Research Project (MBA)

General Requirements for Research Project

The work should be original work done by the student concerned.
The size of the report would depend on the project undertaken. However it must be typed on
A4 size paper with1.5 line spacing.
All the students are required to use the uniform font and format (except in heading and
subheadings) throughout the text of the report. For example, if anybody uses Times New
Roman of font size 12 in the text, then he/she will be using the same throughout the report.
The project report must accompany a certificate duly signed by the faculty guide
authenticating the originality of the work done in the prescribed format as indicated at the end
of the document.
Each student will make two copies of project report in the recommended format. One copy is
to be submitted to School office after due approval from the Faculty Guide on or before the
due date. The students will keep one copy of the project for their further reference in future.
Each student is required to make a copy of project in CD and submit along with his/her
project report.
Deadlines

March 20, 2015

April 20, 2015
April 24, 2015
May First week

: Finalize Business Problems/ Research Questions

: Research Project report approval by Faculty Guide
: Submission of Report
: Presentation and Viva (Schedule will be provided later)

Organization of Report
Your final written reports must hard bound in Navy Blue Colour with Gold Embossing and
follow the outline below.
a. Title page: This should include the full title of your project, the School, program,
session, batch and course name, your name, Name of Faculty Guide, and the year of
submission.
b. Table of Contents: Include a list of divisions and subdivisions of the report with page
references. If the report includes many figures or tables, a list of these should also be
included immediately following the table of contents.
c. Executive Summary: A one-to-two page managerial summary outlining the study
background and objectives, research design and major findings, conclusions based on
the findings, and recommendations for action.
d. Report Body
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a. Introduction
i. Background factors necessitating the project. Includes
1. A situational analysis
2. A literature review that provides the reader with an orientation
to the general management problem under consideration.
3. This can include exploratory research (experience surveys, case
studies, secondary data search, pilot studies, focus groups,
and/or depth interviews).
ii. Definition of the management problem/questions.
iii. Questions
1. General research questions
2. Specific research questions (hypotheses)
3. State expected relationships between variables.
4. Show the logic connecting the general questions with the
specific research questions or with the hypotheses.
iv. Research objectives
1. Derived from the research questions or hypotheses
2. Explain the purpose of the research in measurable terms
3. Define standards of what the research should accomplish.
4. It should be clear how the research is going to aid management
decision making.
b. Research Design and Methodology - the research strategy and plan.
i. Type(s) of research design(s) used (exploratory, descriptive, and/or
causal) and why chosen.
ii. Data collection 9 method and forms.
1. A copy of the survey questionnaire should appear in an
appendix.
2. The text in this section should discuss the logic of your choice
of
a. Data collection medium (phone, in-person, selfadministered),
b. The questions in your questionnaire
c. Sequencing of questions
d. Kinds of scales used.
iii. Sampling design and plan.
1. Target population,
2. sampling frame,
3. sample units used
4. methods for selecting sample units,
5. sample size,
6. Response rate.
iv. Fieldwork.
1. How and where the fieldwork was conducted.
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c.

d.

e.

f.

2. Describe the pretesting phase and how this helped improve the
questionnaire (if at all) as well as the main study.
v. Data analysis procedure.
1. Outline and describe the data preparation and processing
procedure,
2. Emphasize problems that required editing
3. General statistical methods used in the data analysis
4. Reasoning underlying your choice of statistical procedures
5. Assumptions and/or limitations.
Results
i. Includes analysis, interpretation, and discussion of the findings in light
of the research questions and hypotheses.
ii. Summary tables, graphs, and charts should be used in the report body
to aid the discussion
iii. Comprehensive or detailed charts should be saved for the appendix.
Limitations
i. Results should be discussed in light of the limitations and assumptions.
ii. You should at least briefly discuss the issues of validity and reliability
of your research procedures and results and any caveats you might like
to mention for management (e.g., the artificial limit of your small
sample size, possible sources of systematic error such as a nonrepresentative sample, nonresponse error, response bias, etc.).
iii. Problems encountered and efforts to overcome them can be included
iv. Lessons youve learned for higher-quality research in the future.
Conclusions and Recommendations
i. Conclusions: Opinions, implications, and insights for managerial
decisions based on results.
ii. Recommendations:
1. Suggestions for managerial action, supported by fact and
judgment
2. Suggestions for future follow-up research (if necessary or
desirable).
Appendices - All technical and/or detailed material should appear here. These
can include:
i. data collection forms
ii. detailed calculations
iii. discussions of highly technical issues
iv. detailed tables of results
v. endnotes
vi. a bibliography
vii. Any other support material.

Typing Instructions:
Paper A4 Size
Margins
Margins Left = 1.5 inch, Right = 1 inch
Spacing within a sentence: Double
Between words: 1 space
After a colon:
2 spaces
After a semi colon: 2 spaces
After a comma: 1 space
After a full stop: 2 spaces
Headings
Centre Head (All Caps, without underlining) 14 font size
Centre subhead (Caps and lower case underlined) 14 font size
Side Head (All Caps, without underlining) 14 font size
Paragraph head followed by a colon (Caps & Lower case underlined) 12 font size.
Quotation
It should be placed in quotation marks and double spaced, forming an immediate part of the
text, but if a quotation is of a considerable length (more than four or five type written lines)
then it should be single-spaced and indented at least half an inch to the right of the normal
text margin.

Research Project Report

TITLE OF THE PROJECT

(20 Font size, Times New Roman, Capital)
FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT
FOR THE AWARD OF
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
(14 Font Size, Times New Roman, Bold, Italic)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Prof. (Name of the Faculty Member)
Submitted By
(Name of student)
MBA 2013-2015

Logo of the University

School of Business, Galgotias University

(20 Font size, Times New Roman, Capital)