‘An opportunity for Argos to penetrate in Thailand market’ Homework Help

3 Assignments …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4 Word Count ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4 Assignment submission…………………………………………………………………………………….. 4 Deadlines………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4 Posted assignments………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4 Extensions ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4 Failed modules …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5 Research Methods Sessions (The Teaching sessions for Dissertation Modules) ……………… 5 Preparation for the Research Methods……………………………………………………………… 5 Dissertation Proposal (The Assignment For Dissertation Modules) ………………………………. 6 Interim submissions ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6 Dissertation Proposal Submission…………………………………………………………………….. 6 Useful bibliography for Research Methodology…………………………………………………. 7 The MSc Dissertation (BOM112)……………………………………………………………………………… 8 The philosophy of an MSc Dissertation …………………………………………………………….. 8 Dissertation Choice…………………………………………………………………………………………… 8 Confidentiality of Dissertations………………………………………………………………………….. 8 Helpful guidelines for MSc Dissertations…………………………………………………………… 9 Dissertation Style Guidelines ………………………………………………………………………….. 10 Binding: Some Useful Information about Binderies …………………………………………. 11 KEY DATES FOR DISSERTATION …………………………………………………………………………. 12 Pre-proposal draft………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12 Pre-proposal final draft ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12 Pre-proposal final submission…………………………………………………………………………………. 12 Dissertation Proposal / Research Proposal ……………………………………………………………….. 12 Dissertation Interim Submissions ……………………………………………………………………………. 12 Draft Dissertation submission…………………………………………………………………………………. 13 Final Dissertation Submission ………………………………………………………………………………… 13 GRADUATION……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 13 APPENDICES …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 14 Policy For Supervision…………………………………………………………………………………………… 14 Dissertation submission sheet …………………………………………………………………………………. 15 MSc Dissertation Questionnaire ……………………………………………………………………………… 16 Application form for ethical review RE4………………………………………………………………….. 19 Exemplar Assessment Criteria For the Dissertation Module……………………………………….. 26

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INTRODUCTION

Having successfully completed Part I classes it is the time for you start thinking about Part 2 of the course. Many students find the transition to Part 2 of the programme difficult. There are several reasons for this:

 The large breadth of the course in Part 1 restricts the depth to which subjects can be taken. During Part 2 the depth of analysis required in the core modules and electives are much greater than that for each core subject in Part 1.

 The Dissertation requires you to stop and think, in depth, about a business problem situation. This is a change from the action-oriented Part 1, where one assignment is followed very quickly by another, and from the professional situation, which many students are familiar with – where activity and action are the key.

 The Dissertation also requires you to investigate the intellectual frameworks, which you might be able to apply to your business problem. This means reading around a subject area, and identifying and understanding relevant authors to use. This too is a change for many students.

 A requirement of the dissertation is primary research, supported by a clear methodological rationale. This may be new to many students.

 The schedule of the Dissertation is up to the student to develop and manage. Many students miss their first opportunity to submit their Dissertation because THEY don’t push themselves as hard in the Part2 as they were pushed in the Part1!

 The Dissertation is an individual piece of work. However, you will have an academic supervisor. Study groups can also be very valuable as support (peer support).

 Time management between taught subjects and the Dissertation is difficult. You need to manage your time in Part 2.

Clearly your personal style – what you are interested in, how you approach problem solving, how you like to learn – will have an impact on how you resolve these difficulties. Here are some suggestions, gathered from other students and lecturers who have been involved in the process themselves, which might be of help.

 Use your study group for motivation and as a sounding board can be invaluable in ensuring completion of the Dissertation on time. Also liaise with other students in a similar research area (these will be distributed soon after Dissertation methodology).

 Use the Research Methods Session to launch yourself into the Dissertation. We have re-designed it to be more demanding than in the past, in order to get students off to a flying start. The earlier you get started on your dissertation, the more likely you are to finish on time with good quality of work. Past experience suggests that students who arrive ill prepared for research methods have greater problems with their Dissertations.

