The aims of the Extended Essay are to provide students with the opportunity to:

• pursue independent research on a focused topic
• develop research and communication skills
• develop the skills of creative and critical thinking
• engage in a systematic process of research appropriate to the subject
• experience the excitement of intellectual discovery.

© IBO, 2016

These aims are reflected in the assessment criteria for the Extended Essay, which are generic to all essays, irrespective of whether they are Business Management or any other IB subject. The current Extended Essay was first assessed in 2018. This section offers some important advice to help students achieve their best under the (new) EE assessment criteria.

"We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey (1859 - 1952), educational reformer

The new requirements and criteria requires students to reflect on their progress throughout the EE process. Being reflective is one of the 10 core attributes of the IB Learner Profile. Reflection in the EE process is similar to the reflection that students undertake in Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) and Internal Assessment in a growing number of DP subjects such as English, History, Physics, and Visual Arts.

Overview of the EE assessment criteria

The EE grade boundaries are as follows:

Interpreting the Extended Essay assessment criteria

The EE assessment criteria has been simplified with the number of criteria reduced from 11 to just 5. These are shown below, with top tips on how best to interpret the assessment criteria. The assessment criteria are applied using the 'best fit' model, i.e. the mark band that best describes the quality of the work submitted for assessment.

As examiners use mark bands for each assessment criterion (see below), the best-fit approach for marking the EE allows the examiner to use his/her judgement in crediting students for what is in the essay, rather than directly penalizing them for what might be missing.

Criterion A: Focus and method (6 marks)

This assessment criterion focuses on the topic, the research question and the methodology. It assesses the explanation of the focus of the research (this includes the topic and the research question), how the research will be undertaken, and how the focus is maintained throughout the essay.

Top tips for interpreting Assessment Criterion A: Focus and method (6 marks)

Assessment criterion A is about (a) communication of the chosen topic or title, (b) formulation of the research question, and (c) the methodology.

The research question must be phrased as an actual question and be sharply focused in order to be addressed within 4,000 words. The title of the EE should promote the application of higher order skills (i.e. analysis, evaluation and synthesis), rather than encouraging an essay that is simply descriptive. The research question must be focused on a specific business issue or problem that is worthy of investigation. This means that a pricing strategy question (focused) is more suitable than a marketing strategy question (too broad). It also means that the issue or problem being investigated is a real one, rather than a hypothetical matter.

Students must ensure they remain focused (only) on their research question throughout the essay, i.e. there must not be any superfluous materials. They should link findings and arguments back to the research question throughout the essay. Too often, the discussion strays from the focus of the topic and research question.

In addition, students should use the methodologies and research sources that they identified in the introduction. This means students must use secondary sources in the first instance (there is no requirement to use any primary sources for the EE). However, avoid general Internet research sites or broad websites such as Wikipedia or Investopedia – these tend to be too basic for an academic extended essay as the depth and breadth of the research needs to be much wider. Essentially, there needs to be a balance of relevant theory and practice, i.e. both contents and contexts. Too often, students gathered masses of irrelevant primary data through conducting interviews, consumer surveys and questionnaires. Whilst primary research can be valuable, is not compulsory and students must explain the purpose of inclusion and sampling methodology. Note that to get to the top mark band (5 - 6 marks), students must demonstrate sufficient academic research in their methodology and bibliography.

Students must use relevant and appropriate Business Management tools, theories, and techniques. This should enable students to conduct of high-level academic research and demonstrate their writing skills. The process should also enable students to show that they are capable of intellectual discovery and originality. Hence, research questions that consider generic or broad Business Management issues will tend to restrict the possibility of effective treatment within the 4,000 word limit and will also constrain students reaching the higher mark bands for this assessment criterion.

Research conducted in languages other than English can be valuable for the EE, if appropriate and relevant to the title and research question. However, should such sources be used, they must be noted in citations and the bibliography, and an accurate translation of the text must be included in the appendices of the essay.

Finally, for each source used (be it secondary of primary research), make sure students explain how and why it helps to address the title and research question. This helps the examiner to see how the student's selection of sources is relevant, meaningful, and informed.

Criterion B: Knowledge and understanding (6 marks)

This assessment criterion examines the extent to which the research relates to the subject area/discipline used to explore the research question, and the way in which this knowledge and understanding is demonstrated through the use of appropriate terminology and concepts.

