BUSI48M60: STRATEGIC BUSINESS PROJECT (EXECUTIVE)

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• To provide students with the opportunity to conduct an in-depth investigation at an advanced level of an issue which is applicable and relevant to business and/or management. The positioning at the end of the programme is intended to promote integration of material covered in the core and elective phases.
• To equip students with the appropriate research methods knowledge and skills to enable them to undertake a research project at Masters level.
• The strategic business project should be theoretically underpinned and should normally involve undertaking empirical research, but may be a critical essay that draws upon academic literature.

• The nature of the Strategic Business Project.
• How to use databases to identify the important literature.
• How to write an evaluative literature review.
• Introduction to empirical research in the management context.
• Types of research and types of data.
• Experiments and quasi-experiments.
• Questionnaire design.
• Interviews and focus groups.
• Ethical issues in business and management research.
• How to infer relationships between measurements; practical tips on using statistical methods.
• How to manage a research project.
• Writing up your work; what makes a good strategic business project.
• Students can choose to pursue a Strategic Business Project in two ways, either by working with a host organisation, or an issue-led investigation which is not focused on just one organisation but instead examines a specific management issue.
• The topic (which is formally approved by the Board of Examiners) should be one that is suitable for in-depth investigation.
• MBA projects of this nature have typically been based in a wide variety of organisations, including: profit-seeking companies in both manufacturing and the service sector; nationalised industries; public agencies and local authorities; non-profit seeking organisations; global multinationals; and owner-managed small firms.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module students should:
• have a critical appreciation of how empirical research is conducted in a business and management context.
• have a critical appreciation of ethical issues in business and management research.
• be able to critically analyse a specific issue or area of business or management in depth and to explore its significance in practice.

Subject-specific Skills:

• be able to conduct advanced literature searches to identify important literature and outstanding research questions in business and management;
• be able to write an evaluative review of the relevant literature;
• be able to conduct a Masters-level research project from beginning to end. This involves the following: identifying an interesting and practical research question at an appropriate advanced level; developing a method for answering the question; conducting the research, including managing all aspects of the research project; interpreting the results; being able to identify and manage any ethical issues that might arise.
• be able to critically apply knowledge and different forms of reasoning to form a discriminating analysis of issues currently being experienced in specific organisational and business contexts;
• produce a substantial piece of written work demonstrating critical analysis of a specific issue.

Key Skills:

• Written communication; planning, organising and time management; problem solving and analysis; using initiative; computer literacy.
• Skills of self-organization and motivation in managing time and activities in working to a deadline.

• Learning outcomes will be met in part through a taught component, delivered in blocks comprising a mix of lectures, groupwork, case studies and discussion, supported by guided reading.
• Additionally, students have individual meetings with their appointed supervisor, up to 8 but normally 5-6. These enable monitoring of progress towards achieving the learning outcomes.
• The summative assessment will comprise a 2500-word Research Proposal (20%), the purpose of which is to assist students in preparing for the Strategic Business Project. The Strategic Business Project is a 15,000-word document (80%) that tests students acquisition of relevant subject-specific knowledge and skills and their ability to apply these, and appropriate key skills, in the context of a Masters-level research project.

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