BMT

The integrated Business Management Toolkit (BMT)

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
- Abraham Maslow (1966), American psychologist and author of Maslow's hierarchy of needs

The Business Management Toolkit (BMT) is a set of interrelated tools, theories, and techniques that can be used by students in different disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts across the contents of the syllabus, including IB assessments (such as the IA and the Business Management EE).

The BMT is part of the syllabus content but it is expected that teachers will integrate the toolkit throughout the teaching of the new course. Suggestions are provided for each of the elements of the BMT (click on the relevant BMT to access these suggestions). Essentially, the BMT provides a valuable set of tools or frameworks to analyze different topics and situations in the context of the Business Management course.

The Business Management Toolkit consists of 15 different tools. Eight of these are applicable to both SL and HL students, whilst an additional seven are included for HL students. The tools in the BMT can be categorised as:

Situational tools - These tools are used to help businesses assess aspects of their internal and/or external environments, such as SWOT analysis and STEEPLE analysis.
Planning tools - These tools are used to help businesses prepare for certain tasks and projects as well as their implementation, such as business plans, critical path analysis (HL only) and Gantt charts (HL only).
Decision-making tools - These tools are used to help businesses make strategic choices by considering different factors in order to make rational decisions and to minimise risks, such as decision trees, the Boston Consulting Group matrix, and the Ansoff matrix.

Top tip 1!

Despite the definitions above, it is important to note that the 15 tools in the BMT may have overlapping applications. This means that any particular tool can therefore be classified under two or more categories.

The fifteen tools (eight for SL students) should be used to analyse and evaluate the syllabus content as well as applied in different business contexts. Hence, the IB advises teachers to integrate the toolkit in every unit of the course. There are some suggestions for this in the official syllabus as well as in the teacher support material (TSM) available on My IB. Further guidance is given throughout the relevant pages on InThinking alongside the syllabus content.

The IB's recommended teaching hours for the SL BMT content are:

10 hours for SL students
35 hours for HL students.

These are not prescribed hours, so you will need to decide on what works best for your individual circumstances and school context. The tools in the BMT are outlined in the table below. Click on the hyperlink to access more details about each of these.

Please note, as stated on page 13 of the revised guide (May 2022), all of these tools must be taught (at AO2 and AO4 level) alongside the contents of the syllabus. For example, students need to be able to define all five specified circular business models, as well as be able to calculate the mean average (descriptive statistics) and plot scatter points on a diagram to determine the line of best fit (simple linear regression).

Note that for exam questions it is the syllabus content that is being analyzed and evaluated not the BMT itself. The tools can be used in any and all parts of the Business Management syllabus content. For example, the question could be:

Using STEEPLE analysis, discuss whether Company A should acquire Company B.

Mergers and acquisitions are an AO3 in Unit 1.5 of the syllabus. For the BMT, only AO2 and AO4 apply, i.e., application of the tools in the context of the exam question. Hence, students will not be asked to evaluate (AO3) the tools in the BMT. For example a question such as "Evaluate the use of SWOT analysis for Company A." will not be asked in the examinations. Instead, the question might look like this:

Using Ansoff’s matrix, evaluate the growth strategies for Company X.

Essentially, the tools in the BMT can be used as a framework to answer extended response questions in the external examinations.

