Writing and Presenting your Professional Dissertation - MBA

Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 1 1 1 MBA PROGRAM WRITING AND PRESENTING YOUR PROFESSIONAL DISSERTATION November 2011 2 2 AGENDA  The Objectives of the Professional Dissertation  The Role of the Tutor  The Different Phases of the Dissertation Implementation  The Problem Statement and the Research methodology  The Copies to submit  The Structure and the Content of the Dissertation  The Format of the Dissertation  The Dissertation Defense Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 2 3 3 THE PROFESSIONAL DISSERTATION  Is the key element in the MBA student’s schooling;  Shows the quality of the research carried out by the student, depending on:  Intensity of his/her work;  The riguour of the analysis;  How carefully the structure and the form have been made. 4 4 THE OBJECTIVES OF THE DISSERTATION The Dissertation meets two main objectives:  To put into practice the academic knowledge you acquired at the CFVG and to deepen it as you are implementing the research.  To learn a working methodology: time management for a long-term work, research and production of information with a critical acumen, documentation and collection of data focused on a specific problem. Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 3 5 5 THE DISSERTATION CONCEPT  A good dissertation will make a meaningful contribution to the field, but with fairly specific or narrow topic area.  A dissertation is not a corporate report or an internship report.  A dissertation should:  Summarize and integrate pertinent research and theory in its topics area.  Make a contribution of knowledge to its topic. This can be accomplished in several ways, such as conceptualizing an issue or problem in a useful manner, collecting new data through quantitative or qualitative research, demonstrating the applicability of a research method.  Show how a topic is analyzed. 6 6 THE ROLE OF THE TUTOR The tutor, who was chosen for his expertise related to the topic of the Dissertation,  Guides the student in his research and helps him getting useful contacts.  Contributes both to the content and to the form.  Gives grades to the three written copies the student has to submit. His written evaluation on the Final Copy of the Dissertation is necessary to allow the student to defend his/her Dissertation with the presence of a Board of Examiners.  Takes part in the Board of Examiners who attributes the grade of the defense. Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 4 7 7 THE ROLE OF THE TUTOR (2)  The student has to contact his/her Tutor frequently in order to have the feedback on the quality of the Dissertation. A calendar of meetings is necessary to help the student respect the main deadlines of the Dissertation and avoid to modify his/her paper in the last minute.  The Tutor may also suggest the student to narrow down the scope of the research to make the Dissertation more workable.  The most successful supervisor-student relationships are those in which the interaction of research and learning is two-way, in which the student discovers and explores materials and insights which are stimulating to the supervisor as well. 8 8 THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF THE DISSERTATION IMPLEMENTATION - Defense before a jury (Session 2)1 to 31 Oct 2012 - Submit the “Final Copy” (Session 2) Monday, 17 Sept 2012 - Defense before a jury (Session 1)2 to 13 July 2012 - Submit the “Final Copy” (Session 1) Monday, 18 June 2012 - Oral presentation of the “Intermediate Copy” with the tutor 16 to 27 April 2012 - First handling of the information - Research and analysis of the information - Submit the “Intermediate Copy” Monday, 9 April 2011 - Definition of the major points of the problem statement - Submit the paper of the “Proposal of the research topic” Monday, 13 Feb 2012 - First contact with tutor19 to 26 Dec 2011 - Final choice of the topicFriday, 16 Dec 2011 - Submission of Registration Form to the Secretary’s office Monday, 28 Nov 2011 - Introduction to the Professional Dissertation and Distribution of Registration Form Tuesday, 15 Nov 2011 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 5 9 9 THE FINAL GRADE 20TOTAL 10 4 4 2-13 July 2012 Or 1-31 October 2012 Dissertation Defense • Written report • Oral presentation • Answers to questions 5 Accepted or not18 June 2012 Or 17 September 2012 Final Copy4 2 (Accepted or not) 16-27 April 2012First Oral Presentation 3 Accepted or not9 April 2012Intermediate Copy2 Accepted or not13 February 2012Proposal of the Research Topic 1 WeightDeadlineEventsPha ses 10 10 WRITING MBA DISSERTATION The first thing to do is to identify a topic  Where do topics come from?  Can you brainstorm about research topics?  What is your topic about?  Why does it matter? Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 6 11 11 HOW TO GET STARTED?  