IB Business Management HL Topic 8 — Pre-Released Statement 2025 Paper 1 Core skill ~12 min read

The Vocabulary to Revise

The 2025 statement comes with two word lists: proper Business Management terms taken from the case study, and a short list of industry words that are not in the subject guide at all. Both are worth an hour of your time, because definitions are the only marks in Paper 1 you can bank before the exam starts.

📚 What you need to know

Subject-specific terms include multinational company, internal and external growth, portfolio, diversification and manufacturer.
Later terms include modernisation, green factories, the healthy snacks market and CSR.
The extra list is avatar, biodegradable, chain (of a business), pressure group, recycling and social media influencer.
Every definition needs two clauses — the category, then the feature.
Internal and external growth is the single most likely definition to appear. Learn the contrast.
“Pressure group” on the list is a hint that Myt will face public criticism in the full case.

The one contrast you must nail

Internal versus external growth is the pairing the examiner keeps coming back to, because Myt has done both. Get this diagram into your head and you can answer half a dozen questions from it.

The trade-off is speed against control. Buying a company gets you there tomorrow; building one keeps the culture you already have.

Subject-specific key terms

Term	Two-clause definition	Myt example
Multinational company	A business that operates in more than one country, usually with headquarters in one and operations in others.	Myt has factories on six continents.
Internal growth	Growth achieved using a firm’s own resources, such as launching new products or opening new outlets, rather than buying other businesses. Also called organic growth.	Going from one root beer to over 30 drinks.
External growth	Growth achieved by merging with or acquiring another business, which is faster but more expensive and harder to integrate.	Buying Lotssa Coffee and Honest Water in 2023.
Portfolio	The full range of products or services a business offers, which spreads risk across several sources of revenue.	Over 30 drinks, plus coffee shops and bottled water.
Diversification	A growth strategy where a firm sells a new product in a new market, reducing dependence on one industry but carrying the highest risk.	Moving from soft drinks into coffee retail and bottled water.
Manufacturer	A business that processes raw materials or components into finished products and packages them for sale.	Honest Water manufactures bottled drinking water.
Modernisation	Updating factories or equipment to improve efficiency, quality or environmental impact.	Myt’s plan to upgrade its factories.
Green factories	Production sites designed to use less energy, create less waste and cause less environmental damage than conventional ones.	The stated aim of Myt’s modernisation programme.
Healthy snacks market	The market for snack foods made with natural ingredients, lower sugar or added health benefits.	The market Myt is considering entering.
Corporate social responsibility	A business acting ethically towards society and the environment, going beyond what the law requires.	Myt’s plans on packaging, sourcing and product health.

The additional terminology list

Word	What it means	Why it was listed
Avatar	A digital character that represents a person online — in an advert, a game or a virtual event.	Myt is considering computer-generated avatars in its advertising.
Biodegradable	A material that breaks down naturally in the environment without leaving harmful residue.	Points at packaging. Plant-based bottles are a live issue across the drinks industry.
Chain (of a business)	A group of shops, restaurants or factories owned by one company, selling the same products under the same name.	Lotssa Coffee is a chain of over 4,000 outlets.
Pressure group	An organisation that tries to influence businesses or governments on issues such as the environment, health or human rights.	A strong hint that Myt faces public campaigning in the full case.
Recycling	Collecting and reprocessing used materials so they become inputs for new products instead of waste.	Central to the packaging and circular model discussion.
Social media influencer	A person with a large online following who can shape what their audience buys by promoting products.	Already a core part of Myt’s promotional strategy.

🤔 Why “pressure group” is the most revealing word on the list

Avatars, biodegradable packaging and influencers are all things Myt does. A pressure group is something that happens to it. Putting that word on the list tells you the full case study contains criticism — probably about sugar, sweeteners or plastic. Prepare for a question on how Myt should respond to that criticism, and you will not be surprised.

Worked examples

WORKED EXAMPLE

Define the term external growth. [2]

Clause 1 External growth is an increase in the size of a business achieved by merging with or acquiring another firm. Clause 2 It is faster than organic growth but usually more expensive and harder to integrate. 2 / 2 Adding the contrast with organic growth is a reliable way to guarantee the second mark.

WORKED EXAMPLE

Define the term social media influencer. [2]

Clause 1 A social media influencer is a person with a large online following. Clause 2 They are paid by businesses to promote products, because their recommendation shapes what their audience buys. 2 / 2 Even for an everyday word, give two clauses. Assume nothing is obvious to the examiner.

🧩 How to drill the list in one hour

Write each term on a card, definition on the back in two clauses.
Add one Myt example underneath in a different colour.
Sort the cards into “confident” and “shaky” piles. Only revise the shaky pile again.
Say them out loud against a timer. Ten seconds each or the definition is too long.
Finish with the pairs: internal versus external, portfolio versus diversification, CSR versus sustainability.

💡 Exam tip

Two clauses, roughly 25 words, one sentence. That is the whole technique.
Learn definitions in pairs where they contrast. It halves the work and doubles the accuracy.
No application on define questions. Save the Myt detail for the explain questions.
Use the terms in every later answer. “Portfolio” and “external growth” are worth more than “range” and “buying”.
Watch the line references. Questions sometimes say “define the term X (line 14)”, which just tells you where it appears.
Do not define using the word itself. “A pressure group is a group that applies pressure” scores nothing.

⚠ Common mix-up

Portfolio is not diversification. A portfolio is what you sell; diversification is how you got there.
Internal growth is not internal recruitment. Different topic entirely.
A chain is not a franchise. A chain is owned by the company; a franchise is run by someone else under licence.
Biodegradable is not recyclable. One breaks down naturally; the other gets reprocessed.
An avatar is not an influencer. Avatars are made; influencers are hired.
Pressure groups are not competitors. They want to change behaviour, not take market share.

Up next: Spotting the Key Themes — the five big ideas the 2025 statement is built on.

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The Vocabulary to Revise

📚 What you need to know

The one contrast you must nail

Subject-specific key terms

The additional terminology list

🤔 Why “pressure group” is the most revealing word on the list

Worked examples

🧩 How to drill the list in one hour

💡 Exam tip

⚠ Common mix-up

Want this explained one-to-one?

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