- Introduction
This guide sets out the requirement for the Dissertation module of the ESE’s BSc degree. It also gives
advice on how the requirements might be met by students and explains the marking schemes and criteria
that will be used to assess dissertation.
All students wishing to proceed to their final project should meet ALL the following conditions:
• All first year modules are complete and recorded as a pass or irredeemable fail.
• The student should be following regular progression and have no more than two modules
outstanding.
• Both internships should be complete.
• The Final Project Development Workshop must be successfully completed - Aims of the Final Project
The aim of the Final Project work is to enable students to put their specialist skills, knowledge and
understanding into practice through the medium of a significant individual research project and written
dissertation which must be related to the student’s programme pathway.
All students are required to complete a Final Project appropriate to their specialization (Marketing,
Finance, Management, Sports, Digital Marketing. This work should be connected with the Final obtained
from the Final Project Development Workshop.
The length of the Final Project is 10 000 words ± 10%, excluding appendices and supporting material.
Final Projects which are over length will be penalised by 10 marks for up to 20% over the word limit. Final
Projects over 20% will not be accepted.
Copies of the Final Project must be submitted as follows:
• bound copy of the final project
• unbound copies of the abstract
• An electronic copy submitted on Turnitin.com as instructed - Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Final Project module, students should be able to:
a. Organize and conduct investigative research in the relevant field.
b. Think and write critically and analytically about the chosen topic and the various methods used to
investigate phenomena.
c. Evaluate more effectively the research and concepts of others and better understand the
appropriate epistemology.
d. Be aware of the personal responsibility and professional codes of conduct and incorporate a
critical ethical dimension into a major piece of work.
ESE BSc Final Project 28.08.2019
e. Draw together information derived from other s and from their own word in order to develop
conclusions.
f. Apply the relevant statistical or qualitative concepts of similarity and difference in a rigorous and
intellectually disciplined way. - Types of acceptable Final Project formats
There are a few final project formats acceptable outside from the traditional bibliographical thesis, all of
them equally challenging in a different manner. Their choice should match the professional and
intellectual pursuit of the candidate. For instance, if a practical application is sought after, perhaps a
Business Plan could be advisable. On the other hand, if a student wishes to develop a certain expertise
in a specific area of management, finance or marketing, then a case study, strategy paper or traditional
paper will be in order.
No matter what the overall objectives sought, students should bear in mind the time constraint which in
this case is 3 months from beginning to end.
In summary, the ESE acceptable Final project types are as follows:
a) Case study:
b) Strategy paper
c) Traditional Thesis
d) Business Plan
Graph with the areas impacted by the different forms of Final Project available
Research
Question/
Hypothesis
Literature
Review
Empirical
Design
Management/
Sports/
Digital
Marketing
Discussion
Financial
Analysis
Marketing
Analysis
Strategy
Analysis
Case
Study
Strategy
Paper
Traditional
Thesis
Business
Plan
Source: our own elaboration August 2019
What type of work and commitment is involved in each single type?
a) Case study:
May be a single case or multiple case, namely it may deal with one firm or with many firms provided that
they have a common salient issue the work intends to delve into. It refers to a thorough analysis of a
single aspects that presents some element of novelty in the company’s management style, process or
culture which could be Finance, Management, Marketing, Digital Marketing and Sports depending on the
area of specialization of the student.
ESE BSc Final Project 28.08.2019
A example of a case study would be to study the use of blockchain in a group of 5 major banks in order
to assess that state of the art of such applications in the banking industry.
A case study approach should possess a good research question, hypothesis and a good literature
review.
Although most of the data analyzed will be secondary (related to the company in point as produced by a
third party) it should be coupled with primary data collection through interviews, observation or social
media analysis.
b) Strategy Paper:
It is different from the previous in that it focuses on an issue or family of issues which pertain to top
management decision making at a firm or group of firms or industries. The emphasis here would not be
so much on the entity which gets analyzed but the topic that is identified by the work.
An example of a strategy paper would be for instance the Analysis of the Corporate Governance
Strategies in Major Indian family owned firms.
A Strategy paper would have a good research question and hypothesis, a strong literature review and a
good empirical data collection. The data collection could be through interviews, observation or social
media analysis. The focus of the analysis would be in an issue that is related to Strategy which could be
Governance, Growth Strategies, CSR, Ethics, M&A, Partnerships, Alliances, etc.
c) Traditional thesis
A traditional thesis attempts to provide an answer to an issue or topic the scientific community is currently
wrestling with. Either the topic or the approach should be novel.
An example of a traditional thesis could be Use of the principles of Islam banking to the Islamic
Insurance business: true or simply a myth?
It should show a strong methodological knowledge along with a good empirical design, research question
and a functional area being developed.
d) Business Plan
A business plan is a blueprint for a business which goes from the opportunity assessment all the way to
the launch and management of a new business. The emphasis here is the practical application of the
management principles in order to set up a business from scratch.
An example of it is a feasibility study for an international kinder garden for GE workers.
The business plan is quite involving since it should based on a hypothesis of a business idea which
eventually gets put in place. It may take time unless the student has a deep knowledge of the industry
and knows very well what the challenges are in the industry in point. It covers research question,
hypothesis, a thorough literature review, good data collection and one or more subjects covered.
Sources and Referencing
All ethical issues pertaining to this research project must be discussed with your tutor and you
should seek formal approval for such matters. Please see your academic coordinator for pertinent
forms and more detailed information.
