Introduction

to Paper 3
Overview of Paper 3
Paper 3 is an HL level only paper

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total marks: 25
Percentage of course: 25%
Minutes per mark: 3 minutes

You must answer all of the questions. There are three

questions in the exam:
- 2 mark
- 6 mark
- 17 mark 2
Overview of Paper 3
You will be given a case study with a short introduction about
the company and its products or services. This company will
be a social enterprise. We will discuss more on this later.

You will then learn more about the company through

different resources. There will be 5-6 of these including news
articles, emails, customer reviews, social media posts,
infographics, etc.

This is a decision making paper that requires you to make a

recommendation to the business.
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What is a social
enterprise?
Definitions and examples
 What is a social
enterprise?
▸ Without looking, how would you
define social enterprise? Write down a
definition in your notebook.

▸ Now, search the internet and find

TWO definitions that you like. Don’t
just take the first ones you find. Dig
deeper to see how different people
define it.

5
Definitions of social enterprise
A social enterprise’s mission is to have a social impact rather Reading these three definitions,
than make a profit for their owners or shareholders. It what are THREE main features
operates by providing goods and services for the market and you can identify of a social
uses its profits primarily to achieve social objectives. enterprise.
European Union

Social enterprises demonstrate a better 1. Have a clear mission

Social enterprises are revenue- to improve the lives of
way to do business that prioritizes benefit
generating businesses with a twist. A people
to people and planet and uses the majority
social enterprise has two goals: to 2. Generate revenue by
of any profit to further their mission.
achieve social, cultural, community selling a
Through their mission, social enterprises
economic and/or environmental product/service.
contribute to reducing economic
outcomes; and, to earn revenue through 3. Social enterprises are
inequality, improving social justice and to
creative and innovative business progressive
environmental sustainability. Social
practices. BC Centre for Social organizations focusing
Enterprise UK
Enterprise on diversity, inclusion,
6
and social justice.
What is NOT a social enterprise?
Many businesses who do good deeds for society can be confused for social
enterprises. However, this is not true. Many companies use this as a marketing
tactic just to sell products. Here are some things to remember:

1. Charities are not social enterprises. They do not generate revenue and then use
that to change the world.
2. Businesses that donate a portion of their profits are not social enterprises.
Most large companies donate or sponsor programs to help those in need.
However, their main goal is still profits and shareholder value.
3. Companies that care about the environment or have environmentally friendly
products are not social enterprises. They are considered socially responsible
businesses.
4. Service businesses that donate their time to help people (like lawyers, doctors,
etc.). This is because they don’t provide solutions to the social issues, but treat
the current problem. However, their services are still very valuable!

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So what is a social enterprise?

A business…

- Where giving and helping others is at the core of

their business model. The reason for its existence is
the mission.
- Is energizing and inspirational to its customers and
others around it.
- Where there is a constant focus on the
purpose/mission not just used a short-term
marketing tactic.
- Is aspirational and belief-driven emphasizing future
hopes and goals to be achieved
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 Social Enterprise Example
Toms Shoes

▸ After a trip to Africa, TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie wanted to make a

difference in people’s lives. Just a few year later, he pioneered the One for Important questions
One® model—giving away one pair of shoes for every pair sold, supporting while you read:
larger health, education, and community development programs through 1. What is the mission
of Toms?
strategic partnerships. 2. What human need
▸ Today Toms gives ⅓ of profits for grassroots good. Since the beginning of are they fulfilling?
TOMS, our community has made a positive impact on over 100,000,000 3. What challenges did
lives Toms face while
running the social
▸ Common issues included whether TOMS hurt the footwear industries of
enterprise?
nations where it gave away shoes; whether distribution partners were acting
ethically with the donations; or, whether giving away shoes really made a
difference in the lives of recipients. 9
Social Enterprise Research
Now, in pairs, research another social enterprise and create a presentation
on it. Please include the following:

1. Name and brief introduction of the social enterprise

2. Mission of the social enterprise
3. Human need being addressed by the social enterprise
4. Challenges and issues faced by the social enterprise
5. Information from external sources about the business. Try to find something both
positive and negative that have been said about it

Make sure that you don’t use a business that pretends to be a social enterprise for
marketing purposes. Do good research on your chosen business.
Presentation should be about 4-5 minutes in length 10
2 mark questions
Explanation and practice
2 mark break-down
This question is going to ask you to use business management theory to
describe a human need that is being met by the organization.

