Dear InThinking subscribers

Welcome to the July 2024 Updates and Notices. Please see below for some of the latest additions to the InThinking Business Management website:

• A new true or false quiz for Unit 2.1 (Factors that influence human resource planning) has been added here. There are 20 self-marked questions, with a short explanation of each answer to support students in their understanding of this topic.

• Following completion of the May 2024 exams, a new "Exam questions topic tracker" for the new syllabus has been added to the website here. This may be of particular interest at the moment for those teaching in November centres to see which topics in the syllabus were assessed in the May 2024 exams.

• In June 2024, Taylor Swift's Eras tour created huge hype in the UK, not just for her fan base (known as "Swifties"), but businesses too. It was reported that Taylor Swift ordered £450 ($570) of doner kebabs for her crew from her favourite takeaway in London (called Kentish Delight). A new Paper 2 exam practice question (Section B, 20 marks) based on this case study, which aligns with Unit 4.5 (The seven Ps of the marketing mix), has been added here, along with a full mark scheme.

• A new Paper 2 exam practice question for Unit 5.6 (The local and global supply chain process) has been added here. These questions are based on the recent news that many European retailers placed their Christmas orders as early as June due to global supply chain challenges.

• With many DP1 candidates working on their Internal Assessment and/or the Extended Essay, it is a timely reminder to students about the need to adhere to academic integrity. A new MCQ quiz about the various aspects of academic integrity has been added here for the IA and here for the EE.

• On a related note, both my World Studies EE students have exceeded the 4,000-word limit for their first draft. I have provided them with advice on how to cut words without changing the contents of their arguments and evidence. The advice can be used for students working on their IA as well. These top tips can be accessed here (scroll down to "ATL Activity 1 - Thinking skills and (exceeding) the word count limit").

• Following the completion of the marking of the new IAs for the M24 cohort, additional top tips and further advice for the use of tools and theories in the IA have been added here. As many students often confuse criterion F (structure) and criterion G (presentation) in the IA, I have added further advice about what is required to score maximum marks for these assessment criteria. In addition, there is a new quiz (see "Quiz - Structure and/or Presentation?") on the site page that will add further support. Students can access all of this here.

• A discussion earlier in the month in our WhatsApp group suggests that command terms continue to be rather challenging for us (teachers and students) to comprehend. For example, did you know...

• There are 31 command terms in our syllabus?

• A large number of these (just below 30%) have never been used in the external exams between May 2016 and May 2024?

I have added definitions and examples for each of the 31 command terms here - scroll down to "Summary table - Command terms (with examples)" There are many more examples here. I hope this helps teachers and students alike.

InThinking is not just about providing resources for content knowledge and exam practice. Another significant benefit of using the website is the extensive collection of teaching ideas that can save you countless hours of lesson planning. For instance, a new classroom activity based on blind taste tests has been added here for Unit 4.2 (How organizations differentiate themselves). This one-hour activity helps students reflect on whether branding and other product differentiation strategies truly influence brand perceptions and customer loyalty for products like cola drinks and crisps (potato chips). It is a fun activity for those seeking an engaging lesson to use at either the end or the start of the academic year.

In case you were not aware, InThinking's slogan and pledge is Dynamic, Creative, Personal:

• Dynamic (weekly) updates ensure InThinking Business Management never stands still – subscribers know that more great teaching and learning materials are continually added to the site, as outlined in our monthly Newsletter.

• Creative and rich classroom activities are what that drives us and our students: provoking inquiry, inspiring a lifelong love of the subject, and providing opportunities for extended discussions and engagement.

• Personal responses to subscriber questions and queries on the website help us to build a relationship with you and to gain an even better understanding of your needs and preferences.

Please remember that all your students can enjoy completely free access to the site. You can register your students via the Student Access link from the homepage. You may also have noticed that the filtered page tags have now changed to Student pages: ON and OFF. This allows you to more easily control the pages that are visible to your students. For the pages you wish to give them access, simply turn the access to ON but you can, if you wish, deny students access to a page by changing the setting to OFF.

If you wish to join our InThinking Business Management Teacher Support Group on WhatsApp, please check your profile settings to ensure that your full name is displayed along with an appropriate profile picture. Please also check your privacy settings to allow the Admin members to see your full profile. It is important that we all know who the members of the group are for professional communications. We have more than 625 registered teachers in this very active social media support group. The link to join the group is here.

For those who teach in May centres, all the very best with the upcoming IB results! Enjoy the well-deserved summer vacation ahead. For those in November centres, please continue to look out for weekly updates to the website during the months of July and August (when the much-anticipated new Paper 1 pre-release statement will be published).

With best wishes

Paul Hoang