IB Business Management Syllabus

Enhanced representation of the official content syllabus from the IB Subject Guide.

[2022 (first assessment 2024) spec]

SL Content Recommended teaching hours: 150

HL Content Recommended teaching hours: +90 = 240

I bolded key words/phrases in the descriptions to make it easier to glance over. AO = Assessment Objective (see clarification at end of document), a measure of the “depth of knowledge” required.

(For now), this is SL-only; HL details do not exist, and their topic numbers are grayed-out.

Last update: 25^th Apr 2024

#	Topic	AO	Description	Notes
UNIT 1: Intro to Business Management
Tools: SWOT + STEEPLE Analysis, Ansoff Matrix, Decision Trees, Business Plan, Circular Business Models HL: Porter’s Generic Strategies, Simple Linear Regression
1.1	What’s a Business?	1	The Nature of Business
		2	Economic Sectors: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary
		2	Challenges and Opportunities for starting a business
1.2	Types of Businesses	2	Private and Public Sectors
		3	Types of Organizations, their main features: - Sole Traders - Partnerships - Privately Held companies - Publicly Held companies
		3	For-profit Social Enterprises, their main features: - Private Sector companies - Public Sector companies - Cooperatives
		3	Non-profit Social Enterprises, their main features: - Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)
1.3	Business Objectives	2	Vision and Mission Statements
		2	Common business Objectives: - Profit - Growth - Protecting Shareholder Value - Ethical objectives
		3	Strategic and Tactical Objectives
		3	Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
1.4	Stakeholders	2	Internal and External Stakeholders
		2	Conflict between Stakeholders
1.5	Growth & Evolution	2	Internal & External Economies & Diseconomies of Scale
		2	Internal vs External Growth
		3	Reasons for businesses to Grow
		3	Reasons for businesses to Stay Small
		3	External Growth Methods: - Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As) - Takeovers - Joint Ventures - Strategic Alliances - Franchising
1.6	Multinational Companies	3	The impact of MNCs on host countries
UNIT 2: Human Resource Management
Tools: SWOT + STEEPLE Analysis, Descriptive Statistics HL: Force Field Analysis, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
2.1	Intro to HRM	2	Role of HRM
		2	Internal & External Factors that affect HR Planning. E.g.: - Demographic - Labor Mobility - Immigration - Flexi-time - Gig Economy
		2	Reasons for Resistance to Change
		3	Strategies to Reduce the Impact of and Resistance to Change
2.2	Organizational Structure	2	Terminology, in relation to different Organizational Structures: - Delegation - Span of Control - Levels of the hierarchy - Chain of Command - Bureaucracy - Centralization - Decentralization - Delayering - Matrix Structure
		2 4	Organizational Charts: - Flat/horizontal - Tall/vertical - By Product, Function, or Region
		3	Appropriateness of different structures given a change in external factors
		3	(HL) …
2.3	Leadership & Management	2	(HL) …
		2	Management and Leadership
		3	Leadership Styles: - Autocratic - Paternalistic - Democratic - Laissez-faire - Situational
2.4	Motivation & Demotivation	3	Motivation Theories: - Taylor (scientific management) - Maslow (hierarchy of needs) - Herzberg (motivation-hygiene theory)
		3	(HL) …
		2 4	(HL) …
		2	(HL) …
		2	(HL) …
		3	(HL) …
		2	Financial Rewards: - Salary - Wages (time- & piece-rates) - Commission - Performance-Related Pay (PRP) - Profit-Related Pay - Employee Share Ownership schemes - Fringe Payments/benefits
		2	Non-financial Rewards: - Job Enrichment - Job Rotation - Job Enlargement - Empowerment - Purpose/opportunity to make a difference - Teamwork
		2	Types of Training: - Induction - On the Job - Off the Job
2.5 (HL)	Corporate Culture
2.6	Communica-tion	3	Formal and Informal Methods of Communication in a given situation
		2	Barriers to Communication
2.7 (HL)	Employee Relations
UNIT 3: Finance & Accounts
Tools: SWOT Analysis, Descriptive Statistics, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix HL: Contribution
3.1	Intro to Finance	2	Role of Finance (types of expenditures): - Capital Expenditure - Revenue Expenditure
3.2	Sources of Finance	2	Internal Sources of Finance: - Personal Funds (for sole traders) - Retained Profit - Sale of Assets
		2	External Sources of Finance: - Share capital - Loan capital - Overdrafts - Trade Credit - Crowdfunding - Leasing - Microfinancing - Business Angels
		3	Appropriateness of Short- or Long-term Sources of Finance for a given situation
