IB Business Management & A Level Business Command Terms: The Complete Glossary

Every year, the same thing costs students the most marks — and it isn’t
missing content. It’s answering the wrong question. A student who writes a
sharp, accurate description of a pricing strategy when the question said
evaluate has written a good answer to a question nobody asked. On a
markscheme, that answer is capped in the lowest band regardless of how well
it’s written.

The command term is the instruction. Everything else in the question — the
stimulus, the business, the numbers — is the material you apply that
instruction to. Get the verb right and a mediocre answer still climbs the
bands. Get it wrong and a brilliant answer stays capped.

This glossary covers every command term you’ll meet in IB Business
Management (SL/HL) and Cambridge AS & A Level Business (9609),
organised from lowest to highest demand. For each one: what it actually asks
for, what an examiner is scanning for, the mistake that costs marks, and a
sentence starter to build the habit.

How to use this page

The terms are grouped into three demand levels, which map onto both
syllabuses even though the labels differ slightly:

Foundation — knowledge and understanding. Recall, define, state.
Application — using knowledge on the specific business in front of you.
Judgement — building an argument, weighing evidence, reaching a
justified conclusion.

The jump from Application to Judgement is where most marks are lost. Read
those sections twice.

Foundation command terms

Define

Asks for: the precise meaning of a term, in the context of the subject.

Examiner is scanning for: a concise, technically accurate statement —
not a description, not an example, not a sentence about why the concept
matters. A definition that needs a “because” has usually drifted into
explanation.

Common mistake: defining the term by using the term. “Break-even is the
point where a business breaks even” earns nothing. State what actually
happens: units sold at which total revenue equals total costs.

Sentence starter: “[Term] refers to…”

State / Identify

Asks for: a fact, a factor, or a feature pulled directly from the
stimulus or from recalled knowledge — no development required.

Examiner is scanning for: the correct item, named plainly. One mark
per correct point up to the maximum available; extra explanation earns
nothing extra here, so don’t spend time on it.

Common mistake: writing a full paragraph for a 1-mark command. If a
question says “state two reasons,” two short phrases outscore two
paragraphs — because a third or fourth unnecessary point sometimes
contradicts the first and costs the mark instead.

Sentence starter: “One [reason/factor/example] is…”

Outline

Asks for: a brief account — state the point, then add one sentence of
support or context. More than “state,” less than “explain.”

Examiner is scanning for: a point that isn’t left hanging. “Outline one
advantage of a partnership” wants the advantage named and connected to
why it matters for that business type.

Common mistake: stopping at the bare fact (that’s “state,” not
“outline”) or over-developing into a mini-essay (that’s “explain”).

Sentence starter: “[Point], which means that…”

Describe

Asks for: a detailed account of characteristics or a process, in
sequence or by feature — no judgement, no cause-and-effect analysis.

Examiner is scanning for: accuracy and completeness of the picture, not
an argument. If the question is “describe the stages of the product life
cycle,” a strong answer names and characterises each stage in order.

Common mistake: slipping into evaluation (“this stage is best because
…”) when the command word never asked for a view. Save the opinion for
questions that ask for one.

Sentence starter: “[Subject] involves / consists of…”

Application command terms

Explain

Asks for: a reasoned account of why or how — cause linked to
effect, point linked to consequence. This is the most common command term
in the syllabus and the one most often answered as if it were “describe.”

Examiner is scanning for: a logical chain: point → because → therefore.
Markschemes typically reward a clear link between the stated point and its
consequence for the business in the stimulus, not just the point itself.

Common mistake: stating the point and stopping. “A recession reduces
consumer spending” is a fact, not an explanation. “A recession reduces
consumer spending, which means [Company]’s sales of the premium range are
likely to fall as customers trade down to cheaper alternatives” is an
explanation, because it follows the chain through to a specific
consequence for that business.

Sentence starter: “This is because… As a result…”

Analyse

Asks for: breaking a situation down into its component parts and
examining the relationship between them — usually applied directly to the
numbers, context, or stakeholders in the stimulus.

Examiner is scanning for: application to the specific case, not
generic theory recited in isolation. “Analyse the impact of the price
increase on [Company]” wants the theory (price elasticity, contribution,
brand positioning) run through the numbers and context actually given,
producing a conclusion that could only apply to this business.

Common mistake: “analysis” that’s really description with a diagram
attached. Drawing a correctly labelled diagram earns marks for the
diagram; it doesn’t automatically earn analysis marks unless the answer
explains what the diagram shows for this case.

Sentence starter: “Applying this to [Company], the data shows that…”

Distinguish

Asks for: the difference between two or more terms or concepts, stated
clearly enough that a reader could tell them apart.

Examiner is scanning for: a genuine point of contrast — not two
separate definitions placed next to each other. “X is… Y is…” with no
comparative language rarely earns full marks; “whereas,” “in contrast,”
and “unlike” are the words that actually do the distinguishing.

Common mistake: defining both terms accurately but never connecting
them, leaving the reader to spot the difference themselves. That’s the
examiner’s job to infer, not yours to leave implicit.

Sentence starter: “Whereas [Term A]…, [Term B]…”

Judgement command terms

These are the command terms that unlock the top mark bands, and where the
biggest gap opens between a Grade 5 and a Grade 7 script — or, on 9609,
between a C and an A. They all share one requirement: a decision, held
up against the alternative it wasn’t.

