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FINAL (Winter) PROJECT GUIDE LINES : PGDM( 2nd Year) PROGRAMME

Final Research Project (VI Term) is one of the main assignments, a student has to undertake in the 6 th term to link the knowledge gained over a period covering till 5 th term with that in the practical world. This project needs to be taken seriously and the work must start from the January as far as possible or immediately on completion of term V with the allocation of faculty guide for taking up the Project. To facilitate the project work, the students are allocated the Faculty Guides in the respective areas, which is notified separately to the students well in time before the commencement of the project. The activities pertaining to the project could be as follows:Activity 1. Allotment of Guides (List of guides available in each stream may be Displayed).Project topic selection 2. Submission of Project Synopsis to guide, Examination of Synopsis, its evaluation and its further submission to the Academic Dept 4. Project Progress Stage-I Students to meet their Guides(20% completion) 5. Project Progress Stage-II 75% completion 6. Final Report submission 7. Presentation & Viva voce Marks by guide Last Date Remarks Students should report to the marked Guide- cum- mentor . Guide should help student in selecting the Project Topic

Marks by guide

Marks by guide Evaluation by An external & an internal examiner may be associated on need basis to Evaluate the project

Students are informed to interact with their guides at least once a week or periodicity as per requirement in consultation with the Guide. If a student does not interact with his faculty guide, he may not be awarded marks for Stage-I&II and the project report will not be signed by the guide. The students should follow the Project Guidelines, which is attached herewith.

Prof. AR.Subramanian
Encl: Project Guidelines Director

Project Guidelines
1. Purpose of a Project Work: The purpose of including project report in a management course is to provide the student an opportunity to investigate a problem by applying management concepts in a scientific manner. 2. What is a Project? A project is a scientific and systematic study of a real issue or a problem, intended to be resolved by application of management concepts and skills. It should entail scientific collection, analysis and interpretation of data leading to valid conclusions. Points to be kept in mind while selecting a project will be:a. Will the implementation of the project bring about an improvement in the present status of an activity and can this improvement be quantified. Quantification may be in terms of money saved, or better utilization of time and manpower, better sales performance, higher production etc. b. Does it have a management principle, framework or model on which data is collected and analyzed. c. Is the project idea applicable in other similar situations? In other words, the framework for analysis can be applied to similar problems. While it would have a distinctive application to the specific situation, the project would not be so exclusive that principles have no other applications. d. Does the project report take into account factual data which is relevant to the particular situation? 3. Choice of Topic and Organization This choice will emerge from the students area of interest. Student should take into account the organization he is working in and the opportunities he has at his command to generate relevant data. 4. Project Outline Problem definition has to be clear in terms of nature, size and scope of the project. These have to be stated in terms, which are quite tangible and specific. 5. Desk Work Before the student starts the project, he should carryout a preliminary survey of available literature on the topic. This study will help the student to understand the problem in depth and the aspects, which are being investigated. Some studies require the statement of hypothesis. A hypothesis is a tentative diagnosis or solution to a problem. It is based on a cursory observation of the apparent data and is adopted provisionally to explain certain events and to help in guiding the investigation. The project then would be based on testing the hypothesis to verify or reject it. Some illustrative examples of defining the problem are shown at Annexure I attached.

6. Methodology The quality of project work will depend upon the methodology adopted for the study. Methodology in turn depends upon the nature of project work. The main strength of the project report comes from the process earlier mentioned, ie that of collecting, synthesizing and analyzing of information. Again all information, related to the problem needs to be carefully scrutinized to avoid risk of biased analysis. Having once identified which information is relevant and needs to be collected, the student will have to define how this has to be done. Thus a case study may require a different approach than a study based on survey. However where the volume of data is very large a sampling method needs to be adopted. An illustration of an acceptable and an unacceptable methodology is shown in Annexure II attached. 6.1 Sampling : Sampling is done if the size of the coverage of the population is large. Sampling is done using statistical techniques. The type of sampling to be used will depend upon many things such as degree of accuracy, time available, type of research work etc. Preparation of Questionnaire for Collection of Data: A proper questionnaire should be framed to get the data needed for research. Most books of statistics or research methodology provide guidelines for framing questionnaire. Pilot testing: A trial run of a questionnaire before finalizing the structure of questionnaire may be necessary. the

Processing of Data: Tabulation, classification, analysis, interpretation and comparison are essential steps. Using of specific verifiable models for analysis will be an essential requirement. Framework for Analysis: The framework for analyzing the data will be related to the stated objectives. Statistical methods can be used for analysis, wherever appropriate. Methodology of the project must be clearly thought out in as much details as possible. Project Synopsis: Once the topic is selected, the problems defined, and manner of study is outlined, a synopsis should be prepared. The synopsis has to be approved by the guide. A format of the synopsis is attached as

Annexure III. 7. Writing the Report 7.1 Table of Contents: Also called INDEX, the table should provide the title of
all chapters(with page numbers) major subdivisions and appendices. The table should also indicate the commencing page numbers of the preface, the bibliography, appendices & annexures.

7.2 Preface and Acknowledgements: In case the student wishes to owe a special debt to
a particular person, he should acknowledge this under the title Acknowledgements.

