Free topical revision checklist for IB DP Business Management SL & HL, including IA requirements. Track confidence (1–5) and review dates. Detailed checklist aligned to 2026 expectations. Rate your confidence (1–5), track review dates, then export as CSV or print.
| Topic | Sub-topic | Resources | Confidence (1–5) | Last reviewed | Next review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Business organisation & environment | Business activity and purpose; types of organisations | Topic resources | |||
| 1. Business organisation & environment | Stakeholders: interests, conflicts and stakeholder management | Topic resources | |||
| 1. Business organisation & environment | Mission/vision/objectives; SMART objectives | Topic resources | |||
| 1. Business organisation & environment | Business growth: internal vs external; economies/diseconomies of scale | Topic resources | |||
| 1. Business organisation & environment | Change management (Lewin/force field analysis where taught) | Topic resources | |||
| 1. Business organisation & environment | Organisational structure: hierarchy, delegation, span of control | Topic resources | |||
| 1. Business organisation & environment | Centralisation vs decentralisation; matrix structures | Topic resources | |||
| 1. Business organisation & environment | External environment: STEEPLE analysis; opportunities/threats | Topic resources | |||
| 1. Business organisation & environment | Ethics, CSR and sustainability; greenwashing risks | Topic resources | |||
| 2. Human resource management | Workforce planning; labour turnover and absenteeism | Topic resources | |||
| 2. Human resource management | Recruitment and selection: job analysis, person specs, interviews | Topic resources | |||
| 2. Human resource management | Training and development; appraisal systems | Topic resources | |||
| 2. Human resource management | Motivation theories (Maslow, Herzberg, Taylor, etc.) and application | Topic resources | |||
| 2. Human resource management | Leadership styles and management styles | Topic resources | |||
| 2. Human resource management | Organisational culture; communication channels | Topic resources | |||
| 2. Human resource management | Industrial relations; conflict and dispute resolution | Topic resources | |||
| 2. Human resource management | HR strategy links to business strategy (HL depth) | Topic resources | |||
| 3. Finance & accounts | Costs and revenues; contribution; break-even analysis | Topic resources | |||
| 3. Finance & accounts | Profit (gross/net); profit margins and interpretation | Topic resources | |||
| 3. Finance & accounts | Cash flow forecasting; working capital management | Topic resources | |||
| 3. Finance & accounts | Final accounts: profit & loss and balance sheet (as taught) | Topic resources | |||
| 3. Finance & accounts | Ratio analysis: liquidity, profitability, efficiency, gearing; limitations | Topic resources | |||
| 3. Finance & accounts | Budgeting: variances; flexible budgets (HL emphasis where taught) | Topic resources | |||
| 3. Finance & accounts | Investment appraisal: payback, ARR, NPV (HL emphasis) | Topic resources | |||
| 3. Finance & accounts | Sources of finance: internal/external; short/long term; evaluation | Topic resources | |||
| 4. Marketing | Market research: primary vs secondary; sampling; bias | Topic resources | |||
| 4. Marketing | Segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) | Topic resources | |||
| 4. Marketing | Product lifecycle; portfolio analysis (BCG/Ansoff where taught) | Topic resources | |||
| 4. Marketing | Marketing mix: 4Ps/7Ps; coordination and trade-offs | Topic resources | |||
| 4. Marketing | Pricing strategies: cost-plus, penetration, skimming, dynamic | Topic resources | |||
| 4. Marketing | Promotion mix: AIDA, ATL/BTL, digital channels | Topic resources | |||
| 4. Marketing | Distribution channels; omni-channel strategy | Topic resources | |||
| 4. Marketing | Branding: brand equity, loyalty, ethics in marketing | Topic resources | |||
| 4. Marketing | International marketing: standardisation vs adaptation (HL emphasis) | Topic resources | |||
| 5. Operations management | Operations objectives: cost, quality, speed, flexibility, dependability | Topic resources | |||
| 5. Operations management | Production methods: job, batch, flow; services vs manufacturing | Topic resources | |||
| 5. Operations management | Lean production; Kaizen; JIT; waste reduction | Topic resources | |||
| 5. Operations management | Quality management: quality assurance/control; TQM | Topic resources | |||
| 5. Operations management | Location decisions; break-even location analysis (as taught) | Topic resources | |||
| 5. Operations management | Supply chain management; logistics and outsourcing | Topic resources | |||
| 5. Operations management | Inventory management: buffer stock, reorder levels (HL emphasis) | Topic resources | |||
| 5. Operations management | Project management: Gantt/CPA; critical path; crashing (HL emphasis) | Topic resources | |||
| 5. Operations management | Capacity utilisation; productivity; efficiency improvements | Topic resources | |||
| 6. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Real organisation and a focused research question | Topic resources | |||
| 6. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Relevant tools/techniques (quantitative + qualitative) and justification | Topic resources | |||
| 6. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Primary/secondary research quality and limitations | Topic resources | |||
| 6. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Analysis, evaluation, recommendations and feasibility | Topic resources | |||
| 6. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Appendices, citations and academic honesty | Topic resources |
Tip: Pair this checklist with past paper practice and spaced repetition. Always confirm exact assessment components (SL/HL, options) with your school’s IB DP route for the 2026 exam session.
Quick answers about this free revision checklist, how to use it for exam prep, and how it relates to the official syllabus.
This revision checklist mirrors the official IB DP Business Management syllabus for the 2026 examination series. Every topic and sub-topic on the page is taken from the published syllabus document, so working through the list in order gives you full coverage of what your exam can assess. It covers both Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL) topic expectations. For the authoritative version, always cross-check with the latest syllabus PDF on your exam board's website before your final revision push.
The number of top-level topic groups varies by subject, but you can see the exact count on this page — each major heading in the checklist corresponds to one syllabus topic group, and each row below it is a syllabus-level sub-topic. Use the confidence column (1–5) to flag which sub-topics need more work, and re-score yourself weekly to track real progress instead of guessing.
16–20 weeks of consistent revision is realistic for IB DP — work through one topic per week alongside ongoing past-paper practice and Internal Assessment polish. Use this checklist to plan your weeks: filter by topics you have rated 1–3 and spend your first revision block there. Subjects with heavy practical or extended-writing components (e.g. sciences, English) need more past-paper time in the final block than the topic-by-topic phase.
Revise in roughly the order the syllabus lists the topics — exam boards build later topics on earlier ones, so taking them in syllabus order avoids gaps. Once you have rated every topic, switch to weakest-first: filter the checklist by confidence ≤ 2 and prioritise those topics in your next study block. This is more effective than re-revising topics you already score 4–5 on.
You can find past papers and mark schemes via Tutopiya's Past Paper Finder and on your exam board's official site. Once you have rated each sub-topic on this checklist, attempt past-paper questions on your weakest topics first — practising under timed conditions is the single best predictor of exam performance, more so than re-reading notes.
Use the Download CSV or Print PDF button at the bottom of the checklist. CSV opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets so you can sort by confidence and re-arrange revision order. The PDF is print-ready for offline use. A free Tutopiya account is required for download — this also unlocks the matching topic resources, notes and worked examples on the Learning Portal.
Yes, the checklist itself is free — you can view, score and re-score every topic on this page without an account. The CSV / PDF downloads and access to matching Tutopiya Learning Portal resources require a free account. There is no payment required at any point; teachers and parents can also use this checklist freely with their students.
Yes. The topics and sub-topics on this page are drawn from the current 2026 IB DP Business Management specification published by your exam board. Exam boards occasionally tweak weighting or assessment structure mid-cycle, so do a quick sanity-check against the official syllabus PDF when you start your revision and again 4 weeks before the exam.