Wednesday, November 18, 2015

IB Business and Management SL Internal Assessment (Rubrics)

IB Business and Management SL Internal Assessment (Rubrics):


Task Summary: Select a real company or organization. Apply business theory to do one or more of the following situations:

* Suggest a possible solution to a problem faced by a real company (e.g. ethical issue,HR problem, Marketing, Operational problem).
* Suggest new strategies a company could implement to reduce costs and increase profitability. (e.g. strategies could be marketing, operational or HR related).
*Suggest new strategies a company could implement to improve market share and increase sales. 

Your response must be descriptive, but rather forward looking and of value to management.


Research Question: You must formulate a research question that uses business theory, to solve a real problem or proposes strategies to further improve a business.



Length:                                                 1,500 words


Bibliography:                                        Minimum of 12 resources, using the internet, books, journals and other sources. 
Must comply with all conventions.

Referencing:                                          Extensive in text citation.

Visual Stimulus:                                   At least five Graphs, Charts, Tables, and other images.

Presentation Style:                               12 point, Times New Roman font, left justified, double spaced.

Individual Work:                                  Individual work only, no group work permitted.


Business Theory:                                   You must apply relevant business theory to a selected company case study.


Introduction

The aim of the IB Business & Management IA is to demonstrate the application of your business skills and knowledge.

SL Written Commentary

Background

Your IA this year is a written commentary. You will need to demonstrate the application of business and management tools, techniques and theories to a real business issue or problem.

You must select a real organization for this, not a fictional one, and the issue or decision under investigation must also be real.


The Commentary

You must produce a commentary with a title presented as a question. Your commentary must refer directly to a single business organization, but you may consider industry-wide issues that impact on that organization.

Your commentary must be based on primary and/or secondary data, selected for its suitability, depth and breadth.

Your commentary must not exceed more than 1,500 words. A word count must be included as part of the commentary.

The commentary requires analysis and evaluation of the business issue/problem. Judgements should be made throughout the commentary, but are essential within the conclusion.

You must attach five supporting documents from which the majority of the information for the commentary has been obtained. Any additional sources, such as textbooks, class notes and DVDs/videos, must be referenced, but will NOT be accepted as supporting documents.

All supporting documents and additional sources must be fully referenced and included in bibliography.


SELECTING YOUR SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

Your supporting documents have to be up-to date. They have to be written a maximum of two years before the submission of your written commentary ( 2014 to current).

You must select your own supporting documents. Teachers are not allowed to provide these for you. It is also recommended that you do not use the same supporting documents as other students in the school.

Any supporting documents in other languages must be translated.

Examples of secondary sources of information for your commentary:

  • Market research surveys
  • Articles from the local, national or international press
  • Financial reports
  • Business accounts
  • Business plans
  • Mission statements
  • Web-based surveys
  • Extracts from the company websites
  • Government and other statistics
  • Academic publications
 

Examples of primary sources might include:

  • Responses to questionnaires (if you do this, you should include a blank copy of the questionnaire and a tally/summary of results)
  • Transcripts of interviews and discussions with focus groups
  • Results of surveys.

The selection of your documents is very important. To achieve the highest level of each assessment criterion, it is strongly recommended that the supporting documents present a range of ideas and views.

Example:

Should Starbucks continue to roll out their concept to sell beer and wine in the early afternoon/evening?

The commentary could then examine business concepts such as:

·       economies of scale
·       target markets
·       profitability
·       training
·       marketing mix
·       external environment
·      Etc.

Your commentary will include tables and graphs. The supporting documents and supplementary information such as diagrams, figures, tables or data and references are not included in the 1,500 words.

Don’t forget – you can present a SWOT as a document in the appendix and then you could reference it in the text of the body. This is because it is NOT about where the SWOT is, but more about how it is used and applied. EVERYTHING IN THE SWOT MUST BE REFERENCED

When choosing your title, consider the following:

We think "How should..." is better than "How can..." since the former requires you to justify (critically) your answer, whereas the latter tends to lead to descriptive answers.

Information in tables is not included in word counts providing it is concise (for example, like sets of numbers, lists of counties, etc.).


