Contents:

• Purpose of internal assessment ( higher level and standard level)
• Internal assessment details – Standard Level Introduction
  • Requirements
  • Examples of appropriate questions
  • Supporting documents
  • Examples of secondary sources include
  • Format of the written commentary
  • Assessment criteria

Purpose of internal assessment

Internal assessment is an integral part of the course and is compulsory for both standard level (SL) and Higher Level  (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 internal assessment requirements at SL and at HL are different for the business management course. The SL internal assessment is a written commentary and the HL internal assessment is a research project.

Internal assessment details – Standard Level  ( SL)  Written commentary ( Marks: 25,weighting: 25% and  word limit: 1500 words)

Introduction

The SL internal assessment is a written commentary that allows students to demonstrate the application of business management tools, techniques and theories to a business issue or problem. Requirements

SL students are required to:

• select a real business issue or problem for their written commentary that must relate to the SL syllabus.
• refer directly to a single business organization, but may consider industry-wide issues that impact on that organization.
• base their written commentary on secondary research, selected for its suitability, depth and breadth. Primary research may be used as support.
• provide a title for the commentary that, to give focus and direction, must be framed as a question.
• produce a written commentary that does not exceed 1,500 words.
• attach to the commentary three to five supporting documents from which the majority of the information for the commentary has been obtained.
• fully reference all supporting documents and additional sources and include them in a bibliography

Examples of appropriate questions

Examples of appropriate questions for the written commentary might be

• To what extent did Company X’s growth strategy through outsourcing prove to be successful in terms of market presence and sales revenue?
• To what extent can X’s leadership style and business strategy justify the growth of ABC plc?
• To what extent did the external growth through merger prove to be successful for ABC in terms of sales revenue and profit margin?

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. The supporting documents must be of a contemporary nature and written within a maximum of three years prior to the submission of the written commentary to the IB. Submission of the written commentary occurs in April or November of the final year of the course, depending on the examination session of the school.

The commentary must be based on secondary sources and may include primary data.

 Examples of secondary sources include:

• Articles from the local, national or international press
• Business accounts
• Business plan
• Extracts from company websites
• Transcripts of a relevant audio-visual file
• Financial reports
• Government and other statistics
• Journal publications
• Market research surveys
• Mission statements
• Web-based surveys.

Note: Though the written commentary is based on secondary data,  candidates may include appropriate primary data, should the commentary requires.

Format of the written commentary

Although there is no required format for the written commentary, it should nonetheless be a structured piece of well-presented writing. An introduction that sets the scene, presentation, analysis and discussion of findings, and a conclusion that answers the commentary question provides an effective structure for the commentary. Good presentation additionally requires a title page, an accurate table of contents page, appropriate headings and sub-headings, consistent referencing, a complete bibliography, and numbered pages.

Thus, the candidate may follow the following format:

• Title/cover page
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Body (main findings, analysis, and discussion)
• Conclusions/s (should include the summary, answer to the question, and reflections)
• Bibliography

Note: Supporting documents are submitted/uploaded separately and are not included in the appendix.

Internal assessment criteria—SL ( 25 marks)

The SL business management written commentary is assessed against seven criteria that are related to the assessment objectives for the business management course.

• Criterion A: Supporting documents (0- 4 marks)
• Criterion B: Choice and application of business tools, techniques, and theories (0 -5 marks)
• Criterion C: Choice and analysis of data and integration of ideas (0- 5 marks)
• Criterion D: Conclusions (0- 3 marks)
• Criterion E: Evaluation (0- 4 marks)
• Criterion F: Structure (0- 2 marks)
• Criterion G: Presentation (0- 2 marks)

Source credit: IB Business Management syllabus guide, published by the IBO.

Internal assessment details – Higher Level  ( HL)  Research Project ( Marks: 25,weighting: 25% and  word limit: 2000 words)

Contents:

• Introduction
• Requirements
• Choice of topic and organisation
• Examples of appropriate questions
• Research proposal (500 words)
• Format of the research proposal
• Written report
• Word count summary
• Assessment criteria
• The list of business management analytical tools

Introduction

The HL internal assessment is a research project that allows students to demonstrate the application of their skills and knowledge to business issues or decision-making

Requirements

HL students are required to:

• design and undertake research that either addresses an issue facing a business organization or a range of organizations or analyses a decision to be made by a business organization or range of organizations
• select a real business organization or a range of organizations and a real issue or decision under investigation
• base their research project on primary research they gather from the organization investigated (secondary research may be used as support)
• provide a title for the research project that, to give focus and direction, must be framed as a question
• produce a research proposal (of maximum 500 words), including an action plan, to be used as the primary planning document.
• produce a written report that does not exceed 2,000 words
• write the report in a style and format of a useful working document for management.

