DP Business & management

Internal Assessment
You need to find 3-5 supporting documents sources that were published from April 2015 until now. Use an "advanced search" feature in resources to search using a date parameter.

Requirements
SL students are required to:
  • Select a real business issue or problem for their written commentary that must relate to the SL syllabus.
  • Refer directly to a single business organization, but may consider industry-wide issues that impact on that organization.
  • Base their written commentary on secondary research, selected for its suitability, depth and breadth. Primary research may be used as support.
  • Provide a title for the commentary that, to give focus and direction, must be framed as a question. • produce a written commentary that does not exceed 1,500 words.
  • Attach to the commentary three to five supporting documents from which the majority of the information for the commentary has been obtained.
  • Fully reference all supporting documents and additional sources and include them in a bibliography.


​HHS GALE DatabaseS

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  • Access to HHS GVRL eBook Business Collection
  • Citation tool available
  • Download to Google Drive

Demographic and Statistical TOOL DataBases

Mel Databases

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  • Access to academic journal articles
  • Citation tool available
  • Download to Google Drive
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  • Access to case studies, statistical data sources, news articles, academic journals, and topical reference materials.
  • Citation tool available
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  • Access to comprehensive business and demographic information.
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  • Access to Ward's Business Directory of Private and Public Companies in Canada and Mexico, and Business Rankings Annual
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  • Access to MeL GVRL collection
  • Citation tool available
  • Download to Google Drive
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  • Access to business and trade publications ​
  • Citation tool available
  • Download to Google Drive
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  • Access to national edition January 1985-present
  • Citation tool available
  • Download to Google Drive
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  • Access to sample business plans, how-to guides, articles and website​
  • Citation tool available
  • Download to Google Drive


​Notes on Supporting Documents

  • Supporting documents should present a range of ideas and views.
  • Supporting documents must be written within a maximum of three years prior to the submission of the written commentary to the IB.
  • A maximum of one of the supporting documents may be a transcript of video/audio material.
  • Students must select their own supporting documents.
  • Students must highlight the parts of each supporting document that relate directly to their commentary. 
  • Students should label each supporting document clearly, such as “Supporting document 1”, “Supporting document 2” and so on. This will help with referencing in the commentary.
  • It is expected that students will include in-text citations/references of the supporting documents and a bibliography, which should be formatted in an appropriate way.
  • Any additional sources such as textbooks and class notes must be referenced but will not be accepted as supporting documents.
  • The commentary must be based on secondary sources and may include data from primary sources.
Examples of secondary sources include:
  • articles from the local, national or international press
  • business accounts
  • business plans
  • extracts from company websites
  • transcripts of a relevant audio-visual file
  • financial reports
  • government and other statistics
  • journal publications
  • market research surveys
  • mission statements
  • web-based surveys
Examples of primary sources include:
  • responses to questionnaires (students should include a blank copy of the questionnaire and a tally/ summary of results)
  • results of surveys
  • transcripts of interviews and discussions with focus groups


​CITATION HELP

When possible- use citation tools within each resource to generate citations.