Questions and marking: 

According to the Paper 3 guidance published by the IB, the three questions asked on this exam will always be the same, or at least will always be about the same idea even if the wording is not the exact same. Thus, if you are wondering why all of the questions for each case study are the same, this is why.

 

Question 1: 2 marks

Describe a human need that the organization fills through its business. This needs to be paired with a business management theory. 

 

Here some thoughts on that:

• The IB mentions motivation as an example of a course link, and applying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs would seem to be the most straightforward way of doing this.  In the teacher support material released so far, the only student responses that have linked specifically to course theory and thus gotten full credit on this question have been linked to Maslow's hierarchy.

• On a sample student response, a student mentions financial needs but is awarded no credit by the examiner because it is too vague.

 

Since the syllabus standards only mention the word “theory” in connection with motivation theories and theory of knowledge connections, it is unclear at the moment what would meet the IB’s expectations on this question other than motivation theory.  At the very least, motivation theory is by far the most obvious connection, and within that Maslow's hierarchy of needs is the most starightforward connection to the idea of "human need" that question 1 asks about.  Therefore, it's pretty natural for students to just stick to the following theory connections to be safe.

 

• Herzberg: meeting hygiene needs

• McClelland’s acquired needs theory: need for achievement, affiliation, or power

• Deci and Ryan’s self determination theory: need for autonomy, competence, or relevance/relatedness

• Need for equity (Adams’ motivation theory)

 

Question 2: 6 marks

Explain two key challenges facing the organization. 

 

As per the guidance coming from IB workshops at the time of writing, here is how the 3 marks marks are to be awarded on each of the two parts of the 6 mark questions: 

• 1 mark for identifying the challenge

• 1 mark for explaining that challenge

• 1 mark for applying it to the stimulus material

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In all honesty, this is awfully similar to the 2+2 structure for the 4 mark questions that use the command term explain.  The idea here seems to be to simply go further in your explanations.  It is not clear if the IB will give us another type of question in which the command term explain is used, the student has to explain two examples, and the maximum mark level is 6.  On the 2016 syllabus, all 4-mark explain questions had two components to explain, and 6 mark explain questions had three components to explain.

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Question 3: 17 marks

Check back later.  IB Biz will do some thinking out loud about this soon.

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While there's no required format for the essay, it's important to think strategically about how to organize the essay in order to maximize your potential marks. A recommended format might look like this: 

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1. Intro Paragraph: Briefly (2-3 sentences max) break down the major problems and issues the social enterprise faces.  Include a clear thesis statement that outlines the major aspects of your plan.   Do not spend too much time repeating what the case study already says - the examiner knows the case study, so you don't need to tell them.  The intro paragraph does not need to be more than a few sentences.

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2. Body Paragraph 1: First recommendation for firm's plan of action.  It's best to focus this on the most immediate short term action.  Acknowledge the drawbacks to this action as well to show proper balanced evaluation. 

3. Body Paragraph 2: Second action of the plan, focusing on short or medium term. 

 

4. Body Paragraph 3: Final action, focusing more medium to long term. 

 

5. Concluding paragraph

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