Exam papers - Topic tracker

Use this section of the InThinking Business Management website to track past examination questions (first exams May 2024), arranged in chronological topic order of the syllabus.

The first unit of the IB Business Management syllabus provides the introductory context to business management. Unit 1 examines both the internal and external business environments, using a range of business management tools, theories, and techniques. These include types of business organizations (both for-profit and non-profit), organizational objectives, stakeholders, growth and evolution (both internal and external growth options), as well as the role of multinational companies (MNCs).

Human resource management (HRM) is about the personnel of an organization. This topic covers a range of content regarding the people of an organization, such as recruitment, training, motivation, and management or leadership.

Human resources (employees, managers, executives and entrepreneurs) are vital to the success of an organization, yet human resource management is one of the most difficult and challenging roles for any manager or leader.

This section of the IB Business Management syllabus looks at the finances of business organizations.

The finance and accounts section of the course examines aspects of financial control (such as cash flow and budgeting) and financial management accounts (such as the balance sheet, income statement and ratio analysis).

All business decisions have two impacts:

1. the impact on human resources (see Unit 2 - HRM), and

2. the impact on the organization's finances.

Effective marketing is core to the success of all business organizations. Unit 4 of the IB Business Management syllabus examines a range of marketing tools, theories, and techniques.

Marketing is far more than just about advertising or promotion, or even the traditional 4 Ps of marketing: product, price, promotion and place. The 7Ps of the marketing mix feature in the syllabus for SL and HL students.

In line with the syllabus, students should also be able to discuss the Marketing topics through the key concepts of change, ethics, sustainability, and creativity.

Operations management (also referred to as production) is essentially about ensuring that goods and services meet the needs and wants (desires) of customers.

This section of the IB Business Management syllabus examines a range of topics such as production methods, quality management, business location and crisis management.

Most of content in Topic 5 applies to HL students only, although both SL and HL students need to be able to make connections to the 4 "CESC" concepts: creativity, ethics, sustainability, and change.

The Business Management Toolkit (BMT) is a set of interrelated tools, theories, and techniques that can be used by students in different 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. 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 BMT 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.