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CONTENTS
The objective of this document is to provide students and supervisors within the Ecole de Management de Normandie with the guidelines about the process and content when undertaking a piece of masters-level research and producing a dissertation. The nine chapters cover :
1 Definition and objectives of a dissertation
2 The role of the Supervisor
3 Chosing a topic
4 Contents and structure of the dissertation document
5 Academic approach
6 Practical issues
7 Format of the dissertation
8 Calendar
9 Grading – Feedback sheets
By definition, this document presents the process for undertaking a research project, within the norms of the programme of study you are following. The student and supervisor will jointly develop a plan of action which fits the context of the project, enabling the student to undertake the research and produce the dissertation.
Sources used in the production of this document :
BOYER, L. (2009) Le mémoire : guide méthodologique (application au mémoire de recherche). EM Normandie, Paris-Dauphine, IAE de Caen, CNAM.
ASHWIN, M. & HIRST, A. (2010) Research Methodology Handbook, EM Normandie; London South Bank University
1. Definition and objectives of a Dissertation
The aim of a dissertation is to enable the student to develop a range of skills, including that of critical evaluation of the facts. The project enables the student to apply theory to practice and make the links between the two within the wide range of business and management subjects studied. Often there is a subject that has interested you more than others, either during the foundation years, or during your specialist M2.
Usually the research fits within the framework of your professional project and shows a direct link with your M2 specialism. Exceptionally the supervisor is in a position to approve a subject outside this framework if it can be clearly demonstrated that the subject will enhance the student’s future career prospects. The topic chosen will determine the theoretical underpinning and the research methodology of the project. It is possible to agree your topic area, or subject before starting your final work placement.
An ‘operational’ dissertation will be based upon a project that is developed in partnership with the host company. To ensure that the document produced is in fact a dissertation and not simply an internal report there are several conditions. The dissertation must provide a new and objective view of a current issue, using a relevant theoretical foundation. The subject/research problem must be suitable for in-depth development. You will demonstrate that you have used past work experiences as well as your current placement, as well as relevant academic and professional literature to develop your argument.
There is also the possibility of undertaking a more classic ‘academic’ dissertation, or one focused on ‘entrepreneurial’ aspects if the project involves setting up a company. Whatever your choice, the undertaking of a project and the writing of a dissertation are designed to encourage independent activity and personal initiative in managing the research process which addresses a business problem.
By developing a realistic timetable for the period of your research, demonstrating your ability to analyse information and produce a succinct report on a business problem, you will show that you are capable of identifying appropriate business solutions.
2. Supervisor
During the first semester of the academic year each student will be allocated a supervisor.
As this is a piece of self-directed learning it is your responsibility to ensure that you maintain regular contact with your supervisor. It is advisable to contact your supervisor and produce a calendar on which you will identify key contact points. Please note these may include email or telephone contact as well as face-to-face meetings.
Before any of these contact dates the student should produce a briefing note to identify the issues they wish to address. You might include for example, any questions you have about the academic or practical elements of your project, or an outline of the work undertaken to date. By doing this you can make better use of the allocated time.
The role of the supervisor is to support and guide the student during the research project but not to get involved as co-author of the work. Any ideas to develop the topic or extent the research area must be at the initiative of the student.
3. Choosing a topic
Your topic should fall logically within the realm of business and management addressed by the programme Grande Ecole that you are following within the School.
It should show a link with the professional activities you are undertaking, or those which interest you. The dissertation is not a report on the basic analysis of your current experience. It should evaluate the experience and put it into a wider interdisciplinary context.
It is the student’s responsibility to choose the general theme and identify the subject of the research project. Your supervisor is there to help you define your objectives and will work with you to ensure that they fall within the requirements of the Grande Ecole programme. If necessary advice may be sought from the programme director.
Before the final decision identifying the topic the student should ask themselves the following questions:
- are you interested in the subject AND have the motivation to see the project through to the end?
