Industry Partner

• Provide details of the industry partner including name of the organization (Company X if you do not want to disclose the name), which specific branch (if this organization has multiple branches), industry in which it operates, how many it has been operating, number of employees, turnover and your relation with this organization.

Research Problem

• Describe the research problem you are seeking to resolve
• Provide some statistics (e.g. annual sales for last couple of years if decline in sales is the problem) to explain the seriousness of the problem.
• Explain why is it important to investigate the problem
• The discussion of a research problem may extend over several slides

BBM 331 E-Business Management

Research Aim

• Present your aim
• It should be closely related to the research problem.

For example, if the research problem is declining sales, research aim can be ‘to identify the potential causes of declining sales in organisation X, and make appropriate recommendations that will help the organisation to increase its sales’.

Literature review

• This section must relate to the ‘problem space’ identified earlier. The goal should be to summarise existing knowledge in the area of research problem and identify the potential causes of such a problem based on existing scholarly research.
• In constructing your literature review, make sure you:

–Identify potential causes (independent factors/constructs) of the problem and inform what others have found in relation to each potential cause and research problem (i.e. the relation between the dependent variable and the independent variables)

Systems Engineering For Managers

–Discuss the variables for each of the constructs your study involves

–Present one factor after another instead of listing by individual articles

–Mention the theory(ies) relevant to your research problem

–Include a conceptual map

–Add in-text references for all sources of information

Literature review is expected to continue over 3-5 slides

Research Questions

• Present your research questions
• Answer to the research questions should be able to solve the research problem

For example, if the research problem is declining sales, research questions could be:

1.What are the factors affecting sales in organisation x?

2.What can the management of organisation X do to increase sales?

Research Design

• This section is very technical. You have many notes in your study guide on how to work through this.
• The research design section needs to adequately, and convincingly present a plan which when executed will provide a solution to the research problem and achieve the research aim. Hence, it is vital that you re-read your research plan with a critical eye, to ensure it is logical and will produce expected outcomes.

Research method: Qualitative, Quantitative or Mixed method

Justify your chosen research design based on the 3 points discussed in the lectures/study materials

• Nature of research question
• Comprehensiveness of literature
• Sample size

Professional Skills

Sample:

Describe and justify your sample

 – who will you be getting data from?

 – where from will you get their contact details?

 – how will you contact them?

 – how many people will you collect data from?

 – which sampling method (probability/nonprobability) will you use and why?

 – which sampling technique (random/convenience/…) will you use and why?

Research Design:

Research Tool(s)

Research Tools: Attach with the presentation (i.e. your questionnaire, survey, observation checklist etc.)

 – Research tools should generate relevant and adequate data capable of answering the research questions.

 – Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do these questions collect data for all relevant constructs?
• Am I biasing the answer by asking this question in a specific way?
• How can I be minimize the degree to which a respondent may answer untruthfully to this question.
• If the questions address all ethical concerns

Note, you do not need to go through each question during the presentation but attach for the marker to provide feedback on them.

Nursing – Structure and Dynamics of Organizational Systems

Ethical considerations

Discuss how your research design/plan addresses all ethical concerns

Reference list

Attach sources (with full details) of all information presented in this research proposal in Harvard style format.