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INTERNATIONALUNIVERSITYCOLLEGE
UWIC
CARDIFFSCHOOLOFMANAGEMENT
MASTERSINBUSINESSADMINISTRATION(MBA)
MBA7099
DISSERTATIONHANDBOOK
(June2009Version)
ACADEMICYEAR2011/2012
CONTENTS
1) Dissertation Procedures
Page 3
2) Dissertation Presentation
Page 5
Page 7
4) Referencing
Page 9
5) Plagiarism
Page 13
Page 13
Page 15
You are embarking on a significant piece of individual study and need to be disciplined and
realistic in your use of time.
Students are given 3 months for full-time or 6 months for part-time completion and it is very
important that you communicate with your supervisor, the Dissertation Coordinator or the Head
of MBA if you are unable to meet the deadlines set.
Submission date for 2012 is:
TBA
Staff should be contactable at all times unless on annual leave but as the summer is often the
only time staff may take leave then students should be mindful of the necessity of using e-mail.
E-mail in general, using your IUC UWIC account is the best way of keeping in contact and
arranging meetings.
These are the dates that allow staff time to mark, double-mark and check with the external
examiner to be certain that marks are fair and consistent. Once the mark is agreed it is entered
at the Examining Board and if the work exceeds 40% it will pass and an MBA awarded.
Meetings with supervisors
Each student should know that the dissertation forms part of their degree and as such requires
thought and preparation. The student should be the driver here and initiate activity around the
dissertation and be reading and investigating their topic demonstrating a genuine curiousity. The
Research methods teaching should have helped in the preparation of the dissertation and
students should be able to work unaided in the main. This is an activity that is yours and for you
alone to progress and be responsible for with some advice from a supervisor.
It is very important that staff are allowed sufficient time for the reading of drafts and students
MUST NOT EXPECT staff to read work instantly when a deadline is imminent. Ideally, a full
draft between 2 weeks and a month before the deadline allows time for changes and
amendments- subject of course, to the supervisors schedule.
Topic selection
There are a number of students that choose topics related to their chosen pathway and optional
modules. Other students are influenced by their workplace/ experience or suggestions from their
reading or their ideas for future career. Above all, the topic must be interesting to you because
your enthusiasm will influence your writing and ability to work. There is a body of knowledge
available for checking who has written about the topic chosen. Students should be aware of who
has written about their subject and demonstrate how they are informed by this work and its
contribution to their study.
3
The MBA offers a broad range of opportunities for further investigation and dissertation titles
include
- The contribution of Business Process Reengineering for improving productivity and quality in
Indian organisation: a case study SYNTEL Limited.
- Reviewing UWIC (CSM) management of international students using Best Practice analysis.
The envisaged system for the dissertation process is:
Students are thinking about their topic, reading and investigating this should be encouraged
by Research Methods.
Student works with their supervisor with a clear plan of action formally recording 3 meetings.
Draft materials submitted to supervisor for checking and agreement of what is to be done next.
Results released.
TAKE ACTION
The dissertation is not supposed to be easy. If you are struggling with your work it is
understandable and you must share your problem. Rather than just thinking about it more and
more, make an appointment and speak to your supervisor. If your problem is more personal in
nature, you may prefer to speak to a different member of staff from a choice of the MBA
team/personal tutors/International Welfare Officer. Remember there are also counselling
services within UWIC with professionally trained counsellors to help.
Learn to prioritise, make a list and take each point at a time. If you are struggling with the
structure of your work, use the guidelines contained in this handbook. The marking scheme
gives clear guidance on how the marks are allocated, use it.
(2) DISSERTATION
PRESENTATION
All copies shall be presented in permanent and legible form in typescript or print and the
characters shall be not less than 12 pt.
Typing shall be of even quality with clear black characters, and capable of photographic
reproduction.
1.5 spacing shall be used in typescript but for the Summary and indented quotations
single spacing shall be used.
Drawings and Sketches shall be in black ink; unnecessary detail should be omitted and
there should be at least 1 mm between lines.
Page margins for both left and right side should be set at 3cm. Copies produced by
xerographic or comparable permanent processes are acceptable.
