Step 1: Choosing the Title

Keep it mind that:

• Your decision has to involve a real business

• You are expected to carry out primary research from the organisation and will require a letter from the business to confirm that they have received your report

• You may need to convince the business of the confidentiality of your research. This is assured – only three people will see the data – you, your supervisor and the business itself. A letter of confidentiality is available on request.

• Even so, many businesses do not give out accounts and other sensitive documents – be prepared for this.

• Your decision/problem has to be current – you cannot take a decision that has already been made by the company and write a report in retrospect.

• Your decision has to be answered by you – based on a variety of data that you have collected and business tools that you have applied

• Your decision has to be answerable within 2,000 words – don’t choose a ‘big’ decision, keep it simple and straightforward

Step 2: The Research Proposal

This section of the IA is worth 3 marks out of the total of 25. It must be no more than 500 words, this includes the action plan. The research proposal is intended to be a planning document that you write before you actually start researching for information. It should therefore be written in the future tense.

Step 3: Data Collection

Just like in every other subject's IA - students must collect data using primary and secondary research methods. Your main source of research should be primary research and this is supported by secondary research. Examiners in the past have commented upon an over reliance on internet research so you must try to show a broader range of sources. Make sure that you have both internal and external sources of information. One of the single biggest mistakes students make is to rely on only one source of data. This makes the data – and your analysis invalid.

Step 4: Data Collation

After you have collected the data then you have to begin the task of organising it in your project. This crucially depends on when and how you will collect the data. Your teacher will check your data before you start writing up the internal assessment. If there is insufficient data then you may be asked to change your title to something where information is more readily available or to change the title/research question to tailor the research and information that you have already collected in order to make your research suitable for usage.

Referencing the Data:

The IB takes referencing the data very seriously indeed. Not just because of the plagiarism issue but because the Bibliography, References and Appendix show the extent of your research. However, be warned the project is not marked by weight – in fact the more ‘padding’ you add the more chance you have of losing marks.

Appendices

This is used for material that would otherwise destroy the flow of your argument. E.g. sample questionnaires or company accounts. The IB is not impressed with students who try and beat the word limit by dumping huge tracts of materials in the appendices. The golden rule is only put it there if you have used it and if you don’t need to use it – don’t! You will eventually highlight the information in your appendices that you have referred to in your report.

Bibliography

This is a list of all the references you have cited in your report. It must be in alphabetical order and only include sources that you have cited in your report

Reference

A reference gives full details of the source cited in the work; the parts or elements of the reference should be noted in a consistent order. Use of a recognized style guide will help ensure consistency, and will also ensure that all required elements are included.

Citations

A citation in the text links to a full reference in the bibliography. BSM recommends that you use the MLA style of citation. The IB say that you must use a consistent style.

Step 5: Formatting & Writing Your IA

The IB expects you to have created more than one draft of the Business Report. This is to show that you have modified your work as you go along. After you have submitted your first draft you will be given feedback and advice on how you can improve your report. The IB have a required format for the report. You need to make sure that you include all of the sections outlined and they must also be in the correct order.

Format of Your IA:

1. Title Page

• This page should give a clear indication of what is contained in the research project

2. Acknowledgements

   • This section should acknowledge any individual(s) who has made the production of the Internal Assessment and Written Report possible.

3. Table of Contents

• This should include the major headings in the report, beginning with the Executive Summary. Page numbers should be clearly indicated.

4. Executive Summary

• The Executive Summary provides a review of the document as a whole, outlining conclusions drawn and recommendations made. Together with the title, the Executive Summary should provide a clear overview of the document. It is imperative, therefore, that it is explicit yet brief (maximum 200 words).

• This should be written last and should be in the PAST TENSE

  • • It is essential that the executive summary include three elements:

• the research question

• the scope of the research (including the methodology)

• the main findings, conclusions and recommendations.

5. Introduction

   • The function of the Introduction is to demonstrate background knowledge about the organization, and set the context of the report.

   • Also to give a clear outline of the topics under investigation and to outline the rationale for the research.