- is the project feasible in terms of : - the time and resources necessary to complete it
- access to necessary information sources
- your understanding and competence linked to both
methodological and conceptual aspects
- appropriateness : - topic is neither too large, nor too limited
- subject and level of investigation fits within the logic of the
programme
After initial discussions with your supervisor you will submit a document identifying your topic details to the Programme Assistant by 15 February 2012. This will be a single page identifying the theme of your research, the academic and business relevance. You will also provide full bibliographic details of some of the relevant sources.
4. Contents and structure of the dissertation document
The plan outlines the general structure of the study : identifying the conceptual and practical approaches in sufficient detail to illustrate the nature and logic of the work involved to complete the project.
Whatever style of plan you choose, they all have five main elements :
- introduction and definition of your research question
- identification of the key theoretical concepts with a critical review of the literature
- choice of methodological approach
- presentation and evaluation of the findings within the context of the research question and the theory used
- conclusions et recommendations addressing the research question
The number of chapters you use is at your discretion but you must ensure that you make the link between each one. With the exception of the Introduction chapter each one has a short introduction explaining how it follows on from the previous one and what it will cover. All chapters, with the exception of the Conclusion will have a short section summarising what has been included in it and announcing how it links to the next. By doing this you will ensure the logic structure and cohesion of the document.
The dissertation will be 50 pages long, not including the Appendices.
5.Academic approach
You have access to a range of management and business sources through the médiathèques of EM Normandie, ranging from books, specialist and more general journals, and data bases. Many of these are now accessible through the Internet. Ensuring that the legislation regarding Intellectual Property is respected it is strongly recommended that you obtain copies of any articles that you feel are relevant and useful for your study.
As soon as the topic has been finalised you should start investigating the literature to identify the general issues as well as the key concepts. By evaluating what is available you will quickly see the range and breadth of your research question.
During the structured review of the literature you will analyse the key texts and most recent journal articles.
There are two main difficulties encountered during this stage of the research :
- you find yourself confronted with too much literature : should this be the case you will need
to focus in on the key texts or authors, even if they appear dated, and then add current journal articles and other professional literature if appropriate
- you find very few sources addressing your subject : discuss this with your supervisor as soon as possible to identify how best to proceed despite the lack of literature.
From the outset it is essential that you consider how you are going to proceed. It is recommended that you systematically note the details of the sources, either by hand or on your computer, sequencing the authors in alphabetical order. You must include :
- Name and first name of the author(s);
- Title of the article or chapter;
- Title of the journal or book;
- Volume of journal, or edition of bookparution ;
- Date of publication;
- Page number(s);
- Summary of the contents;
- Evaluation of the relevance with regards to your research project
The School has adopted the Harvard Reference System and you must ensure that all background reading and citations are referenced correctly and completely.
The Bibliography will be produced as an appendix to the dissertation. Referencing in the body of the dissertation and the bibliography will follow the format presented below:
Bouden, I. (2010) L’identification des incorporels acquis lors de regroupements d’entreprises, Revue française de gestion, 36 (207), pp. 111-123
Karjalainen, H. (2010) Can multicultural human resources management problems be solved by an organizational culture ? Management international, 14 (4), pp. 99-114
Michon, C. (2010) Le marketeur : fondements et nouveautés du marketing. 3ème éd. Paris : Pearson éducation France.
Verstraete, T. et Jouison-Lafitte, E. (2009). Business model pour entreprendre, le modèle GRP : théorie et pratique. Bruxelles : De Boeck.
6. Practical issues
The student must be vigilant with regards to the data collection method(s) used to ensure that they are appropriate and meet the practical and academic needs of the research project.
The administration of a questionnaire, or the running of interviews will be undertaken with the utmost rigour.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you discuss your intention to collect data within the organisation with a member of management. By doing this you will be able to ascertain whether it is necessary to obtain formal permission. You must obtain any permission(s) required BEFORE you start to collect any data.