Top tips for interpreting Assessment Criterion B: Knowledge and understanding (6 marks)

Assessment criterion B is about (a) knowledge and understanding of the subject (i.e. Business Management) as well as (b) knowledge and understanding of the topic under investigation (i.e. the topic that the candidate is researching, such as growth strategies, marketing strategies, motivation theories, contingency planning and crisis management... but it is not about knowledge of a business or industry!)

To show a good level of knowledge and understanding of Business Management, students must ensure they have used subject-specific terminology, tools and techniques in a consistent and appropriate way throughout the essay. Students need to demonstrate that they have a good grasp of relevant Business Management terminology and that they can use this eloquently, accurately and consistently when developing their arguments.

One strategy is that they should define or explain relevant terms and concepts, in the context of their research question. For example, if the focus of the essay is on a particular growth strategy of an organization, the student should be able to explain the impact this has on different business functions, such as marketing, human resources and finance. Having in mind that Business Management is an integrated discipline helps to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the topic being discussed.

Another recommended strategy is to refer to other models that students have read about (as part of their secondary research), beyond the IB syllabus, such as Porter’s Five Forces analysis, Carroll’s CSR pyramid, Blue Ocean Strategy,  or Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Students can also refer to other relevant concepts (beyond CUEGIS), such as sustainability or efficiency. If used appropriately, such an approach will be rewarded by examiners as students have the opportunity to demonstrate excellent subject knowledge. Take a look here for some suggestions of tools, theories, and techniques beyond the syllabus that students can use for their EE.

Note: too often, students include a SWOT analysis and/or a STEEPLE analysis in the EE without sufficient explanation or purpose (link) to the research question. Not only does this contribute to the word count, it adds little value to the essay as it does not demonstrate depth of knowledge and understanding. At best, essays with a limited theoretical underpinning will usually score 1 - 2 marks.

Criterion C: Critical thinking (12 marks)

This assessment criterion examines the extent to which critical thinking skills have been used to analyse and evaluate the research undertaken.

Top tips for interpreting Assessment Criterion C: Critical thinking (12 marks)

Assessment criterion C is made up of three parts:

1. the research carried out by the candidate (secondary research plus, if relevant and appropriate, primary research that complements and adds value to the secondary research).
2. the analysis that arises from the application of Business Management tools, theories, and models. It involves the candidate interpreting their research findings and examining these in the context of the research question.
3. the discussion and evaluation, which stems from the academic research and analysis. The discussions need to be insightful and purposeful in addressing the research question. They must also help the candidate to arrive at a substantiated and justified conclusion at the end of their analysis, discussions and evaluation.

This criterion is worth 35% of the total marks. Therefore, students must be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills when analysing research sources and information used in the EE. Secondary research is required in the Business Management EE, so students need to show the examiner their ability to engage with the sources in a critical way. Note that this criterion awards marks for the research. The sources collected must therefore be relevant to the research question and applied / used appropriately, so that an argument can be formed and a justified conclusion can be reached. By contrast, the inappropriate collection and use of information tend to lead to descriptive essays only, which then score poorly under this assessment criterion.

Please note the following statement of advice from the Business Management EE Examiner Report (May 2018):

"For their EE, students must carry out substantial secondary academic research, for example in specialised literature or academic journals." (page 3)

It helps if students ask probing questions and look at all relevant factors when considering the information obtained from their research. Students should be reminded that information should not always be accepted at face value, especially in the digital era of social media and 'fake news'.

Be careful not to take all information at face value

For the second strand of this assessment criterion (analysis), note that analysis is not simply a description of the research findings or results. Instead, it is about the application of the analysis to the chosen topic and research question.

Critical thinking is a difficult skill to master. Nevertheless, students should be able to recognise alternative viewpoints in order to critically evaluate their own arguments and conclusions. They can question their own personal view, by considering opposing perspectives of others. One way that students can demonstrate their skills of evaluation is by judging the extent to which a tool, theory or technique is valid or useful in answering the research question.

