Writing a Master's Dissertation on Management or Organizational Topic

The final stage of your Master’s degree is concerned exclusively with a written dissertation of 8,000 words. The dissertation will enable you to undertake a sustained investigation into a management or organizational topic of your choice. The dissertation provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and competencies acquired during the taught elements of the course. For most of you, this will involve diagnosing a management, finance, marketing, strategic or  organizational behaviour problem, devising a  research project that will provide an evidence-base for the evaluation of solutions and development of realistic, acceptable recommendations for action. This does not, however, preclude the possibility of undertaking a more theoretically focused piece of work that analyses in detail an issue in management thought.

Learning Objectives

The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to:

1. Develop an ability to formulate and undertake a piece of original research which has relevance to contemporary management issues and problems.
2. Integrate and inter-relate concepts, techniques and skills acquired in the course of the programme.
3. Acquire an appreciation of existing research and relevant theoretical perspectives that have a direct bearing on the dissertation topic.
4. Develop and apply analytical and communication skills as required by the dissertation process.

There are two types of dissertation available and you must pick one or the other.

The two types of dissertation are:

• Desk-Based Dissertation.
• Empirical Dissertation.

An empirical dissertation is defined here as one which involves collecting data from human participants. This may take the form of, amongst other things, surveys, interviews, or observations. Online data collection involving human participants is also classed as empirical research. In contrast, a desk-based dissertation is one that draws only on secondary sources and already published data (such as written texts, reports, visual images, etc.) and does not involve human participants. If you plan to collect data from human participants, you must complete the online ethical approval form. Failure to do so will result in you receiving a mark of zero. If you are undertaking a desk-based dissertation you are not required to complete an ethical approval form.

Desk-Based Dissertation

For ‘desk-based’ dissertations, you are required to identify a possible management or organization situation, problem or issue that you wish to explore in depth through the use of publicly available data (i.e. secondary data). You can pick any topic you wish within the broader parameters of the modules covered on the programme. Rather than gathering new primary data, this kind of dissertation draws on existing data that has been collected by others. This is used to build a case study or provide evidence for answering your research question. Desk-based dissertations must still contain research questions, a review of literature relevant to your topic area and a discussion of the methods used to collect your data.

There are many different ways in which you could approach a desk-based dissertation. The following are just a few examples you might like to consider:

1. A case study or report exploring a particular organizational issue drawn from secondarydata sources (such as HR practices, culture, diversity and inequalities, leadership, power relations, processes and/or consequences or change, structure, international growth, etc.).
2. A market or industry analysis.
3. An analysis of an organization’s strategy.
4. An analysis of a particular leader, marketing campaign, strategic decision, innovation, or similar.
5. An analysis of a company’s response to changes in its external environment (e.g. new regulations/ public expectations, a corporate scandal, or failure).
6. An analysis of a controversy surrounding a particular company and an assessment of its response.
7. A comparative analysis of two or more organization’s strategies in a given market.
8. Analysis of arts-based methods, such as representation of workers in photographs, films or television programmes.
9. Discourse analysis of a company brochure, annual report, or advertising campaign.

It is important to note that, although the data you are using is secondary, your research must still be original, adding something new to our current understanding of management and organizatio

This type of dissertation involves carrying out a small-scale piece of original research using primary data you have collected yourself, involving human participants. Typically, this involves conducting interviews, observations or questionnaire surveys, either face-to-face or online. The process of research entails identifying a research topic then developing a question that your research hopes to answer. You are required to conduct a literature review, design a research methodology and then collect and analyze your data before presenting the results in an organized and systematic way.

Again, there are many different ways in which you could approach an empirical dissertation. The following are just a few examples you might like to consider:

1. A piece of consumer research into a particular purchase behaviour (this could be collected through an online or face-to-face survey).
2. A netnography of an online community.
3. A workplace survey addressing a particular organizational issue.
4. Interviews with organizational members or leaders around a particular issue or topic.
5. Interviews or focus groups with consumers around a particular product, service or experience.