research guidelines final doc 2006

7/29/2019 Research Guidelines Final Doc 2006

1/26

MBA 2005/2006

INTEGRATIVE BUSINESS RESEARCH PROJECT GUIDELINES

Candidates for the Masters of Business Administration Degree (MBA) are

required to undertake and document research in partial fulfilment of the

degree. In order to complete this process, students will have to select a

suitable topic, prepare a research proposal, carry out independent research

and write up the research project according to a defined format. A research

project is a formal investigation conducted independently over a number of

months in a focused area addressing a clear question or defined problem.

The purpose of the research project is to give the student an opportunity to

demonstrate that s/he can self-manage a problem solving/knowledge-creation

exercise on a complex business topic of their choice within a limited time

frame. They must demonstrate that they can design, execute, analyse and

report on such work to specified standards. They must show that they can do


2/26

A SELECTING A RESEARCH TOPIC

The choice of topic for research should depend on a number of factors:

The selected topic should be in a field in which there is real need for

the research.

The research outcomes must be useful. Although research into

practical problems experienced in the workplace is encouraged,students may not undertake market research which would advantage a

specific company. The research has to be of academic relevance. All

university research is within the public domain and hence no research

project can be treated as confidential.

The student should be realistic about the scale of the task to beundertaken and its scope. The research must be achievable within a

defined time and budget.

The topic should be amenable to methods of research.

It is important to align the students interests, abilities and career plans.

Access to the data must be ensured before the proposal is written. A topic could well be selected to be relevant to both the student and

their company.

B RESEARCH METHODLOGY COURSE

During the research methodology course, students will be asked to hand in

two assignments the marks from these assignments will contribute 10% to

the final research project mark.


3/26

project. The proposal must demonstrate familiarity with the prescribed

research methodology textbook

Format of the Proposal

The following guidelines are designed to cover the essential elements of a

proposal:

Title Page

The title should be concise, but descriptive. Ideally a title should be less than

ten words. It is advisable to avoid catchy titles and words such as A study

of or An investigation into are redundant and should be avoided. Titles

should not be in a question format. The students name, contact details and

student number must be shown on this page.

Definit ion of Problem

The research problem or question must be clearly and simply stated at the

start of the proposal. The student should distil the problem into a short,

concise sentence. A brief background to the problem, together with a

rationale for conducting the research is required. Ensure that the scope of the

research is specified. The following questions should be addressed:

Why was this problem selected?

What evidence verifies the identification of the problem?

What is the relevance of this topic to business in SA?

At least three references should be used in this section indicating the need for

th h


4/26

your research. A full literature review is not necessary at the proposal stage,

but key references should be identified and discussed. You should indicatethe major headings you will use in the literature review. At least ten

references must be used and correctly referenced both in the body of the

research proposal and in the reference list. References must be current and

focused on the specific research problem. At the end of the literature review

you must restate your research problem in terms of hypotheses orpropositions or research questions.

Proposed Research Methods

It is crucial to define clearly what method will be used during the study e.g.

documentary research, survey by face to face interviews. The methodology

must be appropriate to the research objective and questions / propositions /

hypotheses. You need to indicate why your chosen methodology is suitable

for your research problem, i.e. you need to demonstrate congruence

throughout the research process. A well-selected and clearly justified

methodology at proposal stage will assist in ensuring the production of a

successful research project. After specifying and defending the choice of

methodology, details must be given of the proposed unit of analysis,

population, sampling method and size, data gathering process and analysis

approach. If you intend to use a questionnaire in your research, a draft

questionnaire must be included. An indication of the research limitations must

be given. The text book for the research course should be used and

referenced to defend the research details in this section.


5/26

materials. Plagiarism is unacceptable and will not be condoned and if found

will lead to disciplinary procedures.

The method of referencing shown at the end of this document must be

adopted and applied consistently throughout the proposal and the research

project. References are used to enable readers to consult the original sources

for further reading and to acknowledge the authors from which the information

was taken. This is done by clearly identifying the sources and precisely stating

where the information was found. Essential components of a reference are:

author, year of publication, title of book or article and journal; edition, place of

publication, publisher, numbering, and pagination. Referencing systems are

the bane of research students lives, but the onus rests on the student to

master the system.

