This week, during the IB Business Management (BM) seniors participated as a focus group for a variety of chocolate products made by an AAS sole proprietor. The reason for the activity was to answer a BM research question which is the subject of a business students’ Higher Level Internal Assessment (HLIA). The HLIA is a compulsory component of the IB BM course and is worth 25% of the students’ grade.
All Higher Level (HL) students need to choose an organization with a real business decision or issue. Recommendations must be made to an organization to help address the title question being investigated. This should be through research and application of BM tools, theories and concepts. Before formulating a title question, students should contact the organization to see if they can help in providing the necessary support and information. (Hoang) Generally, a student will initiate primary research as their informational sources used such as interviews, surveys or observations.
ChocoLeya is a locally-owned Bulgarian company that specializes in artisanal chocolate, handcrafted in micro batches from organic ingredients. (ChocoLeya). About a year ago, an entrepreneur, who is also an AAS parent, started an organic bean-to-bar- chocolate business. The owner agreed to assist an HL BM student by giving interviews and some financial data. Yet, the student was in need of a wider range of opinions and thus, designed a focus group among his peers.
A focus group is a small discussion group that is to gain insights into the attitudes and behavior of respondents. The group is typically made up of participants who share a similar consumer profile. (Hoang) Therefore, the senior BM class was a good source of information. Practicing social distancing and sanitation protocol, the student provided a variety of chocolates to the student focus group. The students were asked to give their feedback on the sampled chocolates concerning the quality and perceived pricing. As you can imagine, the students enjoyed giving their opinions while sampling the goods.
Sources:
Hoang, Paul. Business Management. 4th ed., IBID Press, 2018.
ChocoLeya, https://chocoleya.com/ Accessed 22 October 2020.
