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You have decided on the topic of your Business and Management extended essay but don't know how to structure it? We are here to help! In this post, you'll find tips for each section of your EE, that are based on our extensive experience with IB. While we suggest this framework based on our track record of assisting students in achieving top-rated essays, feel free to tailor the guide below to your preferences.
Business and Management EE format and structure
The extended essay is a 4,000 words investigation that should consist of the following parts:
Title page and table of contents
On the title page, you will include the topic of your investigation, the research question, the subject, and the word count.
The next page should be the table of contents with all subsections of your essay along with the page numbering.
Introduction and background information
Provide a brief introduction to the business or organization that you have chosen for your extended essay.
Mention the product or service that will be subject to investigation.
State the aim of the investigation.
Identify the problem and state how it relates to the theoretical concepts from Business and Management (for instance competition, pricing strategy, firm's sustainability, etc.)
Include in-text citations to provide the context of the business activity of the chosen firm.
You can also briefly present the market and compare it to the examined business.
See this for reference.
Research question
State a focused research question, such as: To what extent has Zoom’s freemium business model influenced its market leadership position in the North American video conferencing market from 2020 to 2021?
Specify the aspect of the firm's activity under investigation and the scope (whether you are analysing the firm's international strategy or focusing on a specific region/country), you can also state the period under analysis.
Methodology
You must carefully choose secondary sources that will be used in the investigation.
Make sure that sources are reliable and relevant in the context of your study.
Also, you must appoint a couple of business and management tools and theories that you will use in the analysis. Justify their choice by stating how will the findings contribute to answering the research question.
Keep in mind that introducing irrelevant information can result in a deduction of points, therefore choose your methodology wisely.
This methodology is worth taking a look at.
Analysis
This is the crucial part of your essay in which you will determine the answer to the research question.
Use different forms of graphical representation such as graphs and maps that will facilitate analysing the trends within the data and for instance, positioning the firm on the market. Remember to label and describe them appropriately.
You should include tables of data and calculations when conducting a financial analysis.
Devote separate sections/paragraphs for each business and management tool. Describe how the tools were used and form a mini-conclusion relating to the research question.
Again, include the in-text citations.
Check out this analysis.
Conclusion and evaluation
Re-state the aim of the essay to refresh the reader's memory.
Provide a statement about the extent to which the research topic has been analyzed.
Briefly summarize the findings from each business tool used.
Clearly state the answer to the research question. Do not introduce any new data to this section.
Suggest how the organization should adjust its strategy.
Discuss the limitations of both data sources and tools used in the investigation.
Show awareness of possible factors that could have influenced the results.
State the strengths and weaknesses of your extended essay and propose how to possibly improve and extend your study.
See this to get a glimpse of the matter.
Bibliography and appendices
These parts are not included in the word count.
In the bibliography, you should make a detailed list of all sources used in your investigation in alphabetical order. Decide on one style of referencing.
The appendices will serve as a place for additional tables of data etc. however these can't be the crucial information for your EE.
We are hoping that you will use the above tips in the writing process! For more inspiration head to the Clastify website and check out the remaining Business and management exemplars. You can also see our guide with a breakdown of the EE assessment criteria here. Good luck!
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