7. Format of the dissertation
Two copies of the dissertation, comprising 50 pages (±10%), should be submitted in hard copy to the programme director before the date and time limit identified in the calendar. The document will respect the following criteria :
Presentation
• Times New Roman / Font size 12
• Margins : 2,5 cm left / 2,5 cm right
• Line spacing : 1,5
• Page numbers (obligatory)
• No right-hand alignment
• Footnotes for explanation or citation
Title page
• Student’s full name
• EM Normandie Logo
• Dissertation
• Title
• Name of company
• Name of Supervisor
• Date
• Confidentiality statement
Contents
• Title page
• Declaration of authenticity
• Acknowledgements (if appropriate)
• Summary in English + key words (≈400 characters)
• Summary in French + key words (≈400 characters)
• Contents page
• Introduction
• Body of work, organised in Chapters
• Conclusion
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• List of figures and appendices with page numbers
• Appendix/ces
At the same time the student should submit an electronic copy of the dissertation through the Turnitin anti-plagiarism software.
All cases of plagiarism will result in a fail grade for the dissertation and a disciplinary hearing.
Examples : the use of documents found on the Web, complete pages of a book, a review or a journal article
A signed and dated Declaration of authenticity will be included in the document.
8. Calendar
15 February 2012 Submission of your topic details to the programme assistant. This will be a single page identifying the theme of your research, the academic and business relevance. You will also provide full bibliographic details of some of the relevant sources.
30 April 2012 Intermediate document which outlines the research question and sets it into context within an academic and empirical framework. This document will provide a more thorough list of the relevant literature sources.
31 August 2012 Submission of the final document
15 October 2012 #p#分页标题#e#Oral defence of your research project. All presentations to be completed by this date.
9. Oral Defence of the research project
The exam board takes place mid-December each year. All presentations must be completed before 15th October at the latest. The date will be arranged between the student and their supervisor to take place between the 1st September and the 15 October. Representatives from the student’s host company are welcome to attend the presentation. The supervisor may invite others to participate on the panel.
The oral defence of the research project will last 45 minutes in total. The student will present for 20 minutes without interruption.
During this time the student will outline the topic, the research question, the methodology chosen and the justification of the project and its links with their professional project. The presentation should remain focused upon the content of the dissertation which has already been submitted and read by the members of the panel.
This will be followed by 20 minutes of questions and discussion with the panel members.
After a short deliberation the panel members will provide no more than 5 minutes of feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the dissertation and the oral presentation
The oral defence will take place in person, in a classroom on one of the three campuses if possible.
10. Grading – Feedback sheets
The grade for the work will be made up of the following elements :
10% – intermediate document
60% - dissertation document (10% style and structure and 50% for the content)
30% - oral defence of the research project.
Examples of the feedback sheets are provided as an Appendix to this handbook.
The supervisor/marker of the dissertation reserves the right to ask the student to redo the work if it is not considered to be of a suitable level.
An overall grade of 10/20 for all elements, the documentation and the oral defence, is required to be eligible to graduate. Any grade below this will be discussed during the exam board and a decision made by the board members.
APPENDIX 1
FEEDBACK DOCUMENT FOR INTERMEDIATE DOCUMENT
Provisional Title : ___________________________________________________________________
Student ( Name):____________________________________________________________
Programme, Year, Specialism _______________________________________________________
Marker : ________________________________________________________________________
Date : / /
STYLE AND STRUCTURE
I- Presentation ………………………………………………………………………… / 5
Formatting (front page, margins, pagination, font, ...)
Structure of document (acknowledgements, executive summary, referenceds and bibliography, appendices)
II- Spelling / Grammar………………………………….…………………………… / 5
III- Style (vocabulary, language, punctuation, etc)………….…………….………… ……… / 5
IV- Bibliography………………………………………………………………………. / 5
Harvard Referencing System
TOTAL …………………………………………………………………………….... / 4
CORRECTION DU FOND
I- Coherence of the proposal …………………………………………………………….…..
Quality and clarity of ideas
Literature identified
Methodological choices
Interest/Relevance
Feasibility
Appropriateness
TOTAL ……………………………………………………………………….... / 6
TOTAL (coefficient 0.1)……………………………………………………………………..../ 20
Comments:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Signature of Marking Tutor :
FEEDBACK DOCUMENT FOR DISSERTATION
STRUCTURE AND STYLE
Title : ___________________________________________________________________
Student ( Name):____________________________________________________________
Programme, Year, Specialism _______________________________________________________
Tutor : ________________________________________________________________________
Date : / /
I- Presentation ………………………………………………………………………… / 5
Formatting (front page, margins, pagination, font, ...)