3.3	Costs & Revenues	2	Types of Cost (and examples): - Fixed - Variable - Direct - Indirect/overhead
		2	Total Revenue, Revenue Streams (and examples)
3.4	Final Accounts	2	Purpose of Accounts to different Stakeholders
		2 4	Final Accounts: - Profit and Loss Account - Balance Sheet
		2	Types of Intangible Assets
		2 4	(HL) …
		3	(HL) …
3.5	Profitability & Liquidity Ratio	2 4	Profitability Ratios: - Gross Profit Margin - Profit Margin - Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)
		3	Strategies to improve Profitability Ratios
		2 4	Liquidity Ratios: - Current Ratio - Acid test (Quick) Ratio
		3	Strategies to improve Liquidity Ratios
3.6 (HL)	Debt/Equity Ratio
3.7	Cash Flow	2	Profit vs Cash Flow
		2 4	Cash Flow Forecasts
		2	Relationship between Investment, Profit, and Cash Flow
		3	Strategies to deal with Cash Flow Problems
3.8	Investment Appraisal	3 4	Evaluation of Investment Opportunities using: - Payback Period - Average Rate of Return (ARR) - (HL) NPV
3.9 (HL)	Budgets
UNIT 4: Marketing
Tools: SWOT + STEEPLE Analysis, Ansoff Matrix, BCG Matrix, Descriptive Statistics HL: Gantt Chart, Simple Linear Regression, Critical Path Analysis, Contribution, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
4.1	Intro to Marketing	2	Market Orientation vs Product Orientation
		2 4	Market Share
		2 4	Market Growth
		3	(HL) …
4.2	Marketing Planning	2	Role of Market Planning
		2 4	Segmentation, Targeting (target market), and Positioning (position maps)
		2	Niche vs Mass Markets
		2	Importance of a Unique Selling Point (USP)
		3	How to Differentiate self and products from Competitors
4.3 (HL)	Sales Forecasting
4.4	Market Research	3	Why and How Organizations do Market Research
		2	Methods of Primary Market Research: - Surveys - Interviews - Focus Groups - Observations
		2	Methods of Secondary Market Research: - Market Analyses - Academic Journals - Government Publications - Media Articles - Online Content
		2	Qualitative vs Quantitative Research
		2	Methods of Sampling: - Quota - Random - Convenience
4.5	7 P’s / Marketing Mix	3	Appropriate Marketing Mixes for particular products or businesses
		Product:
		2	Relationship between Product Life Cycle, Product Portfolio, and the Marketing Mix
		3	Extension Strategies
		2	Relationship between Product Life Cycle, Investment, Profit, and Cash Flow
		2	Aspects of Branding: - Awareness - Development - Loyalty - Value
		2	Importance of Branding
		Price:
		3	Appropriateness of Pricing Methods: - Cost-plus (mark-up) pricing - Penetration pricing - Loss Leader - Predatory pricing - Premium pricing … (HL)
		Promotion:
		2	Aspects of Promotion: - Above the Line promotion - Below the Line promotion - Through the Lien promotion
		3	Social Media Marketing as a promotional strategy
		Place:
		3	Importance of different Types of Distribution Channels
		People:
		3	Importance of Employee-Customer Relationships in marketing a service & Cultural Variation in these relationships
		Process:
		3	Importance of Delivery Processes in marketing a service & Changes in these processes
		Physical (evidence):
		3	Importance of Tangible Evidence in marketing a service
4.6 (HL)	International Marketing
UNIT 5: Operations Management
Tools: Decision Trees, Circular Business Models, Descriptive Statistics HL: Gantt Chart, Simple Linear Regression, Critical Path Analysis, Contribution, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
5.1	Intro to Operations	2	Role of Operations Management
5.2	Operations Methods	3	Operations Methods: - Job Production - Batch Production - Mass/flow Production - Mass Customization
5.3 (HL)	Lean Production & Quality Management
5.4	Location	2	Reasons for a specific Location of Production
		3	Ways of Reorganizing Production, Nationally and Internationally: - Outsourcing/subcontracting - Offshoring - Insourcing - Reshoring
5.5	Break-even Analysis	2	Total Contribution vs Contribution per Unit
		2 4	Break-even Charts; the following aspects of Break-even Analysis: - Break-even quantity/point (BEQ) - Profit or Loss - Margin of Safety (MoS) - Target Profit Output - Target Profit - Target Price
		2 4	How Changes in Price or Cost affects BEQ, Profit, and MoS; use graphical and quantitative methods.
		3	Limitations of Break-even as a Decision-making Tool
5.6 (HL)	Production Planning
5.7 (HL)	Crisis Management & Contingency Planning
5.8 (HL)	Research & Development
5.9 (HL)	Management Information Systems
END OF SYLLABUS :)
#	Topic		Description	Notes

All Tools: (8 for SL)

Tool Name

Description

Ansoff Matrix

Framework helping classify and risk-assess growth strategies.