The Cover:
The volume shall bear the surname and initials of the candidate,
The full or abbreviated title of the dissertation,
The name of the degree for which the dissertation is being submitted
The date of submission.
:
:
:
Distinction level
Merit
Pass
Fail
In order to gain a Masters Degree with Distinction, a candidate shall achieve a distinction level
performance in each of Part One and Part Two of the MBA. A candidate may be awarded a
masters degree with distinction in the dissertation, when the dissertation (Part two of the MBA)
is awarded a distinction mark but the candidate has not achieved a distinction grade in the Part
One of the MBA.
15%
20%
15%
20%
20%
10%
Description
90 - 100
80 - 89
70 - 79
This range will cover a submission that has a number of original insights and also
provides a comprehensive and accurate coverage of the question and issues
under consideration with a high level of consistency throughout the dissertation.
60 - 69
50 - 59
40 - 49
30 - 39
20 - 29
The submission does not clearly specify a basic question and shows little logical
development or structure. There is no evidence of criticism, synthesis or
evaluation.
0 - 19
(4) REFERENCING
CITATION & REFERENCING
Introduction
The HARVARD method of referencing is recommended within UWIC.
The HARVARD system has a number of advantages:
it provides references to sources without the reader having to go to the end of the text
it simplifies the citations at the end of the text by doing away with the need for a list of
references as well as a bibliography.
The main points about referencing are to be consistent and to use the system correctly.
Citing within your Text
Brief quotes (less than 5 lines) are usually contained within the text but placed between inverted
commas, while longer extracts are given a separate single-spaced indented paragraph with a
line left blank above and below and no use of inverted commas. In both cases you must
acknowledge the author within your text and give a full reference in the Reference List.
If you refer to the author directly, place the year of publication in brackets: e.g.
Bell (1994) describes a number of different strategies for . . . . .
If the author is not referred to directly in the sentence, both the name and year are placed in
brackets: e.g.
One particular source on methodology (Bell, 1994) has indicated that. . . .
Do not add forenames or initials. The year refers to when the particular edition was published,
not the year the text was printed. If a reference relates to a particular page in a book, include
the page number prefixed by p. for a single page, or pp. if more than one page. Quotations
from articles do not need the page numbers as they should be indicated in the Reference List
included at the end of you work (see later in this unit).
Some examples of how to reference within your work follow:
If you want to use a small direct quotation of a piece of text within your work , then you
must give the details of the text between inverted commas followed by name, date and
page(s)
e.g.
"Reading . . . . . may help you to devise a theoretical or analytical framework as a basis
for the analysis and interpretation of data." (Bell, 1993, p. 33)
When referring to the work in the text as part of a sentence then immediately after the
name include the date and page number only:
e.g. Bell (1993, p. 33) states that "Reading may help you to devise a theoretical or
analytical framework as a basis for the analysis and interpretation of data."
9
If more than one text has been published by the same author in the same year (and is
included in the reference list), then label them a, b, etc: e.g.
Jones, 1992a
Jones, 1992b, p. 51
Where there are more than two authors, the surname of the first followed by 'et al' and
the year is used (full details should be provided in the reference list at the end): e.g.
Jones et al., 1991
Where the author(s) is (are) the editor(s) of the text the name(s) is (are) followed by 'ed'
and then the year: e.g.
House, ed., 1986
Bell et al. eds., 1984.
Where an original source has been found in a secondary work, always quote the original
in your text, but acknowledge in the Reference List at the end where the original was
seen. There is no need to mention the secondary work in the text.
N.B. In postgraduate, masters and PhD work particularly, students will be expected to use
primary sources as far as possible.
The Reference List
You must always fully reference all your sources at the end of your work. Use the heading
REFERENCES and place before any appendices
Building a Reference
The first item in your reference is the author's surname, followed by the author's initials and the
date. The title is next followed by the subtitle (if there is one). The final items are the publisher's
location and name.
10
References in the list are arranged alphabetically according to the author's name. ALL works
referred to in the text and secondary sources where the work was found (if relevant) should be
listed. If there is more than one text by the same author then order them by date.