Choice of research topic and organisation

Students should, with the teacher’s guidance, choose their own topic and organization that they find interesting and motivating. It is always recommended to select a local business firms where students will have an easy access to people, data, etc. Research question should be forward looking.

Examples of appropriate questions

Examples of appropriate questions for the  HL research project  might be:

• To what extent can going public be the best source of finance for XYZ Private Limited to expand its production capacity to meet increasing demand in the domestic market?
• To what extent can opening a new retail store in place X be a successful internal growth strategy for ABC than expanding the store in Y to increase their presence in the jewelry market?
• Should ABC private limited, an intellectual property rights firm go online filing system in order to increase their revenue and profit margin?
• Should ABC garments outsource knitting work to reduce overhead costs and increase profit margin?
• Should ABC Cabs lease rather than purchase 2 more cars to meet the increasing demand for local city tours?
• To what extent accepting orders online would be a successful internal growth strategy for ABC Café to increase sales revenue?

Research proposal (500 words)

The internal assessment must start with a research proposal. This will become the primary planning document, giving direction to the research project. The maximum length of the research proposal is 500 words. The word count must be stated on the submitted work

Format of the research proposal

The research proposal will have the following elements:

• Research question (RQ)
• The rationale for study (business-related)
• Proposed methodology
  • Areas of the syllabus to be covered
  • Analytical tools to be used
  • Sources of primary and secondary data
  • Individuals and organizations to be approached
• Anticipated difficulties and possible solutions
• Action plan/timeline (Gantt chart is preferred)

Written report

The written report, which follows the research proposal, is the second part of the research project.   The written report must consist of the following sections.

• Title page: The title page should give a clear indication of the content of the research project, including personal code, the title of the project, the intended audience, and the word count.
• Acknowledgements: The acknowledgements should recognize any individual and/or organization that made the production of the report possible.
• Contents page: The contents page should include the major headings in the report, beginning with the executive summary. Page numbers should be clearly indicated.
• Executive summary ( 200 words) The executive summary should be a concise, clear, and explicit summary of the document, including the recommendations and conclusions. The research question and executive summary should guide the reader to the substance of the report. The maximum length of the executive summary is 200 words, and this is not included in the word count.
• Introduction: The introduction should demonstrate some background knowledge about the organization(s) and give a clear outline of the issue or decision under investigation.
• Research question : Research question is stated here.
• The methodology employed: The methodology section should be a summary of the primary (and, where relevant, secondary) research undertaken and the business tools, techniques and theories applied. It should also include an assessment of the validity and reliability of the data collected (for example, partiality, and scope) and the methods employed. Any changes made as the work progressed should be explained.
• Main results and findings: The main results and findings section should clarify what the raw data has revealed. This should include a summary of the data collected and of the findings made, and should, where appropriate, be supported by tables, graphs, and statistics.
• Analysis and discussion: In the analysis and discussion section, the results and findings should be analysed with the help of relevant business tools, techniques, and theories. They should also be interpreted: what main issues emerge from the research, and why and how are they helpful (or not) to answering the research question? An evaluative approach to the discussion of findings should be pursued: for example, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the various positions on the issue or decision under investigation and what are their implications?
• Conclusion(s) and recommendation(s): The conclusions should follow on from the analysis and discussion; new facts or arguments should not be presented. Recommendations should be precise, answer the research question and be practical proposals for action that stem from the conclusions. If the results of the research are inconclusive, further research should be recommended. To be of practical value to management, the report should be forward-looking and support the organization’s decision-making process
• References and bibliography: For presentation of references and bibliography, please see the section on acknowledging the ideas and work of another person in the “The Diploma Programme” section of this subject guide.
• Appendices: The appendices should contain only information or data that is required to support of the text and should be clearly referred to where relevant. The appendices will typically include examples of photographs, documents, questionnaires, numerical raw data in tables, and statistical calculations.

Written report- watch this on YouTube

Summary of word count

Internal assessment criteria—HL ( 25 marks)

The HL business management research project is assessed against nine criteria that are related to the assessment objectives for the business management course. Criterion A refers to the research proposal, while criteria B–I are used to assess the written report

There are nine assessment criteria for the research project.

Criterion A: Research proposal (0- 3 marks)

Criterion B: Sources and data (0- 3 marks)

Criterion C: Use of tools, techniques and theories (0- 3 marks)

Criterion D: Analysis and evaluation (0- 6 marks)

Criterion E: Conclusions (0- 2 marks)

Criterion F: Recommendations (0- 2 marks)

Criterion G: Structure (0- 2 marks)

Criterion H: Presentation (0- 2 marks)

Criterion I: Reflective thinking (0- 2 marks)

Source credit: IB Business Management syllabus guide, published by the IBO.

The list of business management analytical tools