	Tool	Category	Description
1	SWOT analysis	Situational tool	SWOT analysis considers the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a business at a specific point in time. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors that influence the business, while opportunities and threats are external factors which the business has no direct control over.
2	Ansoff's matrix	Decision-making tool	The Ansoff matrix is a framework of generic growth strategies for a business, based of providing new or existing products in new or existing markets. These four generic growth strategies are categorised as (i) market penetration, (ii) market development, (iii) product development, and (iv) diversification.
3	STEEPLE analysis	Situational tool	This framework considers factors in the external environment that affects a business. STEEPLE refers to the social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal and ethical aspects of the external environment. It provides an overview of or insight into these external factors that are largely beyond the control of the organization.
4	Boston Consulting Group matrix	Situational tool Decision-making tool	The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix allows manager to assess their organization’s product portfolio based on measures of relative market share and market growth. It helps with long-term strategic planning and decision-making based on four categories of products: (i) question marks, (ii) stars, (iii) cash cows, and (iv) dogs.
5	Business plan	Planning tool	This is an official guiding document that provides details of the organization's strategic goals and how the business intends to achieve these, with reference to the firm's human resources, finances, marketing, and operations management. It is also commonly used to secure loans from financial lenders as well as raising finance from investors.
6	Decision trees	Decision-making tool	This tool is a graphical representation of showing the probable outcomes of a business decision, based on the likelihood of success or failure of such a decision. The diagram shows the various choices faced by a business, including estimates of the costs and benefits in order to determine the probable risks of a specific courses of action.
7	Descriptive statistics	Decision-making tool	This quantitative tool is used to summarise a given set of data to support statistical and data analysis. The various techniques help to present a large amount of quantitative data in a simplified and more manageable format. There are eight techniques specified for this tool: (i) Mean average, (ii) modal average, (iii) median average, (iv), bar charts, (v) pie charts, (vi) infographics, (vii) quartiles, and (viii) standard deviation.
8	Circular business models	Decision-making tool	These models explore how businesses create value for their customers and other stakeholder groups whilst also reducing the environmental impacts of their operations. There are five circular business models specified in the syllabus: (i) circular supply models, (ii) resource recovery models, (iii) product life extension models, (iv) sharing models, and (v) product service system models.
9	Gantt charts (HL only)	Planning tool	This visual tool helps managers to plan and schedule different tasks or jobs within a particular project. It illustrates the tasks or activities, their duration, and dependencies in order to determine the shortest time required to complete the project and helps managers to schedule resources to complete each task and to keep the overall project on track to be completed on time.
10	Porter's generic strategies (HL only)	Decision-making tool	This commonly used tool helps managers to explore how a business can gain competitive advantages to help determine its strategic direction. These generic strategies comprise of: (i) cost leadership (producing at a lower cost of competitors), (ii) differentiation (providing products with a distinctive or unique selling point), and (iii) focus (selling specialized product aimed at specific market segments). Focus strategies are further categorised as (i) cost focus and (ii) differentiation focus.
11	Hofstede's cultural dimensions (HL only)	Situational tool	This tool helps managers to understand the cultural similarities and differences that exist between and across different countries. This helps them to determine more appropriate ways to conduct their operations given different national and international settings. The tool suggests that countries can be categorised into one of six different cultural dimensions: (i) power distance, (ii) individualism vs collectivism, (iii) masculinity vs femininity, (iv) uncertainty avoidance, (v) long-term vs short-term orientation, and (vi) indulgence vs restraint. These six cultural dimensions provide a framework for comparing and contrasting the different values and behaviours of people from different cultures, helping decision makers and organizations to navigate cultural diversity and nuances as well as to adapt their approaches in international business and communications.
12	Force field analysis (HL only)	Situational tool Decision-making tool	This visual and quantitative tool is used by managers to examine the forces for and against change to make more-informed business decisions. It is useful during the planning and decision making stages of corporate strategy and change management. It provides an overview, in an easy to understand format, by illustrating and adding statistical weights to each of the driving and restraining forces identified in the analysis.
13	Critical path analysis (HL only)	Planning tool	This planning tool helps project managers to schedule and oversee large and complex projects to ensure efficient resource use and for the timely completion of the project. It maps out all the individual tasks or activities needed to complete the project so that realistic deadlines for a project can be set. The syllabus specifies HL students need to be able to: (i) complete and analyse a critical path diagram. (ii) identify the critical path from a diagram, and (iii) calculate the free and total float from a CPA diagram.
14	Contribution (analysis) (HL only)	Decision-making tool	This quantitative tool is used to support business decision-making by enabling manager to analyse and evaluate different cost and revenue situations. This tool comprises of three techniques in the syllabus: (i) make or buy analysis, (ii) contribution costing, and (iii) absorption costing.
15	Simple linear regression (HL only)	Decision-making tool	This quantitative tool comprises of three techniques used to identify, describe, and/or predict the relationship between dependent and independent variables under investigation. The three techniques covered in the course are: (i) scatter diagrams, (ii) line of best fit, and (iii) correlation/extrapolation.

Always use the right tools for the right job

Top tip 2!

You can download a BMT poster to use with students in class, available from My IB, by clicking the link here.

