IB Business Management Syllabus

IB Business Management The IB Business Management course has been updated from 2014, with the first new exams being taken in 2016. The assessment Higher level Paper 1: 135 minutes, 70 marks All based on a pre-seen case study Section A: answer three out of four structured questions, subdivided into parts, 10 marks each. Section B: answer one compulsory question, subdivided into parts, 20 marks. Section C: answer one compulsory question based on HL extension topics, 20 marks. Paper 2: 135 minutes, 80 marks All based on an unseen case study Section A: answer one out of two structured questions, including calculations, subdivided into parts, 20 marks. Section B: answer two out of three structured questions, subdivided into parts, 20 marks each. Section C: answer one out of three extended response questions, based on real-life businesses studied in the classroom and beyond. 20 marks. Internal assessment (IA) Research and report on an issue facing an organization or a decision to be made by an organisation (or several organisations). Maximum 2000 words. 25 marks. Mark allocation: Paper 1: 35% | Paper 2: 40% | IA: 25% Standard level Paper 1: 75 minutes, 50 marks All based on a pre-seen case study Section A: answer three out of four structured questions, subdivided into parts, 10 marks each. Section B: answer one compulsory question, subdivided into parts, 20 marks. Paper 2: 105 minutes, 60 marks All based on an unseen case study Section A: answer one out of two structured questions, including calculations, subdivided into parts, 20 marks. Section B: answer one out of three structured questions, subdivided into parts, 20 marks. Section C: answer one out of three extended response questions, based on real-life businesses studied in the classroom and beyond. 20 marks. Internal assessment (IA) Written commentary based on three to five supporting documents about a real issue or problem facing a particular organization. Maximum 1500 words. 25 marks Mark allocation: Paper 1: 35% | Paper 2: 40% | IA: 25% Next exams 2016 Monday 21 November pm HL/SL paper 1 Tuesday 22 November am HL/SL paper 2 What do you study? IB Business Management covers the main activities of small and large businesses: > How they are organised and the environment operate in, > Their main functions: Marketing, Operations Management, Human Resource Management, Finance and Accounts. It also covers how businesses operate as a whole and their role in society. This is split into six core concepts: Change, Culture, Ethics, Globalisation, Innovation, Strategy Your course will focus on real-life examples where you can reflect on the decisions different businesses made. For example, is it right for a business to cut their workforce, raise their prices or enter a new market? Should they be worried about global warming, Brexit or obesity? How do they improve efficiency, sell more products or embrace new technology? You might focus on a local business like a newsagents or on large corporations like Apple and Google. You will discover the reasons why Jeff Bezos successfully developed Amazon or Mike Ashley has been under pressure at Sports Direct. In your own research projects, for the higher level, you will look at a business very close to home and get an insight into their operations from a personal point of view. For standard level, you will compare several large businesses in some depth. What skills do you need? > Writing skills: You need to be comfortable writing longer answers, though not long essays in the exams. > Maths: Mathematically, you need to be happy to manipulate numbers in short formulae, but more importantly, know what the results mean. There is some data analysis. This will complement your IB Maths course > Research: Though you will be guided by your teacher, you must also be prepared to seek out fresh material. Business news is daily. Take in an interest in what’s happening in the world. Some exam questions will ask you to give examples from these businesses. What do the key areas mean? What should you be expecting to study with each key term? Here is a very brief summary: The functions > Marketing: the ways that businesses persuade customers to buy their products, from the first idea through to the ways to sell. > Operations management: how a business designs, builds, produces and provides their goods and services; the best ways to provide a quality output at the lowest cost. > Human resource management: making the best use of the people who work within the business, from recruitment through to training; what are the ways to incentivise them, retain and develop them. > Finance and accounts: measuring the performance of the business, controlling the money in the business and providing financial information to make decisions. > Business organisation and environment: why a business chooses to be a certain size and type; how it interacts with the world outside. The six concepts > Change: how a business reacts to changes in areas like competition, consumer tastes and technology. > Culture: the business’s attitude to decision-making, from employees through to the owners. > Ethics: the morals of making business decisions, like whether to relocate to a low-cost country. > Globalisation: how a business buys, sells and produces across many countries, taking into account the consequences to themselves and others. > Innovation: the way a business can develop ideas into products, or embrace new technology and how it reacts to other businesses’ innovations. > Strategy: long-term planning and big decisions that shape a business’s future; how they decide and who they need to satisfy. Example questions SL/HL possible questions > Comment on the effectiveness of Ruth Jones’ leadership style at Bygone Clothes. > Define the following terms: (i) debtors (line 20) (ii) quality assurance (line 38) > Bygone Clothes have decided to change their ethical objectives now they are relocating their production to India. Examine the reasons why organisations consider setting ethical objectives. Longer answer question for HL > With reference to one or two organizations that you have studied, evaluate different strategies businesses can adopt to respond to issues of globalization.