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KING FAISAL UNIVERSITY

GUIDELINES FOR MBA PROJECT PROPOSAL

 THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR PREPARING THE MBA PROJECT. THE MBA PROJECT PROPOSAL IS LIMITED TO 10 PAGES. IT SHOULD BE TYPED IN TIMES NEW ROMAN, 12POINT FONT, WITH 1.5 LINE SPACING (EXCEPT FOR THE REFERENCE, WHICH SHOULD FOLLOWS HARVARD STYLE FORMATTING). PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT A GOOD PROPOSAL SHOULD CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS:  

COVER PAGE

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

METHODOLOGY

REFERENCES

1-      COVER PAGE,   

THE COVER PAGE SHOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS;   

RESEARCH TITLE 

YOUR FULL NAME 

NAME OF UNIVERSITY (KING FAISAL UNIVERSITY)

DEGREE SOUGHT (MBA)

NAME OF SUPERVISOR 

DATE OF SUBMISSION  

2-      ABSTRACT (NO MORE THAN 200 WORDS)

 THE ABSTRACT SHOULD CLEARLY IDENTIFY THE RESEARCH PROBLEM(S)/QUESTION(S), BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND THE RELEVANT RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. EMPHASIS SHOULD BE PUT ON THE EXPECTED SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH FINDINGS.

3-      INTRODUCTION (1-2 PAGE)

THE INTRODUCTION IS TO PROVIDE READERS WITH THE BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THE RESEARCH. ITS PURPOSE IS TO ESTABLISH THE ISSUE(S) OR CONCERN(S) OR MOTIVATIONS LEADING TO THE RESEARCH QUESTION(S) AND OBJECTIVE(S), SO THAT READERS CAN UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE AND RATIONALE UNDERLYING THE STUDY AND THE ANTICIPATED CONTRIBUTIONS.      

4-       LITERATURE REVIEW (3-5 PAGES) 

THE LITERATURE REVIEW SHOULD NOT ONLY BE A PRESENTATION OR DESCRIPTION OF AVAILABLE THEORIES. IT SHOULD ALSO CONTAIN FINDINGS FROM RELATED STUDIES CONDUCTED BY OTHER RESEARCHERS. THE LITERATURE REVIEW IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT IS FROM THIS YOU DEVELOP YOUR THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK/CONCEPTUAL MODEL IN WHICH HYPOTHESES/PROPOSITIONS ARE GENERATED TO BE TESTED (FOR QUANTITATIVE STUDY) AND TO ANSWER YOUR MAIN RESEARCH QUESTIONS (FOR QUALITATIVE STUDY).    

5-      METHODOLOGY (2-3 PAGES)

IN THIS SECTION, YOU SHOULD EXPLAIN THE OVERALL RESEARCH DESIGN (E.G. QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE) AND THE RELATED JUSTIFICATIONS OR UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS. THEN A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INCLUDING DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES (QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN, INTERVIEW GUIDE, MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES, SAMPLING PROCESS, ETC…) AND ANALYTICAL METHODS (SPECIFIC STATISTICAL TESTS, QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS TOOLS, VERIFICATION TECHNIQUES, ETC…) IS REQUIRED.      

6-      REFERENCES   

THE REFERENCE SECTION SHOULD LIST OUT ALL THE REFERENCES CITED IN THE PROJECT.   

King Faisal University

Master of Business Administration

Project Guidelines 

"KFU MBA PROJECT GUIDELINES"

Introduction

The MBA Project bonds everything that you have learnt on the program, qualifying you to match theory with real managerial concerns and to find out a solution to specific a business problem. You will make a research project into a specific organization or any industrial organization in your area of interest using the skills and knowledge you have established throughout the MBA program. The project is a real learning experience and you will be likely to take initiative in designing and executing the project under the guidance of a specialist supervisor.

The MBA Topic

The Project will be directed in a corporate scenario and as such, the MBA topic should be selected from a real organization, if possible, your own, but you may also prefer to conduct the project at any industrial organization to which you may have contacts.  However, you should keep in mind that the MBA topic should be ought to the organization under study and that it should be able to produce valuable and applicable data.

MBA Topic key guidelines

1.      The project topic should be industry-oriented subject 

2.      The Topic should be chosen from your MAJOR area of specialization.

3.      Project work preferably is concerned with your organization or any other industrial organization.

4.      It must try to find out a solution to the predetermined project problem

The length of the final MBA project report may vary; however, it should be in the range of 12,000 as minimum number of words (no maximum number of words) excluding tables, figures, and appendixes using 1.5 line spacing, the general text should be typed in the font style - Times New Roman and font size - 12. Font 14 may be used for titles.

 The structure of the report may include the following parts:

1.  Title page – use the format according to Appendix A.

2.  Abstract – shall be half to one page in length and contain all the prominent points from the report containing the contributions.

3.  Acknowledgements

4.  Table of Contents

5. List of tables

6.  Table of figures

7.  List of Acronyms

8.  Chapter One: Introduction

9. Chapter Two: Literature Review

10.  Chapter Three: Research Methodology

11.  Chapter Four: Results

12.  Chapter Five: Discussions/conclusion

13. References

14.  Arabic Summary

Chapter one: Introduction

Problem statement

A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to be improved, a difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or in practice that points to the need for meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation. In some social science disciplines, the research problem is typically posed in the form of a question.

Research questions

A research question is the question around which you center your research. It should be clear; focused; concise; complex (not easily answerable with yes or no); and arguable. Defining research questions is not a straightforward task. Generally, there are two approaches which the researcher can follow. The first is to work deductively by identifying a research area, then developing questions within that area and moving from general to specific questions. The second is to work inductively by starting with some specific questions and moving upward in generality and abstraction to more general research questions then to the research area.

Research aim and objectives

Project objectives (at least 3-4 objectives) should be SMART-Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. It should focus on what you intend to do in the project. Objectives are usually headed by infinitive verbs such as: to identify, establish, describe, determine, estimate, develop, compare, analyses, and to collect.

Chapter Two: Literature Review

 Overview of significant literature published on a topic.

o   Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)

o   Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others

Research hypotheses

It is the assumption for your project work. A research hypothesis is the statement created by researchers when they speculate upon the outcome of a research or experiment.

Chapter Three Research Methodology

The project methodology will be:

Quantitative or qualitative

Mention if you will collect primary and/or secondary data, and if it is qualitative or quantitative in nature. In quantitative research, where the research seeks to measure variables, the researcher can employ questionnaires, structured interviews, etc. While in qualitative research, where the research seeks to emphasize meanings and experiences related to the phenomena, the researcher can employ semi structured or unstructured interviews, focus group, observations, etc. And finally mention the adequate sample size required.

And the appropriate data analysis techniques that should be employed.

Methods of analyzing data vary according to the adopted research approach; Quantitative data usually employ statistical analysis( i.e. chi-square test, t-test, z-test, Factor Analysis, Multiple Regression Analysis etc)  , while qualitative data involves coding, memoing, abstracting, comparing and others.

Chapter Four: Results

Student should present the results obtained from the data analysis,

Chapter Five: Discussion and Conclusion

Discuss and interpret the results and compare it with the existing literature

Mention the contribution and implication of the study (i.e the theoretical; methodology, and the practical contributions)

Finally, an overall summary of the report should be presented in the end of the project.

References: You may follow APA style to cite references.

Appendixes: List the appendixes at the end of the report

Arabic Summary

For the project layout and margins, please see appendix 3

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