 Don’t pre-judge what methodology you are likely to use just because they are not the way you are used to doing things!

 Use your supervisor to help bring some scheduling discipline to your Dissertation; set dates for deliverables, and push your study group and yourself to meet them.

 Read, write, think, and reflect. In between jumping into action, agreeing schedules, and producing Dissertation proposals, take the time to think and reflect. In particular, try to be open-minded and to think in lateral or unusual ways. This is a worthwhile activity, and may make the difference between a mediocre and a very good performance on all the elements of Part 2. Remember gaining wisdom takes TIME.

 Run Dissertation work steadily. Please do not sideline your Dissertation in order to concentrate on the other subject studying. In particular do not wait for any elective to start or finish before tackling any particular element of your dissertation. This can drastically reduce your chances of submitting on time.

PLEASE NOTE:

1. The emphasis on the Dissertation in the second part does not devalue the other

Part2 modules. The electives allow you to pursue areas of interest in greater depth

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than was available in Part1 and to explore deeper into areas of current interest or to broaden your education by studying areas which are currently outside of your experience. This may be one of your last opportunities to study an academic subject for pure interest.

2. If you fail the Dissertation you will normally be allowed to resubmit only once (subject to overall resubmitted credits being below defined limit in the student handbook PG credit framework) and there will be an aIDitional charge. The mark will be caped at 50%.

Assignments

Assignments for Part 2 core and electives follow a similar pattern to Part1 except that elements of an assignment may be completed during teaching sessions, could be a presentation or an assignment. This may be group based. Each module will differ and clarification will be given during lecturing sessions.

Word Count

You are required to include a word count on the front cover (title page) of each assignment. This figure should be below the word limit1 specified in the assignment brief. If your word count is above the word limit, your assignment will automatically fail. If a marker suspects the assignment is above the word limit, we may ask you to send a disk-based version for checking. (Please do not send a disk with the initial submission of an assignment if is not asked).

Warning: do not use object imbeIDing for any text. It may be accepted for tables and figure but not for any variety of text.

Assignment submission

Assignments must be submitted to the Post Graduate office assignment box and not to the lecturer direct.

Deadlines

Deadlines for assignments are 9am on the due date (please check with each module leader or assignment brief for variation) ? when the assignment box will be cleared. Any non- submissions at this time will automatically generate a failed notice.

Posted assignments

Assignments sent by post will be accepted if they have a postmark of the day before the deadline.

Extensions

Please remember that extensions for mitigating circumstances must be requested by two days before and prior to the deadline for the submission and can only be granted by your Course Director. Remember that work pressures are not considered as mitigating circumstances. Unless you request an extension before two days of submission deadline which is then agreed by the Course Director, you should submit the assignment by the due date. If you feel that you have mitigating circumstances that arise after the request deadline (or you forget!), then these will have to be considered at the Mitigating Board meeting prior Examination Board. Please put your case in writing and send it to your Course Administrator and not Course Director. A copy of the University?s policy on Mitigating Circumstances can be found online and in the Course Handbook.

If you have two assignments due on the same day, you will be granted an extra two days on one of the assignments (of your choice). Please inform your Course Administrator of the assignment that will be late.

1 The word limit applies from the title page up to references. It does not including the references or appendices but do not go over-board on the number of appendices. The word count does not include footnotes (don?t go mad on this also).

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Failed modules

Failed modules will generally require resubmission after the Examination Board. Assignments that are not submitted by the due date will be treated as fails ( fail due to non-submission).

Research Methods Sessions (The Teaching sessions for Dissertation Modules)

These sessions are part of MSc Dissertation Module you are required to produce 8000 word assignment and pass this in order to continue with your Dissertation.

