The advice here has been provided by my IBEN colleague, Edward Creighton. The work was originally published in IB Review magazine, Hodder Education's flagship publication for the IB Diploma Programme. I am grateful to both Edward and Hodder Education for granting their permission to use this work on InThinking Business Management.

Business Management is a very popular Extended Essay subject for students. At up to 4,000 words, the EE can seem like a major challenge. The EE in BM is a serious academic piece of work based almost exclusively on secondary sources. This article provides top tips for completing the EE in Business Management, but much of the advice can be used for almost any Extended Essay in almost any subject. To help you, Edward Creighton shares his top 10 tips for completing the BM EE.

This should make sense as you are expected to spend up to 40 hours completing the EE. Read the BM syllabus and identify those areas which interest you most, though the topic does not have to be specifically mentioned in the IB BM syllabus.

For example, consider how your interests or hobbies in real life can be linked to business management. In the recent past, students have investigated gaming, beauty products, electric cars, theme parks, and doing business in China as topics for their Extended Essay. Read about the topic area and try to find relevant information to support your work. Initially this may involve using search engines, databases, or established news websites like The Guardian.

Establish why this topic is interesting to you and from a business management perspective. For example, if you are keen on sports and music, consider a relevant research question (such as “To what extent should ticket resellers be banned in the UK?”), and write around 250 words explaining your interest, why the topic is worthy of study, and list a range of secondary sources. The set up an initial meeting with your supervisor at school to discuss this. The supervisor may suggest that you do more research into the topic. For example, the sources against banning ticket resellers may come from within the industry, so perhaps are biased and may lack some credibility.

Many students approach their teachers asking to be supervised for the EE, but do not know what they actually want to investigate. Research questions should not come from the supervisor as these may result in students lacking engagement in the process. Instead, if an interesting topic springs to mind, start reading online newspapers or headlines to establish whether further information can be found and possible research questions created.

There are 4 important documents you need to read before meeting starting your own EE:

1. The general assessment criteria for all EEs

2. The subject specific assessment criteria for BM EEs

3. The examiner report for BM EEs

4. An example of an excellent BM EE, as this will show clearly what needs to be done to score highly

Your EE Coordinator will be able to provide you with the first three documents. Your supervisor can show you an example of an exemplar EE.

The research question can be forward looking. Writing about why Starbucks has been successful in Shanghai is backward looking and will likely lead to a descriptive essay. A better research question would be “To what extent can Costa Coffee improve its market position in Shanghai?” This is forward looking and lends itself to the student discussing the reasons for and against Costa Coffee improving its position. This will help provide a balanced, evaluative answer - a key feature of scoring highly in Criterion C (critical thinking).

Your outline, of around 400 words in length, should include the possible research question. Explain why you are interested in this topic and why it is important to study as a BM student. Also, identify possible secondary sources which provide balance. Briefly suggest some reasons for and against, as the essay will need to show balance, such as the reasons for and against Costa Coffee improving its position in Shanghai. A reward for producing a good outline is that it provides a framework for you to write the EE, and relevant sources have been identified which can be used in the main body. It also impresses your supervisor when you meet to discuss the outline!

It is common for the supervisor to be someone who teaches you. Many schools suggest a maximum number of students that each supervisor can be responsible for (up to 3 supervisees is quite common practice in IB schools). Therefore, you need to convince the supervisor that you will not be wasting their time!

By preparing a concise outline and having a reasonable understanding of the EE will encourage the supervisor that your EE journey will be successful. The supervisor can help focus the research question more clearly if need be. All students need to impress supervisors that they will work diligently to undertake background reading on relevant theories and will be fully committed to the EE process.

The Higher Level Business Management IA is based on primary research. An A grade for the EE in BM can be awarded without doing any primary research. The May 2018 examiner’s report (the first for the new EE Guide) makes clear reference to this, stating “the confusion between the IA and EE was the main reason why many candidates underperformed.”

In the SL and HL IA, students tend to include the following tools: SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, Fishbone diagram or Lewin’s Force Field Analysis. These can appear in the EE but students often do not use them skillfully; they frequently drop them into the document without appropriate explanation of the contents or their significance. It can, for example, be difficult to explain where the numbers on a decision tree come from, so if this cannot be done correctly then do not include it.

As the EE is an academic piece of work, the examiner will positively mark those who go beyond what is on the syllabus, such as Porter’s Five Forces or Blue Ocean Strategy. Another approach by astute students is to relate their essay through the 6 concepts covered in the BM course: Change, Culture, Ethics, Globalization, Innovation and Strategy. The EE research question for most students should require analysis and evaluation of a strategic issue for an organization which can be linked to these key concepts. For example, an EE that focuses on the success of GE’s localization strategy in healthcare products in China might include discussions about change management, the need to innovate to meet local needs, the cultural differences between international markets and the need to amend corporate strategies because of competitors and local governments.

