Students often don’t know how to begin writing the main body of their business I.A. In order to help them, I give them questions whose objectives are to guide them in the right direction, and to help them to create a ‘scaffold’ around which they can base their research.

Only after the students have followed these 5 stages, have collected their data and have written up their findings, do I ask them to format their IA according to the recommended format i.e. Introduction, Methodology, Main Results & Findings, Analysis & Discussion, Conclusion & Recommendations.

Stage 1. Graphical portrayal of the problem / issue / decision being investigated and its effects (bar charts / line graphs / ratio analysis / break even etc.) BUSINESS ANALYTICAL TOOLS can be used here.

Stage 2. What does the IB BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT THEORY / THE TEXTBOOK tell us how the problem / issue should be solved? In your opinion, what strategies should be used?

Stage 3. Is the company using these strategies? Yes or no? If no, could it pursue your strategies?

Stage 4. Evaluation of the above strategies, using BUSINESS ANALYTICAL TOOLS. Which strategy / strategies would be the most successful and why?

Stage 5. Conclusion and Recommendations for the company on how to improve their current strategies / implement new ones. Weaknesses of study. If you were to do the study again, how would you improve it?

With regard to Stage 5, the conclusions and recommendations section,  it is important that students don’t write any new or previously unmentioned content here. Any recommendations that the student makes should have already been discussed extensively in the main body.