IB SL BUSINESS & MANAGEMENTCOURSE OVERVIEW

2011-2012 Academic Year

CORE UNITS:

UNIT 1: BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS & MANAGEMENTUNIT 2: HUMAN RESOURCES (HR)UNIT 3: ACCOUNTS & FINANCEUNIT 4: MARKETING UNIT 5: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

UNIT 1: BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS & MANAGEMENT

• Nature & Objectives of Business• Objectives, Stakeholders & the External

Environment• Organizational Planning & Decision Making• Growth & the Impact of Globalization• Change & the Management of Change

UNIT 2: HUMAN RESOURCES

• Human Resource Planning• Organizational Structure & Communication• Leadership & Management• Motivation • Corporate Culture & Employer Employee

Relations

UNIT 3: ACCOUNTS & FINANCE

• Sources of Finance• Management Accounting • Financial Accounts & Ratio Analysis

UNIT 4: MARKETING

• Role of Marketing• Marketing Planning

UNIT 5: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

• Production Methods• Costs, Revenue & Break Even Analysis• Quality Assurance• Location • Innovation• Production Planning• Project Management

INTERNAL ECA ASSESSMENT

• Homework Tasks (1 major task every 2 weeks) (Weight 4)• Weekly or Fortnightly Micro Exams (A short exam

about 15 to 20 minutes on core theories every week or 2 weeks. Weight 4)

• Company Simulation Project & Trade Fair (A group assignment over 3 months, weight 15)• End of Quarter Exams (90 mins, weight 20)• End of Semester Exams (2 hrs, weight 40)

EXTERNAL IB ASSESSMENTWritten Commentary

Written Commentary• You choose any company and investigate a

business problem or opportunity and provide solutions & recommendations to management.

• Length: 1500 words• Weight: 25% of your total IB business grade.

• Due Date: First week of February 2012.

EXTERNAL IB ASSESSMENTPaper 1:Exam based on set Case Study

Time: 1 hour & 15 minutesWeight: 35% of your total IB business grade.Date: May 2012 Exam Schedule

What to Study?• A prescribed IB case study is released 2 months

prior to the examination. Preparation involves knowing all aspects of the case study prior to the exam.

EXTERNAL IB ASSESSMENTPaper 2: Data & Short Response Articles

Time: 1 hour & 45 minutesWeight: 40% of your total IB business grade.Date: May 2012 Exam Schedule

What to Study?• All aspects of the course, with stronger

emphasis on financial calculations for the first part of the exam.

HOMEWORK POLICY

• Homework is a very important part of the Business & Management Course.

• The slides which follow answer many questions regarding homework in Business & Management.

What type of activities/exercises will I have to complete for homework?

• Your first homework task will involve reading 3 articles from business magazines with associated questions & activities• Some of these questions require extended

responses and research. • Other homework tasks will my involve essay

writing and or business calculations.

How long will I have to do my homework?

• In most cases, you will normally have about 10 days (nearly 2 weeks) to complete each major homework task.

• As you have considerable time to do your homework, there is no excuse for late submission

• Important Advice: Start your homework early – do not try to complete all your business homework the night before submission. It is not designed to be a one night activity, but rather there is work for several nights – the quality of the answers is important, especially with research questions. Do not use wikipedia!

What criteria are assessed with homework tasks & what is the weight?

Most homework tasks will involve 3 criteria: Mastery of Key Facts & Concepts Analysis of Key Facts & Concepts Research Skills

• Each criteria is marked from 2 (F) to 7 (A+) using the IB grading scheme.

• Each criteria is weighted at 4 on the ECA reporting system.

When is homework due?

• Homework is normally due on a Friday by 4:00pm or occasionally Thursday 4:00pm, when Friday is a holiday.• Note, that you may not have a business

class on the day the homework is due, but this is no excuse for late submission.• A complete list of Semester 1 dates is

provided in the next slide.

Major Homework Tasks: Semester 1 Dates

• Homework Task 1: Friday 26th August 2011• Homework Task 2: Thursday 8th September 2011• Homework Task 3: Friday 23rd September 2011• Homework Task 4: Thursday 6th October 2011• Homework Task 5: Friday 21st October 2011• Homework Task 6: Friday 4th November 2011• Homework Task 7: Friday 18th November 2011• Homework Task 8: Friday 2nd December 2011

How do I submit your homework?Electronic & Paper Copy

• If you have a business class on the day the homework is due it is obviously desirable to submit this in class.

• However, if you do not have a class on the day the homework is due, please ensure that it reaches my desk by 4:00pm on the relevant Friday or Thursday it is due to avoid penalties.

• In addition to providing a paper copy, you must also email your homework to:

businesshw@yahoo.com • Please do not send homework to my ECA email address.

There is insufficient storage capacity.

How do I get the Homework Tasks

• For the first tasks, paper copies will be provided.

• An email distribution list will be created for this class, so homework will generally be emailed to you personal email address.

• In addition, homework task sheets (including articles/questions) will also be available on my wikipage. At my homepage click on the relevant link for business homework.