An extended essay in business management requires you to choose a topic for which you can demonstrate a clear analysis of commercial activities at different economic levels.
Once you choose a topic, you develop a research question, conduct in-depth research, create a clear structure, and write a critically analyzed argument backed with solid evidence and credible data.
In this guide, we look at the research question, structure, assessment criteria, grade descriptors, and tips you can use to write an extended essay in the subject.
Research Question
First, come up with an EE research question on which the business management report will hinge. You develop the research question after choosing a specific EE topic in business management. Ensure the research question you come up with aligns with the concepts, research materials, scope, techniques, usefulness and application, and engagement of the subject.
The best research question is one for which you can:
- Conduct research that fits the scope of the extended essay.
- Apply business analysis methods, terminologies, and techniques while drawing a direct link to theoretical concepts taught in the business management course.
- Add depth to your extended essay based on highly relevant records or useful research data.
- Draw inspiration only from journals and newspapers that give you relevant ideas applicable to current business environment.
- Express your interest in the topic and investigation by demonstrating a higher level of engagement.
IB Business Management Extended Essay Structure
The structure of your extended essay in business management should include the following components:
Title Page
The title page should include the following information:
- Title: It should be a clear statement of your research.
- Research Question: Write the research question in this part.
- Subject: The subject should be “Business Management”.
- Word Count: Indicate the number of words in your essay.
Keep in mind that the title page doesn’t contribute to the overall word count of the extended essay.
Table of Contents
While the table of contents is not part of the word count, it’s an essential part of the structure. Here’s where you include all the parts of your business management EE with their respective page numbers.
Introduction (250 Words)
The introduction gives a clear context for your research question.
- Explain why your research is interesting and why it’s important to your audience.
- Describe what you’ll investigating, how you intend to explore your research question, and how valuable your research is to your audience.
Methodology (250 Words)
Divide the methodology in two parts, one for the source and one for the tools. Additionally, mention the limitations and drawbacks of these sources and tools.
Sources
State and explain the primary and secondary sources of your research. Appropriate sources include news articles, company annual reports, magazine articles, and encyclopedia.
- Include the benefits and drawback of each source.
- Ensure majority of your research comes from secondary sources.
Tools
- State the tools you’ll use for analysis, discussion, and evaluation.
- Explain why you’re going to use these tools and how relevant they’re to your business management assignment.
- Mention any changes to your toolset should there be any, along with an explanation on why such changes are necessary.
Analysis (3100 Words)
The analysis of the business management extended essay is at most 3,100 words long. It’s in this section that you share your research, analysis, discussion, and evaluation.
Divide the analysis into two sections, one for the tools and the other for your research. Each paragraph should relate to the research question. Therefore, the analysis, discussion, and evaluation have to include relevant tools and research.
Tools
Show your teacher you know how to do what you’ve learned in a business management class. Include 4 to 5 tools, which you use to answer the research question.
According to Tim Woods from IB Mastery, you should include qualitative tools, such as PEST and SWOT, before the quantitative ones, such as decision tress and ratio analysis, and at least one financial tool if possible.
Research
Make an impression with your research, even if it goes beyond what you’ve learned in the classroom. The research part will have all the details that teach your reader (your business teacher in this case) something.
Conclusion (400 Words)
The conclusion ties everything together to show what you’ve done to answer your research question.
- Mention the limitation of your research and explain any other unresolved question.
- You shouldn’t introduce new ideas (ideas you haven’t addressed in the analysis parts of the extended essay)
Work Cited
Here’s where you put all the sources you’ve used in your business management extended essay. Aim for 3 to 4 pages of sources, but keep in mind that work cited is not part of your word count.
Business Management EE Rubric
IB evaluates an extended essay in business management based on the following 5 criteria:
- Focus and method
- Knowledge and understanding
- Critical thinking
- Presentation
- Engagement
The grades range from A to E. The top grade has a maximum of 34 points. Anything below a C is a fail.
Criterion A: Focus and Method
Criterion A examines how unique, focused, intelligent, and analytical you’re when using techniques learned in the course and outside the classroom.
To do well on focus and method:
- Develop a clear, focused research question and use secondary sources for research.
- Demonstrate your scholastic ability to apply theories in practical situations.
- Come up with relevant answers to you research issue, and offer a possible solution to the problem at hand.
- Support your arguments with relevant, recent, and credible evidence or data.
- Develop a well-organized, logical methodology leading up to your conclusions.
Criteria B: Knowledge and Understanding
Knowledge and understanding focuses on how much you’ve learned in the course and how well you can apply the concepts you’ve learned.
- Use business terminologies to show a business-oriented thinking.