For one mark, you need to use a theory, which will most likely be a
motivational theorist. Maslow is probably one of the easiest to use, but the
other we studied are also acceptable. Can you remember the other
theorists? Work with a partner to write down as many as you can
remember and a brief summary about their theory.

Once finished, we will review them as a class.

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2 mark break-down
Discussion:
What are our human needs? Think quietly for a minute and then make a list of
things you think are human needs.
- Food
- Shelter
- Clothing
- Water Do you agree with all of these?
- Education Would you add or remove any?
- Love/care from others
- Clean air to breath
- Access to medical care
- Etc.

Marks awarded: Award [1] for using an appropriate business

management theory, and [1] for describing a human need. 13
6 mark questions
Explanation and practice
6 mark break-down
This question will ask you to explain two possible challenges facing the business.

You need to break this down into three different parts:

1. Identification of a problem: This is a simple sentence identifying the issue.
For example, deteriorating brand image, lack of motivation for workers, etc.
2. Explanation: explain the issue in the business based on relation to the case
study. Be specific here and go into depth with quotes and information from the
text that shows why this is an issue.
3. Impact of the issue/application: Explain the impact of the issue or the “so
what”. How will or does this affect the business?

Mark as [3+3].
Award [1] for identification of a challenge, [1] for explanation and [1] for impact on
the business.

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 Now do the same thing with the business from your
6 mark example presentation. Do ONE issue and then have me checking it
before moving on to the second one.

So, if we go back to the TOMS case study, analyze this response. Does it
answer the question?

One issue facing TOMS is it might hurt the shoe industry in the country
where they give them out for free. In developing countries, industry is very
important for employment, supporting the economy through taxes and Would you give this
providing choice in products for its citizens. When TOMS gives out free answer three marks?
shoes, many people do not need to buy the local products meaning this could Does it meet the
reduce the profits, employment opportunities and cause possible bankruptcy. three requirements?
So the small act of getting shoes may cause more serious problems than lack
of footwear.

Check the next page for the answer.

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6 mark example
No, this is not a good answer! It talks about how it is hurting the shoe industry not
how Toms is affected negatively. Here is a better approach.

One issue facing TOMS is it might hurt the shoe industry in the country where they
give them out for free, which could hurt their brand image. When TOMS gives out
free shoes, many people do not need to buy the local products meaning this could
reduce the profits, employment opportunities and cause possible bankruptcy, and
many media organizations investigate MNCs and report on these issues. If
customers think that their shoe purchases are actually hurting the local community
instead of helping them, they might not buy the shoes causing a drop in sales and
the ability to fund outreach for Toms which is their main objective.

Now do the same thing with the business from your presentation. Do ONE issue
and then have me checking it before moving on to the second one.

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17 mark questions
Explanation and practice
17 mark break-down
What… a 17 mark question?! That’s crazy…

Yes, that sounds like a weird number of marks and a hard essay to write, but
hopefully after this explanation, you will feel confident about writing it!

This question has a rubric and is broken down into four criterion.

Criterion A: Use of resources

Criterion B: Business management tool and theories
Criterion C: Evaluation
Criterion D: Sequence of events

We will break these down in the following slides and give you a general
outline to answer this question.
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Criterion A: Use of resources
Common questions:

Do I need to reference every resource?

Yes, to get top marks, you need to reference
EVERY resource. This shows depth and variety.

Do I need to quote the line and use exact

quotes?
You don’t need to quote the line or use exact
quotes, but it must be clear which source you
have referenced. For example, in the email, the
employee mentions… or
In Source A, the CEO is angry…

Make a list of all of the sources and check them off once you have used them to assure
you can get top marks. 20
Criterion B: Tools and
theories
Does the text mention any business tools or
theories specifically? Then make sure you use
them in your analysis!

If not, then make sure every body paragraph

has some mention of vocabulary, theorists or
tool from the course. This could be
mentioning achieving economies of scale,
which quadrant your idea falls into from the
Ansoff matrix, how this would motivate
someone based on Herzberg, etc.

Don’t try to force tools/theories that don’t

work, but this is a major part of this question.

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Criterion C: Evaluation
Evaluation is the biggest section of this question. Make sure that you talk about the
impact of your ideas on the business in DIFFERENT ways. Use the ideas below to
help you evaluate properly. We will go into more depth on the next slide.

