<p> - 1 -</p><p>IB BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT INTERNAL ASSESSMENT</p><p>Requirements...... 2 Choice of research topic...... 2 Written report...... 3 Word Count...... 5 Research proposal and action plan...... 6 Assessment details...... 7 Written report...... 7 Time allocation...... 7 Analytical Tools...... 8 HL internal assessment criteria...... 8</p><p>Weighting: 25% Approx: 30 hours</p><p>The internal assessment for higher level IB Business and Management takes the form of a research project. This is set so that you can demonstrate the application of your knowledge, analysis and evaluation skills to real world organisations. </p><p>The research project enables students to demonstrate the application of their skills and knowledge to real organizational issues or decision-making. Students must select a real organization, not a fictional one, and the issue or decision under investigation must also be real. </p><p>First, you will need to select a real world organisation, preferably one in which you have a contact (e.g. family member), which has either a problem to solve or a decision to make. The nature of this problem/decision will then help you decide upon a title for your research project. This title should be framed as a research question so that your research project has focus and direction and that your written report is analytical rather than descriptive and allows you to come to conclusions and make recommendations for further action to your chosen organisation.</p><p>The expectation is that a student should gather primary research from the organization. You should then think about the primary research that you will need to gather from your chosen organisation and the secondary research that will need to do in order to answer your research question. The style and format of the report should be in the form of a useful working document for management.</p><p>For a variety of reasons not apparent at the start of your project, for example confidentiality, some organisations will fail to provide you with data. This will obviously undermine the quality of your work. Therefore, before starting any primary research you must make sure that your chosen organisation will provide you with all necessary data. - 2 -</p><p>When carrying out your primary research, you must also be aware of such things as the need for tact, sensitivity to other people and respect for confidentiality. Failure to take account of such ethical considerations will reflect badly on you and the school.</p><p>The primary and secondary research you undertake needs to be thorough as it will form the basis of your research project, which will eventually comprise: </p><p> a research proposal and action plan  a written report.</p><p>The research proposal and action plan should be used as the primary planning document and not exceed 500 words (see separate ‘Research Proposal and Action Plan’ sheet).</p><p>The style and format of the written report should be in the form of a useful working document for management and not exceed 2,000 words (see ‘Word Count’).</p><p>NB: You must select the appropriate research to be used in the analytical tools (See; ‘Analytical tools’). The key point is that the work must be validated through evidence. The selection of the analytical tools and the way conclusions and recommendations are formed must all be linked and logical. There is no scope for guesswork or superficial analysis.</p><p>Requirements</p><p>HL students are required to:  Design and undertake research that either addresses an issue facing an organization or range of organizations or analyses a decision to be made by an organization or range of organizations  Produce a research proposal that should be used as the primary planning document and be presented in terms of an action plan  Provide a title for the research project that, to give focus and direction, must be framed as a question  Produce a written report that does not exceed 2,000 words.</p><p>More than one student is allowed to choose the same organization for their research, provided that the written report reflects the student’s own individual work, interpretation and analysis.</p><p>Choice of research topic</p><p>Students should, with the teacher’s guidance, choose their own topic and organization. Ideally, students should find their topics interesting and motivating.</p><p>The teacher should approve each topic before work is started, and ensure that it complies with the requirements for internal assessment. For a variety of reasons not apparent at the start of the project, for example confidentiality, some organizations - 3 - fail to provide data, which will undermine the quality of the final report. Students must therefore make sure before starting their investigations that they will be able to obtain the necessary data from the chosen organization.</p><p>Students must be aware of ethical considerations when undertaking any research. There is a need for tact, sensitivity to other people and respect for confidentiality.</p><p>The overall research project must be your own work, and you will be asked to provide a declaration of authenticity that this is so. Failure to do so, and/or any evidence of copying from another student, plagiarism, etc. will mean your work will not be assessed against the IB Business and Management Internal Assessment Criteria (see syllabus).</p><p>Written report</p><p>The written report must not exceed 2,000 words1 and must have the following sections:</p><p> Title Page  Acknowledgements  Contents Page  Executive Summary (or Abstract) (of between 100-200 words which are in addition to the word count of 2,000)  Introduction  Research Question  Procedure (or Method)  Main Results and Findings  Analysis and Discussion  Conclusions and Recommendations  Bibliography and References  Appendices.</p><p>The title page does not have a set format but should reflect the fact that the written report must have a professional appearance.</p><p>The acknowledgements section should express thanks to all the individuals/organisations that helped in the compiling of the written report (including relevant members of staff).