Discuss

Asks for: a balanced examination of an issue, presenting more than one
side, before arriving at a considered conclusion. Weaker on Business than
“evaluate” — a discussion needs balance but not necessarily a strongly
argued final judgement.

Examiner is scanning for: genuine balance. A “discussion” that spends
four paragraphs on one side and one sentence dismissing the other hasn’t
discussed — it’s argued a single case while pretending otherwise.

Common mistake: treating “discuss” as a licence to list. A discussion
needs paragraphs that engage with each other, not a bullet list of
advantages followed by a bullet list of disadvantages with no synthesis.

Sentence starter: “On one hand… On the other hand… Taking both
factors into account…”

Examine

Asks for: a close, critical investigation of an issue — sits between
Analyse and Evaluate in demand. Common on Cambridge 9609, less frequent on
IB.

Examiner is scanning for: depth on a narrow point rather than breadth
across many. “Examine” rewards following one line of reasoning all the way
through its implications, rather than raising several points briefly.

Common mistake: answering as if it said “discuss” or “evaluate” and
trying to cover every possible angle, which spreads the answer too thin to
earn the depth marks available.

Justify

Asks for: a defended argument for a specific decision or opinion,
using evidence to support why it’s the stronger choice — not a balanced
weighing of both sides, but a case built for one position.

Examiner is scanning for: reasons that are prioritised, not just
listed. The strongest justifications explicitly address why the
counter-argument is weaker, rather than ignoring it exists.

Common mistake: justifying with unsupported assertion (“this is the
best option because it is better”) instead of evidence drawn from the
stimulus, the numbers, or the theory.

Sentence starter: “This is the stronger option because…, whereas
the alternative would…”

Asks for: a decision, stated explicitly, supported by reasoning, and
usually weighed against at least one rejected alternative.

Examiner is scanning for: an answer that actually commits. “It depends
on many factors” with no final position, stated nowhere in the answer, is
the single most common way to lose the top band on a recommendation
question — markschemes reward a stated decision more than they reward
hedging dressed up as sophistication.

Common mistake: sitting on the fence until the final line, then
producing a recommendation that isn’t supported by anything argued
earlier in the answer — the conclusion and the body need to be the same
argument.

Sentence starter: “[Company] should… because the evidence suggests
that…, which outweighs the risk that…”

Evaluate

Asks for: the full package — weigh evidence on multiple sides,
consider the significance of each point (not just its existence), and
reach a justified conclusion that follows from the weighing, not
bolted onto the end of it.

Examiner is scanning for: the word “significance.” An evaluation that
lists three advantages and three disadvantages, with no sense of which
ones actually matter for this business, in this context, right now, is
analysis wearing evaluation’s clothes. The top band specifically rewards
answers that judge which factors carry more weight and say so explicitly.

Common mistake: treating “evaluate” as “discuss, plus a one-sentence
conclusion tacked on at the end.” A real evaluative conclusion is
reasoned throughout the answer — the reader should be able to predict
which way the conclusion is heading well before the final paragraph.

Sentence starter: “While [Factor A] suggests…, this is outweighed
by [Factor B], because… Overall, therefore…”

To what extent

Asks for: the same as “evaluate,” with one addition — a stated
position on a scale (large extent, limited extent, not at all), not just a
yes/no or advantage/disadvantage split.

Examiner is scanning for: language of degree. “This strategy will
succeed to a large extent because…, though its effectiveness is limited
by…” is markedly stronger than “this strategy will succeed because…,”
because it answers the actual question — how much — rather than a
different, easier one.

Common mistake: answering “to what extent will X happen” as if it
said “will X happen,” producing a binary answer to a question that asked
for a measured one.

The pattern across every high-demand term

Notice what Discuss, Justify, Recommend, Evaluate and To what extent have
in common: every one of them requires you to name the alternative you
didn’t choose. An evaluation with only one side isn’t an evaluation. A
recommendation with no rejected option isn’t a decision, it’s a
description with a full stop after it.

If you’re not sure whether an answer has actually done what the command
term asked, apply this test: could this paragraph have been written
without reading the question? If yes — if it’s generic theory that would
fit almost any business in almost any context — the command term hasn’t
been answered yet, no matter how accurate the content is.

Quick reference table

Command term	Demand	One-line test
Define	Foundation	Accurate, no “because”
State / Identify	Foundation	One point, no development
Outline	Foundation	Point + one line of support
Describe	Foundation	Detail, no judgement
Explain	Application	Point → because → therefore
Analyse	Application	Theory applied to this business’s data
Distinguish	Application	Comparative language, not two definitions
Discuss	Judgement	Genuine balance, both sides engaged
Examine	Judgement	Depth on one line of reasoning
Justify	Judgement	One side argued, counter-argument addressed
Recommend	Judgement	Explicit decision, supported throughout
Evaluate	Judgement	Weighing by significance, not just listing
To what extent	Judgement	A measured position, not a binary answer

This glossary is maintained by a practising IB Business Management and
Cambridge examiner. It is an independent resource and is not endorsed by
or affiliated with the International Baccalaureate Organization or
Cambridge Assessment International Education.