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MBA.co.zaPreparingtowriteyourMBAdissertation?

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SchoolIntroduction

PreparingtowriteyourMBA
dissertation?
AnMBAqualificationisoneofthemostrecognisedbusinessmanagement
degreesintheworld.Successfullycompletingthequalificationcomeswithits
challenges.Thedegreerequirescommitmentfromthestudentinorderto
successfullycompleteassignments,passexaminationsandfulfilthemini
dissertationrequirementstoobtainthequalification.Theminidissertationis
anintegralpartofcompletingyourMBA,anditalsorequiresthemostamount
ofeffortandtimecommitment.Themostimportantconsiderationswhen
embarkingonthisdauntingtaskisputtingaplaninplaceandstructuringyour
courseofaction.

MBAOverview
MBAStructure
Accreditation
Faculty&Staff
StudentBody
Facilities&Resources
AdmissionRequirements
HowtoApply
Dates&Fees
Bursaries&Scholarships
News
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Opendays&Events

ForanyMBAstudent,itisimportanttomanagetimecorrectly.Itissoeasytofallinto
thetrapofprocrastinationbecausethetasksathandmayseemoverwhelming.Along
withcourseworkandresearchresponsibilities,itisexpectedtoalsojuggleafulltime
jobandotherresponsibilitiesthatdemandonestimeandattention,suchasspouses,
childrenandextendedfamily.Asaresultofthesedemands,findingtimetoworkona
minidissertationcanbedifficult.Hereareafewhelpfultipsthatwillhelpgetyour
dissertationstartedandcompletedontime.

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Thereisnobettertimethanthepresent
UFSBusinessSchool
UniversityofCape
TownGraduateSchool
ofBusiness
UniversityofSouth
AfricaGraduate
SchoolofBusiness
Leadership
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StellenboschBusiness
School
WitsBusinessSchool

ItiscrucialforanMBAstudenttobecomesensitivetothetopicswithinmodules
coveredontheMBA.Beingconsciousofpossibledissertationtopicsrightfromthe
onsetofyourMBAwillhelptogettheprocessstarted.Startinvestigatingtopicsthat
areofpersonalinterestandthatincitepassionaspossibleareasofstudythatresearch
couldbestructuredaround.Thisisimportanttomeaningfullyprepareinadvanceand
engagewiththistopic,cometimetostartyourdissertation.
AtRegenesysBusinessSchool,eachMBAstudentisassignedaresearchsupervisor
earlyon,toassistwiththeresearchtopic,andofferguidanceandadviceoneach
chaptercompletedbythestudent.Thishelpsinthearticulationofideas.Gettingother
peoplesopinionsinadvancealsohelpstoapproachthedissertationfromdifferent
viewpoints.
Defineareaofinterest
Writingathesisordissertationtakestime,soitisnecessarytodiscoveranareaof
interesttostartreadingabout.Itisimportanttostartreadingaroundthistopicto
refinetheresearchtopicwellinadvancebeforearesearchtopicisdefined.Thiswill
ensurethatthefrustrationandhoursofwastedtimethatcanresultfromaimlessly
searchingforinformationcanbeavoided.
Structuringthedissertation
Althoughthedissertationformatmaydifferfrominstitutiontoinstitution,the
informationprovidedbelowgivesabasicideaofthesectionsofaminidissertation.
AbstractAnabstractisabriefsummaryoftheresearchtobeconducted.Itisoften
usedtohelpthereaderquicklyascertainthepaper'spurpose.Whenused,anabstract
alwaysappearsatthebeginningofthedissertation,actingasthepointofentryfor
anygivenacademicpieceofwriting.
Chapter1Introduction
Thisinvolvessettingthecontextofyourminidissertationandtheissuesthataregoing
tobeaddressedintheresearch.Theintroductionalsocoverswhytheresearchwillbe
conductedortherationalebehindit.Italsoprovidestheproblemstatementand
objectivesoftheresearchaswellasanoutlineofthewholestudy.
Chapter2LiteratureReview
Whatevertheresearchproblemmaybe,theresearcherhastoconductan
investigationintotheliteraturerelatedtotheresearchproblemi.e.theresearcherwill