Literary Style

Writing good formal English is an important business skill. Both the proposal

and the research project must be written in a formal academic literary style in

the third person. British and not American conventions of spelling should be

followed (in Word this is signified by the English (U.K.) setting). Slang and

colloquialisms should be avoided at all times; the rules of grammar should be

followed. The proposal should be written in the future tense, the report should

be written in the past tense and the literature review in the present tense (i.e.

the author states). Do not begin sentences with numerals. All words that are

in a language other than English should be typed in italics e.g. et al. The first

person should not be used, i.e. you may not say I conducted 15 interviews

you need to say Fifteen interviews were conducted Supervisors should


6/26

Consistency Matrix

You must complete a consistency matrix as given in Appendix 1 of thisdocument as the last page of your proposal. This table enables you and the

supervisor to check for consistency, i.e. are the research problem, the

literature, the research methodology and the proposed method of analysis all

aligned, i.e. will the data, if analysed in the proposed way, answer the

research problem and is there a theoretical basis for the research problem.

Submission of the Proposal

Once a proposal has been completed, it must be submitted by June 1 st 2006,

17h00, to the MBA Programme Manager. A supervisor will then be allocated

by the Academic Committee based on faculty members areas of expertise.

The supervisor will mark the proposal according to the guidelines below. The

mark will count 15% toward the final research project mark. Students should

consult their supervisor to receive feedback.

If the proposal is approved, the Academic Administration office will record the

title and the name of the supervisor. Only in exceptional circumstances are

either of these changed.

Students should not proceed with the research project until the proposal has

been approved.

Where a proposal requires revision, the appointed supervisor will notify the

student. The areas of the proposal, which require revision, will be discussed

with the supervisor and a revised proposal must be submitted A maximum


7/26

Suggested marking guidelines for research proposal

Student Name:Proposed Title:

Problem Formulation 20%

Comments:

Theory Base/Literature Review 20%Comments:

Methodology 40%

Defence of methodsComments:

Unit o f Analysis/Population/Sampling

Comments:

Procedure/Data collection/Instrument

Comments:

Data Analysis

Comments:

Project Time-Line

C t


8/26

Overall Mark: (NB This counts 15% of the final Research Project) /100

Decision: Proceed

(please tick relevant option) Re-submit ( by ...)

Supervisors Name Signed:..

Date:.

D NATURE AND EXTENT OF SUPERVISION

Once appointed, supervisors will be required to interact with their designated

students approximately three times. The student may expect guidance with

regard to the planning, execution and compilation of the project. The

supervisor should be available to the student within two weeks of a meeting

being requested, if at all possible. Finding sources and references is the

responsibility of the student and not that of the supervisor. A supervisor will

be responsible for pointing out poorly substantiated or poorly expressed

statements, but the student is responsible for correcting these.

A supervisor is not responsible for the correction of language, spelling or

grammatical errors, but should point out to the student that there are such

errors in his/her work. The student is responsible for the language editing of

his/her project. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to provide guidance on

sections of work which require revision. The meetings should be initiated by

the student, who would usually submit the draft document to the supervisor at

least a week before the meeting


9/26

Second meeting:

Once the project is underway, but before the data is collected and processed,

the supervisor should receive a draft of the first half of the research project,

i.e. up to and including chapter 4 and should provide feedback to the student

on it. The details of the proposed data collection and analysis methods should

also be agreed on. This meeting should occur by mid of August.

Third meeting:

This meeting should take place when the data has been processed and

chapters 5 and 6 written in draft form and submitted to the supervisor. This

meeting should occur by mid October.

The student and the supervisor should record the number of meetings held

and the nature of the discussions. If the student is having great difficulty in

setting up meetings with their supervisor they may contact the head of MBA

research to discuss the way forward.

Data Collection

Should the student plan to interview respondents or send out questionnaires

the MBA Programme Manager will provide them with an official generic letter

stating that they are bona fide students and that assistance with their research

project would be appreciated.

E LAYOUT AND REQUIREMENTS OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT

The body of the report should be between 75 and 80 pages of text 15 000 to


10/26

good quality printer should be utilised for the final print. The colour of the ink

for the text should be black. Colour may be used in figures.

The report should include the following:

1. Title page

The title page should include the title [as approved in the

research proposal] followed by the authors name, the statement

below and the date.

The statement should be worded as follows:

A research project submitted to the Gordon Institute of Business

Science, University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the degree of Master of Business

Administration.

The date should be the month and year of completion of the

project. (e.g. November 2006)

2. Abstract

The abstract should appear on the next page and should be

limited to 200 words. The abstract should start with a sentence

that describes the major theme of the research. The purpose

and methodology of the research and the outcome should then

be briefly described


11/26

submitted before for any degree or examination in any other

University.

The name and signature of the student and the date should

follow the declaration.

4. Acknowledgements

It is a convention to acknowledge the role of a supervisor and

other persons and/or organisations instrumental in the

completion of the research.

