Business Management New Syllabus(first assessment in 2024)
“There is a strong argument that in the future everyone will need to have had a business education. Whatever you do in your professional life, the chances are that it will involve some ‘business’. Scientists, engineers, even artists, will inevitably have to understand at least the basics of business, and probably a lot more.”
Trevor Johnson
Business Management is a course that is designed to develop the knowledge of business content, concepts, and tools to assist the students with business decision making. It aims to equip the students with the attributes necessary to become future business leaders and entrepreneurs in an ever-changing business world. The students will explore the four main concepts of creativity, change, ethics and sustainability as they take on the role of change agents for a dynamic business world. These four concepts will be explored from a business perspective and its relationship to the functions of management, management processes and decision making in a contemporary business world of uncertainty. The course can be summarized as below:
Business Management emphasizes strategic decision making looked through the functions of Marketing, Human Resources, Finance / Accounting, and Operations management which make up the main topics of study.
Topics to be covered in the course include:
Unit 1: Introduction to business management
1.1 What is a business?
1.2 Types of business entities
1.3 Business objectives
1.4 Stakeholders
1.5 Growth and evolution
1.6 Multinational companies (MNCs)
Unit 2: Human resource management
2.1 Introduction to human resource management
2.2 Organizational structure
2.3 Leadership and management
2.4 Motivation and demotivation
2.5 Organizational (corporate) culture (HL only)
2.6 Communication
2.7 Industrial/employee relations (HL only)
Unit 3: Finance and accounts
3.1 Introduction to finance
3.2 Sources of finance
3.3 Costs and revenues
3.4 Final accounts
3.5 Profitability and liquidity ratio analysis
3.6 Debt/equity ratio analysis (HL only)
3.7 Cash flow
3.8 Investment appraisal
3.9 Budgets (HL only)
Unit 4: Marketing
4.1 Introduction to marketing
4.2 Marketing planning
4.3 Sales forecasting (HL only)
4.4 Market research
4.5 The seven Ps of the marketing mix
4.6 International marketing (HL only)
Unit 5: Operations management
5.1 Introduction to operations management
5.2 Operations methods
5.3 Lean production and quality management (HL only)
5.4 Location
5.5 Break-even analysis
5.6 Production planning (HL only)
5.7 Crisis mgmt & contingency planning (HL only)
5.8 Research and development (HL only)
5.9 Management information systems (HL only)
The students will also be introduced to a Business Toolkit which will help them in their analysis and business decision making. This toolkit will include:
| SWOT | Force Field Analysis |
| STEEPLE | Descriptive Statistics |
| BCG Matrix | Circular Business Models |
| Decision Trees | Contribution Analysis (HL) |
| Ansoff Matrix | Simple Linear Regression (HL) |
| Statistics | Critical Path Analysis (HL |
| Business Plan | Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (HL) |
| Gantt Chart (HL) | Porter’s Generic Strategies (HL) |
Throughout the course the students would examine how the internal and external environment would impact organization and its stakeholders. The course is designed to provide for students’ progression to higher education.
The teaching of the subject is supported through case studies and examples from newspaper articles and real-world resources. As such the course is focused on inquiry-based teaching and learning, where students are given the opportunity to explore business tools and theories using case studies and create their own questions and formulate their own solutions to problems or issues facing an organization. The approach can be summarized as follows:
University Courses and Careers
A background in business is helpful in a wide variety of disciplines including the study of Law, International Studies, Political Sciences, business-related courses, and certain Engineering courses.
Assessments
Internal Assessment for HL and SL:
Business Research Project (20 hours)
Assessment Weightage: HL 20% SL 30%
A research project where students are expected to apply appropriate business management tools and theories to a real organizational issue.
The issue analyzed should be related to one of the four concepts of Change, Creativity, Ethics or Sustainability.
The research project would be mainly secondary research driven. Primary research is allowed as well.
The 1800-word research project is to be written with the help of 3-5 supporting documents (to be attached)
External Assessment: HL and SL
Paper 1: Case Study Paper
Assessment Weightage: HL 25% SL 35%
Time: 1 hour 30 mins (for both HL and SL)
Based on a pre-released statement that specifies the context and background for an unseen case study.
Section A (20 marks)
Syllabus content: Units 1–5 excluding HL extension topics. Students to answer all structured questions
Section B (10 marks)
Syllabus content: Units 1–5 excluding HL extension topics. Students to answer one out of two extended response questions
Paper 2: Quantitative Focus Paper
Assessment Weightage: HL 30% SL 35%
Time: HL 1hour 45 mins, SL 1 hour 30 mins
Based on unseen stimulus material with quantitative focus. The paper is different for HL and SL.
Section A (20 marks)
Syllabus content: Units 1–5 including HL extension topics for the HL Paper. Students (HL and SL) to answer all structured questions
Section B (20 marks)
Syllabus content: Units 1–5 including HL extension topics for the HL paper. Student (HL and SL) to answer one out of two structured questions.
Paper 3 : Social Enterprise Paper (HL only)
Assessment Weightage: HL 25%
Time: 1 hour 15 mins
Based on unseen stimulus material about a social enterprise. Curriculum time will be allocated for the discussions and research into social enterprises.
Syllabus content: Unit 1–5 including HL extension topics
Student answer one compulsory question based on the unseen stimulus material (25 marks)