Table of Contents
The six prescribed concepts are core to the IB Business Management syllabus and explicitly examined in PAPER 2 SECTION C (SL and HL), where you have to answer a 20-mark essay question and it takes up 10% of the score. These core concepts are Change, Culture, Ethics, Globalization, Innovation and Strategy (CUEGIS). Concept-based learning is a three-dimensional model that frames facts (content) and skills with concepts specific to the contexts of organisations studied in IB Business Management course.
These concepts enable students to get to the bigger picture, the ability to think from different perspectives, and provide a framework for transferring knowledge and making deeper connections within and across disciplines. Concepts are used to give students the tools necessary to make sense of the world. This approach creates six conceptual lenses through which students investigate, analyse and evaluate factual content and skills to create a deeper understanding of business management. It consists of the content of the syllabus, integrated with business case studies to provide context for students, and is embedded in the six CUEGIS concepts to transcend understanding of business management.
Concept based learning is about scaffolding thinking by investigating the relationship between two or more of the CUEGIS concepts.
Factual Questions
Conceptual Questions
Provocative Questions
Change – Change refers to the modification or transformation in the way business is conducted as a response to internal factors or external influences.
Relevance in the content – Business organisations must adapt to their objectives, strategies and operations due to competition, new technologies and markets, and trends in consumer behaviour. Success emerges from the ability to research and respond to signals in both the internal and external environment. Examples of such factors include a new management structure in the workplace, the threat of new competitors in the industry, improved technologies and processes, and new trends in consumer behaviour.
Culture – Cultural refers to the norms, beliefs and values of an organisation or a collective group of individuals which shape its practices and characteristics.
Relevance in the content – Every organisation operates in a range of environments in which its role may be construed differently. Planning, decision-making, and strategy implementation are all impacted by these expectations. Values and backgrounds among stakeholders in an organisation affect its priorities and how they work. In essence, this shapes how and why things are done within a business organisation.
Ethics – Ethics refers to the moral principles and values that form the basis of how an organisation conducts its operations and business activities.
Relevance in the content – In the corporate world, every aspect of an organisation’s operations and its decisions is likely to have moral implications on both its internal and external stakeholders, as well as impact on the natural environment.
Globalisation – Is the growing integration and interdependence of the world’s economics causing consumers around the globe to have increasingly similar habits and tastes.
Relevance in the content – Business organisations are influenced by several international forces, such as the increasing social, cultural, technical and economic integration. In turn, business organisations shape these forces. Many business organisations operate internationally. Even local businesses and consumers are influenced by global forces. The increasing flow of goods and services, finance, employment and ideas around the world. The operations of multinational companies contribute to the growing integration of the world’s economies and cultures.
Innovation – Refers to the improvements of a product or processes to better meet the needs and wants of customers, in a profitable way.
Relevance in the content – Incremental or radical improvements to a business idea, or the generation of new ideas in relation to a final product, service or process, are the result of internal or external influences. For many business organisations, a key challenge is to bring “the new” and manage the process of improvement in a sustainable way. It alludes to something new and progressive in order to improve productivity and improve customer satisfaction. Ultimately, it helps a business to be more competitive and successful.
Strategy – Refers to planned actions designed to achieve the long-term goals or overall aims of an organisation.
Relevance in the content – Strategy refers to the significant long-term planning decisions that organisations make in order to meet the needs and wants of their various stakeholders. Strategy is about asking questions: What, Why, When, How, Where and Who? There are three stages to business strategy: 1 – Strategic analysis (where are we now?), 2 – Strategic choice (where do we want to be?) and 3 – Strategic implementation (how do we get there?).
In class, you are likely to have looked at many case studies about real organisations like Apple, Starbucks, Zara, McDonald’s etc. It is unlikely you will remember all the specific details. To ensure you build up knowledge about specific organisations, build a portfolio of information about several specific organisations you are interested in. It is nevertheless important to remember some key basic facts about the organisation, such as:
Without understanding the assessment criteria, it is very difficult to write an answer the examiner wants to read. Your answers becomes easier to write once you understand the criteria.The following is a useful framework for a good CUEGIS answer:
You should have plenty of opportunities in and out of class to practise writing a CUEGIS essay under timed conditions. Sometimes, you’ll be told in advance what the question is, and at other times you’ll have to complete an unseen question. You should get hold of the assessment criteria so you can interpret it appropriately.