Critical awareness of secondary information (and primary research if used) is required to be shown throughout the essay, not only towards to the end. This means students should include interim conclusions to individual points of analysis that are clearly related to the RQ. Students should also ensure their discussion points explicitly and directly link to the research question and the secondary data sources that have been cited. After all, the Business Management essay must be written in an objective and professional way without personal bias. This will help to ensure that the conclusions are derived from the evidence collected and presented in the body of the essay, rather than being based on any personal preconceptions or preferences of the student. It helps therefore if students comment (where appropriate) on the quality, balance, limitations and any bias of the supporting materials.

There must be a culminating conclusion that summarises the student’s response to the research question. All judgements and knowledge claims made in the essay should be consistent with the arguments presented by the student and these must be supported by evidence and/or reasoning. Finally, in the conclusion, students should indicate any unresolved questions or matters to be addressed, or refer to any new questions that have arisen from their research.

As a final tip for Criterion C, note that it is not appropriate to compartmentalise the evaluation/critical thinking into a separate section at the end of the essay. Critical thinking is marked holistically, throughout the essay.

Criterion D: Formal presentation (4 marks)

This assessment criterion examines the extent to which the presentation follows the standard format expected for academic writing and the extent to which this aids effective communication.

Top tips for interpreting Assessment Criterion D: Formal presentation (4 marks)

This criterion requires students to pay attention to the layout and structural elements of the Extended Essay. This includes a title page, contents page, introduction, and so forth. A bibliography (of works cited) is an essential structural element of the Extended Essay, and contributes to Criterion D.

In Business Management, the essay can be presented in one of two ways:

1. as an essay, with an introduction, body, and conclusion (with the use of appropriate sub-headings as appropriate), or
2. as a professional business document, with numbered sections and sub-sections as appropriate, and footnotes used to citation and referencing.

It has been known that the research question as stated on the title page and in the introduction differs from the conclusion written by the student! Hence, a well-structured essay has purpose and helps students to demonstrate their analytical and evaluative skills. It helps if students can use appropriate, meaningful and informative headings and sub-headings. Having purpose means that sub-headings do not distract the reader from the overall flow of the essay or argument presented.

It is quite common for Business Management students to include graphs, charts, images and/or tables in their essays. These must be carefully selected and labelled. Too often, students include information that is not directly relevant to the topic or research question. If used, these must not distract the examiner from the overall quality of the arguments being presented, in the context of the research question.

Similarly, large amounts of raw data collected by the student (such as financial accounts or business plans) should be placed in the appendices; only include what is relevant in the actual essay. Also, note that students must take care in their use of data and information placed in the appendices as EE examiners are not required to read them.

Also, note that for the structure, students should not have a separate section called “Evaluation’ or ‘Limitations’ at the end of the essay. Instead, evaluations, limitations, and critical thinking should all be demonstrated throughout the essay.

Students must ensure there is a consistent and acceptable format used to write the essay. In particular, the EE Guide states the following:

1. The candidate name or number should not appear on any of the pages of the EE including the title page.

2. The essay should be formatted as follows, using: 
   
   - Arial or Times New Roman font 
   - font size 11 or 12 
   - 1.5 or double-spaced 
   - numbered pages

3. The EE should be saved as an acceptable file type (for electronic upload):
   - DOC                  - PDF
   - DOCX                - RTF

4. The file size must not exceed 10MB

5. All diagrams, maps and tables, must be digitally produced where possible when included as part of the essay.

As the word count limit is 4,000 words, students should be aware that examiners will not read beyond the 4,000th word of the essay. This could therefore potentially affect the student's work on multiple assessment criteria.

Finally, some words about citation and referencing which falls under this assessment criteria. Any materials that are not original must be fully acknowledged using an appropriate citation and referencing system. As a bare minimum, citation and referencing meet the minimum requirement as indicated in the Extended Essay Guide:

• Name of author
• Date of publication
• Title of source, and
• Page numbers, as applicable.

Whichever system is used for referencing (such as the Harvard, APA, MHRA or MLA referencing systems), this must be consistently applied throughout the essay. This will help to prevent the work being considered as a case of possible academic misconduct / malpractice. Note that although incomplete references and those that do not meet the minimum requirements as stated above are not directly penalized under Criterion D, but EE examiners are required to alert the IB about this for further investigation. Nevertheless, Criterion D does assess references and the bibliography based on how they are presented. So, for example, references must be presented in a consistent way and the bibliography must be presented in an appropriate academic manner.