The main aims of Research Methods sessions are:

 To provide a clear appreciation of the requirements and expectations regarding their Dissertation;

 To familiarise the methods and techniques required in completing a successful Dissertation;

 To identify key approaches and challenges in terms of methodological, data collection and analysis elements of the process;

 To help clarifying and developing the conceptual, theoretical and operational aspects of the chosen topic;

 To assist and advise on Dissertation suitability and choice of an appropriate supervisor;

 To bring the supervisee and the supervisor together to discuss the Dissertation ideas;

 To start the Dissertation (it has been found that those who have a good start are more

likely to complete on time than those who do not).

To facilitate the aims, the Research Methodology has sessions covering the following:

 Explanation of the principles and administrative details of the Dissertation;  Structure and contents of Dissertation proposals and Dissertations;

 Research methods;

 Literature search and secondary data collection;

 Analytical methods and techniques;

 Problems in collecting inter-organisational data;

 ?Surgery’ session on choice of Dissertation and selection of supervisor.

Note: We endeavour to have potential supervisors present during the Research Methodology sessions, although this cannot be guaranteed. In any case, we will at least have a much clearer idea of where to guide you on the day.

Although there may be periods of time during the Research Methodology sessions where you will have no specific programme, this time may be used effectively either in the library or by talking to other students and lecturers about Dissertations and methodologies. It cannot be stressed enough how important Research Methodology is to the successful completion of your Dissertation. From past experience, it is clear that students who do not prepare suitably and/or not attend Research Methodology sessions are at a disadvantage.

Preparation for the Research Methods

In order to gain maximum benefit from the Research Methodology Sessions it is important to be ready as well as possible by ?

 Reading through the manual and books.

 Discussing Dissertation ideas with lecturers, other MSc students, friends/ employers/

sponsors and other interested parties.

 Looking through past Dissertations in your area of interest. Kingston Hill library has a

selection of non-confidential Dissertations. This will provide further insight into the Dissertation requirements and may provide concrete information in the way of references.

 Completing the Dissertation questionnaire, which is attached to this document. Please give some time to this since this will be used during the surgery sessions to assist in the provision of guidance. This questionnaire forms the initial stages in the structuring of your ideas for your Dissertation and valuable time may be lost if this is not completed.

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Dissertation Proposal2 (The Assignment For Dissertation Modules)

During the Research Methodology sessions and immediately afterwards, students in conjunction with their supervisor will require to prepare a formal Research Proposal setting out the objectives, providing a literature review, methodology and timetable of the proposed Dissertation. The research Dissertation proposal will be a formative assessment, evaluated on a pass/fail basis. You will be expected to pass it before proceeding to the research stage and the final submission of the MSC Dissertation.

The proposal should consist of the following:

 Title

 Introduction/Background to Dissertation ? (About 8 ? 12 pages)

 The context in which the Dissertation is set, the organisational reasons for the

Dissertation, the perceived problems and the academic area, with key writers/ideas in

the field identified.

 Aims and Objectives

 Literature Review and any secondary research (About 14 ? 20 pages minimum)  Having identified a problem/issue, it is a key requirement that you critically review

relevant literature ? to be sure that you are applying up to date, relevant theoretical perspectives on the issue / problem. Your supervisor will play a key role in advising you of this. This section is often the hardest for MSC students, since they rarely have done such before. During the research methods classes, we shall discuss various literature reviews (and Dissertations) and there are some handouts which will try to clarify what a critical literature review is.

 Methodology (About 4 ? 7 pages)

 Primary research is requirement for the MSC Dissertation ? usually MSC students do

some interviews, observation and / or a questionnaire. Your choice of methodological approach will be discussed in this section ? from both a theoretical (what ideally would you like to do) and practical (what in practice you are able to do) perspective. At this stage your population (from which to draw your sample) needs to be identified ? it is unlikely that you will have identified the sample.

 Resources Required ? (About 1 ? 2 pages)

 A brief estimate of your time, secretarial time, information sources, data processing

requirements, travel costs and any other costs/needs.

