Business Management

“ The Fundamental Task Of Management Is To Make People Capable Of Joint Performance Through Common Goals, Common Values, The Right Structure, And The Training And Development They Need To Performance To Respond To Change ”

Peter Drucker

Business Management is a dynamic, rigorous, and challenging subject that addresses the rationale for forming organizations and the principles, practices and skills commonly employed to make the decisions that make them successful. Even though no previous knowledge of the subject is needed a reasonable level of numeracy and the ability to do research is a key for the subject.

Salient Features

The IB Diploma Programme Business management course encourages the appreciation of ethical concerns at both a local and global level. It aims to develop relevant and transferable skills, including the ability to: think critically; make ethically sound and well-informed decisions; appreciate the pace, nature and significance of change; think strategically; and undertake long term planning, analysis and evaluation. The course also develops subject-specific skills, such as financial analysis.

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/online articles and real-world resources.  Emphasis is placed on the six concepts of change, culture, ethics, innovation, strategy and globalization in relationship to businesses.

Through the exploration of six underpinning concepts (change, culture, ethics, globalization, innovation and strategy), the course allows students to develop a holistic understanding of today’s complex and dynamic business environment. The conceptual learning is firmly anchored in business management theories, tools and techniques and placed in the context of real world examples and case studies.

The Aim Of The Business Management

The Aims Of The Business Management Course At HL And SL Are To:

  1. Encourage a holistic view of the world of business.
  2. Empower students to think critically and strategically about individual and organizational behaviour
  3. Promote the importance of exploring business issues from different cultural perspectives
  4. Enable the student to appreciate the nature and significance of change in a local, regional and global context.
  5. Promote awareness of the importance of environmental, social and ethical factors in the actions of individuals and organizations
  6. Develop an understanding of the importance of innovation in a business environment.

Key Features Of The Curriculum

Students learn to analyze, discuss and evaluate business activities at local, national and international levels. The course covers a range of organizations from all sectors, as well as the socio-cultural and economic contexts in which those organizations operate.

The course covers the key characteristics of business organization and environment and the business functions of human resource management, finance and accounts, marketing and operations management.

Key Features Of The Assessment Model

External assessment for HL and SL students consists of two written examination papers. Paper one is based on a pre-seen case study issued in advance, and paper two consists of structured questions based on stimulus material and an extended response question that assesses students’ understanding of the key concepts of the course.

Internal assessment for HL students is a research project and for SL students a written commentary. In both tasks, students study real world business organizations. These are internally marked by subject teachers and then externally moderated by IB examiners.