Please also note the following:

Students are expected to use the BMT in answering specific examination questions, e.g., Specimen HL P2 Q4d (STEEPLE analysis) and Q5d (BCG matrix). An example is "Using the data provided in Table X, the information in the stimulus, and a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix, recommend to Company Y which product should be removed from its portfolio in order to remain profitable."
The BMT can be explicitly examined, e.g., see Specimen HL P2 Q3 (b) (i) and (ii) refer to the mean average, and (b) (iii) refers to the line of best fit.
The BMT is applied to the content of the syllabus whilst the context is given in the question paper in the examination. Two examples are provided below for illustrative purposes:

Unit 1.5 - Using a SWOT analysis, discuss whether Company A should merge with Company B (mergers and acquisitions AO3).
Unit 2.1 - With reference to force field analysis, explain the reasons for resistance to change amongst the employees in Company X (reasons for resistance to change in the workplace AO2).

Students will not be asked to analyse or evaluate the tools in isolation. For example a question such as “Evaluate SWOT analysis as a business management tool” will not be asked in the examination.
The BMT can be a useful basis for inquiry, e.g., using Ansoff’s matrix, evaluate the growth strategies for an organization of your choice. There are suggestions for the integration of each tool in the BMT (click the hyperlinks in the above table).

Top tip 3!

Any appropriate combination of the tools in the BMT can be used in the new Business Management Internal Assessment and Extended Essay.

Students will be suitably rewarded if these tools are relevant to the investigation and the specific research question, accurately applied, with a clear understanding demonstrated.

In all cases, students are advised to use the tool(s) that best address the issue being investigated.

Approaches to delivering the BMT

There are several ways that teachers can use to deliver the BMT in their lessons. Two commonly used approaches are outlined below.

Approach 1 - Using multiple tools for a specific unit in the syllabus

Take the example below that shows how two of the tools in the BMT can be used in the integration of Unit 2.4 Motivation and demotivation:

BMT 7 Descriptive statistics - Discuss how descriptive statistics might be used to provide relevant information and data in the appraisal process.
BMT 11 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (HL only) - How does knowledge of cultural dimensions help managers to understand what motivates different people?
BMT 11 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (HL only) - Is it culturally acceptable to use 360-degree appraisals?

Here is another example of this approach, for delivering Unit 4.5 (the marketing mix):

BMT 4 Boston Consulting Group matrix - Discuss how the BCG matrix can help with a firm’s pricing decisions.
BMT 5 Business plans - Discuss the importance of pricing decisions in a business plan.
BMT 10 Porter’s generic strategies (HL only) - Discuss how Porter’s generic strategies can support managers in their pricing decisions, such as the use of penetration or predatory pricing methods.

Approach 2 - Using a single tool in the BMT for multiple units in the syllabus

Take the example below that shows how BMT 2 (Ansoff matrix) can be integrated into the teaching and learning of various units of the syllabus:

Unit 1.3 - Examine how Ansoff’s matrix can aid decision making about organizational objectives.
Unit 1.5 - Using the Ansoff matrix, evaluate the growth strategies for an organization of your choice.
Unit 1.6 - Examine market development as a growth strategy for a MNC of your choice.
Unit 4.2 - Distinguish between differentiation and diversification.
Unit 4.5 - Discuss how Ansoff’s growth strategies can extend the life cycle for a product of your choice.
BMT 1 (SWOT analysis) - Discuss the merits of using both a SWOT analysis and the Ansoff matrix to inform management decision making.

The last example shows how a particular tool (Ansoff's matrix in this case) can be integrated with other tools (such as SWOT analysis) in delivering the course. This can help students to consolidate their understanding and application of the tools.

A second example, for BMT 10 (Porter’s generic strategies - HL only) is shown below:

Unit 1.5 - How does knowledge of Porter’s generic strategies help with an organization’s internal and external growth strategies?
Unit 4.1 - Discuss how market leadership enables businesses to gain competitive advantages.
Unit 4.2 - Examine how Porter’s generic strategies can help a business to achieve market positioning success.
Unit 4.5 - Discuss elements of the marketing mix (including branding, product differentiation, and promotional strategies) in relation to Porter’s generic strategies.
Unit 5.3 - How do cost leadership and cost focus strategies support lean production methods, productivity, and capacity utilization in order to reduce cost?
Unit 5.8 - Why is the protection of intellectual property rights for a successful differentiation strategy?