Criterion E: Engagement (6 marks)

This assessment criterion examines the student’s engagement with their research focus and the research process. It will be applied by the examiner at the end of the assessment of the essay and is based solely on the candidate’s reflections as detailed on the RPPF document, with the supervisory comments and extended essay itself providing the context for this. Only the first 500 words are assessable.

Top tips for interpreting Assessment Criterion E: Engagement (6 marks)

This assessment criterion examines the student’s engagement with their research focus and the research process as a whole. As previously mentioned, a student’s personal engagement with the Extended Essay is assessed using the RPPF. The reflections, with a combined word limit of 500 words, should highlight the student’s thinking, planning and reviewing at three distinct stages during the EE process. If the RPPF is longer than the word count limit, examiners will only mark the first 500 words, which means that some of the later reflections may not be considered.

Note that marks for Criterion E are awarded by the examiner at the end of the assessment of the essay, and these marks are based solely on the student’s reflections on the RPPF, with the EE supervisor's comments providing context. This means that Criterion E is the only assessment criterion that does not assess the essay in a holistic way, but is based on the content on the RPPF which records the three mandatory reflection sessions with the EE supervisor. It is therefore extremely important that the RPPF document is securely stored until the upload of the EE (kept a back-up copy of the RPPF!)

Suggestions for addressing Criterion E include:

• providing reflections on the decision-making process undertaken to derive at the topic and research question.
• providing reflections on the planning process undertaken in completing the essay.
• demonstrating the methodology chosen and approach(es) used, and their relative success.
• justifying how conceptual understandings have developed or changed due to the research carried out.
• reflecting on the main challenges faced in the research process, and evidencing how these were overcome.
• asking probing questions that may have emerged as a result of the research.
• reflecting on what would be done differently if there were an opportunity to undertake the research again.
• providing evidenced of the skills and understandings developed as a learner.

Essentially, the RPPF must be specific and unique to the candidate’s own work (and in relation to the specific research question), focusing on what they have learnt about their topic in question, using specific examples from the essay, rather than being generic reflections that could easily apply to any essay. A low score will be awarded to candidates who write a descriptive or superficial RPPF document. For the highest marks to be awarded, candidates must show clear evidence of evaluation in their RPPF regarding reflections of the work/process and their engagement. Reflections must be specific and personal, so that the student’s voice comes through clearly and succinctly.

However, note that each reflection does not, and should not, be only about what was discussed during the reflection sessions with the EE supervisor, but about the EE process in a more holistic way. This means students should reflect on their learning journeys between the reflection sessions too, for example.

In order to score high for this criterion, students must provide evidence of critical and reflective thinking that goes beyond simply describing the procedures and processes that have been followed. Instead, the best reflections  provide the EE examiner with insight into the student's thinking, creativity and originality within the research process. The student's personal voice (thoughts, opinions, reflections etc.) must be clearly evident and show that what learning has taken place during and after the process of completing the essay.

Criterion E of the assessment criteria is about demonstrating student VOICE

Therefore, the total number of marks for the Extended Essay is 34 marks (the EE was previously marked out of 36 in the old Guide). The assessment criteria are applied holistically, so students are advised to ensure that each assessment criterion should be addressed throughout the essay. For example, many students think (incorrectly) that evaluation (critical thinking) should only appear at the end of the essay. Under the new assessment criteria, four (of the five) criteria apply to the final essay, while one criterion (Criterion E: Engagement) applies to the new Reflections on Planning and Progress Form (RPPF).

It is important that students and supervisors read and interpret the assessment criteria for IB Business Management in the EE Guide, and then to discuss this to help students understand each assessment criterion. This tips provided on this page should also help.

Finally, to ensure students are able to reach a top mark in the essay, make sure they take NOTICE of what makes a good EE:

Download this poster from Hodder Education which featured in IB Review magazine and provides a succinct way to interpret and understand the assessment criteria. Permission has been granted by the publisher to use this on the InThinking Business Management website.

Finally, here is a student-friendly poster on the importance of reflection in the IB as a whole - and a very useful resource for the Extended Essay (Criterion E). The poster has been designed by my IBEN colleage, Önder Şit - IB Coordinator at an IB World School in Turkey.

Many thanks to Önder for allowing me to share his resource on InThinking Business Management. Download the PDF version of his poster here.