N.B. Capital letters are used for each major word (not prepositions, conjunctions or
definite/indefinite
articles)
for
book
titles,
but
not
for
article
titles.
Secondary Sources
Articles or chapters that are quoted from anthologies are quoted as normal in the text, but both
the article and the original source must be acknowledged in the Reference List in alphabetical
order, e.g.
Allan, G. and Skinner, C. (eds.) (1991), Handbook for Research in the Social Sciences.London:
The Falmer Press.
Clavert, P. (1991), Writing Skills, in Allan and Skinner (eds.) (1991) pp. 96-106
E-books
For e-books the required elements for a reference are:
Author, Year, Title of book. [type of medium] Place of publication: Publisher. Followed by
Available at: (then) include e-book source and web site address/URL(Uniform Resource
Locator) and routing details if needed. [Accessed date].
Fishman, R., 2005. The rise and fall of suburbia. [e-book] Chester: Castle Press.
Available at: University Library/Digital Library/e-books http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/E-books
[Accessed 5 June 2005].
Carlsen, J. & Charters, S., eds. 2007. Global wine tourism. [e-book] Wallingford: CABI Pub.
Available at: University Library/Library Catalogue/ https://oscar.lib.anglia.ac.uk/
[Accessed 9 June 2008].
12
(5) PLAGIARISM
What is Plagiarism?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines plagiarism as 'writing borrowed thoughts as original'.
Plagiarism is distinguished from the proper use of sources by its failure to discuss, analyse and
acknowledge the influence of another's work. Students will, of course, use other people's work
and ideas, but there is a difference between this and relying totally on other peoples' efforts.
Plagiarism is Unfair Practice. There are strict University regulations regarding Unfair Practice
Procedure and Plagiarism. These are in your Student Handbook and you advised to read these
carefully.
What does it cover?
Your sources of material must be acknowledged. All information taken from books, journals,
handouts etc., must be clearly referenced. All written work (practical written assignments,
essays for tutors, assessment essays, essays in examinations, long essays and dissertations,
etc.) must be a reflection of a student's own efforts. All quotations from other sources must be
acknowledged.
Students who reproduce the words of an author, editor, journalist or critic and attempt to
pass them off as their own original work will be heavily penalised.
This includes both copying word for word and copying work making slight changes.
A subtle form of plagiarism occurs when there is no deliberate intention to deceive, for example
making notes from a text and then copying those notes without realising that the words used are
the original author's and not the student's. However, this is still plagiarism and must be avoided.
Direct copying of any material will always be severely penalised and will be brought to the
attention of the exam board.
Submit two soft bound, plus one electronic copy (Microsoft Word) of the dissertation to
the Hand-In Office.
Each copy of the dissertation submitted shall include:
(a)
(b)
(c)
a signed statement certifying that it has not already been submitted in candidature for
any other degree.
(d)
UWIC forms are not included with this handbook. They will be published in the website.
You must collect all the evidence to show exactly what has been done, including your data and
notes. Please submit in a file, with your name and student number.
This must be submitted along with your dissertation.
Mitigating Circumstances
UWIC may extend these deadlines in exceptional cases only and in accordance with the
procedure and criteria laid down in the Academic Handbook. A reasoned application, supported
by appropriate independent evidence, must be submitted by the candidate to the MBA
Dissertation Co-ordinator for further consideration by UWIC. The extension shall be subject to
approval of the Mitigating Circumstances Committee.
These applications are subject to scrutiny by UWIC, which lays down the following limits beyond
which candidature will lapse and examination precluded:
Within two calendar years from the start of candidature in the case of full time
students
Within five calendar years of the start of candidature in the case of part time
students
14
(7) PROCESS
No
Proposal
Passed?
Yes
Is the
resubmitted
proposal
passable?
No
Cannot proceed with
the dissertation
Supervisor Allocation
(Period = 12 Weeks)
Yes
No
Request for Extension
Dissertation
complete
and ready
to hand-in?
Yes
Hand in the
Dissertation
Exam Board
15
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