follow all the instructions carefully!

Part 1: Essay (40%). Answer as comprehensive as possible, with introduction, body, and

conclusion (350 words for each question are required).

1. In your own words, discuss the importance of business research. How does it help the

industry in general and the management practices in particular? (10 marks)

2. Compare and contrast the different types of research. Why do these types of research are

considered essential to the methodology section of any research paper? (10 marks)

3. Discuss the importance of literature review and the theories/models/perspectives that

support the research paper. Explain the implication if there is a lacking source of literature

in any research work. (10 marks)

4. Compare and contrast primary and secondary sources of data. Which between the two is

more appropriate in solving management challenges, concerns, or real-life corporate

scenarios? (10 marks)

Part 2: Application: Research Proposal (60%). Minimum of 1200 words is required.

This assessment task pertains to your brief research proposal (each section of the paper below

carries 10 marks)

Always remember that the research proposal has been designed to provide you with an opportunity

to:

▪ organize your ideas;

▪ develop a plan for your research;

▪ convince your instructor that your research is viable and will involve primary or

secondary data collection; among others.

Working Title

This should represent the content of your proposal. It is recognized that it may alter as your

research progresses. Identify which one is your independent and dependent variable/s.

The tasks shown below constitute 100% of the overall mark for this MBA unit.

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Background of the Study

This section should introduce your research topic, explain why you feel the research which you

are planning is worth the effort, where necessary clarify terminology used and set it within the

context of the academic literature. In this section, you should answer the following questions:

▪ What is your research topic? This question should be answered briefly. In answering it,

you should express your research topic in the form of a problem that needs solving, a

question that needs answering or something that you find exciting and has aroused your

curiosity. You should also, where appropriate, provide a brief description of the

organizational background and state why your research is worth the effort from an

organizational perspective.

▪ Discuss the key academic ideas (theories) within the area of your research topic referencing

them to their main proponents (authors)? Indicate how your research relates to these ideas

(theories)? In answering these questions, you will demonstrate some knowledge of the

relevant academic literature and show where your proposal fits into this debate (a minimum

of 5 articles from the academic literature is expected). You will also provide precise

references (in Harvard format) for these ideas. This section is not the same as a critical

literature review. It just outlines, compares and contrasts the key ideas from academic

literature sources that will provide the academic starting point for your dissertation and

provides prima facie evidence that your research is grounded in the academic literature.

Research Objectives

The background section should lead smoothly into clear statements of your objectives. This leads

to precisely what your research seeks to achieve. Remember, your research objectives should be

achievable within the time frame of your masters’ program and within your available resources.

Raise at least three research objectives here.

Methods

This section will outline how you intend to go about achieving your research objectives and help

establish that your proposal is viable. Its content will depend upon the form of research output you

intend to undertake.

Some questions you need to address:

▪ Is your paper qualitative or quantitative in scope?

▪ Does your paper bear primary (interview, observation, survey) or secondary data (based

from printed documents, historical, public documents)?

▪ What’s your research design (descriptive, correlational, exploratory)?

▪ What’s your sample size (if you are using primary data)?

▪ How do you gather data? Discuss the process of how you will gather your data.

Note: If you intend to collect data from an organization’s employees, you must have

obtained or been promised permission to do this from the organization prior to submitting

your proposal. If you are using secondary data as part of your research you should state

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and justify this choice of method using the research methods literature. You must also

ensure that you can gain access to the data you require. Where these data are

organizationally based you must have checked their suitability for your research and

obtained or been promised permission to do this from the organization. This must be

reported in your proposal.

Time Scale and Resources

This section will also help you to assess the viability of your research proposal within the time and

resource constraints of your masters’ program. It will be helpful if you divide your research plan

into activities with clear completion dates.

In this section, you should answer the following questions:

▪ What are the key activities that you will need to undertake to complete your paper?

▪ How long do you think each of these activities is likely to take?

▪ Are there any activities that need to be completed before others can be started? What are

the likely dates associated with the completion of these activities? Many students choose

to present this information as either a table or Gantt chart.

▪ When doing this remember to include the activities in sufficient detail (e.g. designing

questionnaire, piloting questionnaire, administering questionnaire) to ensure the time scale

is meaningful.

▪ Do you have sufficient resources (money etc. to undertake the proposed research)? This is

particularly important.

▪ For example, if you are planning to interview people in different locations can you afford

associated travel and accommodation costs? If you are using a questionnaire, have you

budgeted for photocopying, stationery and postage costs? Alternatively, if you are using

online statistical data, will you have to pay for this?

References

Provide at least 8 references. What is important is that you reference all the sources to which you

have referred in your proposal using the Harvard form of referencing.

Where these data are published you must have checked their suitability for your research and

provide precise references (in Harvard format) of these sources.