Start with the existing literature (identify a gap; potential for extension or replication)  Start with a theory  Start with a new industry phenomenon or a recent issue (current issues, news, etc.)  Start with local issues  Ask yourself three questions:  Does it make sense?  Does it matter?  Can you (already) find the question in the literature or can you answer it through research? 12 12 STATE YOUR PURPOSE  The paper adds conceptually to the current body of knowledge  It exposes a weakness in the current body of knowledge  It tests a new proposition and demonstrates a new way of applying the body of knowledge  It adds empirically to the body of knowledge with new empirical evidence Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 7 13 13 "THE CRITICAL DIAMOND" YOU Your Field Your Subject Your Portfolio 14 14 THE PROBLEM STATEMENT  The problem statement of a research dissertation indicates the problem that the researcher aims at his work. From this problem statement, the student will come up with the main question of his research: What will be studied in my work?  A problem statement must have a wide view, but on a field of very precise application.  A problem statement must not be limited to a description or a report of situation. It is compulsory to analyze the information you have with a critical acumen.  In a research work, you have to show the clear problem from the beginning and to justify it. Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 8 15 15 THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY  The methodology includes the methods used to  solve the problem mentioned in the problem statement.  reach the objectives of the research.  Making the methodology clear allows to assess the analysis and results with clear references. 16 16 COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: THE PROPOSAL OF THE RESEARCH TOPIC As for the form, the proposal will include: A. The title (the most specific possible). B. The objectives of the research: - Introduction of the topic, - Problem statement, - Rationale of the research - The working hypothesis of the research, (if already elaborated). C. The scope and limitation of research study (what it includes and what it does not include) D. The position of the research compared to the available knowledge and former works. E. The relevance of the research. F. The possible identification of specific problems and extra hypotheses that will be needed. G. The research methodology: selected methods to solve the problem must be indicated with precise tasks and a possible schedule H. The sources of information: the bibliography and other sources of information. The proposal has to be no more than five pages long. Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 9 17 17 COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: THE INTERMEDIATE COPY It must include: A. The definitive title of the Dissertation. B. An introduction of the topic, with precise instructions about the problem statement and the methods used to solve it. Concerning primary information, the means for collecting data, the kinds of information providers, the making of guide-books of interviews and questionnaires must be specified. For secondary information, the sources of information must be mentioned. C. All these chapters, parts, sub-parts of the work should be academically included. For each chapter and part, if you are not able to provide the final essay, you will briefly quote the main ideas which will be developed. D. The provisional conclusions, according to the results of analysis obtained at this stage. E. The bibliography. F. The appendices. 18 18  The student has to present the Intermediate Copy to his/her Tutor.  The objective is to show that the student makes progress in his/her research as planned and that he/she will be able to meet the deadline.  In order to present an overview of the research at this step, the student will have to provide a sufficient effort to quickly get information and to analyze it. THE FIRST ORAL PRESENTATION Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 10 19 19 COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: THE FINAL COPY The final copy will present all of your research results. It must include the following parts: A. The standard cover page (same presentation as in the Consultancy Project Report), the notification page. B. The table of contents with numbered pages. C. The list of charts, graphs presented in the copy, page numbering. A list of acronyms, abbreviations in the copy must also be added. D. Information on the company or on the environment the topic is about. E. The introduction of the Dissertation, with the problem statement and methodological instructions. F. The different parts of the Dissertation. G. The conclusion is composed of a brief summary of the obtained results, a short thinking about these results, and the possible extensions of the undertaken research. H. The bibliography. I. The table of contents of the appendixes (the page numbering of the appendixes follows the one in the Dissertation). J. The appendices. K. Glossaries and index if needed. 