The HL 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:
You have to write a report on a
current problem facing a real
business.
Your report must include a
recommendation to solve the
problem.

There are two parts to the IA:

Research
Proposal
4 / 25

Business
report
21 / 25

Research
Project
25 / 25

Or think of it like this:

4% of the
final mark

21% of
the final
mark

25 % of
the final
mark

What do they mean?

The Research Proposal - is a document
that states what and why you are writing
your report.
There is a maximum limit of 500 words.
The Report itself states how you are
proposing to solve the problem identified.
There is a maximum limit of 2,000 words.

How will you do this?

Stage 1 Produce the Research Proposal
May June
Stage 2 Collect the data and produce a
1st draft
June August
Stage 3 Write up final draft of the Report
September - October

An Example question

Should company x
improve its marketing
strategy in order to
make more profits?

An Example question

Should company x
improve its marketing
strategy?

An Example question

Should company x
improve its pricing
strategy?

An Example question

Should company x
introduce a
destroyer pricing
strategy to product
y?

Stage 1 The Research Proposal:

The Format:
Research Question what are you going to do?
Theoretical Framework why are you going to do it?
Methodology how are you going to do it?
Anticipated difficulties
what can go wrong & how will you sort it out?
Action Plan when will you do it?

Stage 2 Producing The Data

Collecting the data
Collating the data
Writing the first Draft

The data
You must collect both primary and
secondary data.
There are two factors that are
important when deciding what type of
data to collect:
1. How is it to be used?
2. How reliable is the data?

Collecting data
Examples of single source & unreliable
data are when the source for your
information is only:

a survey
an interview
a textbook
a website (the company)
one person (the manager)
only the business itself

An example A Product
Positioning 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.

Some techniques used well

Decision Making
Model

Ratio Analysis

Forecasting

Decision
Trees

Statistics

Networking

TQM

SWOT
Analysis

Marketing Models Budgeting

FFA

PEST
Analysis

Investment
Appraisal

Motivational
Theory

Ishikawa
Fishbone

BCG Matrix

CPA

GANTT Charts

Surveying & Sampling

Techniques

Benchmarking

Ansoff Matrix

Channels of Distribution

Leadership
Theory

Communication
Theory

Organisational Charts

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:

Link the analysis to your research data
Be succinct and ordered
Integrate your data, analysis and evaluation
Avoid relying too heavily on a single source
(the business)
Use independent sources
Avoid unsupported generalisations
Be critical dont take everything for granted

Assessment criterion A:
The Research Proposal:
Has to be in the format required
Has to have an adequate action plan
Has to include anticipated difficulties
Has to be in the word limit
Has to be a working document

Assessment criterion B:
The Report:
Has to include primary & secondary
research
Has to include qualitative & quantitative
data
Has to be multi sourced
Has to only include appropriate data
Has to be used effectively

Assessment criterion C:
The Report:
Has to be probing not descriptive
Has to be objective
Has to be realistic
Has to be critically reflective
Has to be informative

Assessment criterion D:
The Report:
Has to have a succinct set of
conclusions
Has to have a yes/no recommendation
Has to include unanswered questions
Has to suggest ways of resolving these
Has to have no obvious omissions

Assessment criterion E:
The report:
Has to have an Executive Summary
Has to have accurate & consistent
referencing
Has to include relevant appendices
Has to be in the word limit