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Do we have to have interview in SL b&m IA?


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No you dont require an interview.

SL written commentary

Weighting: 25%

The SL internal assessment is a written commentary. Students need to demonstrate the application of business and management tools, techniques and theories to a real business issue or problem.

Students must select a real issue or problem, not a fictional one, and must produce a commentary with a title presented as a question. The commentary must refer directly to a single business organization, but may consider industry-wide issues that impact on that organization.

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

The commentary

The issue or problem selected for the commentary must relate to the SL syllabus and refer directly to a single business organization.

The title of the commentary must be phrased in the form of a question.

The commentary requires the application of business tools, techniques and theory to a contemporary business issue or problem.

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

The commentary requires analysis and evaluation of the business issue or problem. Judgments are likely to be made throughout the commentary, but are essential within a conclusion.

The student must attach to the commentary three to 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.

Students must highlight the parts of each supporting document that relate directly to their commentary.

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

Selection of supporting documents

The supporting documents must be of a contemporary nature and written a maximum of two years before the submission of the written commentary.

Students must select their own supporting documents, which must not be provided to the student by the teacher.

Students must work independently, and it is recommended that they do not use the same supporting documents as other students within the school.

Any highlighted parts of supporting documents that are not in the language for which the student is registered, must be translated.

Guidance

Students should choose an issue or problem for investigation, and develop a title in the form of a question.

The teacher should approve the student’s question before work is started, to ensure that it is suitable for investigation and allows access to all levels of the assessment criteria.

The commentary can be based on secondary sources and/or primary data.

Examples of secondary sources might include:

  • market research surveys
  • articles from the local, national or international press
  • financial reports
  • business accounts
  • business plans
  • mission statements
  • web-based surveys
  • extracts from company web sites
  • government and other statistics
  • academic publications.
Examples of primary data might include:
  • responses to questionnaires (students 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 the documents is very important. To achieve the highest levels of each assessment criterion, it is strongly recommended that the supporting documents present a range of ideas and views. For example, the selection of three to five documents published by a single company, or three to five surveys of similar populations, would not provide balance or objectivity.

An example of an appropriate question might be, “Can company X, an independent food retailer, survive?” The commentary could then examine business concepts such as economies of scale, mergers and acquisitions, distribution chains, the marketing mix, and the impact of changes in the external environment represented as economic, social and demographic trends.

The student is likely to make judgments throughout the commentary about the significance and nature of change, but would also be expected to answer the overall question regarding survival of the independent food retailer in the commentary’s conclusion.

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

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