7.3 Main Report: The main report should follow the chapter scheme that has been indicated in
the synopsis. Generally the sequence of presentation should be as follows:(a) Chapter-I: Introduction of the Problem: This chapter should provide a background of the problem and what is proposed to be investigated. The significance of the problem, the objectives and scope of study and the contribution the study should make, should be elaborated. A brief description of the organization where the project has been conducted, should be provided. (b) Chapter-II: Theoretical Perspective: This chapter should give an overview of the theoretical concepts related to the problem under study. The students may refer to the current status of research in the area and major findings thereof. These should bring out the necessity for the study and the approach that is intended to be followed.

Chapter-III: Methodology: This chapter should describe in detail the steps followed in completing the study. If a sample survey has been done, the basis of sampling, its size etc should be stated clearly. The source of primary and secondary data must be stated as also the way the processing is to be carried out.

(d) Chapters- IV, V, VI-----Onwards: Presentation of relevant data and analysis and
discussion thereon form the main body of the report. While deciding on the main theme of the report; which of the findings are significant and which are peripheral must be stated. Arguments should be logically developed for building the theme. While deciding about the number of chapters, the student should keep appropriate balance in the size of the chapters and avoid uneven coverage. Only those parts of a table may be included which are relevant to the argument.

7.4 Appendices and Annexures: Appendices are listed alphabetically e.g. Appendix A,
Appendix B etc and should contain the tables and data collected for study. Appendices are placed after the last chapter on summary and conclusions. Annexures are numbered numerically e.g. Annexure I, Annexure II etc and contain such supporting information which though not collected as primary or secondary data, yet is relevant in discussion and ease of reference.

7.5 List of References : References: References can be mentioned at the bottom of the
page where these are referred. Another alternative is to list them at the end of the report immediately after appendices/annexures.

7.6 Bibliography: A bibliography is a list of published sources consulted during the course
of project work and normally includes all work listed in the text and text notes.

7.7 Size of the Project Report: A project report should cover between 60 to 100 pages
(double space) 7..8

Reviewing & Presentation: While writing and presenting a report, the student should
take care of all minor matters. A well written and carefully corrected report with well spaced pages and with proper headings, margins and tables is inviting. The student should show the project to his guide and get his comments and suggestions for changes wherever necessary during meetings with him.

Evaluation of the Report

The evaluation of a project report is in two phases written report evaluation and viva-voce. The project report sent by the student should be sent to an examiner conversant with the subject matter of the report. The assessment of the report should be done on basis of standard criteria requirements.

Viva-voce The viva normally takes the form of elaboration of view points, findings, and overall view of the subject. It provides an opportunity to the examiner to test the knowledge of the student on the subject of the report. Any flaws found in the report are also identify Prof (Dr.) AR Subramanian
Director

Annex ure I

Defining the Problem (Illustration)

Title of the Project: Cost reduction through materials management Statement about the Problem: This particular topic is chosen because in most of the manufacturing organizations the cost of material accounts for a sizable portion of total expenditure and any savings effected in cost of material will have a direct bearing on the profitability of the organization. Objectives and Scope of Study: To optimize individual and group efforts for achieving the organization goals efficiently and effectively. To minimize cost of materials in every possible way, without sacrificing the quality aspect at the same time. To maximize overall profitability of the enterprise so as to sustain and grow in a highly competitive environment satisfying the needs of the organization, individuals as well as the society at large with a few well chosen aspects that can be analyzed and studied thoroughly to get a deeper understanding. Comments: It may be noted that the scope as defined is extremely diffused Optimize individual and group effort is a human relation oriented problem, but this is a study in materials. Again to maximize overall profitability of the enterprise materials is one of the factors but certainly not all the factors. So what is the problem? Is it one of reducing material cost as defined in the introductory paragraph? or Is it of improving individual and group performance? or Is it one of maximizing profitability? Each one can independently form a problem for a project. It may be argued that these are inter related matters and cannot therefore be ruled out and this may be accepted but while other factors may be included at the managerial decision stage, at the project stage material costs which constitute 40% of total working capital must get prime consideration. The project is aimed at studying means of reducing this cost through more efficient materials management methods. Objectives and Scope of Study: Identify the major items material cost through ABC analysis. Identify reactors leading to high inventory and longer turnover period. Devise means of reducing of material cost by taking care of problem identified through improved procedures, systems and team effort wherever necessary.

Annexure-II

Methodology (Right and Wrong Illustrations)

Illustration I
Project Title: Corporate Planning: Current Status in India. Methodology: After providing a theoretical underpinning it is intended to review a selected company. It is also proposed to highlight the role of Government policies in deciding the course of events which have direct bearing on the corporate planning process in the past. It is decided to analyze a few case studies for successful growth as well as prominent failures. Comments: Unacceptable. Too vague. Need to define framework for generating data. How many companies are under study? Over what length of time two years, five years, fifty years? Illustration II Project Title Application of CPM Technique in Capital Repair Shop Methodology : List various activities involved in repair in consultation with the executing agencies. Estimation of duration of each activity through observations over three months period. Assessment of resources for each activity through analysis of records and interaction with executives of the workshop. Drawing up a network. Conducting forward pass and backward pass calculations to establish the critical and sub critical activities. Taking into consideration the resources available to various agencies to carry out operations smoothly and to arrive at the balanced requirement of resources through out the repair period. Attempt will also be made to carryout the time-cost relationship of activities so as to achieve the minimum possible/optimum duration of the project. Comments: Acceptable

Annexure III

Synopsis Headings
Title of Project:

Functional Area:

HR

Marketing

Finance

Why is the particular topic chosen?

What contribution would the project make ?

Objectives and scope of study:

Methodology:

Data collection sources:

How you plan to proceed for your project Name :

Roll No : Date :