</p><p>The contents page does not have a set format but, again, should reflect the fact that the written report must have a professional appearance. Therefore, the page on which the introduction to the written report appears should have the page number -1- and all the pages before it, with the exception of the title page, should be referenced by Roman numerals.</p><p>1 Which does not include the title page; executive summary; diagrams, figures, tables of data; bibliography and references and appendices (see Appendix 1 attached). - 4 -</p><p>The executive summary should be a clear, concise and explicit summary of the written report. Therefore, it should make reference to the research question, and have an outline of the procedure or method undertaken and an outline of the conclusions and recommendations of the report.</p><p>The introduction should include contain background information on the organisation investigated; an outline of the Business and Management topics that were used during the investigation; your rational for study (see previous notes on Research Question and Action Plan).</p><p>The research question, as has already been indicated, should have been framed in such a way that the investigation had focus and direction and that the written report is analytical rather than descriptive and allows for conclusions and recommendations for further action to be made to the organisation investigated. The research question should be forward-looking rather than descriptive and should require the student to make recommendations for further action.</p><p>The procedure should make reference to the primary and secondary research undertaken and the analytical tools applied. It should also include details of the methods that were employed to collect data and an assessment of the reliability and validity of such data. Any changes to the planned procedure that occurred as work progressed should also be explained in this section.</p><p>The next section of the written report should clarify what the raw data has revealed. This should take the form of a summary presentation of the main results and findings of the data. Wherever possible, this summary should be via graphs, tables, statistics etc. and include no analysis of the results/findings.</p><p>The analysis and discussion section should have two parts. The first should comprise a clear and succinct analysis (including relevant numerical analysis) of the results/findings. The second part should identify the main issues arising from the analysis and explain their significance. The latter is likely to take the form of an evaluation. Whatever form it takes, such a discussion should be coherent and sequenced and be carefully referenced.</p><p>The conclusions and recommendations section is not the place to introduce new facts or arguments. The conclusions must be consistent with the previous analysis and discussion and are usually presented as a list of fairly brief statements. Recommendations should be precise and include practical proposals for action by the business under investigation that arises from the conclusions. Thus, the recommendations must include accurate costings based upon information/data referred to in the main results and findings section and analysed in the analysis and discussion section. If the results of the research are inconclusive, a recommendation should be made for further research to be undertaken.</p><p>The bibliography and references section should be completed as follows. First, quotations/references from textbooks and other sources of information should be acknowledged (including the specific pages numbers used from texts) at appropriate points either in the main body of the text or through the use of footnotes. Second, a summary of such quotations/references (in numerical order) should be presented prior - 5 -</p><p> to any bibliography and appendices. Third, the bibliography should be presented formally in the same way as that for the IB extended essay. Thus, for example, all website references should show the date on which it was viewed.</p><p>The appendices should contain only relevant information/data that emphasises/supports the written report. Examples of such appendices include questionnaires, tally charts, other tabulated numerical raw data, statistical calculations, documents, photographs etc. Each separate appendix should be numbered (i.e. Appendix 1 etc.) and be referred to clearly at relevant points in the written report.</p><p>The whole of the written report should be forward-looking, support the decision- making process and be of practical value to management. Thus, when compiling the written report students should:</p><p> use the Higher Level Internal Assessment Criteria in the IB Business and Management syllabus to ensure the correct procedures are being followed</p><p> be objective at all times and ask themselves “Is what I am producing, really of value to management?”.</p><p>Word Count</p><p>The table below indicates which information is included in the word count of the written report.</p><p>SECTION INCLUDED IN THE WORD COUNT Title Page No Acknowledgements No Contents Page No Executive Summary (or Abstract) No Introduction Yes Research Question Yes Procedure (or Method) Yes Main Results and Findings Yes Analysis and Discussion Yes Conclusions and Recommendations Yes Bibliography and References No Appendices No - 6 -</p><p>Research proposal and action plan CONTENT</p><p>The internal assessment must start with the research proposal and action plan. These will become the primary planning documents, giving direction to the research project.</p><p>The research proposal and action plan must outline:</p><p>· the research question · the rationale for study · areas of the syllabus to be covered · possible sources of information · organizations and individuals to be approached</p><p>Assessment details</p><p>· methods to be used to collect and analyse data, and the reason for choosing them · anticipated difficulties · the order of activities and timescale of the project.</p><p>Required format for research proposal </p><p>The research proposal and action plan must not exceed 500 words* and must have the following sub-headings:</p><p> Research Question  Theoretical Framework  Methodology  Anticipated Difficulties  Action Plan.