A combination of both approaches has been adopted throughout the InThinking website. You can find suggestions for the integration of each tool in the BMT at the end of each webpage for the specific tool.

Suggested areas where the 15 tools in the BMT can be used throughout the five topic areas in the syllabus are given below. Please click on relevant tab to access the questions/suggestions.

BMT for Unit 1 - Introduction to Business Management

	Tool	Questions
1	SWOT analysis	Unit 1.3 - Examine the advantages and disadvantages of using a SWOT analysis in setting business objectives.
2	Ansoff's matrix	Unit 1.3 - Examine how Ansoff’s matrix can aid decision making about organizational objectives. Unit 1.5 - Using the Ansoff matrix, evaluate the growth strategies for an organization of your choice. Unit 1.6 - Examine market development as a growth strategy for a MNC of your choice.
3	STEEPLE analysis	Unit 1.1 - Examine how STEEPLE analysis can be useful for minimising the risks for a new start-up business. Unit 1.5 - Discuss the importance of STEEPLE analysis for a firm's external growth strategies.
4	Boston Consulting Group matrix	Unit 1.3 - How might the use of the BCG matrix help to inform decision makers about organizational objectives?
5	Business plan	Unit 1.1 - Examine how a business plan can help entrepreneurs with the challenges and opportunities for starting up a business. Unit 1.2 - Discuss the reasons why entrepreneurs and business owners use business plans. Unit 1.2 - Compare and contrast the business plans for a social enterprise and other for-profit organizations. Unit 1.2 - Explain the role of a business plan for an organization changing its legal status (for example, from a sole trader to privately held company, or changing from a privately held company to a publicly held company). Unit 1.3 - Examine the role of business objectives in a business plan. Unit 1.3 - Distinguish between organizational objectives in a business plan for private sector organizations and public sector organizations. Unit 1.4 - Explain the stakeholder groups who are most likely to be interested in an organization's business plan. Unit 1.5 - Examine how a business plan might be useful as a business management tool for both a new start-up and a long-established business planning expansion in overseas markets.
6	Decision trees	Unit 1.3 - Unit 1.3 - Examine the use of decision trees in choosing a suitable business strategy to achieve organizational objectives. Unit 1.5 - How can a decision tree be used to identify appropriate growth strategies? Unit 1.6 - Discuss the merits of using decision tree analysis to inform decision making of multinational companies.
7	Descriptive statistics	Unit 1.5 - Evaluate the use of descriptive statistics in assisting decision-makers about internal and external growth strategies.
8	Circular business models	Unit 1.3 - Using real-world examples, discuss the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in relation to circular business models. Unit 1.3 - Examine why business objectives may take consideration of circular business models.
9	Gantt charts (HL only)
10	Porter's generic strategies (HL only)	Unit 1.3 - Examine how Porter’s generic strategies can help businesses to achieve their orgnizational objectives. Unit 1.5 - How does knowledge of Porter’s generic strategies help with an organization’s internal and external growth strategies? Unit 1.5 - How can Porter's model of generic strategies can help small businesses to compete against larger rivals. Unit 1.5 - How does knowledge of Porter’s generic strategies support decision-making about alternative or competition growth opportunities?
11	Hofstede's cultural dimensions (HL only)	Unit 1.1 - How might cultural dimensions influence the extent of entrepreneurship in a particular country? Unit 1.2 - How might cultural dimensions affect a company’s vision and mission? Unit 1.3 - Discuss how cultural dimensions can affect an organization's vision, mission, and/or objectives. Unit 1.3 - With reference to Hofstede's cultural dimensions, discuss whether long-term or short-term orientation is more important for protecting shareholder value. Unit 1.5 - What is the significance of cultural dimensions for international mergers and acquisitions (M&As)? Unit 1.5 - Is an understanding of Hofstede's cultural differences crucial for the success of a business expanding into new countries? Unit 1.6 - How might cultural dimensions be of significance for multinational companies and their operations in overseas markets?
12	Force field analysis (HL only)	Unit 1.2 - How might FFA help when entrepreneurs and managers decide whether an organization should change its legal status as a business entity? Unit 1.4 - To what extent might force field analysis help with resolving stakeholder conflict? Unit 1.5 - To what extent might force field analysis help firms to decide on their growth strategies?
13	Critical path analysis (HL only)
14	Contribution (analysis) (HL only)	Unit 1.5 - Discuss how knowledge of contribution analysis can support a firm’s internal and external growth strategies.
15	Simple linear regression (HL only)