5. Table of Contents

Under the heading Contents, this will include the starting page

numbers of the preliminary material, chapter and section

headings, references and any appendices. Generally the first

page of the text would be numbered 1. Any preliminary pages

would be given numbers in small roman numbers (i.e. i, ii, etc)

6. Text of research project

The text of the conventional research report is divided into

logical chapters. On reading the whole report the process of

logical reasoning of the whole research process must be made

apparent. A typical layout would be:

Chapter 1: Introduction to Research Problem . This chapter

indicates clearly the need for the research and what the


12/26

your research. You must show that your research is situated

within the relevant, current, academic literature and that you

understand the debates. Your task is to show how the academic

literature sheds light on your topic. The purpose of the literature

review is to refine the statement of the research problem or

question, not to offer a tutorial on the topic. Hence you must

review the pertinent literature, not repeat large passages from a

text. This chapter must make use of subheadings which indicate

your flow of logic. The subheadings usually divide the literature

into a number of major areas and then each area begins with

the more generic theory bases and ends with closely focused

literature on your topic. It is envisaged that not less than thirty

references will be used, all of which must be highly relevant to

your topic, at least half of which must be post 2000 and nearly

all of which must be from accredited academic texts. You will

need to source at least five references from peer reviewed

academic journals. Every paragraph should contain at least one

reference. The conclusion to the literature review must indicate

the need for your specific research.

Chapter 3: Research Questions/ Propositions/ Hypotheses .

In this chapter, usually no more than a page or two, the precise

purpose of the research is defined. Research questions are

used where the literature does not provide likely solutions to the

research objectives. Propositions are used when the researcher

proposes what the findings are likely to be Hypotheses are


13/26

sampling method, the research instrument used, the details of

how the data was collected and the process of data analysis.

The limitations of the research must be specified. Research

methodology references must be used. This chapter must be

written in the past tense.

Chapter 5: Results. Here the results of your research are

presented clearly and concisely with only sparse commentary.

Tables and figures must be correctly presented as discussed

above. This chapter is usually presented with the data being

clustered around the research questions / propositions /

hypotheses.

Chapter 6: Discussion of Results. Here the results are

discussed in terms of the research questions, propositions or

hypotheses and in terms of the literature i.e. the relationship

between this chapter and chapters one, two and three must be

clear to the examiners and other readers. This chapter should

use the research questions/ propositions/ hypotheses as major

headings within the chapter. This chapter should show depth of

insight into your findings in terms of both the context of the study

and in light of the theory base. The chapter must indicate that

the research objectives have been met.

Chapter 7: Conclusion. This chapter highlights the main

findings of the research pulling the results together into a


14/26

8. Appendices

Appendices should be numbered and titled. Each appendix

should be presented both in numerical order and in the order in

which it is encountered in the text of the project. Examples of

what should be included in appendices are a copy of a

questionnaire (if used), data bases, list of respondents etc.

A very approximate guideline to the number of pages for each

chapter is as follows:

Chapter 1 7

Chapter 2 15

Chapter 3 2

Chapter 4 8

Chapter 5 20

Chapter 6 20

Chapter 7 6

F SUBMISSION PROCESS

Students are to submit by 17h00 on 14 November to the MBA Programme

Manager

two ring bound reports,

b d


15/26

No extensions will be granted to this deadline. A mark penalty of 5% per day

or part thereof will be applied. The reports will be forwarded to the respective

supervisors and the external examiner. The supervisors will then mark the

project within a few weeks. The unbound copy of the report will be given to

the Information Centre. If the report receives a mark of 65% or more the

Information Centre will have the report bound and placed on the shelves.

Should the project not be deemed to be of an acceptable standard to pass,

and should the supervisor know that some minor adjustments will allow the

project to pass; this feedback will be conveyed to the student by the

supervisor. A two week period for amendments will be set for final

submission. Failure to satisfy the recommendations will result in the candidate

failing to satisfy the requirements for the degree. Students who have to

resubmit their research reports for re-examination will not receive a mark

higher than a D symbol. Should a research report fail to an extent where

more than minor adjustments need to be made, the student will have to repeat

the research methodology course, resubmit their proposal and redo the

research project in the following year.

G CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

25% of the mark will come from the research methodology course

assignments and the proposal.

The table below shows the suggested marking schedule for the report.


