S.

RAMESH

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Research questions for EE
EE – Main Secondary Research, supported by Primary Research.

IA - Main Primary Research, supported by Secondary Research.

How to frame Business Management internal assessment research question?

Question Remarks

1 Why are XXX Cyber café’s profits declining? General and very broad question. It
should be specific.

2 What measures can XYZ bakery take to revitalize its Instead of what measures, candidate
profitability? should have analysed the particular
measure or method.

3 What measures can XXX Residential School take to
arrest increasing teacher turnover to improve the
academic performance of the students?
Good question. Should have
improved by analyzing a particular
measure. This question is very
specific about the problem and
expected result.

4 What type of diversification of operations at XXX Candidate should have analysed the
Xerox would arrest its declining profits particular method of diversification

5 What measures can XXX Tailors take to improve its Candidate should have analysed the
cash flow? particular measure to improve the
cash flow.

6 Should XXX Gems stop outsourcing of making of Good question

gold ornaments in order to increase its profit margin

7 How can XXX revitalize profitability through Good question

innovations and changes in its product portfolio?

8 How can the employees of XXX be motivated in Good question could have been
order to increase levels of customer satisfaction, sales framed better.

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and revitalize profitability

Question Remarks

1 How can XXX Company improve its labour Question is not specific
productivity?

2 How can XXX Company improve industrial Question is not specific

relations?

3 How can XXX Company reduce labour problems? Question is not specific

4 How can XXX Company reduce labour problems to Better, could have been
increase its profitability? improved

5 Would solution to labour problems at XXX Company Instead of saying solution,

increase its profitability? candidate should have
mentioned specific solution
to the labour problem.

6 Would non-monetary motivation methods reduce Good question.

industrial relations problems to improve labour
productivity at XXX Company?

Let us take this question as an example:

Would non-monetary motivation methods reduce industrial relations problems to improve labour
productivity at XXX Company?

Good research question should have three important parts:

1 2 3

Method Problem Aim or expected result

Non- monetary Worsening industrial Improve labour

motivation relations productivity

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Overall grade boundaries

Grade: A B C D E

Mark range: 29 - 36 23 - 28 16 - 22 8 - 15 0-7

EXTENDED ESSAY TITLES (RQ) - SECONDARY DATA

IBDP 2(BATCH 2009-11): EE TITLES:

1. “Will the opening of a new branch by the Loot in Lonavala would be a profitable
venture?”(AAMIR) (Marks 18/36)
2. “In order to survive competition and impending disease, what are the promotional
strategies that Venky’s India Limited (Pune) can adopt?” (ANIRUDH) (Marks 20/36)
3. What are the different marketing mix that could be used by Shanti Casting to increase
their profit margins?(Nandish)(SL) (Marks 14/36)
4. “What steps should Kotak Mahindra bank take to improve employee’s
motivation?”(VIDHI) (Marks 19/36)
5. “Will introduction of the new marketing strategies by Hotel Lake View help to increase
its market share and growth?”(VISHAL) (Marks 18/36)

6. What steps Tanishka Rajshree should take to manage the scarcity of human resources
created due to negative externalities? (Sagar) (Marks 19/36)

IBDP 2(BATCH 2010-12): EE TITLES:

7. “ What measures should Infra industries Ltd.take in order to boost sales during its slack
season from June to august?” (Varun Ambani 25/36 B)
8. “How can Lekhize footwear cope with competition of low cost and quality footwear
entering from china to India?” (Sneha 20/36 C)
9. “How significant has the change in the marketing mix of Menon piston rings PVT. LTD.
been, in increasing its market share?” (Sharanya 24/36 B )
10. “Should ‘Mufti-alternative clothing’ develop its newly introduced female line of products
in the market so as to gain higher sales revenues?” (Anmol 23/36 B)

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11. “To what extent will the outsourcing of production help in reducing overheads and
improve profit margins for Fateh industries?” (Harsh 21/36 C)

IBDP 2(BATCH 2011-13): EE TITLES:

12. “What measures should be taken by umashi footwear inorder to survive in the
competition?”(Shantanu)
13. What promotional strategies can help the cathedral vidya school to fight intense competition to
increase its admission rate?” (Aakash)
14. “What measures can kamatchi shanmugam school take to minimize increasing teacher’s
turnover?” (Chinmay)
15. “Should an introduction of the new marketing strategies during recession help business machine
Tanzania limited (BMTL) maintain its market share and growth?” (Karan Maniek)
16. “How can Tata motors overcome customer complaints for Nano car to sustain in the
market and maintain their brand image?” (Priyanka)
17. “How will the implementation of newer machinery affect the finance and functioning of
indigo press?” (Rahoul)
18. "Will additional investment help Bollywood Sea Queen Beach Resort increase its annual
profit and also its market share?" (Yash M)

Sample research question in EE

1. “What differences should Kung make in order to increase the motivation of employees?”

2. What motivational strategies can Champion Cars Ltd. adopt to reduce the labor turnover
and increase its productivity?

5 WORST ESSAY TITLES:

1. “How can Mc Donald’s change their marketing strategy in order to make more profit?”
2. “On why the interaction between business and the president are important to the USA?”
3. “How I successfully started my own business whilst still a student and earned more
money than my teacher!”
4. “What are the links between photography and business?”
5. “How God is good for business?”

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3 BEST ESSAY TITLES:

6. “Do cultural differences harm the operations of multinational business ‘X’ in china?”
7. “Should QPR football club be run as a real business?”
8. “Should company ‘X’ use face book as the main tool for recruitment?”

EE – Sample Titles
1. “What motivates employees? Can Herzberg’s Motivation theory help explain the
improvement in productivity at XYZ Ltd?” (Good Title)
a. “Have Motivational techniques benefited XYZ Ltd?” (Poor Title)

2. “How significant has the contribution of Just-in-Time production been in improving

efficiency in the textile industry?” is better than “How effective are Just-in-Time
production techniques?”

3. “Why has the practice of publishing environmental audits been adopted more widely in
Country X than in Country Y?” is better than “Why do firms publish environmental
audits?”

Topic Operations management

Research To what extent has the introduction of Total Quality Management (TQM) improved
question quality at ABC Ltd?
A review of how quality management techniques have changed with the introduction
of TQM. Relevant indicators are selected for measuring quality and the data for
ABC Ltd is collected. The way in which ABC Ltd have adapted their approach to
Approach managing quality, and the impact of this on the selected indicators, is analysed and
evaluated.

Topic Growth strategies

Research How effective has the joint venture between ABC Ltd and UBI Ltd been as a growth
question strategy?
A review from secondary sources of growth strategies available to a firm and joint
ventures specifically. Relevant indicators are selected to quantify the impact of the
joint venture on the growth of ABC Ltd and UBI Ltd. Relevant data is collected
Approach
from the two businesses, and the findings are analysed and evaluated.

Topic Financial performance

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Research Why has the market capitalization of XYZ Plc increased more than the market
question capitalization of its competitor ABC Plc?
A review from secondary sources of factors affecting financial performance and
Approach selection of variables that may contribute to differences in market capitalization.
Data is collected and a comparative analysis is made of the findings.

Some examples of analytical tools are as follows.

 Ansoff’s Matrix
 Boston Matrix
 Break-even analysis
 Decision tree analysis
 Financial accounts and performance ratios
 Fishbone analysis
 PEST (LE) analysis
 Porter’s generic strategies and five forces
 Position maps
 Statistical tables/charts/diagrams
 SWOT analysis