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MBA.co.zaPreparingtowriteyourMBAdissertation?
needtofindinformativesources,determinetheirrelevance,readthemthoroughlyand
synthesisetheinformation,makeinformedjudgementsandfinally,reportonthe
informationprovidedineachsource.
Asaresearcher,itisimportanttoconsulttherelevantliteraturetounderstandthe
Academicdebatesandargumentssurroundingthechosenresearchtopic.Thiswill
enabledeeperinsightintothetopicandtheidentificationofkeyissuesthatneedtobe
explored.Theresearcherneedstopresentasummaryandacriticalappraisalof
previousresearchontheresearchtopicwhileidentifyingthegaps.
TheLiteratureReviewestablishesthegaps,issuesandcontradictionsintheexisting
literatureontheresearchtopic.Itlinkstheresearchquestions/hypothesiswiththe
gapsintheexistingliteratureandallowsanalysisanddiscussioninrelationtotheaim
oftheproposedstudy.
Chapter3Methodology
Thischapterdealswiththehow,whyandwhatoftheresearchtopic.Itindicateshow
theresearcherisgoingtogoaboutgatheringandanalysingdatafortheresearch.This
isdonethroughsurveys,interviewsorfocusgroupdiscussions.Thischaptercontains
informationaboutthemethodologicalapproach.Thechaptershouldansweranumber
ofquestionssuchas:
Whatapproachdoestheresearchquestion/hypothesisnecessitateandwhy?
Whichdatacollectionmethodsarelinkedtotheresearch?
Whichmethodsdidtheresearcherdecideonandwhy?
Whatothermethodscouldyouhavechosen?
Howisthedatagoingtobecollected?
Howwillthedatabeanalysed?
Howwilltheparticipantsbechosen?
Howwilltheresearcherensurethatthedataisreliableandvalid?
Chapter4ResultsandAnalysis
Thisinvolvesanalysinghowthedatacollecteddoesordoesnotanswertheresearch
questionsandprovestheresearchershypotheses.Thiscouldbestatisticalinnatureor
themebaseddependingonthemethodologicalapproachfollowed.
Chapter5Discussion
Thischaptershoulddiscusstheresearchfindingsandwhethertheyproveordiscard
issuesraisedinyourliteraturereview.Italsopresentshowyourfindingscontributeto
theresearchfield,professionanddocumentedknowledgearoundthistopic.This
chaptermayalsoincluderecommendationsfromtheresearcherthathavebeen
provedbytheresearch.
Chapter6Conclusion
Theconcludingchaptermustsumupthestudy.Itprovidesanoverviewofthestudy
andliterature.Itindicateshowtheobjectives,hypotheses,mainfindingsand
recommendationsrelatetooneanother.
References
Attheendofallpiecesofacademicwriting,youneedalistofmaterialsthatyouhave
usedorreferredto.Thisisdonebywayofareferencelistandshouldbepresented
alphabeticallyandaccordingtotheacademicreferencingrulesfollowedbyyour
institution.Thepurposeofthisistosupplytheinformationneededtoallowan
interestedreader,researcherorexaminertofindasource.
Appendices
Thisiswheretheinformationthatisessentialtoexplainyourmethodology,analysis
andfindingsshouldbeplaced.Examplesofinformationthatcouldbeincludedinan
appendixincludefigures,tables,charts,graphsofresults,statistics,questionnaires,
lengthyderivationsofequationsandletters.Eachseparateappendixshouldbe
lettered,forexampleAppendixA,AppendixB,AppendixB1,AppendixB2,AppendixC.
Theordertheyarepresentedinisdictatedbytheordertheyarementionedinthetext
ofthedissertation.
Thedissertationformatmaydifferfrominstitutiontoinstitution,butthisgivesabasic
ideaofthechaptersofadissertation.
Managingtimeconstraints
Althoughthedissertationseemslikeanendlessproject,itcanbebrokenintosmaller
tasksandprojectsthataremoremanageable.Itisimperativetoplanworktimesand
breakthetaskintostages.Dissertationworkshouldbedoneduringproductivetimes.
Theresearcherneedstoidentifywhethertheyareproductiveorwritewellinthe
morning,afternoonortheymoreproductiveintheevening?Oncethisisdetermined,it
willhelptoschedulethosehoursfordissertationwork.
Everydaycounts
Setasidetimeeachweekandeachdayfordissertationtasks
Dodifficulttasksatproductivetimesoftheday
Doeasytaskswhenlessmotivated
Itisimportanttomakethedissertationflow,theindividualchapterswillcontain
theirownargumentsandflowbuttheyallcontributetothemainflow,(the
goldenthread.)
Keeprecordofallinformationsourcesconsulted.
Finishingoffandcheckingthrough
Thisstagecanbetimeconsuming,soleaveenoughtimetohaveafinalreadthrough
ofthedissertationtopickupanylingeringmistakesortypos.Goodpresentation
mattersfollowtherulesformargins,fonts,tableformats,andsooninearlydrafts.

