The SL Business &

Management IA

How important is this IA?

The Extended Essay is worth:

1.5 points
The Business IA is worth:

2.5 points

Your Task:
To write a commentary based
on 3-5 documents covering a
common theme, 1,500 words.

Meaning
You have to write a commentary on a
real issue or problem, not a fictional
one, with a title presented as a
question.
The commentary must refer directly
to a single business organisation, but
may consider industry-wide issues
that impact on that organisation.

There are two parts to the IA:

Commentary
25 / 25

25 % of
the final
mark

1% of
your final
mark

Or:
Every mark
you get

How will you do this?

Stage 1 Find the supporting documents &
identify the tools & techniques to
use. May June
Stage 2 Use the tools & techniques to
analyse the supporting documents
June August
Stage 3 Write up final draft of the Report
September - October

An Example question

How can British

Airways resolve the
industrial dispute with
its cabin crew?

An Example question

What impact will the

recall of Toyota cars
have on the brand?

An Example question

How will the

introduction of pay per
view for Times online
be profitable?

An Example question

Will the merger of

Continental and
United Airlines be a
success?

The Format:
1. Title (in the form of a question)
2. Introduction (including a description of
methodology)
3. Findings (based on the supporting
documents)
4. Analysis of the findings
5. Conclusion(s)
6. Bibliography and references
7. Appendices: supporting documents

Stage 1 The Supporting Documents:

Supporting Documents
Some secondary sources:
market research surveys
articles from local, national
or international press
financial reports
business accounts
business plans
mission statements
web based surveys
extracts from co websites
govt and other statistics
academic publications

Some primary data:

questionnaires
interviews
discussions with focus
groups
observations
surveys

Supporting Documents
To achieve the highest levels of each assessment
criterion, it is strongly recommended that the
supporting documents will present a range of
ideas and views.

The selection of three to five documents, for

instance, published by a single company or three
to five surveys of similar populations would not
provide balance or objectivity.

Tools & Techniques

Decision Making
Model

Ratio Analysis &

Final Accounts

Forecasting

SWOT
Analysis

Product Life
Cycle

Motivational
Theory

TQM

CSR

Marketing Mix

Stakeholder
Conflicts

Economies of
scale

PEST
Analysis

Investment
Appraisal

Motivational
Theory

Break Even
Analysis

BCG Matrix

Benchmarking

Ansoff Matrix

Channels of Distribution

Leadership
Theory

Communication
Theory

Organisational Charts

Stage 2 Using the tools & techniques

Confirming the tools & techniques
Applying the tools & techniques
Writing the first Draft

The data Sources

You must collect secondary data.
You may want to collect primary but
you dont have to.
There are two factors that are
important when deciding what type
data to collect:
1. How is it to be used?
2. How reliable is the data source?

An example A Product
Positioning Map
If your commentary is a marketing
one then you may well decide to
introduce a product position map.

High Price
Apple

Creative

iriver

Oregon

Low Price

Source:
I did a survey of 20 randomly selected
students from my school as they are the
ones who use MP3 players the most.

High Price
iriver

Archos
Beosound
Apple Nano

Apple Photo

Rio
Sharp

Apple Shuffle

Oregon

Low Price

Creative (Muvo)
Ministry of
Sound
MPman

Source:
What Hi Fi? Sound & Vision Awards 2005
Survey criterion System: MP3, AAC or
WMA; Radio, Microphone, Storage capacity,
USB, FireWire, Battery life, Dimensions &
Weight

The Techniques to use

We recommend two general points
1.

Use 3 or 4 techniques.

2.

Use at least 1 qualitative and 1

quantitative technique.

Stage 3 The final write-up

There are four elements in this stage:
1. Reworking the first draft
2. Writing the analysis & evaluation
3. Writing a conclusion & recommendation
4. Producing the completed project

Writing the analysis & evaluation

You need to consider:

How to link the analysis to more than one of
your supporting documents
Be succinct and ordered
Integrate your data, analysis and evaluation
Avoid relying too heavily on one document
Avoid unsupported generalisations
Be critical dont take everything for granted

Assessment Criteria
Total = 25 marks

A = 4 marks
B = 6 marks
C = 6 marks

D = 3 marks
E = 3 marks
F = 3 marks

Assessment criterion A:
supporting documents
There are three to five supporting documents.
The documents cover a range of ideas and
views.
The supporting documents are contemporary in
nature, written within the last two years.
The relevant parts of the supporting documents
are highlighted.
The documents are relevant to the issue or
problem being examined.
Different types of documents are included.

Assessment criterion B:
Choice and application of business
tools, techniques and theory
Business tools and techniques are included in the
commentary.
Business theory is included in the commentary.
The tools, techniques and theory are relevant to the
question posed.
The commentary includes a range of tools, techniques
and theories.

Assessment criterion C:
Use, analysis and synthesis of
data
There is evidence that data is used,
analysed and synthesized.
Data from the supporting documents is
used to help answer the question posed.
The ideas are written in a clearly structured
and logical manner.

Assessment criterion D:
Conclusions
The conclusion(s) are relevant and answer
the question posed in the title.
The conclusions are supported by the data
from the supporting documents.
The conclusions are a logical extension of
the arguments.

Assessment criterion E:
Evaluation and critical thinking
Judgments are made.
All judgments are substantiated.
The nature of the supporting documents
has been considered.
The reasons why the problem or issue
exists have been discussed.

Assessment criterion F:
Presentation
The written commentary is within the word limit.
Sources are provided for all the supporting documents.
Sources are provided for any quotations used in the written commentary.
The referencing is consistent throughout.
An appropriate bibliography is provided.
Subject-specific terminology has been used throughout the commentary.

The title question has been answered.

The word count is provided on the commentary.
The commentary is focused on the issue or problem identified.
The commentary follows a logical structure from identifying the issue or
problem through to he conclusion.