Specific recommendation based on past IA submissions
Review assessment criteria before starting your project.
Know the word counts for all sections of your report, check that your project is within the word limit and understand that moderators will not read beyond the word count limit.
Do not include too many materials in the appendices and be aware that any tools and techniques purely placed in the appendices will not be assessed.
Have a clear and focused research question that is achievable and forward-looking with a title that is neither too broad in scope nor over-ambitious.
Include a business rationale rather than a personal rationale for the investigation.
Include a research proposal containing all the required components and show that you understand all IB requirements before beginning the written report (with particular emphasis on the inclusions of a detailed action plan).
Keep the research proposal separate from the written report, follow IB required format and include a column for modifications in your action plan.
Follow IB guidelines for content pages, which should not include any reference to the research proposal and action plan.
Follow the IB requirements for format and order of sections as found in the business management guide.
Identify and select appropriate primary sources. The aim should be to gather data from a range of credible and reliable primary sources that offer trustworthy and valid data to support the conclusions and recommendations.
Collect primary data which are appropriate, varied and sufficient that will help answer the research question. In most cases, this means going beyond the partial views of the owners, or managers of the business by seeking out validation or alternative viewpoints.
A single primary source is considered to lack sufficiency and, as a result, a maximum of 1 can be rewarded. There are no set number of sources. 2 sources can be enough to be appropriate, varied and sufficient, although 3 sources offer broader evidence of the highest mark level.
For 3 marks to be awarded in criteria C, there needs to be a good understanding of relevant business management tools, techniques and theories, which are then skilfully applied. This requires the demonstration firstly an understanding of the tools, techniques and theories applied and then to use appropriate tools to collate and classify the data collected. Finally, the results need to be used to address the research question.
Ensure that the main results and findings section includes only the main results and findings and tables, graphs and charts, where appropriate.
Only tools, techniques and theories in the main body can be rewarded, it is not enough just to reference tools, techniques and theories placed in the appendices as this circumvents the word count.
Analyse and integrate your ideas in a logical and coherent manner, using a range of relevant and appropriate business tools, techniques and theories beyond PEST, SWOT and force field analysis. While these tools are perfectly acceptable and useful business tools if used appropriately and accurately, there are a range of other tools, such as position maps, product life cycle, ratios, investment appraisal, cash flow, budgets, Ansoff’s matrix, fishbone analysis, break-even, decision trees and sales forecasting, which might be better employed to support the investigation of the research question asked.
SWOT is a situational analysis and may represent a good starting point for an investigation and identification of a future strategy or approach, but it needs to be supported with evidence and data from primary or secondary research, and the entries fully sourced and supported.
Use a variety of presentation techniques and statistical tools when you are analysing your data, with well- labelled, titled and properly sourced diagrams. The failure to include quantitative tools and to bring costings into the report reduced the credibility of conclusions and recommendations.
Show adequate critical and reflective thinking throughout the report and not just in a few segments of the report.
Provide limitations of your research including giving future study to resolve any weaknesses identified.
Provide full references and acknowledge all sources you have used to support your data.
Identify the potential costs of recommended actions.
Assess yourself with the IA assessment criteria before you hand in your final draft.
Include an executive summary that is a “summary” of the report as a whole (in the past tense) and not just a repeat of the introduction.
Reflect on your approach to your research and limitations of this approach.
Include in your appendices, comments from the supporting organisation on the completed assignment, as evidence that it was at least submitted to you.