DBA Student Handbook 2: The Research Proposal
DBA Research Proposal Manual
Content 1. The Research Proposal Manual 1.1 Aims and objectives 1.2 Status 2. Introduction 2.1 An important new stage 2.2 A health warning 2.3 Handling this new task 3. Requirements of DBA research 3.1 Fundamental research requirements 3.2 DBA applied strategic research 3.3 Oversight of the DBA 3.4 DBA Research Committee 4. Your research proposal 4.1 The purpose of a research proposal 4.2 Development of your proposed research 5. Submitting the research proposal 5.1 Required format and submission process 5.2 Review process 6. Provision of a mentor 6.1 The discipline of reporting 6.2 The operation of reporting 7. Appendices 7.1 Developing your proposed research 7.2 Research development questions 7.3 The format of the research proposal 7.4 The abbreviated proposal as a basis for research development 7.5 DBA research proposal progress report 7.6 DBA research proposal feedback form 7.7 The research proposal timetable 7.8 Research Proposal Pro Forma
DBA Research Proposal Manual
1. The research proposal manual 1.1 Aims and objectives The aim of this manual is to assist you through the process of research design and up to the formal completion of this stage when you successfully submit a research proposal to the DBA Research Committee. It sets out in part the formal requirements for the programme. It also introduces the voluntary facility of mentoring which you are encouraged to use and which seeks to assist you in making the crucial early decisions in designing your research. 1.2 Status The nature of this guide, in common with the other DBA guides, is to highlight, amplify and explain this part of the programme with the purpose of assisting you through the critical stage. It achieves this by being selective, to emphasise points but not to be comprehensive; instead, to give focus. It selects key points on the basis of what you might need. It repeats some of the key points for emphasis. It may extend the description of the process with the intention of helping you through it. Thus it seeks to abbreviate, recall, select, focus attention, concentrate on structure, while attempting to avoid duplication. This approach to amplification means that this is a guide and not the ultimate source of information. It is a guide and should not therefore be interpreted as the final word on policy. On such matters you are encouraged to visit Heriot Watt University & EBS websites to obtain documents for the definitive regulations. The guide is based on the three Introduction to Business Research (IBR) courses you have already completed. In order to underline the interconnectivity between the guide and these courses, the major items have been cross-referenced in this text. The guide also seeks to add a personal dimension to the existing material. It is specifically aimed at you with your experience of business and of managing people. It attempts to empathise with you as you start this process. It draws on personal experience of research as well as published material on the research process. 2. Introduction 2.1 An important new stage When you receive this manual, you are likely to have completed nine courses in the study element and qualified for the MSc in Strategic Focus. In that situation, you are ready to start on the first step of the research element of the programme. This step entails submitting your research proposal to the DBA Research Committee for approval. In short, you have reached the stage when you commit yourself to the design of the research which forms the bulk of the rest of the programme. This is self-evidently an important stage. It is the start of a journey and a long programme. You have enough knowledge and experience from your work and
DBA Research Proposal Manual
MBA study to know that the beginning is a crucial stage in the design of any major project, as explained in the Project Management course. Almost for the last time you are presented with a blank page on which you can register your choices. It is a time for instance, when you can completely rewrite the research statement contained in your application form in the light of subsequent study and experience. A succinctly stated purpose and logically, developed path are clearly of first importance. There are other specific reasons for this importance. It is the stage when your work is reported to the DBA Research Committee. It is a time when you develop the habits which will stand you in good stead during the research process. It is a time when you receive feedback from a mentor and the Research Committee. The end product provides the basis on which the supervisor is appointed. The nature of research is that the aims and objectives are particularly crucial and ‘should not be changed once set and should only be modified slightly if change becomes inevitable’ (IBR1:2.2.3). 2.2 A health warning An issue, which is no different for this programme than for any other doctoral programme, is that doctoral research is a long and difficult process. It requires stamina when progress is slow, persistence when complications arise, the ability to be a self-starter, to pursue ideas with enthusiasm and the skill to think critically. You have already demonstrated these qualities in an academic context during the study element of the DBA and also when studying for your MBA, whether at EBS or elsewhere. You will similarly have considerable experience of these qualities in your career so far. You have therefore reason to be confident that you possess these qualities. However, you should recognise that research is a very different experience from studying courses or managing organisations. A good course has a clear structure and a fixed end point. Research