BMT for Unit 2 - Human resource management

	Tool	Questions
1	SWOT analysis	Unit 2.1 - Discuss how a SWOT analysis might support human resource planning. Unit 2.5 (HL only) - To what extent can a SWOT analysis reveal the organizational culture of a business?
2	Ansoff's matrix
3	STEEPLE analysis	Unit 2.5 (HL only) - Discuss the extent to which an organization's STEEPLE analysis might reveal its corporate culture.
4	Boston Consulting Group matrix
5	Business plan	Unit 2.1 - Discuss the importance of inclusion of human resource planning in a business plan.
6	Decision trees	Unit 2.3 - Discuss the role of decision trees in scientific and intuitive decision making.
7	Descriptive statistics	Unit 2.4 - How might descriptive statistics be used to make cost-of-living adjustments in order to remunerate employees?
8	Circular business models	Unit 2.2 - Discuss how circular business models, such as sharing models and product service system models, can cause managers to question the appropriateness of existing organizational structures in their institutions. Unit 2.5 (HL only) - Discuss whether there is a direct link between corporate culture and circular business models.
9	Gantt charts (HL only)
10	Porter's generic strategies (HL only)
11	Hofstede's cultural dimensions (HL only)	Unit 2.1 - To what extent do cultural dimension influence the degree of resistance to change in the workplace? Unit 2.3 - How might knowledge of cultural dimensions help to improve the effectiveness of management and leadership in organizations? Unit 2.4 - How might cultural dimensions determine our understading or interpretation of motivation and demotivation? Unit 2.4 - Discuss how cultural dimensions can influence the effectiveness of methods of financial and non-financial motivation. Unit 2.5 - Discuss the extent to which cultural dimensions determine organizational culture. Unit 2.6 - How might cultural dimensions affect communications within and between organizations? Unit 2.7 (HL only) - Discuss how culture impacts approaches to conflict resolution in the workplace.
12	Force field analysis (HL only)	Unit 2.1 - To what extent might the use of force field analysis enable managers to be better positioned to deal with resistance to change in the workplace? Unit 2.3 - Despite the common use of FFA, what role does intuition play in management decision-making? Unit 2.4 - To what extent might FFA help HR managers in the recruitment process?
13	Critical path analysis (HL only)
14	Contribution (analysis) (HL only)
15	Simple linear regression (HL only)

BMT for Unit 3 - Finance and accounts

	Tool	Questions
1	SWOT analysis	Unit 3.4 - How important is it to include financial accounts in a SWOT analysis? Unit 3.9 (HL only) - Examine how a business can use SWOT analysis to construct appropriate budgets.
2	Ansoff's matrix
3	STEEPLE analysis
4	Boston Consulting Group matrix	Unit 3.6 - Discuss how knowledge of the Boston Consulting Group matrix can help businesses to improve their debt/equity ratios.
5	Business plan	Unit 3.2 - Explain the relationship between business plans and internal and external sources of finance. Unit 3.2 - Explain how a business plan could be useful for a business in securing external sources of finance. Unit 3.4 - Explain the purpose of final accounts in a business plan for different stakeholder groups. Unit 3.7 - Explain the advantages of including cash flow forecasts in business plans. Unit 3.9 (HL only) - Explain the importance of accurately constructed budgets in a business plan.
6	Decision trees	Unit 3.9 (HL only) - Discuss the role of decision trees in assisting finance managers to allocate budgets.
7	Descriptive statistics
8	Circular business models	Unit 3.4 - Discuss how circular business models impact an organization’s profitability.
9	Gantt charts (HL only)
10	Porter's generic strategies (HL only)
11	Hofstede's cultural dimensions (HL only)	Unit 3.8 - How do cultural dimensions impact investment appraisal decisions? Unit 3.9 - What is the signifance of organizational and national cultural norms in the setting of budgets?
12	Force field analysis (HL only)	Unit 3.2 - To what extent might FFA help finance managers to decide on alternative sources of finance? Unit 3.8 - How might the use of FFA support decision makers about investment opportunities?
13	Critical path analysis (HL only)	Unit 3.7 - How might critical path analysis help businesses to improve their cash flow management, especially firms with long working capital cycles?
14	Contribution (analysis) (HL only)	Unit 3.3 - Discuss the value of contribution analysis for cost control. Unit 3.9 (HL only) - Explain how contribution costing can be a useful decision-making tool for finance managers in setting annual budgets.
15	Simple linear regression (HL only)	Unit 3.7 - How might simple linear regression help to explain the relationship between investment, profit, and cash flow?