 Action and Contingency Plan ?(About 2 ? 4pages)

 A chronological pathway spanning the period of the Dissertation, identifying

milestones that can serve as useful targets and check-points with your supervisor. Your proposal should consider problems which might arise (for example no one answering your questionnaire; assignment deadlines pre-empting some of you work) and how you have tried to reduce the risk. A Gantt chart (or other time line) represents your best guess at when you will do various parts of the dissertation and forms part of the agreement with supervisor!

 References

Interim submissions

We strongly advise you to submit your work on regular basis to your supervisor for comments especially prior to your final submissions.

Dissertation Proposal Submission

 You need to submit one printed copy to your course administrator via assignment box.

 Upon receipt of the proposal, all the copies will be sent to your supervisor for their feedback and mark.

 Any non-submissions at this time will automatically generate a failed notice hence you cannot continue further with your Dissertation Module.

2 Sometime referred to Research Methodology Assignment or Project Proposal or Research Proposal 6



Recommended books

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A., 2009, Research methods for business students, London: Pearson Education – 656 pages

Useful bibliography for Research Methodology

Students may also wish to refer to some of the following either before or during their Dissertation:

Blaxter, L, Hughes, C., and Tight, M., 1996, ?How to research?, Buckingham: Open University Press

Collis, J. and Hussey, R., 2003, ?Business Research?, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Cryer, P., 1996, ?The research student?s guide to success?, Buckingham: Open University

Press

de Vaus, D., 2001, ?Research design in social research?, London & Thousand Oaks: Sage

Gill, J and Johnson, P., 1999, ?Research Methods for Managers?. London: Paul Chapman (2nd edition)

Hussey, J., and Hussey, R., 1997, ?Business research. A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students?, London: Macmillan

Mason, J., 1996, ?Qualitative researching?, London: Sage

Miles, M. B., and Huberman, M., 1994, ?Qualitative data analysis?, London: Sage

Orna, E., with Stevens, G., 1996, ?Managing information for research?, Buckingham: Open University Press

Punch, K.F., 1998, ?Introduction to social research. Quantitative and qualitative approaches?, London: Sage

Bryman, A., and Burgess, R. G., ?Analyzing qualitative data?, London: Routledge, 173-194 Sapsford, R., and Jupp, V., eds, 1996, ?Data collection and analysis?, London: Sage

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A., 2000, ?Research methods for business students?, London: Pitman

Books on SPSS

Field, A, 2009, ?Discovering Statistics Using SPSS?, SAGE

Gerber, S, Voelkl Finn, 2005, ?Using SPSS for Windows: Data Analysis and Graphics? , Springer-Verlag

Griffith, A, 2010, ?SPSS for Dummies – For Dummies?, John Wiley & Sons

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The MSc Dissertation (BOM112)

During Part 2 students undertake an individual research Dissertation which will be supervised by an appropriate member of staff. The Dissertation forms a substantial part of the study leading to the award of an MSC and gives students the opportunity to consolidate their learning into something of real value to themselves and their organisations. This core module has 60 credits.

The philosophy of an MSc Dissertation

The basic idea behind an MSc Dissertation revolves around the identification of a business issue that the student wishes to investigate. The issues under investigation should, preferably, relate to the student’s own current or potential working environment. Students should, on the basis of existing theories and/or principles, collect and analyse original data or analyse existing data in an original way. Based on the findings of the research the Dissertation should provide both a contribution to the specific area of research as well as actionable recommendations as to future plans and/or actions. An implementation plan, discussing how the recommendations are to be implemented (by whom, when, how, problems, costs etc), must be included.

The Dissertation will be expected to display clarity of problem definition, a carefully argued case for the methods employed, intellectual rigour, and sensitivity to the organisational context within which any action or recommendations are being made. Hence the Dissertation will enable the student to develop intellectual interests and demonstrate an ability for individual research. The Dissertation will draw on the intellectual skills acquired from the core subjects and the specialist skills and knowledge developed in the electives. Accordingly, a high standard of achievement will be expected in the Dissertation.