often changes over time and can take a long time to complete. In your job, you work with teams and delegate. In doctoral research, you are in a team of one, the research has to be your own work, you have to do the work alone and you are examined individually. This will be a very different experience from studying and being examined on courses in the study element. With the courses, the scope of study is defined by the course. You have a full set of information on which to base your learning. The examinations are focused on the content of the course. Research is often a new concept. Research requires a whole different way of looking at a problem. It is one thing to read a series of texts, understand them and pass all the required examinations. It is quite another to design and implement a research programme where detailed independent critical power is required. Most people respond well to the challenge of the difference, but you should be aware that some do not. For some the open-ended nature of the task proves
DBA Research Proposal Manual
too much. For others, the difficulty is to deliver critical thinking. They are accustomed to learning from the course and making the occasional original comment. Being consistently critical of information and checking assumptions may not be one of your strengths. 2.3 Handling this new task You should not, however, be daunted by the task. Your abilities have already been demonstrated. You have been prepared by the Introduction to Business Research courses (which you may realise is a rare assistance in doctoral programmes). These have given you tools which you can now use. You also have the portfolio of subject area knowledge. The research proposal provides you with a template to structure your work around. You will make the task easier if you develop disciplined habits of research planning and progress reporting. These form a cornerstone of the operational design of the programme and are covered extensively in the Introduction to Business Research courses. A model for the time schedule and the progress reporting is to be found as an appendix to this document. Establishing this discipline early on and forming the correct habits will be vital to the success of this programme. Furthermore, you can adopt the approaches of self assessment set out in the texts in the form of Personal Progression Reviews in IBR1:2.7. Although much of the Business School input is in terms of defining the mechanisms by which you can perform the task, there are additional elements that help. Mentoring, which is voluntary on your part, provides guidance and a sounding board for your ideas as you work on them. Feedback on your progress reports provides duly considered guidance. 3. Requirements of DBA research 3.1 Fundamental research requirements Research requires independent thought, thorough investigation and critical thinking. You set the parameters of your work. You choose the subject of study. You select the way you are going to study that subject and the conclusions drawn from the information you collect. Others do not set the parameters for study, as for course material, coursework or examination in the study element of the programme. To research means to investigate thoroughly. It is not sufficient to satisfy your own standards; you must be able to have answers to questions that others may reasonably ask. For example, you may find assumptions that seem obviously correct to you, may not be obvious to others, or may, on closer inspection, actually be wrong. To be thorough, you need to spot those assumptions and provide the justification or indicate that justification is needed as part of the research.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
Furthermore, research requires critical thinking. The standards of enquiry in research are high. Critical means to offer opinions or judgements on both the literature and the research findings. You are reminded of the University regulations that a doctoral thesis ‘shall form a contribution to the knowledge of the subject and afford evidence of originality, shown either by the discovery of new facts or by the exercise of critical thinking’. The meaning and implications of these regulations for your DBA research are fully discussed in IBR1:1.3.1. In summary, the main criterion for the acceptance of a research topic is that it is relevant to the area of strategic focus, and is sufficiently applied and can be researched to a sufficient depth to allow the generation of a doctoral thesis which satisfies the quality criteria for doctoral research at the University 3.2 DBA applied strategic research DBA research is required to be applied and strategic, rendering the DBA distinctively different from a PhD. The nature of the Edinburgh Business School DBA is that it stresses applied research. The word “applied” can be defined as to put to practical use. It is not sufficient to consider an abstract subject of no obvious interest to the executive in the practice of management and business. The subjects of research are intended to be useful to managers. You may have considerable experience and often-significant responsibilities in business and management; you are unlikely to want to consider something divorced from the world you inhabit. You are much more likely to want to investigate a subject which resonates with your experience, your present work, or your aspirations. For further discussion of applied research see IBR1: 4.2 DBA research is also strategic. Strategy is the essence of Strategic Planning and the other Strategic Focus courses you have studied. Should you need further clarification on the meaning of strategy, you may revisit these courses. Furthermore, you have an understanding of the practice of strategy from your work as you almost certainly have strategic responsibilities, or alternatively report to or advise strategic decision makers. As discussed below, you have the option of strengthening the link with Strategic Focus by choosing research topics drawn from the subject itself. 3.3 Oversight of the DBA The DBA Research Committee has primary oversight of DBA research. It sets the standards for applied research and is the ultimate authority. The process of oversight has been set up to ensure that the system is workable and gives a timely response. 3.4 DBA Research Committee The Committee is composed of senior faculty members of Edinburgh Business School and Heriot-Watt University. It has at least one external member, appointed by the University, who is normally a senior member of
