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Supporting documents for the IA

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  • IA /
  • Supporting documents for the IA

Supporting documents – Secondary sources

The selection of supporting documents is very important. To achieve the highest levels for each assessment criterion, it is strongly recommended that the supporting documents present a range of ideas and views. For example, the use of three to five documents published by a single business organization would not provide sufficient balance or objectivity.

The chosen supporting documents must be contemporary in nature - so focusing on the 2008 global financial crisis is not suitable for the Internal Assessment. One of the core aims of the IA is for students to engage with a contemporary real-world business issue, with the support of recent authentic business documents. This means the supporting documents must have been published within a maximum of three years prior to the submission of the business research project to the IB. So, for submissions in May 2024, with the upload deadline being 20th April 2024, the earliest date of any supporting document would be 20th April 2021.

Examples of supporting documents that can be used for the Internal Assessment include:

  • Academic journals and publications

  • Company annual reports

  • Company websites

  • Economic key performance indicators, e.g., economic growth, unemployment, and/or inflation

  • Financial accounts / statements

  • Market research surveys
  • Market analyses

  • Mission statements

  • Newsletters

  • Newspaper articles

  • Online databases / encyclopaedias

  • Radio and television programmes*

  • Sales turnover figures

Other important points to note include the following:

  • *Note that one of the 3 - 5 supporting documents can be an audio-video source, although the source must be properly cited and reference, along with the relevant parts being transcribed. The transcript must be included for assessment purposes. Do not include just the URL for the audio-video resource. Only the transcript is uploaded - there is no option to upload the audio-video recording on IBIS or ManageBac.

  • All source documents should be selected for their suitability (relevance), depth and breadth. Above all, the supporting documents must be documents that are externally sourced (for secondary sources) or are generated from primary sources (if used).

  • Students can also use supporting documents not written in the language for which they are registered. However, students must highlight the relevant parts of the supporting documents that are not in the language for which they have registered and these parts must be translated accordingly.

  • Using more than 5 supporting documents automatically means that the maximum mark awarded for this assessment criterion is 1 mark.

  • The most important point to note, however, is that student must ensure the chosen sources are of direct relevance and address the specific research question.

  • Whilst textbooks and reference materials (such as class notes) should also be used in the IA, these do not count as supporting documents. Instead, they are used to apply the most relevant tools, theories, and techniques to address the specific research question. "Textbooks" refers to physical textbooks and e-books, whilst reference materials also include subject-specific websites such as InThinking Business Management. Note: for reasons of academic integrity, all of these sources used in the IA must be cited and referenced in a bibliography.

Textbooks should be used for the tools, theories, and techniques appropriate to the RQ

 Top tip 1

For students relying on the use of secondary research sources for large organizations, the use of company annual reports can be a highly valuable resource.

Recently, a student of mine focusing BMW's operations in the e-vehicle sector was able to use the company's latest annual report very effectively. Although the supporting document was in excess of 200 pages, she included only 5 pages from this source document in order to address the research question, which included:

  • BMW's mission statement
  • Data for the German carmaker's profit and loss account (showing 5 years of data)
  • Data for the company's balance sheet (again, for a 5-year period)
  • BMW's market share in the electric vehicles industry
  • An outline of BMW's strategic plan to increase its market share

So, a company annual report as a single support document can provide students with significant depth of data and information to help address the research question.

 Top tip 2

Pragmatically, a source document is considered a supporting document if it is used 2 or more times in the business research project. So, any additional source document (if included in the IA) must only be used once. Furthermore, these additional sources are not bound by the 3-year contemporary rule applied to the supporting documents.

Moderators have often commented that many students include more than 5 supporting documents in their IA, and are not credited for this. Having more than 5 SDs can also raise issues related to academic integrity.

Furthermore, including more than 5 supporting documents will automatically mean that the maximum mark awarded under Criterion B is 1.

Hence, pragmatically speaking, if a student uses a source multiple times, this should be considered as a supporting document - after all, the 1,800 word business research project is based upon 3 to 5 supporting documents. Using any other source (just the once) is therefore not considered a SD.

An example might be the use of an official government website to get the population size or unemployment rate to add context to the research project. The only exception to this rule is a textbook (which is not a SD and can be used multiple times for tools, theories, techniques, and terminology).

To read about how to formulate suitable research questions for the IA, please click the hyperlink here.

Supporting documents – Primary sources

Primary market research can also be used for the Internal Assessment. These sources, if used, must be cited properly and referenced in a bibliography. Examples of such sources might include:

  • Interviews (with full transcripts)
  • Observation checklists
  • Competitor analysis (i.e., an examination of local competitors through survey, interviews and/or observations)

The most important thing to remember about the use of primary research is that it must be fit for purpose - ask yourself the following questions:

  • Why are you using a particular method of primary research?

  • What is the purpose of conducting, for example, 50 customer questionnaires?

  • How will this add real value in answering your research question?

Note: a SWOT or STEEPLE analysis produced by the student, if applied suitably, can be derived from both primary and secondary sources.

 Top tip 3

If a small organization is chosen for the IA, then primary research should be conducted in cooperation with the chosen organization, and with their knowledge and prior approval. This means it should be possible for students to conduct an interview with a manager or even some employees from the organization, with their willingness to share information and data as appropriate.

Too often, students only include surveys and questionnaires from customers, and sometimes interview transcripts from unnamed employees of the business.

Note that for the IA, it is not appropriate for students to conduct an investigation of a small business (such as a sole trader) without the input or involvement of the business organization itself. This must also be evidenced in the business research project.

 Top tip 4

To support students with their primary research, many schools provide letters of support (on official school letter-headed paper or via an official school email to the organization). This helps to authenticate that the research being conducted by the student is authentic and for academic research purposes only.

An example of such a statement is shown below.

To whom it may concern

Re: (student's name, school name)

This is to certify that (student's name) is a student at (school name), studying the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in Business Management. The two-year academic course requires students to produce a 1,800 word research project on a real-world business issue. This research is for internal assessment purposes only (accounting for 20% of the final grade for Higher Level students and 30% for Standard Level students) and will not be disclosed to third parties beyond the school and the International Baccalaureate (the examination board).

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding this matter.

Thank you for supporting (student's name) with this compulsory task from the International Baccalaureate.

With kind regards,

(Your name, your position, your school name, your school contact details)

Top tip 5

For most students, it will be easier to complete the IA using only or predominantly secondary research sources. If students choose to also include primary research (which is permitted by the IB), they must ensure that this:

  1. Adds value to the research question.

  2. Complements the secondary research that has been conducted.

If primary research is undertaken, it must be approached with academic rigour. For example, customer questionnaires based on speculative, circumstantial responses do not tend to generate appropriate or meaningful data, so should not be used as a supporting document.

In all cases, students must carry out relevant and meaningful research that directly address the research question. Suitable use of primary research could include interviews with experts in a particular topic/field (linked to the topic and RQ of the business research project), such as:

  • University lecturers

  • Journalists

  • Government officials

  • Business people / entrepreneurs

In all cases, irrespective of whether secondary and/or primary research is used, the student must ensure the chosen sources (supporting documents) are of direct relevance to the IA research question. Remember that the supporting documents are used as evidence in order to address and answer the specific research question – watch this comical video clip (it is brilliant, and should be self-explanatory about the importance of evidence):

Return to the Internal Assessment homepage