6. Research Questions

   • This is a clear, unambiguous question that indicates the scope of the investigation and requires an answer. A well-devised question is more likely to result in a report that achieves high marks.

   • The research question should be reviewed at the end of the process and amended if necessary.

7. Procedure or Methodology

   • This should be a summary of the primary and secondary research undertaken and the business techniques (theories and decision-making tools) applied. It should also include an assessment of the validity and reliability of the data collected (e.g. partiality, bias and scope) and the methods employed. You should explain any changes made as the work progressed.

8. Main Results & Findings

   • The purpose of the analysis of the results section is to clarify what the raw data has revealed. This should include a summary of the data collected and findings, and could, where appropriate, be supported by tables, graphs and statistics, lists.

   • All tables, graphs, images etc need to be captioned with a label (eg. Figure 1) a title (eg. Key financial data for 2013/14) and a source

9. Analysis

• This involves interpreting the results and findings and applying the business tools and concepts.

• Students often choose to split this into sub sections for each of the concepts/tools they are applying. The discussion should be sequenced and coherent. It should also be carefully referenced.

• For each subsection a good structure would be:

• Application of the tool/concept

• Analysis/Discussion relating to the research question

• Evaluation – Conclusions as to the implications for the research question

• Critical thinking – identify limitations of the tool/data that has been used

10. Conclusion & Recommendations

    • The conclusions and recommendations must follow from the analysis and discussion. Students must state their conclusion and then justify their decision with reference to their analysis. They must not refer to any new information which has not already been discussed earlier in the report.

    • Recommendations should be precise and there should be practical proposals for action that stem from the conclusions.

    • It is also necessary to make reference to the limitations of the research done and how this could be addresses by the business.

11. Bibliography

    • The report should contain a correctly presented bibliography, acknowledging all sources cited in the analysis and results sections

12. Appendices

    • These should include only relevant information that supports or emphasizes what is discussed in the report. You should be careful not to include inappropriate materials such as lengthy company reports.

    • Appendices could include photographs, transcripts, articles, financial data, questionnaires

13. Letter of Authentications

    • You need to include a letter from the organisation that verifies that you have conducted research at their organisation and that your report was submitted to them

Writing the Introduction:

The aim of the introduction is to give some background to the company and the issue that is being discussed. You are basically explaining why the issue is important and what the aim of the report is.

Writing the Procedure/Methodology:

In this section you need to explain the research that was done. This would include details of both the Primary method and the secondary sources you used. It should be written in the past tense. It should include specific details such as sample size and sampling method etc. This should relate to the proposed research that you outlined in your research proposal. You must identify any weaknesses or limitations of the research was done.

Writing the Results and Findings:

This section should briefly summarise the key findings of your research. This could include graphs, tables and charts and also bullet point lists of key information. You do not need to discuss these as this will be done in the Analysis and evaluation section.

Writing the Analysis & Evaluation:

This is the most significant area in the whole project. Just under 30% of your total marks come in here. It pays to get this bit right, so to help you, consider the following points:

• 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 – don’t take everything for granted

A good strategy for this section is to split it into sub-sections according to each tool/concept you are applying. In each subsection you should include:

• A brief explanation of the tool/concept

• Application of the tool to your chosen business (using data where possible rather than just opinion)

• An analysis of how this relates to your research question. What does it imply regarding the decision you are trying to make.

• You need to show evidence of critical thinking, a good way to do this is to mention limitations of the tool you have used or the data that you used.

Writing the Conclusion & Recommendation

This section must continue on from the previous material. Some points that you may want to bear in mind when writing your conclusion:

• It should clearly state the decision you have come to regarding the research question

• You should justify your decision with evidence from your analysis

• There should be no new material introduced

• The conclusions must be consistent with the evidence presented

• Don’t ignore evidence because you don’t agree with it.

The recommendation should once again follow on from the conclusion and it should be brief and consistent. It must include the following elements:

• A clear recommendation

• Unanswered questions should be stated (limitations identified)

• Suggestions to resolve these unanswered questions are made (limitations addressed)