DBA Research Proposal Manual
another UK university. The Research Committee meets regularly to consider research proposals. The DBA Research Committee considers all your submissions including research proposal reports and the research proposals. It can record concern at any time in response to a progress report and can: • •
ask you and/or the mentor for more information; issue any advice or directives it considers appropriate in steering you towards applied research of DBA standard.
Though the role of the Research Committee is pivotal for the development of your research, Heriot-Watt University has ultimate control of the examination under which your research will finally be assessed. 4. Your research proposal The essence of this stage is the production of a DBA research proposal, which is a formal requirement of the programme. The DBA research approach makes central use of the research proposal as the first stage of the research development. You are required to prepare a research proposal for submission to the DBA Research Committee and for it to accept and comment on. The research proposal is both the end point of this stage and the kernel of the entire research undertaking 4.1 The purpose of a research proposal The research proposal serves many functions in that it: • • • • • •
establishes standards of comprehensiveness; ensures that the research meets requirements; stimulates clarity of thought; is a catalyst for the process of choice commitment requiring clarity of definition and establishing a fixed point, a personal milestone; formalises the research, setting it out in detail, for communication to others and providing an enduring reference point for review; establishes the basis for feedback and improvement.
The critical task when starting research is to set out the elements in a way which helps you to understand the research and provides documentation for others. Writing the research proposal is an essential part of the research process, not only helping to clarify thoughts, but also making possible the organisation of ideas into a coherent research strategy and methodology. The research proposal must communicate your knowledge and understanding both succinctly and effectively. You may have an excellent research strategy
DBA Research Proposal Manual
but struggle to communicate it effectively through the research proposal. You should appreciate that it is very important for the research proposal to be written in the most effective manner possible. If it is not, the Research Committee will not accept it. The preparation of a research proposal satisfies a need to think through and plan the research carefully. Developing a research proposal is a process of planning, designing and setting up the research, including placing it in context and embedding it in the relevant literature. Proposal writing will force you to structure and criticise each part of the research. IBR 1 provides you with the skills to evaluate your own proposal. The research proposal provides the basis on which others can review the research for comment, encouragement and suggestions for improvement. It is a document which sets out the intended research in a detailed way so that others can understand, review critically and give feedback in a structured way. The value of getting critical comment at this stage of the research (perhaps at all stages) should not be underestimated. Feedback gives you the opportunity of improvement. Another mind often sees things differently. The experience of others and their knowledge of the field are likely to be invaluable inputs. You should think about the research proposal very carefully before starting work and allocate plenty of time for writing it. The necessary background work and research could go on for several months before the research proposal is written. Actually writing the research proposal could take anything from four or five days to several weeks. A finished research proposal is a far more sophisticated piece of work than the vague notices that you submitted when asked for an indication of your research topic when applying for the DBA. 4.2 Development of your proposed research The entire research proposal process described here aims to help you develop your own DBA research. This section of the manual focuses on the process of developing research ideas. It draws on many points from the Introduction to Business Research courses but may add value by bringing the elements together in one section. You are encouraged to rewrite the description of the research which you provided with your application. During the early part of the development, you may find it helpful to use the abbreviated research proposal format. This focuses on those parts of the research proposal important for development. For example, the abbreviated proposal requires a more limited skeletal literature review. This format does not have any elements that are not in the full proposal. Its purpose is to enable you to concentrate your effort in the early stages of development so that when the key elements are decided, then you can flesh out the rest in the full research proposal. The abbreviated research proposal is in Appendix 4.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
