IB Business Management SLTopic 8 — The Pre-Released StatementPaper 1Exam practice~12 min read
Practice Questions to Try
A full set of questions on the Myt statement, in every command style Paper 1 uses. Even if Myt is not your case study, the shapes are identical every year. Do these under time, mark them against the models, and you will walk into any pre-release exam knowing exactly how each answer should look.
How to use this page
Work through in order: define, explain, describe, discuss.
Time yourself at about three minutes per mark.
The worked answers show the shape, not the only right content.
Every applied answer must name Myt and use a detail from the case.
These use only the pre-released paragraphs, so no financial figures are assumed.
Real papers give you new data. Practise the skill, not the plot.
What a 4-mark explain answer looks like
Count the amber blocks in your own answers. If there are none, you are giving away half the marks.
2-mark define questions
WORKED
Define the term portfolio. [2]
Statement 1
The full range of products or services that a business offers [1]
Statement 2
A wider portfolio spreads risk, because the business is not relying on the sales of a single product [1]
2 marksThe second statement adds why it matters. That is what makes it a separate mark rather than a repeat.
Now try these:
Define the term internal growth. [2]
Define the term multinational company. [2]
Define the term corporate social responsibility. [2]
Define the term social media influencer. [2]
Define the term pressure group. [2]
Define the term biodegradable. [2]
2-mark explain questions
WORKED
Explain one reason why Myt might want to use computer-generated avatars in its advertising. [2]
Step 1: the point
Avatars can be designed and updated digitally, so campaigns cost less to produce than filming with people and can be changed quickly for different markets [1]
Step 2: apply itSince Myt operates on six continents and already targets younger consumers through influencers, avatars let it run consistent digital campaigns everywhere without the risk that a real presenter causes a scandal [1]2 marksOne reason, developed. Two half-reasons will not score as well.
Now try these:
Explain one reason why Myt’s acquisition of Honest Water could be described as diversification. [2]
Explain one possible challenge Myt could face when reducing caffeine in its drinks. [2]
Explain one benefit to Myt of being a public limited company when funding new factories. [2]
Explain one reason why pressure groups might criticise Myt despite its green plans. [2]
Explain one way in which modernising its factories could reduce Myt’s costs. [2]
4-mark explain questions
WORKED
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for Myt of acquiring Lotssa Coffee. [4]
Advantage: the point
Acquiring an existing chain gives instant scale rather than years of building from nothing [1]
Advantage: the applicationLotssa Coffee brought Myt more than 4,000 shops across 35 countries overnight, giving it a foothold in a market growing faster than fizzy drinks [1]Disadvantage: the point
Running a retail chain is a very different business from manufacturing drinks [1]
Disadvantage: the applicationMyt now has to manage thousands of outlets, staff and property leases, which stretches management and may need spending on training and systems it did not previously require [1]4 marks“4,000 shops in 35 countries” is the detail doing the work. Learn two or three numbers like this.
Now try these:
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for Myt of reducing sugar in its drinks. [4]
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for Myt of modernising its factories to be greener. [4]
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for Myt of entering the healthy snacks market. [4]
Explain two possible benefits to Myt of using social media influencers as its main promotion. [4]
4-mark describe questions
WORKED
Describe two ways in which Myt could adopt a circular business model. [4]
Way 1
Change its packaging [1]. Myt could move to recyclable or biodegradable bottles so that the material is reused rather than sent to landfill, which would answer some of the criticism it receives over plastic waste [1]
Way 2
Introduce refill or deposit-return schemes [1]. Customers would get money back for returning bottles, so containers come back into the system instead of being thrown away, cutting both waste and raw material costs [1]
4 marksDescribe wants two clear items with detail. It does not need the argument that explain needs.
Now try these:
Describe two external factors that could affect Myt’s soft drinks business. [4]
Describe two possible risks to Myt of entering the bottled water market. [4]
Describe two ways Myt has used external growth. [4]
Describe two stakeholder groups affected by Myt’s decision to cut sugar, and how. [4]
10-mark discuss questions
WORKED PLAN
Discuss whether Myt should enter the healthy snacks market. [10]
Opening
Define diversification and note Myt is a PLC that already grew both internally and externally. Name Ansoff: snacks would be new product, new market.
The case for
The healthy snacks market is growing steadily and fits the healthier image Myt is trying to build. It reduces reliance on fizzy drinks, which are declining. Myt already has global distribution and brand recognition to build on.
The case againstIt is the smallest of Myt’s three markets and the most crowded, with General Mills, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz already established. Food is not drink: new production, new suppliers, new food safety rules in every country. Diversification is the riskiest quadrant of Ansoff.Weigh it upMyt is already stretched across drinks, coffee shops and bottled water. Adding a fourth business raises the question of whether management attention, not money, is the real constraint.The judgement
Enter, but cautiously — perhaps in one region first, or through a partnership rather than building from scratch. Then say what it depends on: whether Myt’s existing cash cows stay strong enough to fund it, and whether it can differentiate from established snack brands.
Both sides, a decision, and the condition“Yes, but cautiously and here is how” is often a stronger judgement than a flat yes or no.
Now try these:
Discuss whether Myt’s corporate social responsibility plans are likely to give it a competitive advantage. [10]
Discuss whether relying on social media influencers is a sustainable promotional strategy for Myt. [10]
Discuss the extent to which diversifying into coffee and bottled water has strengthened Myt. [10]
Discuss whether Myt should reduce the sugar and caffeine in its existing drinks. [10]
Discuss whether modernising its factories is a good long-term strategy for Myt. [10]
Mark your own answer before you look at anything else
Did you define the key terms at the start of the discuss answer?
Did you name Myt in every paragraph, with a specific detail each time?
Did you argue both sides to roughly equal depth?
Did you name a tool — Ansoff, BCG, SWOT, STEEPLE, circular model — where one fitted?
Did you decide, rather than summarise what you had already written?
Did you say what your judgement depends on? One sentence, and most students miss it.
One last warning. Practice case studies written around a pre-release are excellent rehearsal and are never predictions. Treat the questions on this page the same way: they train the shape of your answer, not the content of your exam.
Exam tip
Learn three specific facts about Myt: 30+ drinks, 4,000 coffee shops in 35 countries, factories on six continents.
Write the mark total beside each answer as you plan, to stop yourself overwriting.
Plan the discuss question for five minutes. It buys back fifteen.
Practise finishing. Most lost marks are in missing conclusions, not wrong content.
Mark a classmate’s work. You spot missing application faster in someone else’s writing than your own.
Keep a list of your three repeat errors and check for them every time.
Common mix-up
Applying the case to a define question. No marks, and it costs you time.
Giving two points to a 2-mark explain. One point, properly developed, is what is wanted.
Turning describe into discuss. Describe needs no judgement.
Writing everything you know about Myt. The question sets the boundary.
Starting the discuss question with fifteen minutes left. It is a third of the paper.
Only ever practising untimed. Answers that work at home fall apart at exam pace.
That completes the pre-release topic. If you want to go back to the foundations, start again at What Paper 1 Asks For and check your timings against the shapes you have just practised.
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