When formulating a RQ for the IA, please ensure that you do the following:

• Select a real business issue or problem for a real organization; this can be a small or large business. You must focus on your chosen business throughout the IA, but (where appropriate) can consider industry-wide issues that impact your chosen organization.

• Ensure the research question is directly and clearly related to a specific part of the IB Business Management syllabus.

• Ensure you are able to collect and use 3 - 5 supporting documents to help answer the question. These supporting documents can be from primary and/or secondary research.

• Use only one of the four key concepts as a conceptual lens through which to analyse the research project. Make sure you are able to explicitly link the chosen key concept to the RQ, throughout the IA.

• Ensure the Research Question (RQ) is practical in terms of being addressed within the 1,800 Word Count Limit.

• Ensure the IA is not descriptive, but requires a balanced analysis (two-sided argument) to reach reasoned/justified conclusions

• The RQ can be either forward looking or backward looking.

• It can be based on primary and/or secondary research.

• It can focus on any-sized business, be it a large or small organization.

However, you will need to ensure your RQ is fit to purpose

Forward Looking Questions: Must have enough data to answer the question:

Whilst the RQ can be forward looking, make sure the data and information are available to adequately answer the question. For example a RQ about the potential benefits of Adidas being a partner sponsor of the FIFA World Cup in 2026 (the quadrennial international men's football championship) would not work as a good IA RQ. This is far too forward-looking and the supporting documents do not yet exist to answer the question in an objective manner.

Backwards Looking Questions: Must be recent (within 3 years)

Equally, go too far back does not work for the IA. For example, a review of the impact of the global financial crisis on General Motors (2008) or the impact of Tim Cook's leadership style on Apple (since being CEO in 2011) are far too dated. These would simply lead to overly descriptive IAs being produced.

Must have analysis and evaluation rather than just descriptive of what happened.

Make sure that your Research Question is suitable and complies with the 5S model:

• Specific = purposefully focused on a real-world contemporary issue

• Syllabus = tools and theories (such as product strategy and diversification strategies as part of Ansoff's matrix)

• Supporting documents = to answer the RQ, there is a need for relevant and contemporary supporting documents

• Systematic = manageable / methodical

• Substantiated = requires a justified conclusion.

This is an example of a good IA research question:

To what extent has product diversification contributed to Samsung’s current market leadership position in the global smartphone industry?

This is a good example of a title because it:

• is specific and focused

• encourages the application of business tools and theories

• requires the use of supporting documents to address the question, perhaps mainly or exclusively through the use of secondary research

• is manageable (within 20 hours and 1,800 word limit)

• requires a (justified or substantiated) conclusion.

1. To what extent has Bloxham Florists' creative use of social media marketing been a financial success?

2. How effective does Muller Bookstores differentiate itself from other bookstores in Dusseldorf?

3. How effective has The Studio adjusted its promotional strategy to attract a wider target market in Sai Kung, Hong Kong?

4. To what extent has Pointwell Ltd.'s use of non-financial motivation reduced its labour turnover rate?

5. How effective have Xiaomi’s growth strategies been in enhancing the company’s market position in Taiwan?

6. Will Firery Pots' "Give Back to Dulwich" initiative enable the business to improve its financial success as part of the social enterprise’s five-year plan?

7. How might creativity help Warner Bros. Discovery to increase its market share in the streaming market in the United States?

8. To what extent has Pret A Manger’s subscription model in the UK increased sales revenue?

1. How ethical has McDonald’s been in competing for employees in Oregon during the COVID-19 pandemic?

2. To what extent has Uber Eats violated its ethical code of practice by exploiting gig workers in the UK?

3. How can British Airways best resolve the industrial dispute with its cabin crew?

4. How effective is Greenpeace’s promotional strategy in Poland?

5. How competitive is the zero-pricing strategy of ‘The Standard'(newspaper)?

6. To what extent has the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal harm the market value of Facebook?

7. To what extent has Starbucks committed to meeting its 99% ethical coffee standards and practices?

8. Is TOMS Shoes' "One-for-One Model" considered to be a commercial approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) or a genuine altruistic approach to CSR?

1. How effective has Natural Elements Skincare’s internal growth strategy been in strengthening the company’s corporate image in the UK?

2. To what extent has Rakuten Seiyu Netsuper’s pricing methods enabled it to stay competitive in Japan’s growing online grocery market?

3. How likely will OLA’s investment in environmentally-friendly e-scooters improve its market share in Mumbai, India?

4. To what extent are the operations of Costa Coffee ecologically and economically sustainable?

5. To what extent can Deliveroo (UK) rely on its current growth strategies to reverse its operating losses caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic?