You will also find advice on developing your research in Appendix 1. This seeks to share insights drawn from experience of developing one’s own research and supervising or examining the work of others. Some of the illustrations are personal but are not necessarily of less value for that. Your own experience in business and management and what you have learnt on the programme so far are likely to be powerful sources of research ideas. This is especially true of the Edinburgh Business School DBA students who often have more experience and are often more senior than students on other DBA programmes. For this reason, you are asked to write informal answers to two simple questions. One provides the opportunity to describe an experience that interests you, and the other to identify ideas from the literature you have already studied on the programme. Some of you will choose a topic from something that interests you. Indeed, you are encouraged to do so, since you are more likely to be imaginative and motivated about something you find interesting. These research development questions are in Appendix 2. At the outset of the research, you are required to complete a Research Proposal Work Plan. Each period is two months. The work plan will be the loadstone for your development work. A key question as you develop the plan is how long you think you will need to complete the research proposal. You may expect to complete the proposal in six months or may want longer. The research proposal work plan is Appendix 7. 5. Submitting the research proposal The research proposal is submitted and reviewed according to a standardised process. The process is designed to ensure that there is a proper paper trail which will satisfy ‘best practice’ quality standards and ensures that submissions are dealt with in a structured fashion. Acceptance of the research proposal by the EBS Research Committee is a crucial rite of passage. 5.1 Required format and submission process The research proposal should be written on A4 paper, or its international equivalent. Edinburgh Business School gives a ‘typical’ structure for the research proposal, which you are strongly advised to follow. This structure, with a brief explanation of its components, is set out in IBR 1: 6.4.2.1. A summary of the format is set out in Appendix 3. You are entitled to use your own proposal structure if you feel that the scope of the research and the approaches to be adopted necessitates a different structure. An advantage of using the standard format is that it corresponds closely to the structure for the submission of the thesis which is set out in IBR3:7.4.1. It is wise to seek to standardise the format you choose for the research proposal with the structure you intend to use for the final thesis to enable the various aspects of the research to form a coherent whole.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
Research proposals can be submitted electronically to
[email protected] but a paper version of the signed EBS DBA pro forma must also be submitted. The pro forma is set out in Appendix 8. 5.2 Review process The research proposal must be submitted to the DBA Research Committee for approval. If the research proposal is not acceptable, it will be returned with an indication of the further works required. You must continue to refine and develop the research proposal until it reaches a standard acceptable to the DBA Research Committee. You may only re-submit the research proposal twice. If it is rejected for a third time you will almost certainly be asked to withdraw from the programme to ensure you do not waste your time. A significant amount of time is given to processing research proposals because it is such a critical point in the development of the research. The process for consideration of proposals and feedback from the Committee may take eight weeks. This period is made up of four weeks for reading the proposal, two weeks for comments to be distributed to the other members of the Research Committee prior to its meeting, and two weeks for detailed feedback. Therefore, a research proposal should be submitted on the first day of the month preceding the meeting of the DBA Research Committee. For example, a research proposal that you wish the DBA Research Committee to consider at a meeting in March, has to be received by February 1st. Late proposals will only be reviewed by the Research Committee meeting two months later. The DBA Research Committee meets to consider research proposals and research proposal reports in alternate months. It meets in September, November, January, March, May and July. You should note that a research proposal report must be completed two months before you intend to submit a research proposal. This is a condition for a proposal to be considered. 6. Provision of a mentor You are encouraged to take advantage of the mentoring provision because it should help you choose your topic more swiftly. The purpose of mentoring is to enable you to progress to submitting your research proposal to the Research Committee as efficiently and effectively as possible. Mentoring will assist you to build firm foundations for carrying out a useful piece of research and for starting your subsequent work with your supervisor. The mentor will provide you with general guidance for the duration of the development of the research proposal. Nevertheless, mentoring is optional. You may prefer to work with minimal interaction with the mentor. Furthermore, the mentor acts in an advisory capacity; you may choose to disregard any advice that is offered.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