Structure of document (acknowledgements, executive summary, referenceds and bibliography, appendices)
II- Spelling / Grammar………………………………….…………………………… / 5
III- Style (vocabulary, language, punctuation, etc)………….…………….………… ……… / 5
IV- Bibliography………………………………………………………………………. / 5
#p#分页标题#e#
Harvard Referencing System
TOTAL (coefficient 0.1)……………………………………………………..…...……………. / 20
Comments:
Signature of Marking Tutor:
CONTENT
Title : ___________________________________________________________________
Student ( Name):____________________________________________________________
Programme, Year, Specialism _______________________________________________________
Tutor : ________________________________________________________________________
Date : / /
I- Coherence of document………………………………………………………………. / 5
Structure (quality and format)
Academic argument
Logical flow (evidence of coherence of ideas)
II- Quality of reflection on the subject area …………………………………….………. /5
Methodology ( Collection and Analysis of Primary and Secondary Data)
Research Aims and Objectives
Synthesis of ideas
Conclusions and Recommendations
III- Qualitative Contribution of the research undertaken……………………….……… / 5
Originality (presentation, methodology, operationalisation)
Contribution (innovative ideas)
Reliability of reasoning (ability to make choices, capacity to identify key concepts, capacity to persuade)
IV- Quality of Contribution……………………………………………………………. / 5
Capacity to conceptualise
Appropriateness of response
Contribution and practical examples
Accessibility of responses
TOTAL (coefficient 0.5)…………………………………………………………………… / 20
Comments:
Signature of Marking Tutor :
FEEDBACK DOCUMENT FOR PRESENTATION
Title : ___________________________________________________________________
Student ( Name):____________________________________________________________
Programme, Year, Specialism _______________________________________________________
Tutor : ________________________________________________________________________
Date : / /
I- Communication Skills.………………………………………..…………….. / 10
1) Method
Clarity of presentation
Timing
Aide-mémoire, personal notes (does the student read notes ? is the student confident with material ?)
2) Supporting materials
Quality of supporting materials (legible, clear, informative)
Quantity and choice of supporting materials (too many, sufficient or not enough)
3) Style
Oral presentation (clear delivery in terms of syntax, vocabulary, technical details, paraphrase)
Eloquence (tone of delivery - monotone or dynamic, clearl voice or inaudible ?)
Conviction
II- Content…………………………………………………………………..…………. /10
Presentation
Coherence of problem identified and suggestions proposed
Quality of the summary :
o Outline of key issues and evidence of comprehension of the research area
o Choice of materials included (theoretical and practical)
o Steps taken from initial idea to completion of the dissertation
o Quality of argument (very convincing, adequate or lacking)
Quality of answers to questions
o Integration of comments by examiners
o Openness to suggestions offered
TOTAL (coefficient 0.3)………… / 20
Comments:
Signature of Marking Tutor :
Intermediate document
…………/20 (coef 0.1)
Dissertation (structure and style)
…………/20 (coef 0.1)
Dissertation (content)
……… /20 (coef 0.5) Presentation
………/20 (coef 0.3)
OVERALL GRADE : …………… /20
Author’s Declaration of Originality
[Include this statement in your dissertation or thesis document]
I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this dissertation and that it presents my ideas, analysis and evaluation of the findings of my research. #p#分页标题#e#
I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, this document does not infringe upon anyone’s copyright and that any ideas, methodologies, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people has been completely and correctly referenced in the body of the work and in the References and/or Bibliography. All citations use the Harvard Referencing System which has been adopted by the School.
Any direct quotations from written or verbal data are shown in quotes, and appropriately referenced.
Any part of this document which has been used in previous academic assessments during my programme of study has been identified and referenced in accordance with the Harvard regulations.
I confirm that there has been no unauthorised assistance from other students or friends during the production of this document. No part of this work comes from any academic support Internet site.*
I declare that this is a true copy of my own work and that I accept that it be submitted through the anti-plagiarism software used by the School for confirmation of this fact
Date : Signature :
* any site offering to sell work or provide it for free.
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