BUSI56360: DISSERTATION

• None.

• None.

• Business Report (BUSI56345).

• 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 of the dissertation at the end of the programme is intended to promote integration of material covered in the core and elective phases.
• The dissertation should be theoretically underpinned and should normally involve undertaking empirical research, but may be a critical essay that draws upon academic literature.

• Students can choose to pursue either of two types of dissertation: a business project in which they work with a host organisation; an issue-led investigation which is not focused on just one organisation but instead examines a management issue by, for example, conducting and analysing a survey of practice in a number of organisations.
• The topic (which is formally approved by the Board of Examiners) should be one that is suitable for in-depth investigation.
• MBA dissertations 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:
• be able to critically analyse a specific issue or area of management or business in depth and to explore its significance in practice.

Subject-specific Skills:

• By the end of the module students should:
• 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;
• be able to conduct an independent piece of advanced research, over a longer period of time than has been possible on the programme hitherto, thereby further developing analytical and research skills needed to explore business and management problems in depth;
• produce a substantial piece of written work demonstrating critical analysis of a specific issue.

Key Skills:

• By the end of the module students should:
• have further developed the skills of self-organization and motivation in managing time and activities in working to a deadline.

• Each student is allocated a supervisor to provide support throughout the dissertation phase, assisting with any queries, providing advice where appropriate, and monitoring progress towards achieving the learning outcomes. Supervision is normally provided at a distance and may be conducted by email, telephone, post or fax. This is considered appropriate, as the dissertation is underpinned by the core module Methods of Inquiry.

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