Mentoring provides a skilled sounding board and a mirror for your ideas. You could find a mentor to be an invaluable source of advice at the early stages of research design when you will be making choices which condition the following years of research. With mentoring, you will get early feedback on your design. Mentors normally hold a doctorate, are actively engaged in research and have supervised postgraduate research. All contact with your mentor should be via the secure Mentoring section of the Community Area at http://coursewebsites.ebsglobal.net/ which you will be given access to upon payment of the research proposal fee. You and your mentor are strongly encouraged to have a telephone conversation at the start of the process in order to establish a positive base upon which ideas can be discussed effectively. Most people find that a conversation, even by the telephone, enhances subsequent dialogue conducted via the website. The conversation increases the basis for understanding. If the conditions permit, then a face-to-face meeting is desirable. You should only contact your mentor through the website. During mentoring, you have the opportunity of forming the habits of disciplined working and reporting which will stand you in good stead for working with your supervisor. The research proposal reports are part of this discipline. You can expect to find the feedback from Edinburgh Business School gives you further fresh ideas and insights which could considerably enrich the research. The involvement of the mentor does not guarantee that a research proposal will achieve a standard acceptable to the DBA Research Committee. Sadly, some people find it very difficult to produce a satisfactory research proposal whatever the support and advice the mentor has given them. 6.1 The discipline of reporting In the same way that mentoring is a means of learning to work under supervision; this is a time for you to become accustomed to the discipline of completing progress reports. The progress report is an essential part of the entire research system. Learning to do this from the start is a great boon. While progress reporting is a standard process on all good doctoral programmes, it is even more important on this programme where, for many, the communication is not face-to-face. Progress reports have an institutional and an individual function. At the institutional level, they are necessary for the institution to see that you are progressing well and that your work is within the range of quality and timeliness required. They also provide the Committee with an overview of the programme which it can use to identify needs for policy decisions and the provision of resources. It is an integral part of the Quality Assurance process which the University conducts.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
The function of the progress reports is to help you move your research along and provide an extra level of expertise should this be required. Progress reports are a student friendly process. Student progress in research is complex and needs monitoring. Reports are used throughout the research period to ensure that the research is developing correctly and within acceptable timescales. Monitoring is there to help you, to provide discipline, to pick up issues, which might otherwise cause loss of direction and to deal with the issues before they become a problem. It allows the Research Committee to provide you with feedback to help with your rate of progress and to identify your particular needs. The reporting process also gives you periodic opportunities to think through your work systematically. This provides the opportunity for taking stock and perhaps noticing some element which needs your extra attention, perhaps because it is not progressing at the same rate as other elements. Further discussion of progress reports is to be found in IBR2:4.6 which particularly address the matter of progress reports during the literature review stage, but the general principles apply to all progress reports. 6.2 The operation of reporting Research Proposal Reports are written during the process of research proposal development. These invite you to comment on your progress so far and provide the basis for feedback from EBS. Reports are submitted, and feedback received, as attachments through the secure Mentor site at http://coursewebsites.ebsglobal.net/. Research proposal reports are written at two-month intervals. The first report is submitted two months into the research proposal period and subsequent reports are written as the research proposal develops. The final research proposal progress report must be submitted no less than two months before the submission of the research proposal. If you intend to complete the research proposal in six months, you would plan to submit two research proposal progress reports, one at the end of month 2 and one at the end of month 4. You would then submit the research proposal at the end of month six. The timing must be respected and late reports will be reviewed at the next Committee meeting which will mean that feedback is seriously delayed causing you avoidable inconvenience. The supervisor, when appointed, will receive copies of report forms as a further piece of information about the research and as evidence of how the research is developing. The research proposal report has a simple format to facilitate the process. This format is given in Appendix 5. The bi-monthly form asks you for your objectives and key tasks for the two-month period being reported on, your achievements, and your objectives and key tasks for the forthcoming twomonth period. Your report should be linked to the research proposal timetable
