BU7001 Management Research Project Assessment Brief 2024-25

BU7001 Assessment Task

Management Research Project – Dissertation (12,000 words equivalent: 100% weighting) [LO: 1, 2, 3, and 4 in section D]

Specific Criteria, Guidance & Support

A programme of individual study and research in accordance with established research principles involving the completion of the following elements:

Management Research Project:

To provide the opportunity to apply management knowledge, skills and research techniques developed during the programme to the identified area of management interest.
To develop students’ intellectual ability in terms of problem-solving, critical analysis and conceptual thinking.
To provide students with the opportunity and the enabling mechanisms to support their development towards independent learning.

Methods of Learning and Teaching and Formative Assessment:

Briefing Session /one-day workshop.
Students will then be supervised via five 1-1 Meetings with their allocated supervisor, which MUST be recorded by the supervisor on the university Student Relationship Manager (SRM).

BU7001 Learning Outcomes

1. Identify a key area of managerial research and develop clear research aims and objectives, providing cogency as to their rationale.

2. Present and defend a critically analytical review of established theoretical approaches, identifying a suitable theoretical stance for the research.

3. Develop an appropriate research design showing critical understanding as to its conceptual underpinning, plan and deploy methods for gathering or generating data and use appropriate analytical tools for interpreting the data, demonstrating the validity and generalisability of the findings generated.

4. Demonstrate an ability to marshal and analyse data and establish a critical argument in relation to the existing academic literature and current management practice. Provide logical conclusions highlighting their significance and identify appropriate management theory-practice links.

Key Resources

Core Text:

Bell, E., Bryman, A., & Harley, B. (2019). Business research methods (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Denzin, N. K., Lincoln, Y. S., Giardina, M. D., & Cannella, G. S. (2023). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (Sixth). SAGE.
Grey, D. E. (2019). Doing research in the business world (2nd ed.). SAGE.
Saunders, M., Thornhill, A., & Lewis, P. (2023). Research methods for business students (9th ed.). Pearson.

Additional Texts

Bell, J., & Waters, S. (2018). Doing your research project: a guide for first-time researchers (7th ed.). Open University Press.
Denscombe, M. (2021). The good research guide: research methods for small-scale social research projects (7th ed.). Open University Press.
Easterby-Smith, M., Jaspersen, L. J., Thorpe, R., & Valizade, D. (2021). Management and business research (7th ed.). SAGE.
Punch, K. (2014). Introduction to social research: quantitative and qualitative approaches (3rd ed.). SAGE.
Robson, C., & McCartan, K. (2016). Real world research: A resource for users of social research methods in applied settings (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Silverman, D. (2022). Doing qualitative research (6th ed.). SAGE.

Journals:

CABS-rated journals include:

Journal of Management Studies
British Journal of Management
British Academy of Management
Harvard Business Review
Management Research Review
Knowledge Management Research and Practice
Metamorphosis- A Journal of Management Research

BU7001 Submission Guidance

You must submit assessments in Microsoft Word ONLY
The file must be no larger than 100MB.
Your writing is expected to conform to Standard English in terms of spelling, syntax, and grammar.
Include your word count at the end of the assignment or on the front cover.
Set up your page for A4 paper in portrait style.
The font size must be a minimum of point 12 Calibri (or equivalent) for the body of the assessment.
Line spacing in the body of the assessment must be 1.5 lines.
Number the pages consecutively.
Students should electronically submit work before 13:00 (unless otherwise specified above in part A) on the deadline date via Moodle. Please follow the ‘Turnitin submission’ link on the module space and follow the on-screen instructions, paying particular attention to any specific instructions for each assignment.
You must submit your work with the following details written on the first page:

Title of your work
Module title and code
Module Leader Name
Allocated supervisor Name
Number of words
Student’s Name
Your student assessment number (J Number)

Student work that does not have this information on it will not be identifiable after marking has taken place and risks being recorded as a non-submission.