management terms and quotations, if used, must be in the body of the work and are included in the word count. Please note that citation is a shorthand method of making a reference in the body of the project, which is then linked to the full reference in the bibliography.

The business research project is assessed against seven criteria that are related to the assessment objectives for the business management course.

When the work to be assessed has been read, the descriptors for each criterion should be studied until a descriptor is reached that most appropriately describes the achievement level. If a piece of work seems to fall between two descriptors, both descriptors should be read again and the one that more appropriately describes the student’s work chosen.

There are seven assessment criteria for the business research project.

• Criterion A: Integration of a key concept

• Criterion B: Supporting documents

• Criterion C: Selection and application of tools and theories

• Criterion D: Analysis and evaluation

• Criterion E: Conclusions

• Criterion F: Structure

• Criterion G: Presentation

Criterion A: Integration of a key concept

To what extent does the student effectively integrate the analysis of the connection between the key concept and the organization under study throughout the internal assessment?

Criterion B: Supporting documents

To what extent does the student select three to five relevant supporting documents that address the research question in appropriate depth and breadth?

Criterion C: Selection and application of tools and theories

To what extent does the student effectively select and apply business management tools and theories that are relevant to the research question?

Criterion D: Analysis and evaluation

To what extent does the student effectively select and use data from the supporting documents in their analysis and evaluation of the research question?

Criterion E: Conclusions

To what extent is the student’s conclusion consistent with the evidence presented and explicitly answers the research question?

Criterion F: Structure

To what extent is the student’s research project organized using an appropriate structure?

Criterion G: Presentation

To what extent is the student’s business research project effectively presented with the use of required elements including a title page, an accurate table of contents, appropriate headings and sub-headings, and numbered pages?