16/26

2. Method and Procedure [25%]

Rationale for choice of methodology (e.g. qualitative vs. quantitative;theoretical)

Research design (clarity, logic and appropriateness of choices made)

Implementation of research (accuracy, thoroughness of procedures)

Information gathering (sampling; data collection; quality controls)

Comments:

3. Analysis and Interpretation of Findings [25%]

Data analysis and presentation (grasp of techniques used; clarity ofpresentation)

Interpretation and evaluation of results (accuracy; validity of inferences;alternatives considered);discussion of findings

Conclusions drawn within context of the study, relevance to objectives;limitations noted on generalization

Comments:

4. Summary and Recommendations [15%]

Relevance of recommendations to business problem and knowledge

accumulation Quality of summary of project and of the Abstract

Future Research recommendations

Comments:


17/26

Mark for Research Project

The minimum pass mark for the research project is 50%. All MBA students

must pass the research project. The minimum mark required for a distinction

is 75%. A research project being granted a distinction would meet all of the

requirements above and display originality of thought and depth of critical

insight. Results are usually published late in December. The research project

counts for 20% of the students final MBA mark.

H Candidates who fail to submit research project reports

Candidates who do not submit their research project on time may apply in

writing, before January 10th of the following year, for permission to re-register.

Should this be permitted the student will have to pay additional fees and will

not graduate with their class. They will have to re-attend the research

methodology lectures, submit the assignments and resubmit their proposal for

approval. A supervisor will then be allocated. They will not be allocated a

mark higher than a C for their final mark. They will have to complete the

research during this subsequent year, failure to do so will constitute a failure

of the MBA programme.

I REFERENCING SYSTEM

The referencing style guide specified below is based on the Harvard system


18/26

REFERENCING WITHIN THE TEXT

Each time a reference is given within a text, the authors surname and the

year of publication is quoted. If the surname is a natural part of the sentence,

the year only is given in brackets. If the surname is not a natural part of the

sentence, then both the surname and year are in brackets.

e.g. Simmons (1989) quotes data to show..... It has recently been stated(Grandjean, 1988) that.....

When there are two authors the surnames of both should be quoted

e.g. Holly and Southworth (1989)

When there are 3 authors or more, then the first surname is quoted followed

by et al, but only after the first mention which should include all the authors.

e.g. Bradley, Jones and Smith (1983); thereafter, Bradley et al. (1983)

A corporate author may be used when appropriate.

e.g. Open University (1999)

When there is more than one reference to the same author and year of

publication, i.e. the author has published a few items in one year, each entry

is distinguished by a b c etc. following the year.

e.g. (1989a) (1989b)


19/26

AN EXAMPLE OF REFERENCING WITHIN THE TEXT FOLLOWS

The world economy has progressed from an industrial economy

to a knowledge economy (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Dibble,

2004). With knowledge being viewed as a major contributing

factor to organisational success, the purveyors of this

knowledge in organisations deserve to be focused on. Drucker

(1974) first used the term knowledge worker; he described

these individuals as employees who carry knowledge as a

powerful resource which they, rather than the organisation, own.

Drucker (1989, p. 175) states Knowledge workers know that

their knowledge. gives them freedom to move since

everyones knowledge has a multitude of applications in the

information or knowledge age. A few years later Drucker

(2002, p. 76) wrote that knowledge workers have become the

major creator of wealth and jobs and increasingly the

success and even the survival of every business will depend on

the performance of its knowledge workforce. He goes on to say

that the knowledge economy will increasingly depend on higher

levels of education. Harrigan and Dalmia (1991) define

knowledge workers as key employees who create intangible

value-adding assets, and who often transport those assets in

their heads when they change employers.

Please note, as in the first sentence, that the reference goes in bracketsbefore the full stop.


20/26

date order. It is finally sorted alphabetically by a b c (see example below) if

this device has been necessary. The reference list should not be sectioned

into books, journals etc. Please note that the name of the book or journal is in

italics.

Examples:

Hargreaves, D.H. (1972) Interpersonal Relations and Education. London:Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Hargreaves, D.H. (1979a) A phenomenological approach to classroom

decision-making. In Eggleston, J. (ed.) Teacher Decision-making in the

Classroom. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Hargreaves, D.H. (1979b) The proper study of educational psychology. New

Universities Quarterly, 33, 155 -165.

Holly, P. and Southworth, G. (1989) The Developing School. London: Falmer

Press.

Referencing Books

The information required is: Author. Year of publication. Title (this must be in

italics). Place of publication: Publisher.

e.g. Minton, D. (1997) Teaching Skills in Further and Adult Education.

London: City & Guilds / Macmillan.

F t th b th i


21/26

An author may be an editor, so this detail is included after the name,

e.g. Rose, D. (ed.) (1988) Social Stratification and Economic Change.

