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Here is a step-by-step structure you can follow if you’re doing your Extended Essay in
Business Management.
The layout has changed relatively recently (May 2017), for example in terms of the
cover sheet requirements and the reflections, but this post is up-to-date (and it includes
a lot of helpful links).
Be careful about choosing your research question. You’ve got a lot of options, but
it shouldn’t be a practical/actionable business question, like you would use for
your IA (i.e. should company X open a store in mall Y.) Here is a lot more advice
about choosing a perfect EE RQ: Starting Your Business EE (IBM)
Cite all of your sources --preferably using MLA. I expect to see at least 5 cited
sources on an average page. Make sure you are really sure about when and how
to cite. Here’s a good guide from Purdue to help you. Easybib works too.
The E.E. should be in 12-point, preferably Arial or Times New Roman. And it
should be double spaced, with numbered pages.
Anything over the 4000 word limit won’t be read by your marker. (I’ve noted
below how many words I recommend for each section and which sections don’t
count in the word count.)
About 18% of your EE marks now come from your reflections, so those are also
important. Here’s how to do them: How to Write IB EE Reflections (IBM) so be
careful with those too.
And finally, when you’ve almost finished your first draft and you’re ready to
make it better, take a look at this: How to Make Your Good Extended Essay Great
(IBM)
Include:
o Your EE title. This part is slightly confusing, because the title is not the
same as your Research Question (RQ). The RQ is written in the form of a
question, but the title should not be a question. Instead it is “a clear,
focused summative statement of your research” (EE Guide, page
82). http://www.shaker.org/Downloads/IBExtendedEssayGuide2018.pdf
For example, “The Affects of the Acquisition of Instagram on Facebook.”
o Your Research Question. For example, “How has the acquisition of
Instagram affected Facebook?”
o The subject (Business Management)
o Your word count
(Notice that you shouldn’t put your name, date, candidate number, or school name on
the EE.)
Table of Contents
(Not included in your word count.)
All parts of your EE, with page numbers of course. (You can just copy and past my list to
get you started).
Introduction
Methodology
Main body
Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendices
(Do not include an Abstract. The new E.E. Guide states that an Abstract should not be
included in the EE.)
You’ll notice that, as much as you’re telling us what you are going to use to answer the
question (sources and tools), you’re also pointing out the limitations and weaknesses of
these.
1. The first is for your tools. This is where you show off that you understand how
to do the stuff you’ve been taught in Business Management class.
2. The second is for the rest of your research. Most students will only do the
“tools” section, but this second part is where you get to wow us with all of the
impressive extra research that you’ve done, which goes beyond what is taught in
the course.
Every single paragraph of the body needs to relate (in a very obvious way) to the
research question. Don’t include tools or research which don’t help you answer your
question.
Review several related theories and concepts, more extensively than the course
does.
Impress us. Give us the sense that you really do know how this industry works.
Show that you’re the expert in several aspects of your question, or that you’ve at
least asked experts.
Here’s an example to help you. If you’re studying the effect of a merger in the
pharmaceutical industry, you could look for information about
o Research about what makes a successful merger
o Research about some famous mergers in the pharmaceutical industry.
Were these considered successful and why? (This could help you explore
whether your merger has had similar outcomes.
Make sure this section is analytical, rather than descriptive. Be very careful to
make sure that all of your theories in this section are really helping you answer
your RQ.
A graph of some kind is recommended. But of course link your graph to the RQ.
Sometimes you might learn that there is an analytical method which is
commonly used in your industry (i.e. a ratio that isn’t taught in the course, or a
way of measuring customer satisfaction). Feel free to include that in your EE
here.
If you can’t think of what else to include, look for interesting links to one of the
concepts: change, culture, ethics, globalization, strategy and innovation which
might help to answer your question.
Here is more advice on doing Advanced Extended Essay Research (IBM)
https://www.ibmastery.com/blog/advanced-business-extended-essay-research
(Don’t include a recommendations section in your EE, like you do in the HL Business
IA).
Bibliography
(Not included in your word count. Aim for around 3-4 pages of sources)
This is where you reaffirm (remind the marker) all the great sources you used.
Include:
Appendices
(Not included in your word count. Often this is around 3 or 4 pages)
The jury is out about appendices. The EE guide us us that “appendices are not an
essential part of the extended essay and examiners will not read them, or use any
information contained within them, in the assessment of the essay” (EE guide, Page
87). That seems pretty clear. And yet, they are still commonly used.
I would say the best use of appendices is to include artefacts from your process, which
help to show the hard work that you’ve done.
Include:
I (Tim Woods) teach IB Business, Economics, ToK and Global Politics in Singapore and I
help IB students around the world through IBMastery.com
IBMastery also has an EE Mastery course you can get here (included with the Business
Mastery Pack), which has a lot more helpful resources (videos, etc) to help you do your
best.