IB Business Management IA: The Complete Guide to the Business Research Project

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB DP) Business Management IA is a business research project of up to 1,800 words that investigates a real issue facing one real organisation through a single key concept: change, creativity, ethics or sustainability. The IB Business Management IA is marked out of 25, built on three to five supporting documents, and counts for 30% of the final grade at SL and 20% at HL. A high score depends less on choosing an impressive company than on a tightly focused question, well-chosen documents and a concept that runs through every paragraph. (This guide has been updated for 2026-27 submissions.)

What the IB Business Management IA Requires

The current IB DP Business Management course was first assessed in 2024, and it replaced the old separate SL and HL internal assessments with one common task. The IB calls it the business research project. Every student, at either level, produces a written project on a real business issue or problem facing a particular organisation. Hypothetical scenarios are not allowed.

Here are the fixed requirements you need to plan around:

• Length: a maximum of 1,800 words, and headings count towards the total. Anything over 1,800 words is not marked, so a conclusion that falls after the limit earns nothing.
• Key concept: exactly one of the four course concepts (change, creativity, ethics or sustainability), named on your title page and used as the lens for the whole project.
• Supporting documents: three to five, attached to the project. Most of the information in your project should come from them.
• Marks and weighting: 25 marks in total, worth 30% of the final grade at SL and 20% at HL.
• Time: the course guide allocates 20 hours to the internal assessment.
• Marking: your teacher marks the project, and the marks are then externally moderated by the IB.

Research can be primary, secondary or both. Interviews or surveys are permitted but not compulsory, which is a deliberate change: the old HL task leaned heavily on access to a business, and students without that access were at a disadvantage. If you want a broader view of how internal assessments work across the humanities, our guide to writing an IB internal assessment in the humanities covers the shared principles.

If you're unsure where to start with your IB Business Management IA, you're not alone. Picking an organisation, a concept and a question that all fit together can be the hardest first step. An experienced Business Management tutor can help you test your research question, find documents that will actually support it, and avoid the choices that quietly cap your marks. Tell us what you need help with →

Choosing an Organisation, an Issue and a Research Question

Your choice of organisation matters less than whether you can find enough recent, varied evidence about one specific issue it faces. A global brand may seem attractive, but its issues are often so broad that the project turns into a summary of news coverage. A smaller or regional organisation with a clear, current decision can produce sharper analysis, as long as documents exist.

Start with the issue, not the company

Look for a decision, a problem or a change that is happening or has recently happened: a new pricing model, a supplier switch, a market entry, a restructuring, a sustainability commitment. The question can look forward (should the organisation do something?) or backward (how effective was something it already did?). Either is acceptable, but you must be able to reach a supported judgement.

Match the issue to one concept

Ask which concept genuinely explains the issue. A product redesign might suit creativity; a cost-cutting decision with workforce consequences might suit ethics; a shift in packaging or sourcing might suit sustainability; a merger or new leadership might suit change. If you can only connect the concept in your introduction and conclusion, it is the wrong concept for that issue.

Write a question that demands a judgement

Strong research questions share three features: they name one real organisation, they require analysis rather than description, and they can be answered with Business Management tools. Command terms such as "to what extent" or "evaluate" help, as does a "should" question about a specific decision. An illustrative shape would be: "To what extent has moving to a subscription model improved [organisation]'s long-term competitiveness?" Replace the brackets with a real business you can document, and narrow the scope until the question fits in 1,800 words.

The Seven Assessment Criteria, Explained

The 25 marks are split across seven criteria. Each one rewards something different, and because the smaller criteria are worth only 2–4 marks each, losing even one can keep an otherwise strong project out of the top band.

Criterion	What it assesses	Marks
A	Integration of a key concept	5
B	Supporting documents	4
C	Selection and application of tools and theories	4
D	Analysis and evaluation	5
E	Conclusions	3
F	Structure	2
G	Presentation	2
Total		25

Criterion A: Integration of a key concept (5 marks)

This criterion asks how well the concept shapes the project, not how often the word appears. Define what the concept means in the context of your organisation, then return to it as you analyse each document and tool. A sustainability project, for example, should show how sustainability affects the costs, stakeholders and strategic options you discuss, rather than adding a paragraph about it at the end.

