Reference no: EM132323275
Industry/company appraisal or Business Plan
Request:
There are many different ways of structuring a report but the following may be a useful guide.
Title Page - should include the following information:
Name of the University
Name of the Programme
Full title of the report
Full name of the student (This is the only occasion in which you use your name and not your candidate number)
Name of the supervisor
Month and year of submission
Formal title of the degree for which the report is being submitted
Acknowledgements - to those who have assisted the author
Contents -listing all the main sections, Figures and Tables and appendices with page numbers
Summary - one or two pages giving either an abstract (theoretical type study) or an executive summary
(practical problem type study)
PART 1:
Introduction - clear, concise statement of what the report is about, its aims/objectives together with a description of the context/background/setting of the work
General Literature Review - covering the topic of the dissertation and giving the academic content
PART 2:
Method / Methodology - approach frameworks/models and reasons for choosing these, methods of collecting and analysing data. This may be a separate chapter or could be included at appropriate points
throughout the report
Major Sections / Main Text - as many sections or chapters as necessary to cover different aspects of the study. It is in these sections that data collection, modelling, data analysis, evaluation, etc will be dealt with.
Conclusions / Recommendations - summary of overall findings, discussion of implications, possible courses of action, constraints and limitations.
References - proper and full citing of literature and other sources used in the report.
Appendices - supporting material, often detailed, but not essential for the reader to make sense of the main
'story'. No appendix material should be included unless it is referred to in the main text.
The work must be typed or printed on A4 paper, in double or 1.5 spacing, on one side of the page only, with a margin of at least 35mm at the binding edge and 15mm elsewhere. All pages must be numbered consecutively.
There are many different ways of structuring a report but the following may be a useful guide.
Title Page - should include the following information:
Name of the University
Name of the Programme
Full title of the report
Full name of the student (This is the only occasion in which you use your name and not your candidate number)
Name of the supervisor
Month and year of submission
Formal title of the degree for which the report is being submitted
Acknowledgements - to those who have assisted the author
Contents -listing all the main sections, Figures and Tables and appendices with page numbers
Summary - one or two pages giving either an abstract (theoretical type study) or an executive summary
(practical problem type study)
PART 1:
Introduction - clear, concise statement of what the report is about, its aims/objectives together with a description of the context/background/setting of the work
General Literature Review - covering the topic of the dissertation and giving the academic content
PART 2:
Method / Methodology - approach frameworks/models and reasons for choosing these, methods of collecting and analysing data. This may be a separate chapter or could be included at appropriate points
throughout the report
Major Sections / Main Text - as many sections or chapters as necessary to cover different aspects of the study. It is in these sections that data collection, modelling, data analysis, evaluation, etc will be dealt with.
Conclusions / Recommendations - summary of overall findings, discussion of implications, possible courses of action, constraints and limitations.
References - proper and full citing of literature and other sources used in the report.
Appendices - supporting material, often detailed, but not essential for the reader to make sense of the main 'story'. No appendix material should be included unless it is referred to in the main text.
The work must be typed or printed on A4 paper, in double or 1.5 spacing, on one side of the page only, with a margin of at least 35mm at the binding edge and 15mm elsewhere. All pages must be numbered consecutively.
Introduction
This note provides information on the Business Appraisal or Sector Study type dissertations and complements Course Directors' Introduction to these types of dissertations in the first week session of the Business Research Methods module (BDM144 / BDM148). Most supervisors will offer the option of a business appraisal or a sector study as an alternative to topics related to their specialisms, either as a completely general topic or in relation to a specific sector. The intention is to give you some flexibility and freedom to choose a topic of relevance to you, for example because you wish to pursue a career in a sector or you have a family business interest. These notes provide a brief description of what a business appraisal or sector study dissertation would require.
Business Appraisal
Under this topic you could undertake an appraisal of a business of your choice. The term is commonly used to mean an objective evidence based analysis of an existing business or even a new business idea. In either case, a comprehensive appraisal would require examination of the market for the business's products and services, the non-financial and financial resources and competencies of the business (actual or proposed) and the business model and structure. The aim of the business appraisal would be to arrive at conclusions about the soundness of the business or any actions required to improve performance. This type of dissertation could be of interest to someone wishing to do an appraisal of a family business, either comprehensive or on a specific issue. The data for such an appraisal would be from the business and the dissertation would be marked as confidential if required.
Typically, a complete business appraisal would include a business plan with financial projections though this may not always be possible in the dissertation because of problems of access to data or confidentiality. You would, however be required to do a much more detailed appraisal of the business situation relating it to relevant theories, concepts and frameworks which should be explained and critiqued (see "Business appraisal or sector study: Dissertation structure" below) than would normally be the case in a "non-academic" business appraisal.
A business appraisal with focus on a specific issue (as opposed to a comprehensive appraisal as described above) could be a strategic appraisal of a business decision or issue (past examples include: (a) how a medium sized steel trading company in an emerging economy could improve its performance in the face of foreign competition, and (b) forming a strategic alliance with a foreign company to improve export performance).
Sector Study
Under this topic, you would carry out a study of a sector of your choice. This type of study is a review and assessment of the relevant recent past and current conditions and likely future development in the sector.
The typical aspects to be included in a sector study are:
- explanation of the major external factors which have influenced the growth and other changes in the sector likely to influence it in the future;
- identification of the main players in the sector (companies or parts of companies for conglomerates), their position in the market - relative size and other features such as the level of specialisation e.g. whether offering products or services across a range of market segments or focusing on the premium end;
- the competencies and resources of the companies and other factors which explain the performance of companies in the sector, and
- based on the above an assessment of the prospects for the sector and for different types of enterprises in the sector.
Business Appraisal or Sector Study: Dissertation Structure and Need for Analysis
The structure of the dissertation would be broadly similar to the conventional for and would consist of the following main components:
Introduction (issues to be investigated and context)
Literature review
Methodology
Analysis & Results
Discussion
Conclusions & Recommendations (the latter where appropriate)
An important difference between conventional dissertations and these more application oriented dissertations is that in the latter, the literature review would outline and critique the theories and frameworks used in the analysis, explain why they are appropriate for the analysis and introduce evidence from existing studies on the relevant sector as context for the study. Whether a business appraisal or a sector study, the dissertation cannot be simply a description of the company and its activities but should analyse the situation based on evidence and using appropriate theories, frameworks and tools. These are likely to come from Economic Environment of Business, International Business, Advanced Topics in International Business, Strategic Management, Business Finance, Accounting for Non-Financial Managers and Marketing Management.