Dissertation (BE988) Pratice / Problem- Orented Business Report (BE972) Guidance 2024-25

Dissertation (BE988)Business Report (BE972) Guidance

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Dissertation/Business Report Schedule Overview .............................................................................. 6
Starting your Dissertation/Business report ......................................................................................... 7
INITIAL SUPERVISORY MEETING ...................................................................................................................... 7
ETHICAL PROCEDURES .................................................................................................................................... 9
Working on your Dissertation/Business report ................................................................................. 10
SUPERVISORY MEETINGS .............................................................................................................................. 10
CHANGE OF TOPIC/TITLE ............................................................................................................................... 10
SUMMER TERM ............................................................................................................................................. 10
EMPIRICAL MATERIAL THAT CAN BE USED (Primary and Secondary) .......................................................... 11
UNDERTAKING THE DISSERTATION/BUSINESS REPORT ................................................................................ 12
CONTENT & STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................................... 12
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................................................... 14
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ 14
AI DISCLAIMER ............................................................................................................................. 14
BE988 - ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... 14
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................... 15
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 15
THE LITERATURE REVIEW/ CASE STUDY BACKGROUND AND CONCEPTUALISATION OF THE ORGANISATIONAL PROBLEM ................................................................................................ 16
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .................................................................................... 17
NOTE: ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................................... 18
FINDINGS ...................................................................................................................................... 18
DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 19
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................ 19
REFERENCE LIST ........................................................................................................................... 20
DRAFT SUBMISSION ...................................................................................................................................... 20
Submitting your Dissertation/Business report .................................................................................. 20
FINAL SUBMISSION CHECKLIST ..................................................................................................................... 20
FINAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE ...................................................................................................................... 21
BE988/BE972 ................................................................................................................................ 21
ACADEMIC OFFENCE PROCEDURE ................................................................................................................ 21
GENERATIVE AI GUIDANCE ........................................................................................................................... 22
EXTENSIONS AND EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES ..................................................................................... 23
Short extensions – to hand in before October 2025 ................................................................... 23
Extensions beyond the current academic year ........................................................................... 23
DISSERTATION LIBRARY ................................................................................................................................. 24
RETENTION OF RESEARCH MATERIAL AND DATA ......................................................................................... 25
FINAL EXAM BOARD AND RESULTS ............................................................................................................... 25
CERTIFICATES AND TRANSCRIPTS ................................................................................................................. 25
EBS MARKING SCHEME ..................................................................................................................... 26
MARKING CRITERIA (Dissertation) .................................................................................................... 29
MARKING CRITERIA (Business report) ............................................................................................... 31

Introduction

Writing a Master’s dissertation (BE988) or a Practice/Problem-Oriented Business Report (BE972) (this will be later referred to as ‘business report’) is an important and necessary part of your studies on the PG programme. It is an intellectual journey in which you can apply the knowledge you have gained, use it in a creative way and learn more about a topic that you are interested in. These guidelines are intended to support the design, conduct and writing of your dissertation/business report. They are intended to compliment the guidance you will receive from your supervisor that is suited to the specific characteristics of your research project.

The dissertation/business report is in many ways the culmination of the Master’s Degree programme. It provides students with opportunities to apply knowledge gained throughout their programme of study and to further engage with this knowledge in greater detail to produce a piece of work independently.

As an important part of the Master’s Degree programme, the dissertation/business report contributes 60 out of the 180 credits of the programme of study. It is a core unit that students MUST pass this module in order to receive a Masters Degree (please refer to the Rules of Assessment on the Website). The dissertation/business report is a unique piece of work designed to help students develop the kind of skills they will need for work, as well as to develop their specific ability to analyse real problems using an academic lens. It does, however, take time, discipline and patience. The dissertation/business report requires planning and organisation and you must balance between the ideal and what is practical given the time and resources available.

The following represent some core principles for all dissertations:

• In your dissertation you will undertake a thorough review of literature and of current knowledge;
• A dissertation for a taught Master’s degree demonstrates your ability to synthesise theories and to relate theory and practice in a critical manner.

The following represent some core principles for all business reports:

• A Business report at taught Master’s degree level must demonstrate your ability to undertake an original and independent piece of research, evidenced through a case study. You will plan and design a business report based on a real organizational/management issue identified either through practice/primary or desk research.