Criterion B: Supporting documents (4 marks)

Credit goes to documents that are relevant, sufficiently detailed and varied in perspective. Five press releases from the company itself give you one voice. A stronger set might combine a company report, independent industry or market analysis, news coverage and stakeholder evidence such as survey results or an interview transcript. Documents must be contemporary: published no more than three years before the project is submitted.

Criterion C: Selection and application of tools and theories (4 marks)

Choose a small number of Business Management tools that genuinely help answer your question, such as a SWOT analysis, STEEPLE, a force field analysis, a decision tree, ratio analysis or investment appraisal, and apply them to the data in your documents. Listing a tool without using real figures or evidence from your organisation earns little credit.

Criterion D: Analysis and evaluation (5 marks)

This is where the higher marks are won. Analysis explains what the evidence shows and why; evaluation weighs it, considering different stakeholder perspectives, the limitations of your sources and the short-term versus long-term picture. Every claim should point back to a supporting document.

Criterion E: Conclusions (3 marks)

Your conclusion must answer the research question directly, follow from the analysis you have already presented and introduce no new evidence. If you asked "to what extent", say to what extent, and justify that judgement.

Criteria F and G: Structure and presentation (2 marks each)

Structure rewards a logical argument that builds towards the conclusion. Presentation covers the practical elements: a title page with your research question, key concept and word count, a contents page, headings, numbered pages, consistent referencing and a bibliography. These four marks depend mostly on careful formatting, so they are worth securing before you submit.

Meeting all seven criteria of your IB Business Management IA within 1,800 words is a lot to manage on your own, especially when the rubric makes sense but balancing concept, tools and evaluation does not. A Business Management tutor can review your plan against each criterion and show you where the marks are slipping. Get matched with a Business Management tutor →

Building a Strong Set of Supporting Documents

Treat your supporting documents as the foundation of the project rather than a box to tick at the end. Before you commit to a research question, gather a longlist of possible documents and check that together they cover the issue from several angles, including at least one source that does not come from the organisation itself.

Once you have chosen your three to five documents, label them clearly, highlight the extracts you use and refer to them throughout the body of the project. Attachments do not count towards the word limit, but analysis that exists only in an attachment earns no marks, so the reasoning has to be written into the project. If you collect your own primary data, such as a short survey or an interview with a manager, keep the transcript or results so they can be attached, and acknowledge the limits of a small sample in your evaluation.

Finally, reference every document and any additional sources in a consistent style. Your school's academic integrity policy applies to the internal assessment just as it does to every other piece of IB coursework.

Planning Your Timeline and Avoiding Common Mistakes

With around 20 hours of class time allocated, the project needs to be spread across several weeks. A workable sequence is: choose the issue and concept, gather documents, confirm the research question with your teacher, draft the analysis using your chosen tools, then edit ruthlessly to the word limit. Your school will set internal deadlines for a first draft and final submission, and our step-by-step guide to meeting IB internal assessment deadlines shows how to fit this around your other subjects.

Common pitfalls to avoid:

• A question that is too broad. "How can [organisation] be more successful?" cannot be answered properly in 1,800 words.
• A concept that appears only in the introduction. Criterion A rewards integration throughout.
• One-sided documents. Relying only on company publications limits both Criterion B and your evaluation.
• Theory without data. Tools need to be applied to real figures and evidence from your documents.
• Running out of words. Plan your word budget per section before drafting, and leave room for the conclusion.

Students who want ongoing support with the wider course, as well as the IA, can work with an IB Business Management tutor across both years of the Diploma Programme.

Get Expert Help With Your IB Business Management IA

The business research project rewards clear thinking far more than lucky topic choices, and that thinking can be taught. With 240+ certified teachers and examiners, we'll match you with a Business Management tutor who can help you choose an organisation and concept, test your research question, select stronger supporting documents and tighten your analysis before your teacher's deadline. Start within 48 hours. Find your tutor →

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