Overview
Researching business problems is an important part of professional practice and being a successful business manager and leader. This is a capstone unit that draws upon your area of specialisation and your wider knowledge of business environments both globally and locally. This unit aims to develop your skills in undertaking an independent professional research project. You will engage in conducting an applied research project in your chosen business discipline to identify challenges and develop possible solutions and recommendations. This unit requires independent research and autonomy in review and analysis of secondary sources related to your profession, development of research questions, analysis of data and information, and identification of solutions and recommendations. An important aspect of this unit is to develop insights and provide recommendations that may improve your profession and the roles normally undertaken in business and industry by people in your identified profession.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: BUSN20016 Research in Business.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 3 - 2019
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Unit Evaluations
Students are pleased with the way in which the teaching team works together to address their concerns. They are particularly pleased with the assistance which they receive from the Unit Coordinator to ensure specific and formative feedback on assessments.
The Unit Coordinator will continue to offer zoom and drop in sessions for students on a weekly basis. The teaching team will continue to provide formative and summative assessment feedback and work together to address matters (particularly assessment matters) raised by students.
- Develop an advanced and integrated understanding of current issues in your profession
- Apply the skills and knowledge gained from other subjects to identify and successfully investigate a complex problem relevant to your profession
- Critically review current relevant literature to inform your project’s aims and approach
- Apply research skills to identify, collect and analyse suitable secondary data relevant to your chosen problem
- Synthesise literature and data to develop critical discussion and appropriate conclusions
- Communicate key findings in a scholarly manner and outline recommendations for your profession and further research.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
1 - Research Proposal - 40% | ||||||
2 - Research Assignment - 60% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
1 - Knowledge | ||||||
2 - Communication | ||||||
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||||
4 - Research | ||||||
5 - Self-management | ||||||
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||||
7 - Leadership | ||||||
8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
1 - Research Proposal - 40% | ||||||||
2 - Research Assignment - 60% |
Textbooks
Research methods for business students
Edition: 7th (2016)
Authors: Saunders, M. N., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A.
Prentice Hall
London London , UK
Binding: Paperback
The essential guide to doing your research project
Edition: 3rd (2017)
Authors: O’Leary, Z
Sage Publications
London London , UK
ISBN: 9781473952089, 1473952085
Binding: Paperback
The research process
Edition: 6th (2016)
Authors: Bouma, GD
Oxford University Press ANZ
Melbourne Melbourne , VIC , Australia
Binding: Paperback
Additional Textbook Information
I have recommended three books that are really useful for successful completion of your professional project. While it is always beneficial to read through all the three books, I would like to draw your particular attention to the following chapters:
1. Chapter 6 (reviewing literature) of 'the essential guide to doing your research project'.
2. Chapter 8 (using secondary data) of 'research methods for business students'.
3. Chapter 9 (summarising and presenting data) of 'the research process'.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
i.ali@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
1. Taking the leap into the research world.
2. Formulating and clarify the research topic.
Lecture
Chapter
1. Chapter 1 (O' Leary, 2017).
2. Chapter 2 (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Progressing your research project: From research idea to a research plan or proposal.
Tutorial
Chapter
Chapter 2 (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Brief presentation: To make sure that you are on right track, you have been provided with the opportunity to present (optional) your project plan in classroom (on-campus students) or during online zoom session (distance students). This is a great opportunity to receive feedback from your tutor/lecturer and classmate, thereby reducing potential mistakes.
Module/Topic
1. What is a critical literature review?
2. What are the credible sources of literature?
Lecture
Chapter
Chapter 3 (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Brief presentation: To make sure that you are on right track, you have been provided with the opportunity to present (optional) your project plan in classroom (on-campus students) or during online zoom session (distance students). This is a great opportunity to receive feedback from your tutor/lecturer and classmate, thereby avoiding potential mistakes.
Module/Topic
1. Sourcing and managing relevant literature.
2. Using a systematic review.
Tutorial
Chapter
1. Chapter 8 (O' Leary, 2017)
2. Chapter 3 (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project plan (assessment 1.1) Due:
Week-4: Thursday, 5 December 2019 at 11:45 pm AEST.
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Enjoy the break and refresh yourself :-)
Module/Topic
Critically writing the literature
Lecture
Chapter
1. Chapter 3 (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016).
2. Chapter 8 (O' Leary, 2017)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
1. Understanding research methods
2. Using secondary data
TutorialChapter
1. Chapter 4 (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016).
2. Chapter 7 (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project Proposal (assessment 1.2) Due: Week-6: Monday, 16 December 2019 at 11:45 pm AEST.
Module/Topic
Analysing data: tools and techniques
Lecture
Chapter
1. Chapter 14 (O' Leary, 2017)
2. Consult resources in unit's Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Summarising and presenting findings
Tutorial
Chapter
Chapter 9 (Bouma, 2016)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Discussing the findings
Lecture
Chapter
Consult resources in unit's Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
How to draw a logical conclusion?
Tutorial
Chapter
Chapter 14 (Bouma, 2016)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
How to develop workable recommendations?
Lecture
Chapter
Consult resources in unit's Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Finalising project report: important things to do.
Tutorial
Chapter
Consult resources in unit's Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project Report submission due:
Week-12: Monday, 3 February 2020 at 11.45 pm AEST.
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Research Proposal
The assessment 1 is an individual task comprising of two components:
1.1 Project plan; and
1.2 Project proposal.
1.1 Project plan, worth 15%, requires the students to submit a project plan that should not exceed 500, excluding title page, table of content and references. The project plan need to include the following six sections:
1. Appropriate project topic or title related to one of the four disciplines (marketing, accounting, management, or human resource management) - max. 16 words.
