Reference no: EM132406386 , Length: word count:20000

London School of Business and Finance
Masters in Business Administration Global
Module - Integrative Research and Consultancy Project
Assignment Title - Final Project

Learning On successful completion of this assignment you will be able to: Outcomes
1. Formulate a research proposal and design this into a workable research plan
2. Design and manage a business critical independent applied research in their chosen discipline and present their findings, to a professionally acceptable standards
3. Critically evaluate and analyse their findings, report on their conclusions in clear and acceptable standard in the form of an engagement report present analyses of issues and organisational problems in a concise, accurate, clear and interesting manner from the perspective of a consultant.
4. Synthesise theory in a practical context to evidence knowledge, understanding and transferrable skills with regards to the taught components of their studies.

Tasks

1. Produce a 15,000-20,000-word dissertation
2. The dissertation should be structured and presented as near as possible to the structure provided below in the guidelines section

Introduction, Research Aim, Objectives and Research Questions:

• The introduction sets out clearly and logically to present the research problem.
• Background information has been adequately provided. Definitions of all relevant terms and concepts have been included.
• The research topic is able to contribute to knowledge and includes justification for the purpose of the study.
• The research aim is focussed and reflects the main conceptual framework of the study.
• The research questions and objectives are derived from the research gaps and go beyond mere description to involve explanation, comparison, criticism or evaluation.
• The objectives are achievable and measurable. Hypotheses (if included) are correctly written and are testable.

Literature Review:

• The literature review includes valid, relevant, up-to-date academic resources and peer reviewed journal articles of sufficient academic weight.
• A critical review of the literature is demonstrated using relevant sources, key academic ideas, explanations, concepts, models and theories.
• Evaluation is carried out rather than a description of the literature to dig deeper into the theories.
• Gaps in current knowledge are clearly identified and conclusions are made.
• Relevant theoretical constructs/ frameworks are formulated within this chapter.
Key themes and issues surrounding the research questions are clearly drawn from the literature.

Research Design and Methodology:

• The chapter includes a clear rationale for the research design and methodology.
• It explicitly states and justifies the approach that has been chosen for the data collection process.
• The research design and/ philosophy, research methods, sampling methods, sample size are discussed in detail.
• Relevant literature and critical evaluation have been utilised to justify the choice of methodology.
• The constraints or limitations of the chosen methods are identified.

• Relevant and pertinent questions are posed in the research instruments such as questionnaires, interviews etc., which have been drawn from the literature review and are relevant to the research questions and/ objectives.
• Measures to ensure care and accuracy of the data collection process are included; validity, reliability etc. are discussed.
• The selected data analysis techniques are discussed, and their appropriateness is justified.
• Ethical considerations are suitably addressed.

Analysis and Discussion of Findings:

• The analysis is correctly performed using relevant and justified techniques.
• The analysis is clearly and logically presented in relation to the research questions, objectives or hypotheses.
• The analysis has been performed correctly and interpreted accurately to demonstrate the achievement of research objectives.
• The findings are benchmarked against the findings of similar studies from the literature review.
• The benchmarking challenges, discusses and concurs or refutes current findings in context to the results and the current secondary literature in the field.
• If the analysis is based only on secondary data, then it involves complete analysis of existing data with an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the dataset.
• The discussion clearly elicits implications of the results of the study.

Conclusions and Recommendations:

• Conclusions are clearly stated and are drawn from the findings of the study.
• This chapter offers an overall ‘answer' to the original aim of the study (research question has been answered, objectives have been achieved or not and the hypothesis/e has/have been tested either positively or negatively).
• Recommendations are appropriate and are discussed in context and within the discipline of study.
• The limitations of the research and the scope for future research are included.

Presentation, Writing and Referencing:

• Title page, acknowledgements, abstract and contents page are included appropriately.
• The title page includes the title of the research project, student's name, programme of study and date of submission.

• The title of the research project is clear and forms an effective representation of the study.
• Abstract provides a concise overview of the study with a summary of the main aims, findings of the literature review, methodology, findings of the study and conclusions.
• Clear signposting for reader of table of contents with each chapter's title, subheadings and page numbers, list of figures; list of tables etc.
• Figures and tables are clearly laid out with the sources referenced.
• Appendices are correctly labelled, questionnaires, interview questions, data matrix etc. are included in the appendices.
• The research project is written without grammatical and spelling errors and has been formatted accurately based on the requirements of the assessment brief.
• Harvard Referencing System is applied correctly and full references for every source used are cited.
• Word count is within the required range.

Presentation of the Dissertation
The dissertation should conform to the following standards: Length

• The length of the dissertation should be between 15,000 and 20,000 words (chapters 1 to 6, from introduction chapter to conclusions chapter)
• Quotes and the References List are not included in the word count
• The dissertation should be word-processed Font
• You can use any font style available (as long as it is legible). Once you have chosen a style be consistent, do not change to another.
• Font size 11 should be used. The size of chapter headings and section headings are left to your discretion but should not be unduly large.

Bolding and Italics

• It is normal to bold just the headings
• Italicise your quotations
• Do not italicise or underline any text that you think is important Pagination
• All page number should be numbered in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 etc.)
• Page 1 is the first page of the Introduction
• The sections that come before the Introduction are usually numbered with small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv etc.)
• All page numbers should be at the bottom centre of the page Margins
• Margins at the binding edge must not be less than 40mm (1.5 inches) and other margins not less than 20mm (0.75 inch)

Spacing

• 1.5 spacing should be used for all text
• However, indented quotations should have single line spacing Chapters and Section Headings
• Each chapter should have a title
• Section headings should be used and be numbered
• The system of numbering should be consistent
• Each chapter should be started on a new sheet of paper

Tables and Figures

• Where tables and figures (graphs, charts and diagrams) are used they should, as far as possible, be given margins equal to or greater than a page of text
• They should be displayed or pasted into the dissertation as near as possible to the relevant text.
• Each one should be numbered consecutively, for example, Table 1, Figure 1, etc.
• All Tables and Figures should clearly state their source

Attachment:- Integrative Research and Consultancy Project.rar