You can’t finish your IB Diploma Programme without finishing, submitting and getting your extended essay approved. Mostly the topic is related to your major. In this entry, we will talk about how to write a business extended essay the way it will guarantee your diploma, so if you study Finance, Business, Accounting, Economics it might be rather useful for you. Though we consider these tips universal, we trust your critical eye and sense, which will allow you to choose the most suitable rules and ideas. Finally, it is obvious, that you can’t write flawless 4000 words without some friendly assistance — not because you are not good enough, or not diligent enough, just because the system itself makes it impossible. You have too many extra tasks, too little time and the professor assigned to help you often is either gone missing somewhere or gives too broad answers. Hope what you find here will help.
Rule #1. Don’t waste time on questionable sources
Looking for some hype ideas students often waste a lot of time browsing through the Internet, reading business forums where the latest scandals are discussed. Unfortunately, it rarely brings some interesting, yet academic results. What you really have to do is to write down a list of courses you have to use from the very beginning, it might be: Google Scholar, JSTORE, Library of Congress, the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, etc. Believe us, there are enough insights into these sources, and you will never have problems with citing and referencing. Of course, it is virtuous to include some recent information from extra sources, but they should be added to the list above.
Rule #2. Use only the latest trends
You might be surprised, but even the academic world has the latest trends, and it is better to follow them, than to ignore, especially when it comes to some practical disciplines, like Business. For example, previously you would write about corporate social responsibility, its principles, limitations, implications, etc. CSR was an important milestone for extended business essays. However now it is not enough to mention or even analyze it, because it is gradually being substituted with a Triple Bottom Line model of social responsibility, which eliminates most of the flaws and pitfalls present in CSR, but at the same time creates new ones. This is only one example, but you should check on new concepts every time you start writing on some new subject. The business world moves fast, and it is reflected in the academia as well.
Rule #3. Use cross-disciplinary approach
The most interesting and the most exciting ideas can be found when several disciplines “collide” practically or academically. The same story is with extended business essays. If you are going to use on your course suggested materials your 4000 will be professional but rather dry. We truly recommend paying attention to the bordering disciplines, such as Marketing, Psychology, Behavioral Science, etc. It will help you make your essay much more vivid, practical and illustrative. The latest trend which shows the cross-disciplinary approach in its best is neuroeconomics — a discipline that shows how people make economic decisions, how people buy, why people spend much more than they have to, etc. Dig deeper, and you will find amazing examples which will make your paper extraordinary.
Rule #4. Write on the issue you care about
Your topic might be chosen by a professor, but it happens rather rarely nowadays, and anyway, you can suggest several variations of one topic and most probably your professor will go for one of them. It is important to write about something that interests you. When writing a simple essay, it is not a huge issue, but when writing an extended one, not to get stuck in the middle, to have enough motivation, it is better to elaborate on the topic that makes your brain and even your feelings engaged.
We didn’t include this advice into the main list, because it is too obvious and might be even irritating. However, it is one of the most valuable ones. You have to write down a plan, and you have to start writing and conducting research immediately after receiving the task.
Otherwise, you will not have enough time, will finish your paper fast without proper formatting and proofreading. It is an exceptionally valuable task, please, treat it appropriately. Good luck!