Proposal outline(2)

Overview of your Dissertation/Integrated Project area Family Name: ........................................................................................ Given name........................................................................................... SRN: ..................................................................................................... Programme: ......................................................................................... (NB Please respond to all the sections below and remove the prompts before submitting) Section 1: This must be completed on the first page of your submission. Please complete carefully Academic area within which your research will fall – tick ONE ONLY as appropriate: Marketing Accounting and Finance Economics Human Resource Management Tourism Project Management Strategy Information Systems OR/Mgt Science

The key aims and objectives of your research are to: (NB See section 2.4 and repeat that material here)

        Section 2: Key questions to answer: 2.1 Within what academic area will your research be? Prompt - you need to think about:  the key academic area – e.g. Marketing, Human Resources, Accounting and Finance, Strategy, Economics, Tourism, Business Analysis, Information Systems and Project management. However, we need more than just one or two words: you will not be doing a dissertation in ‘Marketing’ but (for example) ‘A study on the effect of multimedia Advertising on the 18-25 year old market for Product X, and an identification of factors which contribute to success and failure’, or ‘An assessment of customer requirements for the introduction of a new SME offering hairdressing services within the Hatfield area and likely competitive activity’.

2.2 Will your research be industry based? If yes, which industry or industries will your research focus on? If no, what will your research be based on (e.g. stock market data, a particular company, a particularly country, etc)? Prompt: think about  which industry you will be investigating  What organisation(s) will be the focus of your research? Note: we are not looking for ‘Retail’ or ‘Accounting’ but a clear identification of what specific industry or area you are going to focus on

2.3 What will the general topic area be, and can you give us a general overview of the developments to date in this area? What is already known about the area/industry/issue? Prompt: This is where you are going to have to start your actual research. By now you should have an idea of:  the academic focus  the industry the organisation(s) you are going to consider

Now carry out some basic secondary research to outline what has been happening in these areas in the last two years, identify the key players, identify any of the problems and issues which are current,

2.4 What issues and objectives are to be included in this research? NB: this section should be between 3 and 8 bullet points Prompt:  Try to think of a problem to be solved or a question to be answered, bearing in mind that it is easier to analyse something which has not worked rather than something which has been successful! What are the issues?  Which issue(s) will be you exploring in your research?  What are you aiming to cove?  Equally important, what issues are you NOT aiming to cover?  What specific objectives will you be working towards?

2.5 How, precisely, are you going to tackle this work? Prompt: you need to think about the methodology  Precisely how are you going to gather the information and analyse the data required to complete this piece of work?  What will require primary data, what will require secondary data?  If primary, what techniques might you use – e.g. interview/questionnaires/focus groups/ etc. You may decide to use primary data but in some areas this may not be appropriate- e.g. Accounting and Finance may only use secondary data.  For your secondary data what sources will you consult? These might include journals, data already collected, publications such as company reports, case study approach, other published reports, etc,.

2.6 Identify relevant sources (at least six, ideally more) and summarise what information these will generate (this is the beginning of your literature review) Prompt: see above. You should have used a range of sources to carry out this basic secondary survey. You should also now be starting to identify critical sources for your research, and be able to identify what information each of these sources is likely to generate for you. We do not want a list of titles – we want clear outlines of what information each source will provide for your research.