- Use abstract concepts in the paper add a thorough explanation of your process using a simple language that readers can understand.
- Include and explain diagrams and charts to explain concepts that would be hard to explain in words.
- Ensure your ideas follow an analytical process while remaining grounded in the case you’re exploring.
Criteria C: Critical Thinking
Here’s where you have to show a unique application of business concepts, technique, theories, and methods to analyze the problem under investigation.
- Back your argument with in-depth, credible research.
- Be self-critical by making sure you evaluate the accuracy and reliability of your sources.
- Comment on the gaps or weaknesses your arguments don’t solve and suggest what you think researchers can do to solve these issues.
- Use the analytical techniques learned in the course to follow up every point you make in your business management extended essay.
Criterion D: Presentations
This criterion looks at how well you organize and communicate your ideas.
Your work should have a clear and easy to understand language, clearly labeled charts, graphs, figures, and images, and a solid structure with headings and subheadings.
Criterion E: Engagement
Engagement looks how well you engage with the research topic based on the subject’s intersection in your life.
- Avoid using a third-person perspective because doing so will earn you few points.
- Include instances of personal interactions, and show that the research question you choose is relevant to you and others.
Extended Essay Grade Descriptors
The following are the grade descriptors used for IB Business Management Extended Essay:
Descriptor A
To get an A, you must have a clear research question, conduct relevant research, and demonstrate expert knowledge and understanding of the materials taught in the classroom.
Also, show a comprehensive engagement to and explanation of the problem.
Your extended essay in business management should feature a logical, structural layout, include key reflections, and have relevant, accurate conclusions.
Descriptor B
To score a B, you need to demonstrate good knowledge of research, appropriate research skill, and a reasonable application of the business concepts and techniques learned in the classroom.
Also, offer a synthesis of an effective research question, a satisfactory presentation, and conclusion supported by evidence presented in the IB business management extended essay.
Descriptor C
Students who score a C for their extended essay in business management are those who display some knowledge and understanding of the key concepts involved, including reasonable application of the topic.
However, the essay fails to synthesize the research question, it offers descriptive instead of an evaluative discussion, there are errors in the arguments use, and structure used is poor.
Descriptor D
Business management extended essays that score a D reflect poor research that lead to a general focus.
Although the essay shows some relevant knowledge of the topic, the content is full of discrepancies and inaccuracies.
In addition to the lack of a logical structure and coherent readability, the essay lacks a critical evaluation of the topic and the conclusions are inconsistent.
Descriptor E
An E is the grade awarded to an unclear essay with an unsystematic approach. The essay lacks a clear focus because it portrays limited knowledge of key concept, not to mention it has an inconsistent analysis and an inaccurate conclusion.
Tips to Write a Compelling IB Business Management Extended Essay
1. Choose Your Research Question
The research question for your IB Business Management Extended essay should not be practical or actionable.
This is applicable only in the Internal Assessment.
Also, make your research question focused, not too broad and not to narrow. While you should be asking relatively simple questions, make sure they aren’t too obvious.
2. Formatting Your Work
Your IB teacher will also look into how you format your work. So it’s important to make sure you get this right from the start.
Use the Times New Roman font type and 12-point font size. Double space your work and make sure every page has a number.
3. Citing Sources
You need to cite all the sources you use in writing your IB Business Management Extended Essay. You can use any citation format, but it’s preferable to MLA.
And don’t worry if you find citing sources somewhat confusing. Our guide on sources and citation should be enough to point you in the right direction.
4. Sticking to the Word Count
Your piece of research should not exceed 4,000 words.
Even if you feel like you have a lot to write to make your ideas clear, you should trim down during revision if your work is more than 4,000 words already.
5. Write a Great Reflection
The reflection for your IB Business Management Extended essay is not only important as the other parts of the assignment.
It’s also about 18% of the total grade. So you should give it your best shot.
6. Edit Your Work Thoroughly
Reading a 4,000-word IB Business Management Extended Essay after spending so many hours writing it can be rather boring and much less time consuming.
But doing so is the only way to make sure your essay is good enough for submission and ready for marking.
- Look out for grammar and spelling mistakes and fix them. Use a tool such as Grammarly to make your work easier
- Rewrite longer sentences, making them short and concise.
- Don’t hesitate to trim down word count in a sentence if you can say the same thing but in fewer words
- Do parts of your essay sound redundant? Delete them, regardless of where they appear in the essay
- Have you used a source you haven’t cited? Go back and fix the error
Editing your work thoroughly isn’t the fun part of working on an IB Business Management Extended Essay. However, it goes a long way to make your essay read better.
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