How to Write a Master’s Dissertation for Management?

Brief Highlights

• Planning a dissertation is one of the most vital components of one’s education (graduate and post-graduate).
• A dissertation can be explained as a research paper, being formal and lengthy to be submitted for a higher degree in a university.
• It is noteworthy that the master’s projects should represent one’s own research and critical analysis and hence should be put into action independently.
• The work conducted should exhibit salient features such as knowledge about the topic, ability to plan and perform the research, discuss the results or conclusion obtained etc.

Introduction

A dissertation for masters should be ones self-work and should represent novelty and the critical analysis performed. It has been observed through some research works that most of the management students face difficulty while planning their dissertations because they do not invest a proper time in deciding the content that they should include in their dissertation. It is expected that the dissertation submitted by the student should exhibit the following characteristics:

• Sound knowledge about the significant works performed in the study.
• Ability to plan the research and analyze the results obtained.
• Relevant conclusions on the basis of the results obtained.
• Description included should be well-planned and organized.

These are some of the key characteristics that a master’s dissertation should represent. It is also expected that the candidate should be well-versed with his dissertation so that he can represent it in professional meetings or publications etc.

The struggle or difficulties while planning a management dissertation can be overcome only through proper planning and organization of the content. It is undeniable that gathering information or data is a complicated task but a dissertation cannot be planned without performing literature review, designing research questions and hypothesis and performing analysis for the results obtained. In addition to these the topics chosen by the candidates should not be too broad which results in fragmenting the content in dissertation rather than giving it an interrelated appearance. However, it is highly critical to develop or plan a dissertation on the basis of a single question and thus the candidate should discuss this problem with the associated supervisor. Additionally, to avoid this issue some key measures that can be followed are:

• Refer only current theories and models rather than developing your own theories.
• Focus on implementing some useful model in your work and make sure bring out something really useful. This will give you motivation and make you feel that you have achieved something and your efforts have not been waste.

Structure of the Dissertation

In the aforementioned section the emphasis has been laid on the planning of content in dissertation. However, apart from planning the content it is also significant to structure it make it appealing to the audience. A better structure of the content is of paramount significance as it ensures better transmission of information that is being conveyed. A snippet of the structure to be followed for management dissertation is given here in addition to a brief description for what content should be included in each heading.

Table 1: Structure of dissertation

Though this structure might ensure better transmission of information but it is imperative that the sections are interlinking. Additionally, it is also necessary that every chapter of the dissertation has an introduction and a conclusion. Dissertations that do not include any introduction or do not signify any conclusion or future scope generally fails.

Executive Summary:

This section of the dissertationpresents an overview of what the dissertation is about, what has been identified by the candidate etc. It can be assumed as window shopping of the dissertation.

Introduction:

This is the primary section of a dissertation and focuses on the motive of dissertation and the allied problems. It is also presents an outline of the thesis describing in brief what content is included in each chapter.

Literature review:

This chapter discusses the key works performed by different researchers and the issues resolved. Planning this section requires a well-designed content as it helps to examine the problem that is being discussed by candidate.

Research Hypotheses:

It is actually a set of questions that define the research and are planned on the basis of gaps that are identified from literature review.

Methodology:

In this section of the dissertation the approaches followed for collecting data are mentioned in addition to their suitability for the research being performed. This is an important section as a poor methodology can cause the failure of dissertation. Apart from the approaches, this chapter of the dissertation also includes the sample size chosen by the candidate.

Results:

This chapter of the dissertation actually represents the analysis of the data that has been gathered. It is the most significant chapter as it exhibits the entire work of the researcher. It is preferred to include more graphical illustrations in this chapter and less theory. Including graphics will help the researcher to explain his point in an easy manner and will also be a value addition to the dissertation.

Discussion:

In this section the emphasis is laid on discussing the significance of research work. Additionally, it is desired that in this section the researcher raises some questions or issues that he has come across while analyzing his data.

Recommendations:

In this section the candidate can recommend some key points on the basis of his research, especially the ones that he analyzed from his work. The recommendations made should be in accordance with the research questions.

Conclusions:

Similar to introduction, conclusion is also the most vital section of a research and is expected that in this section one should criticise his findings. Though it is difficult to criticise one’s own findings but it actually strengthens the faith of reader in the quality of research performed.

References (referencing):

Again a vital section, references should be arranged in accordance with the guidelines mentioned as this can lead to rejection of one’s dissertation.

 Reference:

• Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (4th ed. ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc
• Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, 4thedition.
• Saunders, M., P. Lewis, and A. Thornhill (2007). Research Methods for Business Students (4th edition). Harlow: Prentice Hall.
• Levin, P. (2005). Excellent Dissertations. Open University Press.
• Calabrese, R. L. (2006). The elements of an effective dissertation & thesis: a step-by-step guide to getting it rightthe first time. Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield Education.
• Collis, J. and Hussey, R. (2003). Business Research: a practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate student (2nd edition). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (Chapter 9: Writing up Research).
• Leary, Z. (2004) The Essential Guide to Doing Research. London: Sage Chapter Six