Time management is a vital part for preparing for exam success and for scoring good grades.
Roughly, this means about 2 mins per mark. In theory that means students should take about 40 minutes to answer the CUEGIS question. To be able to write in enough depth and meet the assessment criteria, some students may need a little more time. However, you approach the essay, ensure you use your time effectively.
These key concepts are interrelated, which makes it easier for you to answer questions. For example, if McDonald’s introduces self-service kiosks at a cost of $150,000 per kiosk, this is an example of strategy but it clearly links to innovation and change too. Skillful students can link this to every unit of the IB Business Management syllabus. For example it is possible growth strategy but may make franchisees unhappy (Unit 1), it will have an impact on human resources as orders are customised (Unit 2), the cost of the kiosk may need to be financed and be subjected to an investment appraisal (Unit 3), it could be an extension strategy (Unit 4) and it is an example of mass customization or a form of job production (Unit 5).
The six CUEGIS concepts are not mutually exclusive. For example:
Students need to understand the assessment criteria in order to write an answer that scores high marks. Many students ignore the assessment criteria, and write almost everything they know about their chosen organisation, without paying much attention to the demands of the essay question. Such an approach only leads to marks being lost unnecessarily.
The assessment criteria consists of 5 parts, each worth 4 marks as follows:
Students need to show clear knowledge of the two CUEGIS concepts in the essay question and use appropriate Business Management tools, theories, techniques and terminology.
Students must use actual examples of what the chosen organisation does and how it relates to the essay question.
This assessment criterion assesses the extent to which students explain their answers and provide substantiated responses. Students need to ensure their answers are coherent and provide justified reasons in their answers.
Students need to use an appropriate structure in their essay. There is one mark for each of the following:
This assessment criterion assesses the extent to which students consider alternative perspectives of different stakeholders, written in the context of the demands of the essay question. There are two parts to this assessment criteria:
Students should mention how various stakeholders of their chosen organisation are affected, both in positive and negative ways.
A: Knowledge and conceptual understanding
B: Application
C: Reasoned arguments
D: Structure
E: Individuals and Societies
Paragraph 1 –
Paragraph 2 –
Paragraph 3 –
The first paragraph is one where you start off with the name of the company. You also introduce the company in terms of the work they do, the business they have, and the scale that they operate at. Then you need to define the main terms that you will be explaining here, after which you give your hypothesis, which is a single statement that gives an answer to your question.
These paragraphs are the main ones where you address the question directly and also elaborate on the points that you have in mind. You link all of this to certain examples that you have, with the main idea being first to link an experience to one concept and then to the next. You need to use at least three keywords here and then explain the effect on one stakeholder. Then you need to do the exact same things for another example and another concept. The key terms you use here can include words relevant to your course and related business. These can have a strong impact on the examiner.
In the last paragraph, you need to address the company’s stakeholders. You can explain some conflicts and agreements between their interests. You need to do so by using very clear words so that you can make it very clear to the examiner what you are really trying to say. Then you need to summarise what you said in the main part in a very cohesive and summarised form. After that, you need to talk about the end result of the company, evaluating their success or their failure related to the concept.
Unit 1 – Business organisation and environment
Unit 2 – Human Resources
Unit 3 – Finance and Accounts
Unit 4 – Marketing
Unit 5 – Operations Management
McDonalds
CHANGE
McDonalds regularly changes its strategy to keep up with the market demand and also to remain competitive in this large market. Over the last year, it has made many changes, for example, making major changes to its menu. Adding and removing various dishes all around the world. They also plan to add more dishes for breakfast and begin serving ‘healthy’ breakfast, every day of the month!