6. To what extent is Zara’s “Join Life” initiative able to tackle the problems it faces in the ‘fast fashion’ industry?

7. To what extent has H&M’s sustainability policies impacted its profitability in the post-COVID era?

8. To what degree does the role of data play in Coca-Cola remaining relevant and staying connected to its consumers in the age of digital transformation in the US market?

9. Given that Coca-Cola has been accused of being the world's “worst plastic polluter”, to what extent does its “World Without Waste” sustainable packaging strategy disprove this claim?

10. To what extent will Apple’s 2030 agenda contribute to improving its global ecological impact?

11. To what extent is IKEA’s CSR measures making its supply chain more sustainable?

12. To what extent has H&M's sustainability strategies had a positive impact on its sales revenue in Portugal?

13. How effective has TOMS Shoes (US) operations as a B-Corp been in sustaining its profitability?

14. To what extent is Tesla’s sourcing of lithium and cobalt both economically and ecologically sustainable?

15. To what extent will Toyota’s plan to launch a range of 15 new electric vehicles by 2025 improve its low market share in the UK’s EV industry?

1. How likely will Netflix’s change in its product portfolio strategy (its gaming platform) be likely to increase the company’s profitability?

2. Will H&M’s change in distribution strategy improve its profitability?

3. How significant will KPMG’s decision to abolish homeworking following the removal of COVID-19 restrictions impact its labour productivity?

4. How likely will Citibank's decision to enable its employees to continue working from home (WFH), despite the recent lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, improve labour productivity?

5. To what extent has the lack of HGV vehicle drivers in the UK affected supply chain management at Tesco?

6. How effective has love n Skate's external growth strategy impacted the social enterprise's financial performance?

7. How far is Goldman Sachs's change in vacation policy useful to reduce the company's labour turnover rate?

8. How effective has Pho’s external growth strategy through franchising been in improving the company's financial performance in the UK?

9. How likely is Google Bard to achieve market leadership in the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot industry in the US?

10. To what extent has Brexit impacted Marks & Spencer’s European sales revenue?

11. To what extent will Amazon’s strategy of vertical integration of logistic services contribute towards it profitability?

12. How probable will Lego's new supply chain strategy (production planning strategy) lead to an increase in its market share in Asia?

13. How likely is it that Peloton’s decision to stop in-house production (of exercise bikes) in favour of outsourcing will be effective in solving the company's cash flow issues?

14. To what extent will Netflix’s decision to change its subscription pricing enable the company to increase its profits?

15. How likely will Netflix’s limit on password sharing increase the number of subscriptions?

16. To what extent will Netflix’s strategy of introducing games on its streaming platform lead to an increase the company’s overall profitability?

17. To what extent can changing its channels of distribution (shifting away from using wholesalers and independent retail chains) improve Nike's profitability?

18. Should Waitrose (supermarkets) invest in up-selling and cross-selling algorithms to make online shopping more personalized for customers?

19. To what extent will Waitrose reducing prices of its own-branded products maintain the supermarket chain's market share in a cost of living crisis?

20. To what extent has Aldi’s low price strategy allowed it to gain market share in the UK?

This is likely to lead to a descriptive and potentially or highly biased piece of work. It is likely to be difficult to get supporting documents that provide a balanced, two-sided argument to this question. In addition, it is challenging to apply appropriate business management tools, theories, and techniques to answer this question.

Given Toyota's legacy of lean management philosophy since the 1950s, the answer to this question might be too obvious from the outset.

This will tend to lead to a highly descriptive piece of work. It is also a question that does not require the use of a conceptual lens to answer, so it therefore not suitable for the business research project.

"How did" research questions will tend to lead to highly descriptive (rather than analytical or evaluative research projects). In this case, any "scandal" will likely to have caused only major damage to the company's reputation, brand value, and sales revenue. Hence, it is unlikely that the student will be able to provide a balanced, two-sided argument using the supporting documents.

Whilst "change" as a key concept appears in the research question, the RQ is inappropriately phrased. This is because an organization's decisions/actions/strategies are driven by its mission or vision and hence its business objectives (such as growth), rather than the other way round.

This research question is far too broad; there are too many parts to the questions:

How has Samsung ‘s marketing strategy evolved over time to maintain its market leadership in the highly competitive consumer electronics industry, and what impact has this had on its brand perception and customer loyalty?

• Avoid using "marketing strategy" in any research question as this is far too broad for 1,800 words.

• Furthermore, avoid double-barrelled questions that require the students to answer two or more questions (brand perception and customer loyalty, in this case).

The answer to this research question is obvious from the outset - Lidl is a discount supermarket that only uses a cost-leadership strategy to maintain its competitiveness. A good RQ will entail research that relies on contrasting evidence from a range of suitable supporting documents. In this case, it would be unrealistic to find any evidence that Lidl uses alternative generic competitive strategies (Porter's) or pricing methods.