#askpotato

I just started consulting my advisor… and it still needs work haha. But here’s what I can give for now.

Tips on Extended Essay (Proposal) in Business Management

1. Know the deadline and plan out in advance. Even if it’s just a proposal, it takes a long time and anon did mention about trying to come up with topics… which is excruciating OTL so I hope you still have 1-2 weeks before submission at least?

You will hate yourself if you end up procrastinating. I did my first proposal the night before haha NEVER AGAIN

2. Do 20-30 minute chunks each day (or every other day?) allotted for EE only. You can set small goals such as look for minimal 2 sources, write minimal 100 words, etc.

3. If you’re stuck on finding a topic, here’s two methods that were foolproof in my experience. :D

Decide on a business function you’re interested in (operations or marketing?) - make it specific if you can, e.g. above-the-line promotion (marketing) or quality control issues (operations)

Decide on an industry (music industry), business type (niche character cafes), or narrow it down to a specific brand (McDonalds, Louis Vuitton)

Then input those on a trusted news website (I use plain old Google News). Keywords such as, “quality control” might result in an article of Company ABC and how their sales went down due to lack of QC.

Similarly, type in “McDonalds” might result in a new menu they are introducing in collaboration with a local artist.

4. Honestly just start by inputting any business-related terms that you are interested in!! For my second proposal, I searched the big business scandals circa 2015 - early 2016 because I love myself some tea, even in business HAHA. 

I picked which I was interested in, which was Chipotle. Maybe just me but I love to analyze the irony that Chipotle is a business that emphasizes their CSR and sustainability practices, and yet a disease outbreak happened…

You don’t have to be specific now (there’s time to refine your topic later) but it helps in case results are too broad.

5. Consult the Business & Management section in the EE guide every. single. time. It’s only eight pages (I think?) but it provides instructions on what you can/can’t do, examples, criteria (what these IB ppl are really looking for) and well… guidance. LOL.