The following is extracted from the IBO website:

Link to samples on the IB site with moderators scores and comments - http://xmltwo.ibo.org/publications/DP/Group3/d_3_busmt_tsm_0709_1_e/StudentWork_overview_en.html

Written commentary—overview

The following is a suggested structure for your IA written commentary:
  1. Title (in the form of a question)
  2. Introduction (including a description of methodology)
  3. Findings (based on the supporting documents)
  4. Analysis of the findings
  5. Conclusion(s)
  6. Bibliography and references
  7. Appendices: supporting documents
The internal assessment for SL is a written commentary that answers a question based on a problem or issue of a single business organization. The problem or issue must be related to the business and management SL syllabus. While the problem or issue must be chosen in relation to a specific organization, it may affect a number of organizations or the industry as a whole. However, the focus of the commentary is the individual organization.
The written commentary enables SL students to demonstrate the application of business and management tools, techniques and theories to a real business issue or problem. Students must select a real and contemporary issue or problem, not a fictional one, facing a single business organization.
·       The title of the written commentary must be phrased in the form of a question.
·       The commentary can be based on primary and/or secondary sources.
·       The commentary requires analysis and evaluation of the issue or problem, and the student must form judgments, and incorporate them into the commentary in light of the question posed in the title.
·       The maximum number of words for the written commentary is 1,500 words.
·       Students must provide a declaration of authenticity on the coversheet of the written commentary.

Written commentary—details

   Title
The title question must be clear and focused, allowing the student to answer it by carrying out a limited amount of research, supported by chosen documents. If sufficient sources are not available for the research to be carried out, the question should be replaced.

The following are examples of suitable questions.
·      Is including a line for male customers a profitable decision for company X?
·      Is a wage increase an effective way to increase productivity & motivation in company Y?
·       Is company Z’s decision to increase productive capacity by building a new plant a sound financial decision?
    Introduction
A brief and focused introduction should explain the purpose of the commentary and the methodology used to investigate the problem or issue. Business tools, techniques and theory should be included to present the commentary in appropriate business format and to support the analysis and the judgments with relevant business concepts and theory.
    Finding
In order to write the commentary the student should refer to secondary sources and may collect primary sources depending on the issue or problem investigated. These sources provide a vast and varied amount of information for the student to analyse and answer the question.
Three to five of these sources have to be selected and presented as supporting documents for the commentary. They should be included in the appendices, with the relevant sections highlighted by the student.
Although it is mandatory to include three to five sources as supporting documents, this does not mean that the investigation should be limited to these documents. Any sources consulted by the student but not chosen as supporting documents should be referenced in the body of the commentary and included in the bibliography.
   Analysis of the      findings
The above findings have to be analysed in the light of the title question, taking into account business theory and using, as far as possible, business tools and techniques. This analysis could be included as a separate section, or it could be included together with the findings (findings and analysis). The different supporting documents should be analysed in such a manner that their relevance to the question is clearly established. The analysis should also show how the supporting documents relate to each other.
   Conclusion
The title question must be answered, based on the analysis of the findings and, in particular, on the analysis of the supporting documents. The conclusion should not introduce ideas or judgments that have not been discussed in previous sections of the commentary. It is good practice to include those aspects of the question that have not been fully answered in the commentary or that might need further analysis or investigation to be judged more effectively.
    Bibliography         and references
The commentary should contain correctly presented references and a bibliography. Only books and web pages actually consulted should be included. The access dates to the web pages consulted should be specified. If the student refers to sources of any type, these should be referenced through the use of footnotes.
    Appendices:           supporting             documents
The appendices should only include the three to five supporting documents, chosen by the students as the structuring documents for the commentary. The chosen documents have to be included in their complete form, although relevant parts to the investigation have to be clearly highlighted.

SL written commentary

A Supporting documents

If fewer than three supporting documents are presented, a maximum of three marks can be awarded.
Achievement level
Descriptor
0
There are no documents presented in support of the commentary.
1
The supporting documents are irrelevant.
2
The supporting documents are generally relevant but some lack depth.
3
The supporting documents are relevant and sufficient in depth.
4
The supporting documents are relevant, sufficient in depth and provide a range of ideas and views.

 



B Choice and application of business tools, techniques and theory

Achievement level
Descriptor
0
There is no use of business tools, techniques or theory.
1
There is a limited selection of business tools, techniques and theory.
2
There is a limited selection of business tools, techniques and theory, and these are superficially applied.
3
There is appropriate selection of business tools, techniques and theory, but these are superficially applied.
4
There is appropriate selection of business tools, techniques and theory, and these are suitably applied.
5
There is appropriate selection of business tools, techniques and theory, and these are competently applied.
6
There is a broad and appropriate selection of business tools, techniques and theory, and these are skillfully applied.

C Use, analysis and synthesis of data

Achievement level
Descriptor
0
There is no use of data from the supporting documents.
1
There is inappropriate selection of data from the supporting documents.
2
There is appropriate selection of data from the supporting documents.
3
There is appropriate selection of data from the supporting documents with superficial analysis.
4
There is appropriate selection of data from the supporting documents with appropriate analysis.
5
There is appropriate selection of data from the supporting documents with appropriate analysis. There is some integration of ideas.
6
There is appropriate selection of data from the supporting documents with appropriate and detailed analysis. There is coherent integration of ideas.

