Course Catalogue

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The dissertation is a detailed piece of writing to further develop student's knowledge and expertise in their area of study.

The dissertation is typically carried out through the summer months, between late May and mid-August.

It is supported via regular individual and collective supervisory meetings, including 4 x 3-hour supervisory workshops with groups of between 10 and 12 students.

A 2-hour preparatory lecture will be delivered by the relevant programme coordinator towards the end of the second semester to explain aims and learning objectives, supervisory arrangements and key deadlines. This will be supplemented by 3 x 2 hour process and proposal workshops to help students make the transition from taught courses to dissertation supervision. This will develop understanding of types and sources of data; refine skills in problem solving, critical reviewing and evaluating; and also enhance student ability to plan, organise and complete their independent work.

Students need to meet the requirements for progression to the dissertation based on the taught courses of the programmes as detailed in the Code of Assessment.

None

Dissertation between 10,000 to 12,500 words (excluding the cover page, table of contents, references, and appendices if any), normally submitted before the end of August.

The dissertation is a detailed piece of writing to further develop students' knowledge and expertise in their area of study. It provides students with the opportunity to reflect upon the knowledge acquired during the taught elements of the MSc and to take independent responsibility for the application of explicit management principles and practices to a particular problem or issue. The dissertation often involves examining a particular topic/ question in-depth. The aims of the course are to:

■ Provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding of key management concepts, relevant theories and contemporary issues to produce an important piece of independent written work.

■ Consider issues regarding the choice of a suitable topic, generation of a project proposal and development of objective(s) and question(s).

■ Introduce students to key choices concerning design, methods, and analytical procedures. 

■ Stress the importance of critically reviewing these choices and their consequences.

■ Highlight the importance of the ability to plan and undertake a critical review of literature and analysis of available data/ evidence.

On completion of the dissertation students will be able to:

■ Plan, organise, conduct and present a distinctive and substantial piece of independent scholarship.

■ Demonstrate an informed understanding of key aims and objectives identified in the degree programme.

■ Identify and define a relevant management topic, problem, question and objectives that can be effectively and independently addressed given the constraints of an MSc dissertation.

■ Develop a coherent plan and proposal to investigate a specific management problem.

■ Conduct a critical literature review, demonstrating a capacity for evaluation and synthesis.

■ Assess the relevance of the knowledge obtained in the programme as applied to a specific academic/ business problem.

■ Demonstrate skills in problem solving by identifying gaps in the academic literature (dissertation) or specific business problems; developing an organised and structure approach; and drawing on relevant data sources to address such gaps.

■ Critically evaluate relevant research studies and empirical data.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.