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MBA.co.zaPreparingtowriteyourMBAdissertation?
Itismucheasiertowritethedissertationwithalltheformattingcorrectthantohaveto
reformatseveralcomputerfilesatthelastminute.Itgivesaprofessionalappearance
andputsthereaderinagoodmood.Soitisworthmakingsuretoleaveenoughtime
toproofreadandgetthelayoutright.
Plagiarism
Thisistheactoftakinganotherperson'swriting,conversation,song,orevenideaand
passingitoffasyourown.Thisincludesinformationfromwebpages,books,songs,
televisionshows,emailmessages,interviews,articles,artworksoranyothermedium.
Wheneveroneparaphrases,summarises,ortakeswords,phrases,orsentencesfrom
anotherperson'swork,itisnecessarytoindicatethesourceoftheinformationwithin
thepaperusinganinternalcitation.Failingtoproperlyquote,citeoracknowledge
someoneelse'swordsorideaswithaninternalcitationisplagiarism.Always
acknowledgesourcesofinformation.
Ifpossible,lookatdissertationsfrompreviousyearstoseehowtheyhavebeen
presented.AtRegenesys,severaldissertationsareavailableatourlibraryforstudents
touseasreferences.Investigatethedissertationrequirementsearlytomakesureyou
aremakingappropriateprogresstowardthedegree.Makesurewhenusinghuman
subjectsinsurveysorinterviews,thattheirapprovalisobtained,andapprovalletters
documented.MakesuretofollowyourInstitutionsregulationsasarerequiredforthis
process.Itishighlyrecommendedtoconsultarecognised,qualifiededitortopolish
thelanguageinthefinaldissertationdraftasthiscouldinfluencethefinaldissertation
mark.
Helpiscloserthanyouthink
Inconclusion,consultallocatedsupervisorsateverystageofthedissertation.Consult
otherstudentswhomayhavecompletedtheirdissertationsandgetasmuchadviceas
possible.Donotneglecthealthrequirementsduringthisperiod,bymakingsuretoeat
rightandexercisetoremainstimulated.Seekfeedbackregularly,thiswillmakethis
taskalittlebitmoreeasier.
References:
UniversityofReadingStudyAdvice,
http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/Studyresources/Essays/sta
writingdissertation.aspx
UNCCollegeofartsandscienceswritingcentre,
https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/dissertations/
Source:

TheRegenesysMBAhasaholisticapproachtothedevelopmentof
futuremanagersandleaders.Unliketraditionalbusinessschools
focusingonIQandquantitativemanagementmodels,Regenesys
addsqualitativedimensionstoleadershipdevelopmentemotional,
spiritualandethical.VisitourInfoCentreorwebsite.

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