Writing a Business Plan for the IB Business Management Paper 3 17 Marker

Criterion A: Use of resources (up to 4 marks)

You must reference the stimulus material throughout your response. To reach the top band, you need to use every resource provided, not just the ones that conveniently support your argument.

You do not need exact quotes. What matters is that it is clear which source you are drawing from. Phrases like "as the customer review in Source C suggests" or "according to the email from the operations manager" are sufficient. Before you start writing, list all the sources and track them as you use each one.

Criterion B: Business management tools and theories (up to 4 marks)

Every body paragraph should include at least one business concept, tool, or theory from the course. If the stimulus explicitly mentions a tool (such as the Ansoff matrix or a SWOT), use it. If not, select tools that genuinely fit your recommendation: Herzberg's motivators when discussing staffing changes, economies of scale when recommending expansion, Porter's generic strategies when discussing competitive positioning.

Do not force tools where they do not belong. A misapplied theory scores lower than no theory at all.

Criterion C: Evaluation (up to 7 marks)

This is the most heavily weighted criterion. You must discuss the impact of your recommendations in multiple different ways. To reach the top band, cover at least three of the following dimensions:

• Short-term versus long-term effects: what happens immediately, and what are the lasting consequences?
• Financial versus non-financial impacts: what will this cost, and does the organisation have the resources? What are the non-financial benefits, such as motivation, brand trust, or community impact?
• Stakeholder effects: who gains, who loses, and which stakeholders matter most to this particular social enterprise?
• Business context: how do the organisation's specific circumstances (competitors, economic conditions, sector) affect whether your recommendation will work?
• Business objectives: does your recommendation actually help the social enterprise achieve its stated goals? Social mission and financial sustainability often pull in different directions here.

You should also discuss trade-offs explicitly. If the organisation does X, it cannot do Y. If one stakeholder benefits, another may be disadvantaged. Naming these tensions and justifying your recommendation despite them is what evaluation looks like at the top band.

Criterion D: Sequence of ideas (up to 2 marks)

Your recommendations should be presented in a logical order, and you should explain why that order makes sense. What comes first, and why? What depends on something else being done first?

State your sequence in the introduction and use numbered transitions (first, second, then) throughout. For example: the communications strategy must come first to manage the reputational damage; securing alternative funding is secondary because the organisation has reserves that can cover the short term.

How to structure your response

A strong response typically follows this pattern:

Introduction: State your overall recommendation clearly. Outline the two or three actions you will propose and briefly explain the order in which they should be taken. Reference the social enterprise's core challenge as established by the stimulus.

Body paragraphs (one per recommendation): For each recommendation, explain what it involves, apply a relevant business theory or tool, reference at least one source from the stimulus, and evaluate the impact across multiple dimensions (financial/non-financial, short/long term, stakeholder effects).

Conclusion: Justify your overall plan. Acknowledge the most significant trade-off or risk, and explain why your recommendation is still the most appropriate course of action given the organisation's objectives and context.

How to evaluate effectively

The most common reason students fall short of the top band on Criterion C is that they describe their recommendations rather than evaluating them. Describing means explaining what you would do and why it makes sense. Evaluating means weighing the costs and benefits, acknowledging what could go wrong, and defending your position despite the uncertainty.

A useful test: after each paragraph, ask whether you have said anything that could only apply to this specific social enterprise in this specific situation. If your evaluation could apply to any business, it is not contextualised enough.

Trade-offs are particularly valuable because they show genuine analytical thinking. For example: expanding the volunteer programme would reduce staffing costs and align with the organisation's social mission, but it increases dependency on unpaid labour, which is risky if volunteer numbers fall during economic downturns. The net benefit still favours expansion in the short term, but a contingency staffing budget should be maintained.

FAQs

Is this question the same as writing a business plan? No. A business plan is a standalone document for a new venture. This question asks you to recommend strategic actions for an existing social enterprise, grounded in the specific stimulus provided in the exam. Generic advice that ignores the resources will be capped at roughly 50% of available marks.

How many recommendations should I make? Two to three substantial recommendations, each fully evaluated, will score higher than five or six thin ones. Depth matters more than breadth here.

Do I need to use every source? Yes, if you want full marks on Criterion A. Make a checklist before you start writing and tick off each source as you reference it.

Can I disagree with what the stimulus seems to suggest? Yes. The question rewards your judgement, not compliance. If the CEO's email proposes a strategy you think is flawed, you can argue against it, provided you explain your reasoning with reference to theory and evidence from the other sources.

How much time should I spend planning? The IB recommends planning before writing, and this question rewards it. Five to eight minutes outlining your two or three recommendations, mapping which sources support each, and choosing relevant theories is time well spent.

Practice with annotated model responses at RevisionDojo.com, where worked examples show exactly how top-band responses handle all four criteria.