D Conclusions

Achievement level
Descriptor
0
There are no conclusions.
1
Conclusions are inconsistent with the evidence presented.
2
Some of the conclusions are consistent with the evidence presented.
3
The conclusions are consistent with the evidence presented and answer the commentary question.

E Evaluation and critical thinking

Achievement level
Descriptor
0
There is no evidence of evaluation.
1
There is limited evidence of evaluation.
2
There is evidence of evaluation, but not all judgments are substantiated.
3
There is evidence of evaluation, and judgments are substantiated. Critical and reflective thinking occurs in the commentary.

F Presentation

Achievement level
Descriptor

0
The commentary exceeds 1,500 words.

1
The commentary is disorganized and lacks structure. Sources are not appropriately referenced.

2
The commentary is sufficiently organized and structured with some use of appropriate business terminology. Sources are appropriately referenced.

3
The commentary is well organized and structured, with consistent use of appropriate business terminology. Sources are appropriately referenced and an appropriate bibliography is provided.




Selecting a topic:

Selecting a topic for the research project or written commentary

It is important that students, with the teacher’s guidance, choose an issue that:
·       engages their interest
·       is realistic in terms of resources
·       meets the criteria for assessment.

Using the library

The school library should be used actively to enable students to acquire the skills of individual research through a variety of media such as books, periodicals and electronic databases. The ability to locate and use appropriate sources effectively is essential for worthwhile research in business and management.
The professional librarian is a trained information specialist, whose knowledge of, and insight into, information will complement that of the subject specialist teacher. The librarian can help students and teachers with information gathering and research skills at all stages of the research project or written commentary.
The teacher may wish to build on the work of the librarian with study skills sessions to ensure that students make the best use of their time. Noting down resources in a standard format, prescribed by the teacher, can be a useful starting point. In addition, teachers can give general guidance on information gathering, note taking and the construction of a well-organized file of preparatory material.

Word limits

Students and teachers must ensure that the word limit is not exceeded. If a student does exceed the word limit, he or she will lose 3 marks (from a maximum of 25 marks). Moderators are instructed not to read beyond the word limit. This means, apart from the loss of 3 marks, students could potentially lose more marks.

Referencing

References must be included to show where statements, ideas and evidence come from. It is very important to cite all sources used. If students do not reference their work, issues about the authenticity of the work may be raised.
Sources should be referred to in the text, and a standard referencing format should be used for the bibliography and footnotes. Students should ensure that their method of referencing is consistent throughout, and that all the relevant information is provided. The referencing system must enable the reader to locate the original sources easily.

How to reference sources

The following guidance is based on the Harvard author−date system. It is offered only as an example: the IBO permits any accepted convention for citing and acknowledging sources.
Body text
Use brackets or parentheses to set off a reference in the text. Give the author’s last name, if it is not part of the text, the page number(s) and the date of publication.
·       (Johnson, p98, 2006)
A full reference should appear in the bibliography at the end of the piece of work.
Footnotes
Footnotes provide related information that does not belong in the text. There should be as few of these as possible and they should be identified with a superscript number1and placed at the bottom of the same page.
Bibliography
The bibliography, or list of references used, should appear at the end of the piece of work.
List sources alphabetically by the last names of authors or editors. If there is no author or editor, list sources by titles and put them in order by date.
Books: Author’s last name and first name, or initial if name is unknown. Date. Title (in italics). Place of publication. Publisher’s name.
·       Hall, D, Jones, R, Raffo, C. 2001. Business Studies (2nd edition). Ormskirk United Kingdom. Causeway Press Ltd.
Articles in journals: Author. Date. Title of the article (in quotation marks). Name of the journal (in italics). Volume number, first and last pages.
·       Lindner, James R. June 1998. “Understanding employee motivation”. Journal of Extension. Volume 36 Number 3, pages 23–38.
Information from the Internet: Author’s name if possible. Title (in italics). Date site was visited. URL (address for the home page). Heading as listed on the web page (if there is one



Internal Assessment Business Techniques/Tools/Theory (examples)