Prior to embarking on the Dissertation, students are required to prepare a formal Dissertation proposal (also referred to as Research Methodology or ).

Dissertation Choice

There are many factors which will influence a student’s choice of Dissertation, such as issues and problems arising from the student’s employment experience, employer’s preferences, student’s post MSC goals etc. However, even with these there will probably be considerable scope.

It may be worth reflecting that students pursue an MSC for a variety of reasons some of which are to broaden their management skills and improve current performance; to be in a position to move into general management with their current company or a different company; to gain confidence in areas other than their own technical specialism etc. Often it is necessary to convince others (such as your own company management) that you have acquired the necessary skills and are in a sense a ‘different’ person, in order to overcome previous perceptions.

Choosing a Dissertation in your current area of interest may reinforce beliefs that you are good at what you do (which is expected!) whereas selecting a Dissertation, which is not in your immediate work or interest area, allows you to promote yourself to a wider audience as a person capable of delivering from a broader position. People will then find it easier to accept the change since they can associate it with your ‘doing an MSC’.

Confidentiality of Dissertations

Dissertations that are deemed to be commercially or organisationally sensitive can be treated as confidential and dealt with in a number of ways which will be determined by the student or student?s sponsoring organisation:

1. after assessment, all copies will be returned to the student; OR

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2. after assessment, a copy will be retained at Kingston Business School but with certain data suitably altered or deleted, so that confidentiality is maintained, but the general theme and development of the Dissertation is accessible to future students.

A form will be provided by the MSc office, showing the various options. This form should be submitted with the Dissertation indicating the level of confidentiality desired.

The approval of Dissertation topics will be contingent on the availability of suitably qualified supervisors though, given the broad range of expertise within the Faculty of Business, there is a wide choice of topics available. Some staff members may offer pre-selected topics for students.

Important Note:

When planning your Dissertation timetable, you might find it useful to think in terms of:

Preliminary work 2-4 weeks

First 4-8 weeks

Next 6-8 weeks

Final period (2-4 weeks):

Finding Topic of interest

Finding Supervisor

Drafting and redrafting pre-proposal form

Literature Search

Problem Clarification

Identification of Aim and objectives Methodology Selection

Update literature and Methodology Research

Data Collection and Analysis

Conclusions,

Recommendations, Implementation,

Write up (on going from Day one)

Please note: Your Dissertation should run parallel to your Research Methods sessions and all Part2 modules.

Helpful guidelines for MSc Dissertations

The following represent some general guidelines/criteria which might be helpful in structuring and/or assessing the merits of an MSc Dissertation. In listing these criteria the comments made by both internal and external examiners have been taken into account.

 Definition of the Issues Under Investigation: The driving forces (being opportunities,

threats, problem areas etc.) behind the research should be defined. The overall aim of the research and the related hypotheses or objectives to be aIDressed need to be clearly stated in specific observable outcomes as well as the potential value or relevance of the expected outcomes to the student’s work environment. Any limiting factors should also be stated.

 Company/Market/Industry Overview/Structure: In order for the research to be placed in an overall business prospective an analysis of the environment within which the study is undertaken must be included. Important forces that shape the environment and their influence on future actions should be included in the analysis.

 Relevant Literature/Body of Work: The research should be based on or draw upon existing theories and recent empirical studies. Therefore, a critical (as compared to a simple presentation) evaluation of the body of work related to the business area under investigation must be provided.

 Methodology: The student must demonstrate clear understanding of the different methodologies and techniques available. Justification and systematic evaluation of the

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chosen data collection method(s) must also be provided. The analytical techniques to be employed and their interrelationship with the data collection method to be employed must also be made clear.

