7BSP1371 - Develop a research plan : Advanced Business Research Methods , Assignment, UK

Assignment Title: Develop a research plan

As a student on the module, you have been specifically chosen by the senior management team of OilCo Limited in the UK to carry out research into the problem of the failed expatriation process in the Nigerian facility drawing on both primary and secondary data. Leveraging your learning from lectures, tutorials, and five LinkedIn learning courses, you are first required to provide a comprehensive research plan.

[Word count: 2000 words (+/- 10%)]

Description of the assignment, content and structure:

Students are expected to develop a research plan after reading the case study (Contextual Information). Students will need to leverage on learning from lectures, tutorials, and five LinkedIn learning courses. Your plan should cover the following:

1. Title for research plan
2. Brief introduction
3. Aims and objectives/research questions/hypotheses (questions/hypotheses should be underpinned by theory)
4. Methodology (including methods, sample, data collection, and analysis techniques. Remember to provide relevant justification for all)
5. Ethical strategy (for collecting and reporting data)
6. Anticipated outcome (think of how this will extend the literature).

Note: Always refer to the case study (contextual information) in order to effectively analyse and respond to the situation with your research plan. Also, justification should be provided for all research decisions following an exploration and appraisal of different research methods, techniques and strategies.

To deepen your knowledge of the contextual information, students must read the following articles on expatriation and adjustments and relevant chapters of the recommended book (Saunders et al. 2023).

1. Claus, L., Maletz, S., Casoinic, D., & Pierson, K. (2015). Social capital and cultural adjustment of international assignees in NGOs: Do support networks really matter? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(20), 2523–2542.
2. Cole, N. D. (2012). Expatriate accompanying partners: The males speak. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 50(3), 308–326.
3. van der Laken PA, van Engen ML, van Veldhoven MJPM, Paauwe J (2019) Fostering expatriate success a meta-analysis of the differential benefits of social support. Hum Resour Manag Rev 29:100679. 
4. Dang, Q. T., Rammal, H. G., & Michailova, S. (2021). Expatriates’ families A systematic literature review and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 100877. 
5. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2023). Research methods for business students (9th edn.). Harlow: Pearson. ( For more details) 

Additionally, students will also need to complete the following five LinkedIn courses and gain certificates:

• Narrow your idea to research topic
• Primary and secondary research
• Qualitative Vs Quantitative: when to use each research methods
• Analysing qualitative data
• Quantitative tools for data analysis

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge and Understanding assessed in this assignment:

• Critically examine the range of online sources of business intelligence (using Mintel, Government sources (papers, ONS, Census), trade sources, ‘broadsheet’ articles as well as academic articles)
• Formulate a complex, ethical research strategy in order to gather primary qualitative research for the workplace Explore and evaluate quantitative research analysis tools applicability to workplace problems

Learning Outcomes: Skills and Attributes assessed in this assignment:

• Evaluate case studies of business research in practice from the literature
• Relate research findings to theories and concepts from the literature
• Present research findings in the workplace: business report writing and presentations Produce a personal research skills development plan
• Evaluate case studies of business research in practice from the literature