This module aims to:

Provide students with an opportunity to undertake independent research in a rigorous and systematic fashion using appropriate methods to investigate a business and/or management challenge or opportunity, and to prepare and present findings, conclusions and recommendations;

Equip students with the ability to synthesise management theory and practice, enabling them to critically evaluate and apply relevant theories to analyse and solve or seize complex management and business challenges and opportunities;

Enhance students' ability to critically analyse and synthesise complex, ambiguous data from diverse sources, empowering them to make well-reasoned judgements and recommendations grounded in sustainable and responsible management principles.

(LO1) Students will be able to select a business and/or management challenge or opportunity and justify their choice and their process of inquiry in a rigorous and systematic fashion.

(LO2) Students will be able to develop a structured proposal in order to undertake independent, practice-based research using appropriate methods.

(LO3) Students will be able to integrate their knowledge of business management theory and practice, enabling them to critically evaluate and apply relevant theories to analyse and solve or seize complex management and business challenges and opportunities.

(LO4) Students will be able to analyse and synthesise complex and ambiguous data from a wide variety of sources, in order to make reasoned judgements and recommendations grounded in sustainable and responsible management principles.

(LO5) Students will be able to prepare and present findings, conclusions and recommendations in a format acceptable to their target audience.

(LO6) Students will be able to reflect on their personal development throughout and as a result of this activity.

(S1) Problem solving
Students will be encouraged to think critically about organisational issues, dilemmas and opportunities. They will do this by gathering and synthesising information, analysing alternative perspectives and options and presenting a considered opinion or course of action in their course assessment.

(S2) Verbal and written communication
Students will have opportunities to develop their communication skills through learning and assessment activities.

(S3) Commercial awareness
Students will develop an understanding of the commercial nature of organisations and will use this understanding to underpin both operational and strategic decision-making.

(S4) Ethical awareness
The teaching, learning, and assessment strategy ensures that all students are exposed to ideas of sustainable business practice and ethical awareness relating to leadership and management.

(S5) IT literacy
Students will have opportunities to improve their IT skills. Students will demonstrate skills in the use of software applications including word processing, databases, spreadsheets and using the internet for information searches in the course of researching and presenting their project.

(S6) Organisation skills and ability to work under pressure
This will be evident in the students’ independent management of their assignments and ability to meet deadlines.

(S7) Lifelong Learning
A compulsory element of the project is a reflection on learning, where students examine the skills they have developed and reflect on how they will continue to use these throughout their lives.

The duration of the MBA Project is 16 weeks. The taught sessions will take place over 5 weeks as students develop their project proposal.

The first five weeks of the module will be delivered through a series of e-lectures, delivered through a variety of methods, covering key topics, theories and case examples. These activities will be moderated by the module instructor. Students will also be directed to key academic and practitioner readings to further develop their learning.

Unscheduled Directed Student Hours: 30 hours
Description: The asynchronous e-lecture and interactive class activity will equate to 6 hours per week over 5 weeks.
Attendance Recorded: Yes – tracked via the learning platform.

Students will also participate in synchronous seminars during weeks 1 to 5. The dates and times of the synchronous seminars will be confirmed at the start of the module (if there are issues with time zones another session will be provided). The synchronous sessions will focus on peer interaction, discussion and questions, with the module instructor participating as a coach and mentor. These sessions will be recorded and moderated by the module instructor.

Scheduled Directed student hours: 10 hours
Description: The synchronous seminars will equate to 2 hours per week over 5 weeks.
Attendance Recorded: Yes – tracked via the learning platform.

Unscheduled Directed Student Hours: 10 hours
Description: The first meeting will include formative feedback on the student's project proposal, and the content of the other three meetings will be dependent on the needs of the student.
Attendance Recorded: No

Students will be allocated a supervisor for their MBA project who will support their process of independent learning and inquiry. Supervisory contact hours will include feedback on one draft chapter, progress check-ins, and ongoing Q&A.

Self-directed learning hours: 550 hours
Descriptio n: Initially, students will undertake independent tasks and reading in order to support their learning and research. Students will work on their project proposal and, after formative feedback on the proposal, continue to work on their project. Most students will embark on empirical data collection, so will also develop a fieldwork strategy, work towards and submit an ethics approval application, analysing the data collected before write-up.

The research process - identifying a suitable topic, developing a project proposal, and ethics in research (including guidance on the University’s ethics approval process).

Diagnosing problems and spotting opportunities: Research questions and objective - working with organisations, developing business plans and academic enquiry.

Developing a literature review and informed practice.

Types of data and data collection strategies:
(1) Qualitative research: design, data collection, analysis and presentation;
(2) Quantitative research: statistical techniques and data presentation;
(3) Practitioner inquiry data collection and analysis strategies.

Writing recommendations and demonstrating impact.