20 20 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION  Introduction  Chapter I: Theoretical framework or Literature review  Chapter II: Methodology  Chapter III: Findings and Results Analysis  Chapter IV: Recommendations  Conclusion  Bibliography  Appendices [...]... ideas or information important to your research; looking for the major concepts, conclusions, theories, arguments, etc that underlie the work, and similarities and differences with closely related work Write with a purpose: aims to evaluate and show the relationships between the work already done and between this work and your own 26 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011... included all references mentioned in your text in your bibliography or list of references and that all the details of this documentation are correct 46 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 23 WHAT DO I MUST REFERENCE? WHAT NOT? What do I must reference? All work done by other researchers, and that you want to refer to in your own writing Other writers’ words What do... the Research Results and Discussion: Main Findings Recommendations Conclusion 10 to 15 minutes 10 to 15 slides 53 REFERENCES • BUI Thi Lan Huong, (2008) Writing and Presenting Your Master Dissertation , CFVG • CFVG, (2011) “Guide of Professional Dissertation Implementation – MBA Program, 19th intake 201 0-2 012” • DIMANCHE Frederic, (2008) “Synergy Faculty Seminar and Workshop”, 1 7-1 9 November 2008, CERAM/RULE/CFVG... the understanding of your work, but allow the one willing to go deeper in the knowledge of the topic or to have more information 50 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 25 PLAGIARISM Definition: « Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s ideas or words as your own » (The Little, Brown Handbook, 1992: 578) Why we do not plagiarize? It is misleading and perhaps... ‘Figure’ and ‘Equation’ if they are used consistently throughout the text ‘Table’ is not normally abbreviated The complete word (Table, Figure, Equation) is preferred when starting a sentence 42 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 21 ABBREVIATIONS The international standard of abbreviations should be used throughout the text See any standard style manual to check on standard... more than 20 minutes to present his/her Dissertation This presentation is followed by questions asked by the members of the Board of Examiners The presentation must be clear, concise and illustrated with slides A maximum of 15 slides is recommended 52 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 26 THE DISSERTATION DEFENSE (2) Content : Dissertation Title Agenda Introduction,... Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 19 FORMAT OF THE PROFESSIONAL DISSERTATION All of the rules concerning the format of the copies to be submitted to the CFVG must be strictly observed These copies include The Proposal The Intermediate Copy The Final copy These rules are clearly indicated in the Appendix II of the Guide of Dissertation Implementation, on pages 1 5-1 7... use the ampersand (&) in place of and Do not use a slash (/) in place of and or ‘or’ 43 FOOTNOTES A footnote is an explanatory note or comment at the bottom of a page, referring to a specific part of the text on the page Footnotes can be useful for notes such as informing the reader of currency exchange rates applied in the calculation 44 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation –... sections, it should be kept to a minimum Remember too that the focus should be different: while you are simply presenting the results and making them meaningful to your reader in the results section, in the discussion section, you are explaining them 36 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 18 CONCLUSION (1) Purpose : to give a summary of What was learned (usually comes... quotation marks and the title of the periodical in italics or underlined Ex : RALSTON D.A., NGUYEN V.T., NAPIER N.K., (1999) « A Comparative Study of the Work Values of North and South Vietnamese Managers », Journal of International Business Studies, vol 30, iss 4, pp 65 5-6 72 For a chart or a graph, mention the source at the bottom of it 48 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November . Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 1 1 1 MBA PROGRAM WRITING AND PRESENTING YOUR PROFESSIONAL DISSERTATION November 2011 2 2 AGENDA . and the Content of the Dissertation  The Format of the Dissertation  The Dissertation Defense Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November 2011 2 3 3 THE PROFESSIONAL DISSERTATION . Monday, 28 Nov 2011 - Introduction to the Professional Dissertation and Distribution of Registration Form Tuesday, 15 Nov 2011 Writing and presenting your Professional Dissertation – November