		→ More Risk →
		Same Products	New Products
→ More Risk →	Same Market	Market Penetration	Product Development
	New Market	Market Development	Diversification

SWOT Analysis

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Used to understand the position of a business by analyzing both its internal strengths/weaknesses and the external opportunities/threats faced.

Internal factors are usually considered per business function (4 of them).

External factors are usually considered using the STEEPLE framework.

STEEPLE Analysis

7 External factors that work well in determining the O/T of the SWOT analysis. Sociocultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical.

Business Plan

Used to describe key info of a new business (or a large change to an existing one). A plan helps lay everything out so the overall idea can be more effectively evaluated, spotting opportunities and challenges before actioning on the plan.

Also helps communication; one can use a plan to build trust with investors and others.

A structured document explaining the Why (goal of business; a human need satisfied), How (production, supply, setup), and What (properties of the product itself) of a business idea.

Example sections:

1. Executive Summary

2. Mission / Vision

3. The Problem

4. The Solution

5. The Market (or Social/Partnership Ecosystem)

6. Marketing

7. SWOT / Evaluation

8. Sources of Finance

9. Budget

10. Milestones

Decision Trees

Square: Decision Node; where the business makes a choice

Circle: Probability Node; where outcomes are by chance, externally affected

Double Crossed-out Lines: Rejected Options; used on all branches after a decision node except the optimal/recommended decision

BCG Matrix

Planning tool that helps businesses analyze their product portfolios. It characterizes products based on the growth rate of their market and the share they have in that market.

		→ Market Share →
		Low	High
→ Market Growth →	Slow	Dogs	Cash Cows
	Fast	Question Marks	Stars

Cash cows: steady and major established products; “whales”. They produce high cash flow due to their market presence and probably won’t go anywhere else soon since the market changes very slowly. (So minimal maintenance)

Stars: major products in a volatile (fast evolving) market. They promise potential to convert into cash cows. (Requires heavy investment)

Question marks: struggling products that need the most management. Should try to convert to stars, but process may be difficult/risky. (Requires careful management and heavy investment)

Dogs: steady but minor products. They don’t cause big trouble but also don’t contribute much to a business. (Leave it alone or drop it)

Descriptive Statistics

Ok this is all common sense. It’s charts and stuff. Basic social science infographic skills.

Circular Business Models

Ideals to get businesses to work more like nature, systems that (physically) feedback outputs as inputs, minimizing waste production.

(HL) …

SL-only info:

Paper 1: 90mins, 30 marks; 35%

Revolves around the partially pre-released case study. (The pre-release includes the context/background and initial excerpts of the full case study.)

Section A: 20 marks

Covers entire syllabus. Answer all questions. (Structured questions.)

Section B: 10 marks

Covers entire syllabus. Answer one from two questions. (Singular 10-mark question)

Paper 2: 90mins, 40 marks; 35%

Uses unseen stimulus material (case studies). Larger quantitative focus.

Section A: 20 marks

Covers entire syllabus. Answer all questions (Structured questions, based on stimulus material)

Section B: 20 marks

Covers entire syllabus. Answer one from two questions. (Questions contain subparts of structured + a 10-mark response)

Assessment Objectives Clarification:

Assessment Objective	Command Terms	Depth
AO1 – knowledge and understanding Recital of definitions, restatement of literal information	Define Describe Identify List Outline State	Basic memorization: definitions and elementary comprehension of information.
AO2 – application and analysis Medium to long form prose applying business knowledge to specific cases	Analyze Apply Comment Demonstrate Distinguish Explain Suggest	Pick apart information (stimulus material) into smaller parts and then applying knowledge to draw specific conclusions.
AO3 – synthesis and evaluation Long form (balanced) arguments; made of coherently linked smaller AO2 elements	Compare (and contrast) Contrast Discuss Evaluate Examine Justify Recommend To what extent	Formulate analyzed ideas and information into a whole argument – to make conclusive judgements (based on a set of criteria)
AO4 – use of skills Calculations and drawing diagrams	Annotate Calculate Complete Construct Determine Draw Label Plot Prepare	Demonstrate the ability to use subject specific hard skills (calculations, usage and construction of diagrams, etc.)

Basically, AO1 topics can only come up as 1-2 mark “define” questions, while AO2 topics may appear as 2-4 mark longer-answer questions, and AO3 topics can appear as 10 (or 6) mark essay questions. AO4 topics are the graphs/tables with calculations (non-long-answer, graphical questions).