In your Business report you will apply the theoretical concepts and subject knowledge gained on the course to critically examine and practically solve the management issue in an ethical manner.

The best dissertation/business reports for taught Master’s degrees show originality in their approach and insights gained, criticality in the way ideas and arguments are presented and analytical sophistication in the way ideas are scrutinised.

BE988: Module Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate the ability to identify, plan and undertake a substantial and original piece of independent research through critical evaluation of evidence.
• Demonstrate the capacity to apply and justify a range of research skills and methods from a range of choices, in order to design a relevant management research project.
• Presentation of clear and convincing arguments supported by adequate literature and data sources to evidence independent research.
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the knowledge and core concepts in specific areas in management, which the student has chosen to specialise, taking into account the global context in which organisations operate.
• Demonstrate critical, analytical and synthetic thinking skills in relation to management theories and their application within a global context.

BE972: Module Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate the ability to undertake an original and independent piece of research, evidenced through a case study.
• Plan and design a business report based on a real organizational/management issue identified either through practice or desk research.
• Apply the theoretical concepts and subject knowledge gained on the course to critically examine and practically solve the management issue in an ethical manner.
• Present clear arguments and evidence after collating/analysing the relevant data using appropriate design and methods.
• Practically apply their problem-solving, decision-making and research skills to solve complex managerial problems and make recommendations for policy and practice.

Dissertation/Business Report Schedule Overview

Starting your Dissertation/Business report

INITIAL SUPERVISORY MEETING

Once your dissertation/business report supervisor has been allocated, please contact your supervisor to arrange an initial meeting to discuss your plan and to make arrangements for further progress meetings. Supervisory meetings might either be in a group or individual form, but you can book one to one appointments with your supervisor in advance.

It is good practice to keep a record of all of your meetings with your supervisor (there is a template at the end of this document for you to record your meetings). Meetings will also be recorded by your supervisor electronically on the LEAP system.

You must have regular contact with your supervisor over the summer term, via face to face meetings, Zoom and email. Any leave of absence must be formally agreed with your supervisor (see p. 11). Meetings should be regular (4 meetings required over the period of the supervision ) and late summer meetings would not be granted unless arranged in advance.

In preparation for your supervisory meeting:

• Be clear about your topic. Try to identify some specific research questions for BE988 or a particular organisational problem for BE972. For BE972, you would submit a mind map poster (assignment 1), that will constitute 20% of your total mark for the module.
• Is the topic realistic and one which can be explored using desk research (secondary data) or does it require primary empirical investigation? Will the work be undertaken in the UK or elsewhere? Will it require ethical approval?
• Draw up a timetable of your work and discuss any milestones with your supervisor. Agree on key deadlines, the approximate number of meetings, and schedule future meetings.

Working on your Dissertation/Business report

SUPERVISORY MEETINGS

Students can expect a minimum of four meetings; at least one of these should be scheduled face-to- face and on a one-to-one basis.

Students are expected to prepare sufficient material for discussion during supervisory meetings, and ideally to submit it to their supervisor in advance (see Dissertation/business report Schedule). Make sure you leave each meeting with a clear idea of what to do next.

Students are encouraged to meet as a group outside of the formal supervisory meetings. Membership of such peer groups has proven very useful in past years; providing benefits and resources beyond that of developing the dissertation/business report.

CHANGE OF TOPIC/TITLE

Occasionally, it may be necessary for the student to change their topic. This might be at the behest of the supervisor, perhaps if research material is hard to come by or the proposed research method does not suit the topic. Title changes are common. Changes to your title or topic should be discussed and agreed with your supervisor. You should then notify the administration team at Ebshelp- col@essex.ac.uk. Students should be working on a dissertation/business report topic area related to their degree subject area.

SUMMER TERM

PGT students are required to work through the whole of the summer term. Limited time away for holidays or field trips may be permissible, but any such absences must first be agreed by the supervisor.

Students are strongly advised not to take long or unnecessary breaks before the draft is submitted if possible. Students must complete a PGT Permission for Leave of Absence or Fieldtrip form, which can be found on the Moodle BE988/BE972 page. It is important to remember that you must have consistent contact with your supervisor over the summer term, via face to face meetings, Zoom and

email. Students can expect that supervisors will keep in touch during the summer period and continue to insist on deadlines. Please plan in advance your meeting needs and check with your supervisor if they will not be available due to annual leave or research work during summer. Do not expect them to be available in short notice or to conduct all supervisory work at the very end of the work process. Supervisors are required to advise on any planned absences and provide a schedule of summer term office hours.

