IB Business Management IA: How to Plan the 1,800-Word Research Project
The IB Business Management internal assessment is a research project, not an extended company profile. A good project investigates a focused business issue using evidence from a real organisation and builds a justified conclusion.
Start with a focused business issue
The project has a maximum of 1,800 words and centres on one real organisation. Select an issue narrow enough to investigate with evidence, such as a proposed growth decision, staffing policy or sustainability initiative. An over-broad question about whether a company is successful is difficult to analyse.
Think about the decision the organisation actually faces. Your question should invite analysis and judgement, not a catalogue of background information.
Choose one of the four concepts
Use exactly one of the current syllabus concepts as the lens: creativity, change, ethics or sustainability. Your concept should influence how you examine evidence and reach a conclusion, rather than appearing only in the introduction.
For example, a sustainability lens might examine the costs and stakeholder effects of changing packaging, together with the effect on long-run competitiveness. A different lens could produce a different evaluation of the same decision.
Build an evidence base
The project uses three to five supporting documents. Choose material that addresses the research issue directly, such as company communications, relevant financial data, credible reports or other evidence appropriate to the business.
Record the origin, date, relevance and potential bias of each source. A company announcement may be informative but also promotional. A strong project acknowledges these limits instead of treating every source as equally reliable.
Apply business tools selectively
Use frameworks and calculations where they genuinely help resolve the issue. A SWOT table, ratio analysis or decision tree should illuminate the decision and be followed by explanation. More tools do not necessarily mean better analysis.
Keep the distinction between evidence and inference clear. If the source does not prove that customers will respond in a certain way, state the uncertainty and explain how it affects the recommendation.
Understand the criteria
The research project is marked out of 25 across criteria A to G, with maxima A 5, B 4, C 4, D 5, E 3, F 2 and G 2. It contributes 30% of the SL assessment and 20% of the HL assessment.
Before submission, check whether your question, supporting documents, concepts, analysis and conclusion form one coherent investigation. EIE's original research-skills exercises help learners practise these decisions; they are not exemplar projects to copy.