Research Paper

Guidelines for possible Research Project Outline
Name:
Topic:

1. Introduction
   • Background
   o Overview of Company – products, services, performance
   o Evolution and overview of relevant issue or problem
   o How your role fits into the company, issue or problem

• Situation description
o What impact does the relevant issue/problem have on the Company’s bottom line
o What needs to happen to affect the problem, to change or improve
o What are other companies doing in relation to the issue/situation
o What steps will you take to research the situation

1. Project planning
   • Objectives
   o Research and learn Best Practices as they relate to the relevant issue
   o Understand the Cost and Benefits of these Best Practices
   o Develop plan to implement changes and/or improve and relevant issue
   o Think about how the Company will receive these changes, what can be done to make them relevant and accepted
   • Questions
   o How do the improvements get launched?
   o How are business cases for the changes created?
   o What role does Change Management play?
   o What role does governance play?
   o How will the benefits, savings, etc. be tracked and measured?
   o Metrics?
   • Alternatives
   o Identify other companies with similar situations – could be same or outside your industry
   o Attend Conferences if available to help solidify the solution
   o Research online
   o Research with fellow MSU Master Students
2. Methodology
   • Analysis method & Data Collections
   o Review the alternatives used above (benchmark firms, Conferences, etc)
   o Provide commentary on how research was collected
   • Validation
   o Do Metrics reflect positive results?
   o Depending on issue, validation methods will vary
3. Results
   • Findings from analysis
   • Answers to questions
4. Conclusions
   • Management recommendations
   • Generalizations