MBA PROJECT GUIDELINES: M-09 BATCH

INTRODUCTION

The students of MBA Programme are required to carry out project work in the area
of their specialization under the supervision of an eligible guide and submit FIVE
hard bound copies and one soft copy of dissertation on or before 31 October 2010,
which is to be evaluated for 200 marks followed by Viva-voce examination for 50
Marks.

The aim of the Dissertation is to give the students an opportunity to learn

independently and to identify, define and analyze problems and issues related to
Management and integrate knowledge in a business context. It is an important
part of the concepts and the tools of analysis to a specific problem situation.

The only precise rule on what constitutes an acceptable Dissertation is that it

should be an ordered critical exposition, which affords evidence of reasoning
power and knowledge of the relevant literature in an approved field falling within
the subject matter of Management. The emphasis should be on applied research
and the investigation of some practical problem or issue related to the situation in
which an organization or system operates.

It must be noted that the Dissertation must not be treated as just another
assignment. The Dissertation provides the opportunity to judge the students time
and self-management skills and his/her ability to successfully undertake long and
in-depth study. Hence it is not only the product that is important, but also the
process itself. Students must therefore ensure that they maintain regular contact
with their guide and also that they provide the guide with drafts of their work at
regular intervals. Finally, to keep themselves up-to-date and under control as
regards their Dissertation, it is imperative that the students meet their guides
regularly.

The Dissertation is a practical, in-depth study of problem, issue, opportunity

technique or procedure or some combination of these aspects of business
Typicality, students are required to define an area of investigation, carve out
research design, assemble relevant date, analyze the data, draw conclusions and
make recommendations. The Dissertation should demonstrate organizational
analytical and evaluative skills, and where appropriate, an ability to design
suitable implementation and review procedure.

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SELECTION OF TOPIC

Selection of topic is probably the hardest thing to do. The choice of topic is up to
the students with prior approval of guide. However while selecting a topic is
essential that the topics are related to management and of current relevance. It
should also be kept in mind the topic chosen is agreed by the organization
where the Dissertation is going to be carried out. The initial topic chosen is likely
to originate in a vague from and may lack a clear focus. These then need to be
developed into something manageable and practical by consideration of available
literature/texts and discussion with your Dissertation guide. What meets
requirement is that the study must involve carrying out original research in order
to meet the organization’s continual need for new information for forward decision-
making.

The main issues may be human, economical, functional etc., but the construction
and/or application of some kind of research instrument are the focus of the study.
The analysis of the research finding (e.g. client’s responses to questionnaire about
changing product specifications) should take place resulting in proposals about to
manage relevant aspects of the organization’s future.

A macro study on a topic also can be carried out, but care must be taken to
ensure that it is a contribution to the existing literature without any duplication.

PRESENTATION OF DISSERTATION REPORT

It is necessary that students follow these guidelines. The final report should be
presented in the following sequence.

 Title Page
 Student’s Declaration
 Certificate signed by Guide and Principal / Director
 Certificate from the Company / organization
 Acknowledgements
 Executive Summary
 Table of Contents (with page Numbers):
 List of contents
 List of Tables
 List of graphs /Charts / Diagrams
 List of Annexures

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION

This chapter must include an introduction to the broad area of the topic chosen,
specific area of the topic chosen, introduction to the topic itself and an overview of
industry in general.

(Appropriate references to be quoted as footnote giving serial number author, title,

publisher, year of publication and page number)

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CHAPTER 2 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter must provide a plan of the study which should include statement of
the problem, need for study/ significance of the Dissertation, operational
definition of concepts, hypotheses (if any), scope, methodology, sample design,
sources of data, tools and techniques for data collection, plan of analysis,
limitations and an overview of chapter scheme.

CHAPTER 3 – REVIEW OF LITERATURE

When writing the dissertation, you will need to conduct a phenomenal amount of

research. This research may include using online and offline sources in order to
gather information.

Depending upon the requirements of your dissertation, you have to write

a literature review chapter. It is important to note that a literature review is not
the same as a book review. Whereas a book review is written to provide the reader
with information about the story of the book as well as a brief opinion on the work,
a literature review delves far deeper into the book being reviewed.

With a literature review, your goal is to determine its relevancy and its impact on
the field. As such, you will only provide a brief summary of what the book was
about while the majority of your literature review chapter will focus more on the
impact the work has on the field of study and whether or not it made a meaningful
contribution to the field.

In order to write the literature review chapter component of your dissertation

you will need to complete four basic stages.

i. Problem formulation stage: During this stage, you will determine

which topic of field you will be examining.

ii. Literature Search: At this time, you will look for materials that are
relevant to the topic you are exploring.

iii. Data Evaluation: At this stage you’ll work to determine what

literature makes the biggest contribution to the topic.

iv. Aanalyze and Interpret Findings: At this stage you’ll provide

conclusions you can draw from the literature you are reviewing.

There are a number of key elements that should be included in the actual review
of the literature. For example, you should provide an overview of the subject as
well as the theory or issue you are writing about. This area should already be
thoroughly covered in your dissertation and should connect smoothly to the
literature review component.

CHAPTER 4 – PROFILE OF THE COMPANY/ORGANISATION/SYSTEM

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This chapter should contain a complete profile including history, nature of
business, products & services, organization structure, competitors, capital
structure, turnover, no of branches, etc.