CULTURE
McDonalds has changed their company a lot according to the culture here in India. Before they decided to enter the market in India, they had decided to omit beef and pork from the menu to aid in preventing the Indian citizens from being offended. Research shows that in 2003, of 100 meals that people ate in a month, only three were eaten out. They introduced a 20 rupees burger called Aloo Tikki Burger, a burger with a cutlet made of mashed potatoes, peas and flavoured with Indian spices. It’s something you would find on Indian streets; it was essentially the McDonald’s version of street food. The price and the taste together, the value we introduced, was a hit. It revolutionised the industry in India. Now eating out has gone up to 9-10 times per 100 meals and McDonald’s in India has more than 320 million customers a year. The entire menu has been customised after extensive market research. Now over 70% of the menu has been changed to vegetarian to cater to customers. Even competitors such as burger king and subway have followed by dropping beef and pork. They have greatly changed the way they plan, make decisions and implement strategies because of the country they are entering.
ETHICS
In ethics, CSR comes into play, which every business must do as part of its social responsibility. In India specifically, to remain ethical, McDonalds has begun investing in an eye care hospital, to create an image that is socially responsible, thus making it stand out from its competitors. However, there are ethical issues with McDonalds as well. People have been fighting for their working rights due to cases such as wage theft, poor management and bad working conditions. Ethical issues with the food also come in. There have been cases where McDonalds have given the cows steroids to make more beef. All of these worsen the image of McDonalds.
GLOBALISATION
McDonalds is a prime example of globalisation. Originating in the USA, and slowly expanding into markets and regions where the concept of fast food was not yet discovered. It targeted the middle class segment since it saw a niche, and kept the same interior design, service, and quality of food throughout the world, generating its amazing brand image. These things allowed seamless globalisation to take place! Making it one of the largest MNC running today.
INNOVATION
Innovation is key to remaining competitive. Nearly all the dishes in the menu of McDonalds have been innovated and designed completely by them. Many trends have begun just by McDonalds.These trends aid in creating the brand image of McDonalds, which highly compliment the sales. Back in 2012, McDonald’s in the UK rolled out Happy Meal Play Zones to enhance interaction with customers walking in the outlets. Aimed at making children at the restaurant more active, the system combined projection of images & characters on floors with infra-red technology and cameras for tracking movements. Though with time, such experiences have become common McDonald’s was one of the early adopters of this innovative technique.
STRATEGY
They deal with competition by using aggressive marketing strategies. You will never go a day without noticing a sign that leads you to McDonalds or viewing an ad about it. In the 3rd quarter, Steve decided to re-franchise all the franchises in Hong Kong and China covering more than 4000 restaurants in a year. This added more stability in terms of income and revenue while increasing higher returns on the capital invested. Another benefit came in the form of lesser operating expenses and better predictability of rent and royalties.
A: CUEGIS is an acronym that stands for culture, ethics, globalization, innovation, and strategy. It is a framework that is commonly used in the IB Business Management course to analyze and evaluate various business-related scenarios.
A: In the IB Business Management course, CUEGIS is used as a tool to help students analyze and evaluate real-world business scenarios. By examining the various factors related to culture, ethics, globalization, innovation, and strategy, students can develop a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities that businesses face in today’s global marketplace.
A: To apply CUEGIS in your IB Business Management exams, it is important to first develop a strong understanding of each of the five elements of the framework. You can then use this knowledge to analyze and evaluate the various scenarios and case studies that are presented in the exam. This may involve identifying cultural or ethical issues, evaluating the impact of globalization on a business, assessing the effectiveness of a company’s innovation strategy, or analyzing the strategic decisions made by a company.
A: Using CUEGIS in the IB Business Management course can provide a number of benefits for students. It can help to develop critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as an understanding of the broader social and economic issues that affect businesses. It can also provide a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of different business strategies and decision-making processes.
A: To improve your understanding of CUEGIS in the IB Business Management course, it is important to engage actively in class discussions and participate in group activities and projects. You can also read widely on topics related to culture, ethics, globalization, innovation, and strategy, and use online resources to practice applying the framework to real-world business scenarios. Working with a tutor or study group can also be helpful for reinforcing your understanding of the material.
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