DBA Research Proposal Manual
in Appendix 7. The timetable should be submitted with your report showing your progress and expected completion dates of the various sections of the proposal. In addition, you should undertake your own progress reviews in the form of Personal Progression Reviews (PPR) periodically. You should start this early in the research with the intention of forming the habit of doing PPRs throughout the research. The PPR is considered in more detail in IBR1: 2.7
DBA Research Proposal Manual
7. Appendices 7.1 Appendix 1: Developing your proposed research Introduction Some would argue that the development of your research is the most critical stage of all. It is the point of departure for a long journey. Comprehensive, consistent, coherent and clear plans are the best guide. Detours due to inadequate planning waste time, energy and motivation. The obvious moral is to think through the proposal very carefully indeed. Most journeys have their unexpected twists and turns and research is no exception. However, a well thought through plan is likely to help you handle the unexpected. It could help you to understand its nature. The sense of direction in the plan guides the decision on how much to alter direction to account for the unexpected. The following section is a personal experiential guide to discovering your research topic. As it is drawn on years of undertaking, critically commenting, and evaluating research, it is a personal statement. At the same time, it generalises to an extent that it may not be precisely true for your own situation. Selecting the field The start of research can be very important to you as an individual. The choice you make could be the basis on which you do most of your future work. It is a personal and important choice. You have already expressed your research statement in your application and you may be happily committed to that idea. This could be excellent because if you are genuinely still committed to the idea after so much input from the study element in strategic focus, the implication is that you have a sustainable idea. However, the development stage is so crucial that you would be wise to review your idea thoroughly, even if you think it right. Choosing a subject that interests you A major element in the selection of your topic should be your own selfinterests. As you, after all, are the principal beneficiary of the doctoral research, it follows that you should consider how you can maximise the benefit to yourself. The benefit in an academic field could be to create a basis for future work. For instance, a colleague who has been working in the field of regulated industries did his doctorate on the effect of privatisation on the efficiency of the electricity generation industry. This shaped his research work and he has become a world expert in regulated industries. Note that the broad area is as important as the narrow topic in the decision. The actual topic is likely to be narrow for the basis of a career whereas the broad area is large enough to be an appropriate basis. Rather more esoterically, the choice of methodology shapes future work. You may be attracted by a particular methodology. For instance, some famous
DBA Research Proposal Manual
researchers have made their careers around case study methodology. Most of their papers are in this area. They probably think of research problems in terms of case studies. They naturally gravitate to an interview technology. Another colleague hankers after detailed databases in his work, which was the style of his doctorate and because such data produce articles which are widely regarded and therefore good for building academic reputation. This particularly applies if you wish to become a professional researcher. However, if you see your career being primarily as a research professional then a critical question is how the chosen research can help you to succeed in your management career. If you aspire to be a company chairman, then it would be natural to choose a topic which involved interviewing people of board level experience, probably including chairmen, and to choose a subject which relates to the decisions of the board which would mean examining strategic level decisions or the processes by which such decisions are taken. It should be noted that the learning for a management career is likely to be much wider than just that covered by the topic. In the process of collecting data, the researcher is likely to witness events, meet people with particular attributes and have discussions which provide insights in business and management which the researcher will draw on in his or her own management. For instance, fellow researchers in decision making in corporate governance and multinational product management found that they learnt a lot about how decisions are taken and how managers seek to influence the decision process. Clearly, you would prefer that the issue you study have a long-term life, so that you can continue to mine the investment of your DBA work for several years to come. This could be particularly important if you are considering an academic career, but probably applies to any career that you choose. To return to the research in electricity efficiency, it was evident that privatisation and regulation would continue to be of interest as governments were faced with the issue of providing utilities without having to incur costs to the electorate in the form of unpopular taxation. Furthermore, the doctorate is a long-term activity. Your feelings are likely to change over time. There could be difficult periods when there are competing pressures for your time, energy and imagination. There could be aspects which stretch your skills to the limit. With this in mind, it is worth recognising that you are more likely to sustain the effort if the subject captures your interest. If the research idea resonates with your interests, then consistency of purpose is more sustainable. In addition in the field of study and probably in most areas of human endeavour, we give of our best when we do something which attracts our interest and imagination. If we are bored and find the subject dull, then the outcomes are likely to be dull too.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
