Mg3123 Issues And Controversies In Marketing Project

MG3123 Issues and Controversies in Marketing Project Project Proposal Description and Checking Guidelines Submission Date: Thursday 19th November 2009

Date last updated:

[14/08/09]

This document has two purposes. First, it is a description of what the Proposal is and what are the requirements related to it. Second, it will provide you with a checklist to use when preparing your Proposal and a feedback sheet for your Tutor.

Brunel Business School

A. The Individual Project Proposal is a more detailed formal exposition of your

research idea and begins to focus the scope and application of your combined knowledge across academic, general management and experiential fields. This proposal must be no longer than 2500 words excluding the project plan and the references. As an indication, the title of the research proposal should reflect the intended focus of the project. You should be proactive in the development of your Project Proposal and the role of the supervisor is to help you shape YOUR ideas to address the following core components: Introduction / research background: illustrate the problem which your research will be addressing, explain its academic and industrial context in general terms. b. Project aim and objectives: define the overall aim of the project and the specific measurable objectives that you plan to achieve. You should phrase your objectives in a way that once achieved will demonstrate successful achievement of the overall aim. c. Review of existing work / literature: demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of past and current work in the subject area by synthesizing at least 5 academic references of relevance to your work using the Harvard style of referencing 1, bringing to bear not only existing concepts but also emerging themes and applications from the “real world”. d. Research Methodology: this should include information on the general methodological approach you intend to adopt, and techniques to be used for data collection and analysis. e. Industrial or commercial research contacts: an indication of where and how you will be able to gather and conduct research on your topic and the manner by which you will gain access to relevant stakeholders or data. f. Problems: identification of likely problems, limitations and methods of resolution. g. Timetable / Project Plan: describe the tasks you need to conduct in order to complete the project, identifying major milestones by which you and your supervisor will monitor the progress of your project (e.g. completion of literature review, completion of data collection). This can be illustrated by a simple diagrammatic work plan (GANNT chart) or similar. The work plan is not included in the words limit of the detailed research proposal and represents a one-page ‘appendix’ to this report. a.

B. The checklist focuses on the key requirements that you need to achieve before

embarking on the main research Project. As you draft your Proposal, check that you can answer ‘yes’ to each of the questions. You should also ask someone else (e.g. a fellow student, friend or family member) to read your draft proposal and see whether they agree with you. Please note that tutors do NOT read proposals 1

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before submission; the learning outcomes of the module require that you make your own judgments about whether your proposal meets the necessary requirements. Second, the document will be used by your tutor to give you useful individualized feedback on your Proposal. For each of the checklist questions, the tutor will tick the relevant box to say whether your Proposal has:  Achieved the necessary requirements – so you can proceed with your Project.  Largely achieved the necessary requirements – so some minor revisions are required before you proceed with your Project.  Not achieved the necessary requirements – so you need to make major revisions, or do a lot more work before proceeding with your Project. If most of your feedback is in the ‘Largely achieved’ or ‘Not achieved’ areas, we strongly recommend that you revise the Proposal for your own benefit, taking full account of the guidance provided by your tutor, as well as any advice given in the lectures, seminars and recommended readings.

Brunel Business School

(See checklist and feedback list below)

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Brunel Business School

Checklist and Feedback Sheet Section Title page

Checklist questions Have you included: a working title for your project, your name and student number, tutor’s name, word count and the date?

Tutor feedback Achieved Largely Not achieved

Contents

Have you prepared a table of contents on a separate page, with headings, sub-headings and page numbers?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Introduction, Background and Rationale of Project

Have you included a clear and succinct introduction to your research topic?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you explained the background (e.g. industry / sector / company / product) to your research topic?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you justified why the research is worth doing at the present time? (e.g. its practical or theoretical importance)

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you identified relevant research aims / objectives / questions? (n.b. wording may vary between modules)

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you convinced us that you can complete the research given available time and resources (i.e. that your Project is feasible)?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Does the Literature Review cover succinctly approx. 12–15 relevant references from reputable sources such as the Brunel Library / Electronic Databases?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Aims and Objectives

Literature Review

Is there a reasonable balance between books, academic journals and other materials? (e.g. newspaper articles, research reports). Have you identified some (i.e. around 1-3) theories / models / frameworks / key concepts from these sources that are particularly relevant to your topic?

Research methods

Is there an indication of any other areas of research that you will be looking at over the next few months? Have you outlined the methods you propose to use to collect and to analyse research evidence / data? Have you discussed alternative research methods and justified your choice?

Research

Have you considered and addressed any ethical issues that might arise in your research? (e.g. commercial confidentiality, informed consent)

Achieved Largely Not achieved Achieved Largely Not achieved Achieved Largely Not achieved Achieved Largely Not achieved Achieved Largely Not achieved Achieved Largely Not achieved Page 3 of 4

methods (continued)

Project Timetable and Resources

References

Brunel Business School

Structure

Presentation

Writing Style

Submission

Have you identified possible problems and limitations to this project and how they may be overcome?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you detailed activities and key deadlines on a weekly basis?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you prepared a realistic timetable (e.g. periods needed for main literature review, any primary research, writing up and editing)? Have you used the Harvard Referencing System to cite academic sources in the text (e.g. Jobber 2007)?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you included a correctly presented (i.e. alphabetically ordered by author) list of references following the Harvard Referencing System? Is there a logical flow between the sections of your proposal? (i.e. can the reader follow your argument easily?; is there consistency between what you are saying in each section?)

Achieved Largely Not achieved Achieved Largely Not achieved Achieved Largely Not achieved

Are you sure that any Appendices are: relevant, necessary and crossreferenced in the text of the Proposal? Is your proposal presented in report format with clear headings, subheadings, page numbering?

Achieved Largely Not achieved Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you used any graphs, charts, illustrations and tables appropriately (e.g. are titles and sources included?, do they support / enhance the text?)

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Are issues discussed in a clear, focused and succinct way?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you checked / corrected errors in spelling, grammar or punctuation? Have you submitted your assignment through U-Link, saved as a Microsoft Word file?

Achieved Largely Not achieved Achieved Largely Not achieved

Have you submitted your assignment on time (Thursday, 19 November 2009)?

Achieved Largely Not achieved

Further feedback notes

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