BMT for Unit 4 - Marketing

	Tool	Questions
1	SWOT analysis	Unit 4.2 - Examine the importance of SWOT analysis for effective marketing planning. Unit 4.3 (HL only) - To what extent do external threats faced by a business affect the accuracy of sales forecasting? Unit 4.5 - Explain how a SWOT analysis can support the formation of an improved marketing mix.
2	Ansoff's matrix	Unit 4.5 - Discuss how Ansoff’s growth strategies can extend the life cycle for a product of your choice.
3	STEEPLE analysis	Unit 4.2 - Examine the importance of the external environment (STEEPLE analysis) for effective marketing plannin.
4	Boston Consulting Group matrix	Unit 4.5 - Discuss the extent to which the BCG matrix may help a business to compete in a specific market. Unit 4.5 - Evaluate the use of the BCG matrix in developing an appropriate marketing mix for a business.
5	Business plan	Unit 4.3 (HL only) - Evaluate the use of sales forecasting in a business plan. Unit 4.4 - Explain why business organizations conduct market research before developing a business plan.
6	Decision trees	Unit 4.2 - How useful is decision trees analysis in helping managers to choose between competing marketing plans?
7	Descriptive statistics	Unit 4.3 - Discuss how the use of descriptive statistics can help a business to improve the accuracy of its sales forecasting.
8	Circular business models
9	Gantt charts (HL only)	Unit 4.2 - To what extent do Gantt charts help or hinder the execution of marketing plans? Unit 4.5 - Do Gantt charts have the flexibility and scope for quick changes that promotional methods often require in highly dynamic and competitive markets?
10	Porter's generic strategies (HL only)	Unit 4.1 - Discuss how market leadership enables businesses to gain competitive advantages. Unit 4.2 - Examine how Porter’s generic strategies can help a business to achieve market positioning success. Unit 4.5 - Discuss how Porter’s generic strategies can support managers in their pricing decisions, such as the use of penetration or predatory pricing strategies. Unit 4.5 - Examine how the elements of the marketing mix (including branding, product differentiation, and promotional strategies) relate to Porter’s generic strategies.
11	Hofstede's cultural dimensions (HL only)	Unit 4.1 - How might cultural dimensions affect an organization's choice of marketing strategy? Unit 4.5 - How do businesses adapt their marketing strategies to different cultures? Unit 4.6 (HL only) - Discuss the importance of cultural dimensions for international marketers.
12	Force field analysis (HL only)	Unit 4.1 - How might FFA be of use to senior executives deciding between adopting a market orientation or product orientation approach to marketing? Unit 4.5 - To what extent might FFA help marketing managers to decide whether to change the marketing mix for a particular good or service?
13	Critical path analysis (HL only)	Unit 4.2 - How can critical path analysis be used to plan and execute a new marketing campaign?
14	Contribution (analysis) (HL only)	Unit 4.5 - Explain how a change in pricing methods affects contribution and profit margins of the products sold by a business. Unit 4.5 - Explain how contribution analysis can be used to assist decisions about a firm’s product portfolio.
15	Simple linear regression (HL only)	Unit 4.3 - Discuss how the use of simple linear regression can help a business to improve the accuracy of its sales forecasting. Unit 4.4 - Examine how simple regression analysis can be used in conjunction with various methods of primary market research. Unit 4.5 - How might simple linear regression help to explain the relationship between the product life cycle, investment, profit, and cash flow.