Ways to add evaluation:

- Financial vs non-financial
- Stakeholders
- Context of the business
(economic conditions,
competitors, etc.)
- Objectives of the business
(reputation, ethics, etc.)
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Let’s break this down…
Financial vs non-financial: Will our idea cost money? Does the
organization have the money to carry it out? In turn, what non-
financial benefits will the business experience? For example, the
marketing campaign is expensive, but brand image will increase or Ways to add evaluation:
volunteers will be more motivated if they receive free lunches
during their shift, etc. - Financial vs non-financial
- Stakeholders
Stakeholders: Who will be affected? Will this be a positive or - Context of the business
negative effect? Which stakeholders are the most important? (economic conditions,
competitors, etc.)
Context of the business: Make sure to take the context of the - Objectives of the business
business into consideration like the products they sell, the (reputation, ethics, etc.)
economic conditions (if mentioned), competitors that they have,
etc.
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 Let’s break this down…

Objectives of the business: Has the business mentioned objectives

that they have? Will your plan help them achieve them? Do they
want to help more people? Do they want to increase sales? Expand Ways to add evaluation:
to another area? This must be taken into account when providing a
recommendation. - Financial vs non-financial
- Stakeholders
Do you need to include all of these points for top marks? - Context of the business
No! But, it is good to include at least THREE to show effective (economic conditions,
evaluation of the plan. competitors, etc.)
- Objectives of the business
(reputation, ethics, etc.)

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Evaluation continued
Make sure that you consider trade-offs or opportunity costs as well. This is how you will
get into the 5-6 mark bands.

Use the evaluation points from the previous slides to show trade offs between your ideas.

For example: If they do X then they can’t do Y. Or X will make one stakeholder happy, but
it will demotivate another stakeholder. In the short-term, it will help them reduce the
damage the media has caused, but in the long-term, it will be too expensive to maintain.

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Criterion D: Sequence of ideas
It is important to show that you thought about
the order of your ideas. What are you doing
first? Why?

To do this, it is important to write mention the

plan in the introduction, use numerical
transition words (first, second, etc.), and
explain the reasoning behind your order.

For example: The marketing campaign must

be done first to limit the damage to the brand
image. Looking for a source of finance is
secondary as the business has a surplus that
can be used in the interim… ** The sequencing will be talked about more in the
structure. 26
Structuring
the essay

One the following slides, you will see two

different ways to structure the question. Both
ways are valid ways to organize your ideas, so
choose which style you like best.
 Introduction: talk about the problems that your action plan is trying to solve.
Briefly introduce the steps/actions you are going to propose

Paragraph 1: What is the first action that should
take place in the short-term. Why? Relate this to
what the sources have said. What will the effect be
on different areas of the business? What is the
counterpoint/trade-off?
**Integrate tools and terminology
Paragraph 2: Paragraph 1: What is the second
action that should take place in the short-term.
Why? Relate this to what the sources have said.
What will the effect be on different areas of the
business? What is the counterpoint/trade-off?
**Integrate tools and terminology

Paragraph 3: What is the next action that should
take place in the medium-term. How does this
flow from Action 1 and 2. Relate this to what the
sources have said. What will the effect be on
different areas of the business? What is the
counterpoint/trade-off?
Paragraph 4: (optional if there is time) What is the
next action that should take place in the medium-
term. How does this flow from Action 1 and 2. Relate
this to what the sources have said. What will the effect
be on different areas of the business? What is the
counterpoint/trade-off?

Conclusion: Summarize what you have said and the benefits for following your
plan and why it will help them reach their objective. This does not need to be long!
Just make your final point of tying it all together. 28
Final notes:
Also, you should present 3-4 recommendations for the action plan. Read
the case study to see how many issues they are having and be sure to
cover the ones you mentioned in the 6-mark question.

It is better to write three good, developed recommendations than 4-5

mediocre ones. Choose quality over quantity.

Practice is essential for these questions. Don’t get discouraged if they

seem difficult at first!

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References
All about Social Enterprise. N.d.
https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/all-about-social-enterprise/

Hessekiel, D. (2021, April 28). The Rise and Fall of the Buy-one-give-one
model at Toms. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhessekiel/2021/04/28/the-rise-and-fall-of-the
-buy-one-give-one-model-at-toms/

Social Enterprises. N.d.

https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/proximity-and-social-econo
my/social-economy-eu/social-enterprises_en

What is a Social Enterprise?. N.d.

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https://www.centreforsocialenterprise.com/what-is-social-enterprise/