 Analysis of the Collected Data: The analysis of the data should substantiate or refute the objectives or hypotheses set above. The student should demonstrate competence in the analytical techniques employed and a critique of any limitations of the analysis should be included.

Conclusions, Recommendations and Implementation Plan: The discussions and findings presented in the above points should be brought together to a coherent plan of realistic future actions. The hypotheses and/or objectives must be aIDressed. Further research needed to support and/or extend the research would be beneficial to the study. A feasible and costed plan of implementation is essential for the Dissertation. This, in a sense, is the final, business driven element of the Dissertation.

 Layout, Presentation and Support Materials: The Dissertation should be written in a coherent manner and should be structured in a logical and sequential way. Well defined conventions in terms of visual presentation, referencing, indexing, paging etc. should be adhered to. When necessary, support materials in the form of appendices, glossaries etc. must also be present.

No relative weights are provided for the above criteria. This reflects the fact that the above are meant to be indicative rather than prescriptive and individual tutors are free to use their own approaches to such Dissertations. It is furthermore appreciated that not all Dissertations need to follow or adhere to the above criteria and special needs of individual Dissertations should be taken into consideration.

Dissertation Style Guidelines

 The typical length of the final Dissertation report will be 13,000 ? 15,000 words. The word count must be included at the front of the report. This is whatever Microsoft Word counts, up to but not including the appendices i.e. from title page up to references (not including references). If you exceed the 15,000 word limit, the Dissertation will fail.

 If quoting, please give the page number as well as the book/journal reference.

 The references should be included at the back of the Dissertation rather than at the end

of each chapter.

 A footnote reference should be put at the bottom of the page at first appearance.

 Reports should be typed, with 1.5 line-spacing, leaving approximately 1? (2.5cm) margins

on the left hand side of the page for binding and preferably use Times New Roman font. (This supersedes the information in the Dissertation Methodology/Research Methods manual.) The Dissertation can be printed on single-sided paper or double-sided (as long as it is easy to read).

 You must submit two complete copies of your Dissertation, Your course administrator will issue appropriate cover cards shortly before the submission deadline.

 If you have a large number of appendices this may result in having two volumes – one for your Dissertation and one for your appendices. In this case, the reference must be bound with the main Dissertation.

 A signed copy of your Ethics Approval form must be included as an appendix to each copy of your Dissertation.

 You may choose to have some or all of the copies of your Dissertation book-bound (details of binders on next page), although this is not essential but desirable.

 If the Dissertation is confidential, you may wish to have all copies returned to you. Otherwise, your supervisor will retain one copy, one will go to the library. The library would prefer a hardbound copy, but again, this is not essential but desirable.

 There are no hard and fast rules about how the Dissertation should be book-bound, i.e. it can be done in the colour of your choice and you can choose what lettering appears on the cover and spine. Typically students have the following on the spine, from left to right:

NAME COURSE( e.g. MScIBM) YEAR

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 You must also submit an electronic on StudySpace under BOM112 module code. This is part of submission failing to do so will result in failing the module.

Note: You would be amazed at how some students let themselves down with poor layout, proof-reading and even spell checking. Please think carefully about presentation (layout, use of white space, bold, centring, etc.) And give yourself time to proof read ? out loud is quite useful.

Binding: Some Useful Information about Binderies

Blissett Bookbinders have bound many Dissertations for us recently. They are able to deliver the Dissertations to us directly after binding to save you the time of delivering them yourself. The other four companies have been used and recommended by students. Or you may want to use a bindery more local to you.

Blissett F.J. & Co. Ltd (Bookbinders) Roslin Road

London

W3 8DH

Tel: 020 8992 3965

http://www.blissetts.com/

The Otter Bindery 42 Hare Hill AIDlestone Surrey

KT15 1DT

Tel: 01932 845 976

CJ Masters

Bookbinders

Barnat Works

1A Upper Redlands Road Reading

RG1 5JJ

Wyvern Bindery

56-58 Clerkenwell Road

London

EC1M 5P