2. Background and problem statement - briefly provide the background information of the topic/selected organisation. What you would like to research and why? You are advised to integrate the related literature in order to support of the problem statement (about 200 words).
3. Purpose statement - the aims and objective to address the identified problem (about 50 words).
4. Literature review - briefly mention the literature/theories (about 100 words).
5. Research methodology. Note that in this research you are required to use secondary data source. As such, please describe research methodology, source(s) of secondary data that you will be using and data analysis tools and techniques (about 150 words).
6. References - Provide at least five references following APA 6th style.
Note: The required length for this report is 500 words, excluding title page, table of content and reference list. Executive summary is not required for project plan.
1.2 Project proposal, worth 25%, is the extension of your project plan (assessment 1.1). Drawing upon the feedback and knowledge from the project plan, you are now required to develop a detailed project proposal including the following sections:
1. Background and problem statement - Provide sufficient background information of the topic/selected organisation including literature that places your project within the selected context. Identify the need/gap for your research and how your research will address the gap (about 550 words).
3. Purpose statement - the aims and objective to address the identified problem (about 50 words)
4. Literature review - Discuss the literature and/or theories related to your area of research (about 500 words)
5. Methodology. Note this project requires to use only secondary data source(s). As such, clearly describe research methodology and rationale, source(s) of secondary data that you will be using, data analysis tools and techniques, Gantt chart schedule. about 400 words
6. References - please provide the references following APA 6th style - at least 10 references from credible sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles, scholarly books, published research reports, business reviews, etc.
The required length for this report is 1500 words (+/- 10%), excluding table of content, reference list and appendices.
Please don't forget to include title page, executive summary and table of content in the report.
Notably: To make sure that your topic/area selection is appropriate and you have a clear understanding of the project plan requirements, you have been provided with the opportunity to present (optional) your project plan in week 2 and 3. The on-campus students can present in classroom while distance student can present during the online zoom session (distance students). I believe that it's a great opportunity to receive constructive feedback from your tutor/lecturer and classmates and avoid potential mistakes.
Project plan is due on Thursday, 5 December 2019. Whilst project proposal is due on Monday, 16 December 2019.
The grades will be released in 10 business days from the date of submission.
Your assignment will be marked on the following criteria:
- Selection of topic and description of problem and purpose statements (30%).
- Literature review (20%).
- Description of methodology (30%).
- Quality and appropriateness of at least 10 references (10%).
- Written communication (10%).
For further details on grading/assessment criteria, please refer to the marking rubric in the unit's Moodle site
No submission method provided.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Develop an advanced and integrated understanding of current issues in your profession
- Apply the skills and knowledge gained from other subjects to identify and successfully investigate a complex problem relevant to your profession
- Critically review current relevant literature to inform your project’s aims and approach
- Apply research skills to identify, collect and analyse suitable secondary data relevant to your chosen problem
2 Research Assignment
This is an individual, written assessment, to be completed in report format. You are required to write around 3,000 words (+/- 10%), excluding title page, executive summary, table of content, tables, figures, reference list and appendices. The report requires in-text referencing and a full reference list in APA style, with evidence that you have critically read and integrated a minimum of 20 peer-reviewed references from credible sources.
The purpose of this assessment is to present the final report of the Professional Project you proposed in Assignment 1. This report should build upon both components of your Assessment 1 and it should be developed with the help of the tutor/co-ordinator feedback.
In order to successfully complete Assessment 2, you are required to carry out the investigation you have proposed in Assessment 1 and produce a professional research report that shows that you have followed through from finding a research question to answering that question and developing recommendations that arise from your findings. The report will follow the typical structure of a research report and will need to include the following:
- Project title
- Introduction including background information and justification of your topic, problem statement, aims and objective (about 500 words).
- Critical literature review (about 600 words)
- Research methodology (about 500 words)
- Findings from your secondary data analysis (about 400 words)
- Discussion of findings in light of your previously reviewed literature (600 words)
- Conclusion, including recommendations and limitations (about 400 words)
- References - at least 20 from credible sources following APA style.
- Appendices (if any)
Penalties apply for late submission
Week 12 Monday (10 Feb 2020)
Results and feedback will be available in Moodle on after final grade approval/certification.
As a Masters-level student, you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered. Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice, and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”.
Each unit in the MBA has a number of required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF. In order to demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals and publications, and as a Masters student, indicate a willingness to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research. This is an advanced level course, and accrediting bodies are also looking for evidence of independent research, so the ability to conduct this project without continually relying on your tutors and lecturers is an important part of the learning process for this unit.
Students should insure that they understand the specific research that is required for each assessment piece and recognise that if they meet this minimum requirement, you will receive the minimum grade for demonstrated research.
Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE. A full list of references must be submitted as part of the assessment.
Your assignment will be marked on the following nine criteria:
- Introduction including background information and justification of your topic, problem statement, aims and objective (10%).
- Critical literature review (15%)
- Research methodology (15%)
- Data analysis and findings (20%)
- Discussion of findings in light of your previously reviewed literature (20%)
- Conclusion, including recommendations and limitations (10)
- References (10%)
For further details, please refer to the unit’s Moodle site.
No submission method provided.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Develop an advanced and integrated understanding of current issues in your profession
- Apply the skills and knowledge gained from other subjects to identify and successfully investigate a complex problem relevant to your profession
- Critically review current relevant literature to inform your project’s aims and approach
- Apply research skills to identify, collect and analyse suitable secondary data relevant to your chosen problem
- Synthesise literature and data to develop critical discussion and appropriate conclusions
- Communicate key findings in a scholarly manner and outline recommendations for your profession and further research.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.