London: Hutchinson.

An author may be a corporate body in which case this is used as the author,

e.g. Open University (1981) Polymer Production. 2nd ed. Milton Keynes:

Open University Press.

When relevant, an edition statement should be included after the title, and the

year of publication quoted is the year of the particular edition,

e.g. Grandjean, E. (1988) Fitting the Tasks to the Man: A text book ofoccupational ergonomics. 4th ed. London: Taylor & Francis.

Certain classic books may be reprinted, the year of publication is the original

year, with the reprint date added if it is of importance,

e.g. Darwin, C. R. (1882, reprinted 1928) The Origin of Species. 6th ed.

London: Dent.

Where a reference is to a chapter in an edited book or a compilation, and the

authors are different, the listing would be,

e.g. Green, A. (1995) The European challenge to British vocational education

and training, in Hodkinson & Issit (eds.) The Challenge of Competence:

Professionalism through Vocational Education and Training. London: Cassell.


22/26

e.g. Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) (2000) Student

Success Rates In Post- 16 qualifications - data from the England and Wales

youth cohort study. London: DfEE.

Referencing Journal Articles

The information required is

Author of article. Year of publication. Title of article. Title of periodical (this

must be in italics). Volume and number . Page number(s) of article.

e.g. Psacharopoulos, G. (1997) Vocational education and training today:

challenges and responses. Journal of Vocational Education and Training,

49(3), 21-36.

Referencing Conferences

These references follow the guidelines for either books or journals depending

on how the conference proceedings are published. If it is printed as a one-off,

then it will follow the guidelines for books. If the conference is one of a series

that regularly publishes its papers, then follow the guidelines for journals.

Referencing e-Journals and Website Sources

The information required is:

Author/editor, Year "Title" [online]. (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher (if

ascertainable). Available from: URL [Accessed Date].


23/26

e.g. Guide to Authors (1998) South African Journal of Business.

AN EXAMPLE OF A REFERENCE LIST FOLLOWS

Please note it is in alphabetical order and not numbered.

Armstrong, M. and Murlis, H. (1998) Reward Management.

London: Biddles.

Baron, J. N., Hannan, M.T. and Burton, M.D. (2001) Labor

pains: change in organisational models and employee turnover

in young, high-tech firms. American Journal of Sociology,

106(4), 960 -1010.

Bartlett, C. and Ghosal, S. (2000) Competing on Human

Capital. Book in progress.

http://www.linezine.com/4.2/articles/chsghebip.htm (accessed

12/02/03)

Bennett, J. (2003) Employers have their work cut out. Sunday

Times. Business Times. March 16. Johannesburg, 1.

Branch, S. (1998) You hired em. But can you keep em?

Fortune Magazine, November 9, 101-104.
http://www.linezine.com/4.2/articles/chsghebip.htmhttp://www.linezine.com/4.2/articles/chsghebip.htmhttp://www.linezine.com/4.2/articles/chsghebip.htmhttp://www.linezine.com/4.2/articles/chsghebip.htmhttp://www.linezine.com/4.2/articles/chsghebip.htm


24/26

APPENDIX 1 CONSISTENCY MATRIX

TITLE__________________________________________________________________

PROPOSITIONS/QUESTIONS/

HYPOTHESES

LITERATURE REVIEW DATACOLLECTION TOOL

ANALYSIS

1

2

3

4

24


25/26

CONSISTENCY MATRIX EXAMPLE

TITLE: Methodologies used by stockmarket analysts and fund managers to evaluate the management of companies

PROPOSITIONS/QUESTIONS/

HYPOTHESES

LITERATURE REVIEW DATACOLLECTION TOOL

ANALYSIS

Research question 1Do fund managers and analyststake into account the competenceof a companys management intaking decisions on investments?

Dobbs,1998Hequet, 2004

Question 2 in questionnaire Frequency analysis on closed-ended question, to giveproportions of weightings

Research question 2What criteria do fund managersand analysts apply to this

assessment?

Booth, 1999Day & Fahey, 2003

Questions 3 & 4 Frequency analysis on fixed sumscale to determine categories andrank order them

Research question 3How do analysts and fundmanagers incorporate judgementson the management of companiesinto their overall assessment of acompany?

Booth, 1999Serwer, 2005

Questions 5&6 Content analysis on open endedquestions, to determine range ofoptions and how they are used

Research question 4What methodologies do analystsuse to gather information on themanagement of companies?

Stewart, 2003Magnus, 2001

Question 7. Content analysis to uncover typesof communication channels

25


26/26

26

research guidelines final doc 2006

Documents