EMPIRICAL MATERIAL THAT CAN BE USED (Primary and Secondary)

This may include any one or more of the following:

• Financial, economic and statistical information (e.g. from Data stream, Labour Force Survey, Household Survey, etc);
• Company/sector/country-level databases (ORBIS, EMIS, Statista, Business Source Ultimate, etc.) accessible via Albert Sloman Library website with the student login
• The results of questionnaire surveys you have conducted yourself
• Interviews or focus groups you have conducted
• Participant observation of an organisation – e.g. a place of part-time work; a voluntary group or an organisation for which you have previously worked
• Non-participant observation of an organisation to which you can gain regular and reasonably extended access – e.g. a company where a friend or family member works
• Written or multimedia documents where independent existence can be verified
  oNewspaper articles; Film, Television, Radio, Videos
  oOfficial records and reports from companies, trade unions, professional associations, voluntary bodies, local & national government, independent research units and ‘think tanks’, industry forums & trade associations;
  oPublished diaries, biographies & autobiographies, histories of companies, industries or other relevant organisations;
  oArchived correspondence;
  oThe archived content of an internet discussion forum on social media platforms (example Twitter, blogs, please refer to the Guidance developed by British Sociological Association (BSA) ‘Ethics guidance and collated resources for digital research’).
  oHistorical academic literature (generally over 15 years old).
• Please note that students enrolled on BE988 module may also undertake a critical review/conceptual dissertation that will be based on an extensive critical assessment of the literature in that area. The critical review will require a systematic review of the published academic literature (but not exclusively) and will not require the collection or analysis of empirical primary or secondary data. Analysis of existing published literature is however required.

UNDERTAKING THE DISSERTATION/BUSINESS REPORT

Completing a thesis is a measure of a student’s individual ability. You must demonstrate that you are able to work independently and professionally in terms of managing the project and dealing with relational, methodological and content-related dimensions of the process.

Word Count limits:

BE988- the dissertation/business report should not exceed 10,000 words BE972- the business report should be between 8,000-10,000 words

Please note that for both BE988 and BE972 – the word count excludes table of contents, references and appendices; and your dissertation/business report supervisor may refuse to read anything beyond this limit.

Page layout:

• Use a regular font such as Times New Roman/Arial/Calibri and font size 12 for the main body of the text. A larger font size can be used for heading and subheadings.
• Pages should be numbered, preferably using bottom right corner numbering, with Roman Numerals.
• Pages should be single-sided, with a left hand margin of at least 3.2cm to allow room for binding. The right hand margin should be at least 1.3cm. The margins at the top and bottom of the page should be at least 2.5cm.
• Double line spacing should be applied to the document, except for footnotes and quotes.

CONTENT & STRUCTURE

There are no firm, specific rules for content and presentation of a dissertation/business report. Different parts of your work may have a different weight depending upon, for example, the nature

of your project and the availability of a background literature. Also, the organisation of content may slightly vary as advised by the supervisor.

However, dissertation/business reports could be structured as:

2. Is the text structured in a logical way into chapters, section and sub-sections?

3. Are there cross-references between different chapters, sections, sub-sections, tables, figures etc. to achieve flow?

4. Are your sentences clearly formulated and comprehensible?

5. Is the terminology appropriate?

6. Are there references to both the seminal literature and recent advances in research?

7. Does the text have a convincing introduction and conclusion?

8. Is the layout of your dissertation/business report clear and professional?

9. Have you checked the text for spelling mistakes, grammatical or linguistic errors?

If you require any guidance in completing your dissertation/business report, please seek support from your dissertation/business report supervisor.

FINAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE BE988/BE972

Students must submit their dissertation/business report via Faser no later than 10:00 on

Wednesday 10 September 2025. Failure to submit to Faser before the deadline will result in the student receiving a mark of zero.

ACADEMIC OFFENCE PROCEDURE 

Students need to be aware that all the Dissertation/business report will be checked for Academic Offences.

Please read the University policy for Academic Offences and academic Integrity here.

EBS MARKING SCHEME

The marking scheme applies to non-quantitative assessments.

MARKING CRITERIA (Business report)