CHAPTER 5 – ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter should provide an analysis of the data with required interpretation.
The information obtained needs to be reduced to tables and graphs and charts are
to be used wherever necessary. Inferences are to be drawn following the
interpretation of the table.

CHAPTER 6 – SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS:

This chapter must starts with an overview of the Dissertation, summaries the
findings under each objective, provide conclusions and offer recommendations
based on the findings. It is to be noted that the recommendations are practical
acceptable and comprehensive.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: List the books, articles, websites that are referred and useful
for research on the topic of your specific Dissertation. The bibliography should be
provided in order the following sequence. Author, title of the book, editor,
publisher, place of publication, year of publication.

Eg: Kotler, Philip, “Marketing Management” 10th Ed, Prentice Hall: NJ, 2004.

ANNEXURE: The following annexure are to be provided as part of report at the

end after Bibliography.

 Questionnaire/Schedule
 Financial statements (if any)
 Any other calculations supporting the analysis.

The Dissertation should be appropriately numbered. It is usual for page 1 it start

with the introduction. The sections prior to the introduction are usually numbered
with small Romans, i.e. i, ii, iii. It is easier if annexure are numbered in a separate
sequence (suggested A,B,C) rather than as continuation of the main report.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The contents page gives the reader the first view of how the Dissertation in
structured and how the author attempted to develop the topic. It listed by a
heading and located by a page number.

The following box gives an example.

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CHAPTER CONTENTS PAGE NO
NO.
1 Introduction 01-20
2 Research Methodology 21-30
3 Review of Literature
4 Profile of the company / Organisation / System 31-40
5 Analysis and Interpretation of Data 41-80
6 Summary of Finding, Conclusion and 81-95
Recommendations
7 Bibliography
8 Annexure

TABLE & GRAPH

TABLE/ CONTENTS PAGE NO.

GRAPH NO.
1 Table showing……………………… -
2 Table showing……………………… -
3 Table showing……………………… -

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION OF THE DISSERTATION

 The Dissertation should be typed on A4 white paper, and be 1.5 line spaced
of Arial or Times Roman with a font size of 12.
 The left margin should not be less than 40 mm and the right margin not less
than 20mm.
 All pages should be numbered, and numbered should be placed at the
centre of the bottom of the page, not less than 10mm above the edge.
 All tables, figures and annexure should be consecutively numbered of
lettered, and suitably labeled.
 FIVE bound copies & a soft-copy should be handed over to the Institute at
the time of submission.

Note: College in turn would submit two bound copies of all the Dissertations to
the University along with consolidated CD incorporating the soft copies of the
dissertation of all the students and the list of dissertation titles with names and
register numbers, college name and the year.

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PLAGIARISM

Any attempt to copy form another (Present or Previous)student or to copy large

chunks form academic or other sources will trigger the full weight of plagiarism
procedures university will initiate appropriate action.

All the material that relates to that relates to the dissertation, including completed
questionnaires or taps from interviews, should be shown to guide and be kept by
the students until the University has declared the results, students are advised
not throw the material away once their dissertation is submitted as they might be
asked to present it as part of viva voce, before Dissertation results are declared.

GUIDE

In order to ascertain about the guide for MBA Dissertation, the students may refer
to the guide list attached herewith.

ROLE OF THE GUIDE

The Guides are required to meet the students as when requited and proved
guidance in the selection of topic, devising appropriate methodology and
supervising the dissertation writing. They are required to maintain an attendance
register detailing the meetings with dates, time and issue discussed.

ADVICE TO STUDENTS

You must keep hard copies of each version of your work, and save copies of the
current version on a main and a backup disk (Preferably kept apart from each
other). Disks should regularly be virus- checked. Also, make sure to keep printed
copies of working documents, and the raw data from questionnaires or the data
collection.

 Choose a topic, or an issue, in which you are interested.

 Get organized: give yourself time to think about your Dissertation. Look at
the information available –is there enough information available of you must
not expect them to respond as promptly as you would like.

 Visit the Library and spend some time looking at previous Dissertations.

 With the help your Dissertation Guide agrees on the aims and objective and
structure of the Dissertation as soon as possible.

 It is worthwhile investing in some reliable storage devices for storing you

Dissertation-related documents. Keep at least two copies (updated
Remember to virus check your storage devices.

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  The final printing the binding of your Dissertation can be most frustrating
time. Allow five working days. Numbering pages are arranging pagination
and putting tougher the Contents page takes a time- do not underestimate
this part of your task. By this time you will have been working on your
dissertation for some months- you will be bored with it: you just want to
hand it in and move on to the next assignment. So, to save your time and
frustration, allow yourself working days for this part of task.

 Do not underestimate the enormity of the task ahead of you. The re points
are to organize your time: make and maintain contact with you guide, decide
upon your topic and when you have formulated your aims objectives and
structure –get on with it.

 Finally, remember to print and bind a copy of the Dissertation report for
your own use, as no copy of the report submitted will be returned to you.

VIVA –VOCE EXAMINATION

Students are required to appear for Viva-voce examination on Dissertations and

background subjects.

(Prof. K Ramadas)

Director.