Syllabus Topic
Business Tool/Theory
              Topic 1:  Business organization and      environment        
SWOT (internal strengths and weaknesses + PESTLE
PESTLE (external environmental factors)
              Topic 2:  Human Resources
Motivation theories: Herzberg, McGregor, Maslow, Taylor
Leadership Styles:  autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, situational leadership
             Topic 3:  Accounts and finance
Investment Appraisal
Ratio Analysis
Sources of Finance
Cash Flow
Financial Statements
             Topic 4:  Marketing
PESTLE (external environmental factors)
Product Life Cycle (different stages in a products life)
Marketing Mix (will change with life cycle)
Ansoff’s Matrix (product and market growth strategies)
Boston Matrix (product portfolio analysis)
Product Positioning Maps (customer perception)
Pricing Policies
             Topic 5:  Operations management
Production methods (job, batch, flow, cell)
Break Even Analysis
Quality Control (QC vs. QA, TQM)
Stock Control (just in time, just in case)
METHODOLOGY
Create Question (Best to start with “Should, Will, etc”): Should Starbucks continue to roll out their concept to sell beer and wine in the early afternoon/evening?
Identify source document #1: Serving Alcohol at Your Restaurant http://www.setupmyrestaurant.com/open-restaurant/restaurant-service/serving-alcohol.htm
Outline findings: Connecting points to your question from the source, including which side they relate to and the appropriate tools, theories and techniques:
a.      (Both) Existing product and existing market (Ansoff matrix)
b.     (Both) New targets, confusion? (Market segmentation and consumer profiles)
c.      (Pro)   High profit (Final accounts)
d.     (Pro)   Marketing opportunities (specials, co-branding, etc) (Above and below the line advertising)
e.      (Con)  Extra costs (ingredients, labor, capital equipment) (DC, VC, FC, BEP)
f.       (Con)  Regulatory requirements (PESTLE)
g.     (Con)  Training (Training)
<Article>
Considering such issue as serving alcohol in your restaurant is one of those things that comes with many pros and cons. Some family restaurants offer alcohol with the menu. Some people enjoy a glass of wine, a mixed drink, or a couple of beers before their meal or while they are eating. And that's why, these persons may avoid dining at your restaurant because it isn't an option.

We all don't like to wait while our course is cooking. For some people it is difficult to wait 15 or 20 minutes for a table to open up in a restaurant. This may be a reason why they will choose another restaurant. But you can use one strategy – to offer alcohol for your customers. Be sure, a high percentage of them will decide to enjoy a drink during that wait period instead of eating at a different location.

Most restaurant owners sell a large amount of alcohol and they are able to sell it for a substantial profit too. Moreover, many of them have come up with a good solution to slow times with alcohol too. They can also offer great specials on drinks and appetizers during the afternoon so that people will be enticed to drop in.

However, you may have extra costs if you want to offer alcohol. This is because you will have to purchase the supplies to make a variety of different drinks. Moreover, the machinery for mixing them and the glasses for serving them in are also needed. The only way that you are going to get your customers to want to pay for the drinks they order though is to make sure you have the best ingredients available. Purchase expensive alcohol. There should be bartenders at the restaurant that have plenty of experience making various types of drinks that your customers are going to request.

You should also keep in mind that staff under 21 years of age can take the orders for the drinks, but they won't be able to deliver them to the customers. But this usually isn't too much of a problem unless you have the majority of your employees under the age of 21.

The problems may arise with obtaining a license for your alcohol. Remember that there are strict guidelines for obtaining a liquor license and it relies on the state. You will also have to make every person asking for alcohol is verified as being legally old enough to drink. Otherwise, it can lead to fines and even for shutting down your restaurant. The main task of your staff is to watch for signs for intoxicated individuals in the establishment. They mustn't serve them any more alcohol.

Having decided to serve alcohol in your restaurant, you have to make sure all people drinking alcohol in your establishment are old enough. And for this you have to check their ID. Make sure your staff stops serving alcohol to those that are visibly intoxicated and should not continue to drink.



Identify source document: #2-5: Repeat as above.
1.     Write a bullet point outline of each section:
a.      Title page
b.     Write your Introduction: see rubric
c.      Write your Findings: see rubric
d.     Write your Analysis: see rubric
e.      Write your Conclusion: see rubric
f.       Bibliography and References
g.     Appendices (highlighted source documents, etc)
2.     Tips for outlining your Findings, Analysis and conclusion sections:
·       Analyse your findings from your outlines to uncover syllabus topics to focus on
·       Use your Connecting Points to develop a plan for your commentary
·       Provide judgements throughout while recognizing major limitations.
·       Use business language clearly and accurately while discussing both sides of an issue
·       Provide your conclusion (ultimate judgement or recommendation to the company) with any limitations noted.
·       Demonstrate connections to tools, techniques and theories you have selected for inclusion.  
·       Demonstrate appropriate selection of data from the supporting documents with appropriate and detailed analysis.
·       There must be coherent integration of ideas to receive full points.