BU4590 Business Dissertation
(15 ECTS credits)
Module Content/Outline:
Students are required to write a dissertation in the range of 12,000 - 15,000 words.
The dissertation should meet the following requirements:
- demonstrate your ability to evaluate existing literature on a particular subject in a critical way;
- show that you are able to relate theory in a specific business or management problem or setting;
- show that you can derive conclusions that are generally applicable from the process.
A dissertation proposal must be submitted to the Dissertation Coordinator no later than week 2 of Semester 1.
Dissertation Coordinator:
Professor Padraic Regan
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- Identify and frame a research topic in a business or management related area;
- Conduct a literature review that identifies and critically evaluates the academic literature appropriate to the topic of investigation;
- Demonstrate an ability to relate the theories, models and frameworks identified through the research process to a specific business or management setting in the world of practice;
- Analyse data from primary and/or secondary sources that relates to the business and management situations and problems at hand;
- Evaluate and link the existing literature on a particular subject in a critical way to the analysed data;
- Derive conclusions that are applicable to the broader business context.
Contact hours:
This is a 15 credit module that should amount to 300 – 350 hours of personal work.
A supervisor from the School of Business will be allocated before the end of Week 5 of Semester 1. The role of the supervisor is to discuss the merits of the proposed research ideas; to provide guidance on the research process, on the academic content and on the development of the argument; to indicate likely sources of information. The supervisor should expect to meet with you on at least two occasions during each semester.
Assessment:
Dissertations are assessed on two dimensions:
Content - 70%
Cohesion/Integration - 30%
In addition to the written dissertation submission the student will also be required to make a PowerPoint presentation and undergo an oral examination.
Date for submission:
Friday in Week 8 of Semester 2. No submission will be accepted after the deadline.