Refer to the table below that summarises the differences between the HL IA and the EE:

The EE requires a lot of background reading as its success depends on secondary research. Schools will provide students with a sufficient timeframe to conduct the necessary reading of academic journals and sources. Start reading as soon as your supervisor has agreed to the research question. Identify possible secondary sources which provide balance. These sources may include academic journals, reputable magazines like The Economist, and books written on the subject.

The role of the school librarian is especially important as they show students how to use online databases like JStor and how to cite and reference appropriately. Search engines can be valuable to identify sources, but the academic nature of the EE means students need to consult academic journals if they want to gain the top grade. Do not rely on the Internet for all your sources!

Assessment Criterion C is titled "Critical Thinking" and is marked out of 12. Many students tend to describe rather than analyse and evaluate. To show evidence of critical thinking, students should use phrases like “In the short (or long) term…” and “the most significant factor is… because…”. This enables you to prioritise issues which you think are most important in addressing the research question. An essay investigating the appropriateness of using handwriting analysis for recruitment may look at ethical issues, time and cost, reliability, and identifying personality traits in other ways.

For all essays, the arguments should be balanced (for and against) and allow the research question to be answered at the end in a considered way.

Schools create deadlines for students’ own good! Although the EE takes about 6 to 8 months to complete, by the time students identify a question and do the final reflection (viva voce), this process could be closer to one year.

Many schools use a series of deadlines as check-in points to support both the student and supervisor. Students should set aside time between deadlines so they can clearly think through what needs to be completed and then progress with the writing process.

Use the summer holidays wisely. Students may get up to 2 months break, yet too many do nothing about their EE during this time. These students return to the final year of the IB Diploma and quickly find themselves snowed under with deadlines for IAs, CAS projects and other demands of school life. The EE can lose priority. Instead, dedicate time spread over several weeks to re-read your EE and to make edits. This will help you to make steady progress and meet the EE deadlines in the following academic year.

Students, parents, teachers and IB Coordinators get annoyed when EEs do not match the predicted grades of the supervisor. Too often, the issue is not the quality of the content of the essay, but marks are lost because of poor presentation and referencing.

Assessment Criteria D (Presentation) is worth 4 marks. The six required elements of the EE are:

• Title page*

• Contents page

• Introduction

• Body of the essay

• Conclusion

• References and Bibliography (works cited).

• Title of the essay

• Research question

• Subject (i.e. Business Management)

• Word count

• Personal code (the student’s name and name of the school must not appear on the EE).

As communicated to Heads of School and IB Coordinators, the suggested format for the EE includes:

• Size 12 font, Arial or Times New Roman recommended

• Double spacing (or at least 1.5 spacing)

• Page numbering

• File size no larger than 10MB

The examiner does not read beyond 4,000 words. Examiners will quickly be able to identify those which have a misleading word count on the cover page. Do not take the risk.

There is no minimum number of words for an EE but aim for at least 3,900 and certainly close to the word limit itself. The word count includes:

•    The introduction
•    Main body
•    Conclusion
•    Quotations
•    Footnotes – Note, do not try to hide words in footnotes as this is considered as part of the word count.

Clearly reference and do so consistently using a recognized system, such as APA or MLA. Students should include citation and referencing from the outset (i.e. in the introduction); this also impresses the examiner immediately. As the EE is based on secondary research, ensure you cite and referencing throughout the essay.

If you use diagrams, ensure these are label clearly and make sure you explain them in the context of your research question. Avoid writing “in the above diagram …” - this is unclear.

Reflections are worth 6 marks. There are three formal reflection sessions held between the EE supervisor and students:

• The first reflection happens during the beginning stages of the EE, where the student describes how they will approach the essay (methodology) and possible concerns.

• The interim reflection is analytical and happens around the middle of the EE process. Students comment on what they are doing well, where they are struggling and how they will address problems.

• The final reflection, called the viva voce, is evaluative and takes place after the EE is completed. Students comment on the success of the essay and their learning journey.

In the reflection, give specific examples about the EE, rather than writing generally. Write about the focus of the research question in the first reflection, not your interest in BM or desire to use the EE as a pathway to studying BM at university.

The total length of the three reflections is 500 words; the examiner will not read beyond this point. Each of the three reflections should be around 160 words, perhaps a little more for the final reflection.

Reflection comments should not be overly negative, especially in the viva voce. The IB wants students to reflect on the positive aspects of doing the EE and the learning that has taken place.

Essentially, the EE provides students with the opportunity to carry out in-depth research in an area of personal interest. Therefore, it is vital that you find a topic of interest, and that you fully understand the requirements of the EE. To score highly, you will need to show balance and evidence of evaluation. Hence, use a wide variety of secondary sources to help address the research question. Be disciplined about citation and referencing. Reflect positively. Finally, ensure you meet all internal deadlines.

All the best with completing the EE!

Edward Creighton has been an IB Business Management teacher at YCIS Shanghai since 2003 and been the Head of Department for Commerce since 2006. Edward is also the Extended Essay Coordinator at YCIS Shanghai, China. I am grateful to him for sharing this advice on InThinking Business Management.