IB Business Management SLTopic 8 — The Pre-Released StatementPaper 1Exam practice~12 min read
Practice Questions on the Statement
Reading about ABC is not the same as writing about ABC. Here is a full set of practice questions in every command style Paper 1 uses, with worked answers for one of each. Do them under time pressure, then mark them honestly against the shapes shown here.
How to use this page
Work in question order: short ones first, discuss last. That is how the paper runs.
Time yourself at roughly three minutes per mark.
The worked answers show the shape, not the only correct content.
For every applied answer, check you have named ABC at least once.
These questions are written around the pre-released paragraphs only, so no financial data is assumed.
The real paper will give you new information. Practise the skill, not the content.
How long each answer should take
If you have not started the discuss question with thirty minutes left, stop what you are doing and start it.
2-mark define questions
WORKED
Define the term diversification. [2]
Statement 1
A growth strategy in which a business starts selling a new product [1]
Statement 2
into a market it does not already operate in, which spreads risk but is the riskiest route to grow [1]
2 marks, no ABC neededTwo halves. Product and market. Miss one and you cap yourself at 1.
Now try these:
Define the term market orientation. [2]
Define the term carbon-intensive. [2]
Define the term business-to-business. [2]
Define the term publicly held company. [2]
Define the term efficiencies. [2]
Define the term recycling. [2]
2-mark explain questions
WORKED
Explain one reason why ABC’s e-waste process could give it a cost advantage. [2]
Step 1: the point
Recovering metals at room temperature avoids the very high heat that traditional methods need [1]
Step 2: apply itEnergy is a major cost in metal recovery, so ABC should be able to process circuit boards more cheaply per tonne than competitors who still burn them [1]2 marksThe word “so” is doing the work. It turns a fact into a consequence.
Now try these:
Explain one reason why ABC is described as a multinational-style B2B seller in both of its businesses. [2]
Explain one reason why ABC may struggle to run its e-waste factory at full capacity. [2]
Explain one benefit to ABC of being a publicly held company when funding new factories. [2]
Explain one reason why concrete is usually sold in local or regional markets. [2]
Explain one way in which ABC’s move into e-waste could improve its corporate image. [2]
4-mark explain questions
WORKED
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for ABC of relying on gold recovery for part of its revenue. [4]
Advantage: the point
Gold is valuable, so a relatively small volume of recovered metal can generate significant revenue [1]
Advantage: the applicationThis income comes from a market unconnected to construction, so when concrete demand falls in a downturn ABC still has money coming in [1]Disadvantage: the point
Gold trades on world commodity markets, so its price moves for reasons outside ABC’s control [1]
Disadvantage: the applicationABC could process the same number of tonnes and earn far less, which makes the returns on any new plant hard to forecast and riskier to fund with borrowing [1]4 marksFour sentences. Resist the urge to add a fifth.
Now try these:
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for ABC of investing in greener cement production. [4]
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for ABC of expanding concrete production into a neighbouring country. [4]
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for ABC of partnering with local governments to collect e-waste. [4]
Explain two possible benefits to ABC of developing concrete made with recycled aggregates. [4]
4-mark describe questions
WORKED
Describe two challenges ABC faces in the e-waste industry. [4]
Challenge 1
Securing enough material [1]. Most e-waste worldwide is never formally collected, so ABC competes for a limited supply of circuit boards and its factory may sit below capacity [1]
Challenge 2
Handling hazardous material safely [1]. E-waste contains toxic metals, so ABC must meet health, safety and environmental rules that are stricter and less familiar than those in concrete production [1]
4 marksDescribe wants two things set out with detail. It does not need the argument that explain needs.
Now try these:
Describe two ways in which ABC’s activities fit a circular business model. [4]
Describe two external factors that could affect ABC’s concrete business. [4]
Describe two reasons why demand for concrete rises and falls. [4]
Describe two ways ABC could become more market-orientated. [4]
10-mark discuss questions
WORKED PLAN
Discuss whether ABC should prioritise improving its concrete business over expanding e-waste processing. [10]
Opening
Define market penetration and diversification. State that concrete is the main revenue source and e-waste is the growth story.
The case for concrete first
Lowest risk and uses existing expertise. Efficiency gains protect margins against rising energy costs. Critically, concrete profits are what fund any e-waste expansion. Name it as market penetration.
The case for e-waste firstThe market is huge and mostly unrecycled. ABC has a genuine technological edge. Recovered metal income is not tied to the construction cycle, so it reduces overall risk.The counter-argumentsConcrete growth is capped because ABC is already the market leader. E-waste revenue depends on metal prices and on collecting enough material, neither of which ABC controls.The judgement
Prioritise concrete efficiency in the short term while expanding e-waste steadily, because the first pays for the second. Then say what it depends on: whether ABC can secure a reliable supply of e-waste, and how stable metal prices look.
Both sides, a decision, and the conditionThe strongest line in this answer is that the two strategies are not alternatives. One funds the other.
Now try these:
Discuss the extent to which ABC should prioritise sustainability over short-term profit. [10]
Discuss whether product development is a better growth strategy for ABC than market development. [10]
Discuss whether ABC’s accidental discovery gives it a lasting competitive advantage. [10]
Discuss whether ABC should become more market-orientated. [10]
Discuss the extent to which a circular business model can solve ABC’s environmental problems. [10]
Mark your own discuss answer
Did you define the key terms in the opening paragraph?
Did you argue both sides with roughly equal depth? Count the sentences if you are not sure.
Did you name ABC in every paragraph, not just the first?
Did you name a tool — Ansoff, SWOT, STEEPLE, circular model — where one fitted?
Did you decide, rather than summarise?
Did you say what your judgement depends on? One sentence is enough, and most students skip it.
A warning about practice case studies. Publishers and tutors write mock case studies around each pre-release. They are excellent for rehearsing the skills on this page. They are not predictions, and any resemblance to the real paper is coincidence. Never learn one as if it were the plot.
Exam tip
Write the mark total next to each answer as you plan. It stops you overwriting.
Do the discuss question with a plan. Five minutes of planning buys back fifteen of writing.
Reuse your terminology sheet. Every define question here comes straight off the word list.
Practise finishing. Most lost marks are in unwritten conclusions, not wrong content.
Swap answers with a classmate and mark each other against the shapes above. You spot missing application faster in someone else’s work.
Keep a list of your own repeated errors. Most students make the same three mistakes every time.
Common mix-up
Applying the case study to a define question. No marks for it, and it eats your time.
Giving two points for a 2-mark explain. One point, developed, is what is wanted.
Turning describe into discuss. Describe does not need both sides or a judgement.
Writing everything you know about ABC. The question sets the boundary, not your notes.
Leaving the discuss question until fifteen minutes remain. It is a third of the paper.
Never practising under time. Answers that work at home fall apart at exam pace.
Up next: Getting Started With the Statement — the previous session’s pre-release, built around a very different company.
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