Students must follow the Harvard referencing system for the Final Project. Plagiarism of any kind
will not be tolerated and you will be awarded zero if there is any evidence of plagiarism. Please read
ESE BSc Final Project 28.08.2019
the regulations on Academic Misconduct available on the Portal.
Students are reminded to use valid and peer-reviewed references to support their work. Websites
should only be used if they represent an established source and only for facts and figures. Students
should make the most of academic and practitioner books and articles.
Project Structure
The project should consist of the following chapters:
Executive Summary or Abstract
Both and Executive Summary and an Abstract are a one page summary of the theoretical (managerial?)
debate contained in the work with a description of the methodology adopted and the findings obtained.
A reader of the Final Project should be able to go through the Executive Summary (for Case studies,
Strategy Paper or Business Plan) or Abstract (for a traditional thesis) and pass a judgement on the merits
of the work. The Executive Summary of a business plan should also give an indication of the financing
needs of the enterprise.
1) Introduction
How well does the student set the context for the research (why did you choose this topic, how
did you come about this research), how clear are the objectives related to the context set, how
well does the student set out the scope of the research?
2) Literature review
The literature review should depart from general theories and arrive at a few of those that the author
finds useful for the study. The literature review should revolve around the chosen keywords. So
needless to say, students working on their final project should have a list of 4-5 keywords to orient
their search.
How extensive and exhaustive is the literature review? Does it have both breadth and depth? Has
the referencing been properly done? How well does the student demonstrate learning from reading
others’ work? Does the student’s work stand on the shoulders of giants whose work he/she has
familiarized himself/herself with?
Has the student been able to critically evaluate the literature rather than simply summarizing it? Has
the student been able to show how the literature reads and fits with his/her proposed question and
show how his/her work will progress knowledge further?
The literature review should give an indication of the background of the research work and the
research objectives sought after.
3) Methodology
Should indicated the “how” the study will be conducted, by means of what research tools.
How were the data collected? (present a timeline of collection, issues/challenges : how were
challenges dealt with, outline development of data collection tools)
How rigorous was the methodology in collecting the data (sampling, rationale for methods used;
academic underpinning of methods used – why and similarly why were other methods not
considered suitable)? How well did the student adapt to changes and new factors that arise during
research?
ESE BSc Final Project 28.08.2019
How are ethical considerations pertaining to the research addressed? How does the student
understand the limitations of his/her research?
4) Findings & Analysis
Does the student explain the findings in an understandable manner? Does the student make
intelligent sense of the data gathered in relation to the research questions set? Does the student
critically evaluate the findings (quality of findings and analysis - not simply summarizing the text)
5) Conclusions/ recommendations and discussion
How well is the student able to connect draw conclusions from the findings and relate them to the
research objectives? How does the student link the findings & analysis and conclusion to the
recommendation for future research?
How well does the student interpret the findings in the light of the literature that s/he has read? What are
the limitations of the methodology adopted or the topic chosen? Knowing this should be useful for other
researchers as an admonition of the mistakes that should not be made in the future.
Make sure to distinguish that when your Final Project deals with a project/strategy plan/business plan
then the term “conclusions” should be replaced by the term “recommendations”.
In all other cases, traditional thesis/report/case study, the term “conclusion” is correct.
6) Flow of the dissertation, referencing
How does the student structure and present his/her report (ease of reading for the examiner, formatting,
fonts used, spaces provided, tables, graphs, figures, etc., properly labelled, presented and placed)? Has
the referencing been properly done using the Harvard System?
How easy is it to read and understand the dissertation?
Oftentimes, students confuse citations with a bibliography. The citations are inline clarifications related
to the specific text. If a citation was conducted on a given work. Then a bibliography should spell out
such entries.
Deadline AY 2019-2020 May 25th 2020 on Turnitin.com (by midnight)
BSc Final Project should be submitted on Turnitin.com by May 25th, 2020.
Extensions to the deadline for submitting final project will only be granted in exceptional
circumstances. Extensions must be requested in writing to the Head of Governance, along with
supporting evidence (for example: medical certificates). Extensions are limited in duration and students
will normally be expected to submit by the next available deadline.
Further extensions will not be granted except in very exceptional circumstances.
As per our Academic Regulations (section 8G), in case of late submission, students who submit their
final project up to 2 weeks after the given deadline will have 10% of the given mark deducted. Students
who do not submit within this timescale will be deemed to have failed and be given a mark of zero (0).
The Board of Examiners may give such students one further opportunity to submit their dissertation for
a maximum of a capped mark of 40. The deadline for resubmission will be set by the examination board.
Students who fail their Final Project will be given only one further opportunity to submit. The deadline for
resubmission will be set by the examination board.
ESE BSc Final Project 28.08.2019
Students who fail their Final Project will be given only one further opportunity to submit. The deadline for
resubmission will be set by the examination board.
Final Projects are double marked by two members of academic staff and an agreed mark which is not
necessarily the arithmetic mean of the two marks, given. Where the two markers cannot agree a mark,
a third independent marker will also mark the work to resolve any difference of opinion.
Evaluation
Final Projects are double marked by two members of academic staff and an agreed mark which is not
necessarily the arithmetic mean of the two marks, given. Where the two markers cannot agree on a mark
and the discrepancy between the two markers is higher than 5 points, a third independent marker will
also mark the work to resolve any difference of opinion.
Students may, at the discretion of the examiners, be required to attend a viva voce examination or such
other tests as may be considered appropriate. Wherever possible the viva should be held before the end
of term, but this cannot be guaranteed
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