</p><p>Students should use the research proposal and action plan as their primary planning documents, reviewing them regularly with the teacher and modifying or rewriting them as necessary should circumstances change.</p><p>The maximum achievement level for criterion A, research proposal and action plan, is four (see “HL internal assessment criteria”). Students who fail to produce a research proposal or action plan will be awarded zero for this criterion.</p><p>Students should consider the possible difficulties they may face when carrying out their research, for example, limited or biased sources.</p><p>NB: The first draft of your research proposal and action plan will not be your last! You should use these as your primary planning documents, reviewing them regularly and modifying/rewriting them as necessary. No version of your research - 7 - proposal should be written in the past tense and only the final version of your action plan should refer to events that have already taken place.</p><p>* of which, a minimum of 16 words must be used for a main heading, sub-headings and column headings. </p><p>Assessment details</p><p>Written report The written report, which follows the research proposal, is the second part of the internally assessed research project. The report must follow acceptable practice in report presentation, reflected in the required format for the written report shown below.</p><p>The 2,000 words does not include supplementary information such as the title page, executive summary, diagrams, figures, tables of data, references and appendices. The executive summary should be a concise, clear and explicit summary (maximum 200 words) of the document, including any recommendations or conclusions. The research question and executive summary should guide the reader to the substance of the report.</p><p>To be of practical value to management, the report should be forward-looking and support the decision-making process. The appendices should contain only information/data that is required in support of the text, and should be clearly referred to at relevant points.</p><p>Time allocation</p><p>The fact that internal assessment is an integral component of the HL course, contributing 25% to the final assessment, should be reflected in the total time allocated to the research project. It is recommended that approximately 30 hours should be allocated to the research project. This should include:</p><p> time for the teacher to explain to students the requirements of the project, including codes of ethical behaviour and confidentiality  class time for students to work on their projects  time spent by the student making arrangements with the selected organization and visiting to collect data  additional time spent outside normal class time for students to work on their own  time for consultation between the teacher and each student  time to review and monitor progress, and to check authenticity. - 8 -</p><p>Analytical Tools</p><p>The alphabetical list below shows the range of analytical tools that can be used by higher level students for internal assessment purposes:</p><p> Ansoff’s matrix (see Topic 1, sub-section 1.7 – Growth and Evolution)  appraisal (of employees) (see Topic 2, sub-section 2.1 – Human Resource Planning)  Boston matrix (see Topic 4, sub-section 4.3 – Product)  break-even analysis (see Topic 5, sub-section 5.3 – Break-even Analysis)  cash flow forecasts (see Topic 3, sub-section 3.3. – Working Capital)  contribution (analysis) (see Topic 5, sub-section 5.2 – Costs and Revenue)  critical path analysis (see Topic 5, sub-section 5.8 – Project Management)  decision trees (see Topic 1, sub-section 1.6 – Organisational Planning Tools)  elasticity (i.e. price, cross, income and advertising elasticities of demand) (see Topic 4, sub-section 4.4 – Price)  environmental audits (see Topic 1, sub-section 1.3 – Organisational Objectives)  Fishbone (chart) (see Topic 1, sub-section 1.6 – Organisational Planning Tools)  investment appraisal (i.e. payback period, Average Rate of Return [ARR], Net present Value [NPV])(see Topic 3, sub-section 3.2. – Investment Appraisal)  Lewin’s force field analysis (see Topic 1, sub-section 1.8 – Change and the Management of Change)  market research (see Topic 4, sub-section 4.2 – Marketing Planning)  marketing audit (see Topic 4, sub-section 4.2. – Marketing Planning)  PEST analysis (see Topic 1, sub-section 1.5 – External Environment)  Porter’s five forces (see Topic 4, sub-section 4.2. – Marketing Planning)  positioning/perception maps (see Topic 4, sub-section 4.2 – Marketing Planning)  product life cycle (see Topic 4, sub-section 4.3 – Product)  ratio analysis (i.e. profitability, efficiency and liquidity ratios, gearing, and shareholders’ ratios) (see Topic 3, sub-section 3.6. – Ratio Analysis)  sales forecasts (see Topic 4, sub-section 4.2 – Marketing Planning)  stock control (graphs) (see Topic 5, sub-section 5.7 – Production Planning)  SWOT analysis (see Topic 1, sub-section 1.6 – Organisational Planning Tools)  variance analysis (see Topic 3, sub-section 3.4. – Budgeting)</p><p>HL internal assessment criteria</p><p>The HL business and management research project is assessed against five criteria that are related to the objectives for the business and management course. Criterion A refers to the research proposal and action plan, while criteria B–E are used to assess the written report. - 9 -</p><p>When the work to be assessed has been read, the descriptors for each criterion should be studied until a descriptor is reached that most appropriately describes the achievement level. If a piece of work seems to fall between two descriptors, both descriptors should be read again and the one that more appropriately describes the student’s work chosen.</p><p>Criterion A Research proposal and action plan Criterion B Use of theoretical concepts, sources and data (written report) Criterion C Analysis and evaluation (written report) Criterion D Conclusions and recommendations (written report) Criterion E Value to management (written report) - 10 - - 11 - - 12 -</p>