BMT for Unit 5 - Operations management

	Tool	Questions
1	SWOT analysis	Unit 5.4 - Evaluate how a SWOT analysis can support a business’s location decision. Unit 5.7 - Examine the advantages and disadvantages of using SWOT analysis as a tool to aid contingency planning.
2	Ansoff's matrix	Unit 5.8 (HL only) - Examine how Ansoff's matrix can explain how research and development (R&D) can help to meet customers’ unmet needs (of which the customers may or may not be aware).
3	STEEPLE analysis	Unit 5.4 - Examine how STEEPLE analysis can support managers in their location or relocation decision. Unit 5.4 - Discuss how the use of STEEPL analysis might help businesses to decide between offshoring, reshoring, or insourcing.
4	Boston Consulting Group matrix	Unit 5.8 (HL only) - Discuss the relationship between R&D expenditure and the BCG matrix.
5	Business plan	Unit 5.2 - Explain the role of a business plan for an organization choosing to change its operations methods. Unit 5.5 - Discuss the inclusion of break-even analysis in a business plan. Unit 5.5 - Evaluate the use of break-even in a business plan. Unit 5.7 (HL only) - Distinguish between a business plan and a contingency plan. Unit 5.9 (HL only) - Evaluate the role of big data and data mining in developing an effective business plan.
6	Decision trees	Unit 5.4 - How can decision trees impact location decisions for businesses? Unit 5.6 (HL only) - Examine the use of decision trees in a make or buy decision. Unit 5.8 (HL only) - Discuss the role of decision trees for allocating human and financial resources to research and development (R&D).
7	Descriptive statistics	Unit 5.5 (HL only) - Evaluate the role of descriptive statistics in production planning. Unit 5.9 (HL only) - Discuss the value of descriptive statistics in understanding the value of big data to businesses.
8	Circular business models	Unit 5.3 (HL only) - Discuss the extent to which circular business models can lead to greater resource efficiency. Unit 5.3 (HL only) - Examine how circular business models promote lean production and waste efficiency in business organizations. Unit 5.8 (HL only) - Discuss the link between research and development (R&D) and circular business models. Unit 5.9 - Discuss how the use of management information systems (MIS) can facilitate the implementation of circular business models.
9	Gantt charts (HL only)	Unit 5.2 - Which production method works best with Gantt charts? Unit 5.6 - Discuss the value of Gantt charts for production planning. Unit 5.8 Research & Development (R&D) - Is there any purpose (value) in using Gantt charts for R&D?
10	Porter's generic strategies (HL only)	Unit 5.3 - How do cost leadership and cost focus strategies support lean production methods, productivity, and capacity utilization in order to reduce costs? Unit 5.4 - What role might outsourcing play in a firm's cost leadership strategy? Unit 5.6 (HL only) - How can effective supply chain management support a cost leadership strategy? Unit 5.8 (HL only) - Why is the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) important for a successful differentiation strategy?
11	Hofstede's cultural dimensions (HL only)	Unit 5.3 (HL only) - What is the significance of culture for lean production and quality management? Unit 5.4 - Discuss how managers might use Hofstede's cultural dimensions to help make offshoring and outsourcing decisions. Unit 5.6 (HL only) - Discuss how cultural dimensions can affect both creativity and innovation in the workplace. Unit 5.7 (HL only) - Does Hofstede's cultural dimensions have any purpose or relevance to contingency planning?
12	Force field analysis (HL only)	Unit 5.2 - How might the use of FFA help operations managers to decide on the optimal production method? Unit 5.4 - How might force field analysis help managers to make a location decision? Unit 5.4 - To what extent might FFA help managers to decide whether to offshore production in an overseas location? Unit 5.6 (HL only) - How might FFA support managers when choosing between CTB (cost to buy) or CTM (cost to make) decisions? Unit 5.8 (HL only) - How might force field analysis support managers in making rational decisions about research and development (R&D)?
13	Critical path analysis (HL only)	Unit 5.6 (HL only) - Explain the value of critical path analysis for effective production planning.
14	Contribution (analysis) (HL only)	Unit 5.5 - Explain the role of contribution for the financial sustainability of a business organization. Unit 5.6 (HL only) - Discuss the role of contribution in make or buy decisions. Include the cost to make (CTM) and cost to buy (CTB) in your answer.
15	Simple linear regression (HL only)	Unit 5.5 (HL only) - Discuss the role of simple linear regression in production planning. Unit 5.9 (HL only) - How can methods of simple linear regression improve the accuracy of predictions based on big data and data mining?

Download a useful PDF document to support students in their application of the BMT as they progress through the course from My IB. You can use the link here to access the DP Business Management Teacher Support Material (TSM).

Selected Pages

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BMT
BMT 12 - Force field analysis (HL only)
Business Management Toolkit 12 - Force field analysis (HL only)Force field analysis (FFA) is an organizational planning...