SL Business Management Internal Assessment

This is a guide to SL Business Management Internal Assessment for IB students. You’ll learn what this assessment assignment is all about, the right structure to use, the assessment criteria, and more. In short, if you’re looking for a more comprehensive guide on SL Business Management IA, you’ve come to the right place.

What is SL Business Management IA?

SL Business Management IA is an assessment assignment worth 25 marks. The assignment requires you to choose a business-related question, use up to 5 data documents and at least course tools for analysis. Your focus will be on a single business and its aspects, and the expected word count of the assessment is 1,500 words.

SL Business Management IA Outline

The following is the structure of the SL Business Management IA, with what you should include in each section:

Title Page

This page should include in the particular order in which we’ve highlighted:

• The research question you’ve formulated
• The business or audience you intend to target
• The IB number, written in the right  format
• Session
• Word count in your IA

The title page should NOT include student number, school, candidate number, student’s name, or the name of the school.

Contents Page

The contents page should have the following information, with the corresponding page numbers:

• Acknowledgement
• Introduction
• Methodology
• Analysis and discussion
• Conclusion
• Work Cited
• Appendices

Acknowledgement

While the acknowledgment isn’t included in the word count, it’s an important part of the SL Business Management IA. This part simply shows your gratitude to teachers, students, and anyone else who helped you with your IA. This section is very easy to write and it’s best to keep in short and direct to the point.

Introduction

The introduction is the section where, according to IB, you set the scene for your SL Business Management Internal Assessment.

Write down the company’s name and explain what it does. Follow this with the research question, and then explain why it’s important to the company you’re currently studying.

Suggested word count: 150

Methodology

Show how you picked 3 to 5 sources for your SL Business Management IA. Your description should clearly demonstrate that you put enough time and thoughts in the process to bring out a clear range of perspective.

Your methodology has to indicate the part of the course that you’ll use to explore the issue and why such chapters and tools are important. Also, there should be a short but clear explanation of the sources used and why they’re relevant to the research question.

Don’t just mention the reliability of your data. You should also state the weaknesses that your sources have. Also, don’t forget to mention the changes you made if there is any.

Suggested word count: 200

Analysis and Discussion

Use at least 3 or 4 technique to do your analysis and discussion. It’s important to link the tools in the order in which they appear in the analysis to give the readers a clear picture of how the tools are not only related but also useful in answering the research question.

Furthermore, the conclusion in this section should include insights and themes that emerged from your overall analysis and discussion.

Suggested word count: 900

Conclusion

The conclusion of your SL Business Management IA should be as insightful as your analysis. You’re limited to 250 words, and that means you have a very small room to write, so only the most important details should go into this section.

A good conclusion should support your analysis by summarizing your best insights. As with any other type of essay, the conclusion of this assessment shouldn’t introduce new arguments or facts that you haven’t yet addressed in the analysis. More importantly, make sure the conclusion includes a very clear answer to your research question.

Suggested word count: 250

Work Cited 

This section should include all the 3 to 5 sources used. You should cite your work using the MLA format.

You can use additional source for minor information in your work. If you choose to do so, make sure to include those sources in this section as well.

Appendices

Like Work Cited, this section too doesn’t have word limit. You should include copies of the 3 to 4 supporting documents with their respective labels for easy referencing. Also, you should write down the parts of the supporting document as used in the analysis.

Choosing Sources for Your SL Business Management IA

You will have to choose 3 to 5 secondary sources for the SL Business Management IA. The source you choose for your SL IA in this subject should:

• Feature different point of views provided they’re relevant to the Business Management issue that you’ve decided to investigate
• Be recent. The sources you pick should not be more than three years old. If you’re taking your final IB test in May 2022, pick sources written not later than June 2019.
• Come from variety of sources. Use business articles, explore annual business reports, look at academic papers, read market research documents, and credible news websites.
• Fit your analysis tools. It’s important to include a source that contains numbers to help you with financial analysis

SL vs HL IA in Business Management: What’s the Difference?

It’s important not to confuse between SL and HL IA in Business Management. Below is a comparison table between the two, which should help to keep you on the right track.