To return to the point of self-interest, it is perhaps wise to recognise that although self-interest is the most important factor for you, the doctorate is about more than that. As the regulations indicate, it is about making a contribution to knowledge and about mastery of your subject. However, neither of these important elements is inconsistent with the thought that this should be achieved in a way that interests you personally. Generating ideas Following on from this theme that the subject of the doctorate should interest you, there is the question of how to discover the subject. The interest may come from what you have read or studied or from your experience. Experience and the literature are possible sources of research ideas. During your study, for the DBA you are likely to have seen a neat idea, a striking concept. Before reaching this stage, you have taken management courses in an MBA, and in the preparation for starting the DBA research. This concept might appeal because it elegantly explains or at least articulates some complexity or idea you have observed. Most seminal theories have that quality. As an experienced manager, it is likely that part of your interest will be related to what you have lived and seen. You may have observed something that is much more difficult in practice than one would expect in theory. You may have observed that something is becoming a major issue in your business and you would like to develop best practice. A researcher studied the introduction of products into new markets which he had observed was inefficiently done even in a best practice company. For this reason you are asked at the earliest stage in the mentoring to reflect on and to write about some aspect of theory and some experience which attracted your attention. The hope is that, somewhere in the description of one or other of these, you will be indicating an idea, which could be the basis of your research. The description is likely to help the mentor to grasp where you are coming from. Nor should you distrust your interest. Some of this may seem very personal. However, given that you have important experience and you have studied several subjects in depth, your judgement of what is interesting is well informed. The likelihood is that your sense of the subject is such that as the research progresses some of the essential explanations will correspond to what you expected. Maybe you will see the situation differently but the essence could still be there. That is not to say everything will be as you thought at the outset. Certainly there will be opinions which you will find with further investigation were ill founded. The point is that something in your ‘gut’ feeling is likely to be core to the subject, principally because you already have some expertise and this has guided your choice.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
Turning ideas into study topics In the discussion, we have seen that there are broad subject areas and narrow topics and it has been suggested in a preceding section that an effective research strategy is to have a narrow topic in a rich broad subject area. Moving from your general idea to both the topic and the subject area is a process of analysis and conceptualisation. A critical analytical approach is deconstruction. The idea is broken down into constituent parts. The discovery of a research topic is a creative process which combines lateral and analytical thinking. The WBS tool, explained in further detail in IBR1:2.3, is useful for breaking down the elements of the field as a process of de-construction. There is also the point about challenging assumptions implicit in your statement of the idea. At this stage, anything that is a start-point has to be checked to see whether it is known to be true or is merely a hypothesis. There is a possibility that, if you know the area well, then what seems a truth to you is in fact an assumption for which you have anecdotal support from experience, but which cannot be justified on empirical evidence. Research is a process of challenge. Can the statements be justified? If not, then it is possible that providing the evidence to test those statements could be the research topic or at least part of it. From the output of this process, the selected elements can be rebuilt and reorganised to correspond to concepts. Conceptualisation is a process of rebuilding and reorganising some of the components into different levels of abstraction. There is an art in seeing narrow research topics within broad subject areas. This has been part of the discussion above in terms of interest. Choosing a narrow topic is principally about the complexity of implementing research, which is the subject of the next section. Turning study topics into researchable propositions This process turns directly to the doctorate and there is iteration between the several components of the research. The full list of components is set out in the research proposal. The recommendation is that, in the early stages of development, you concentrate on a key selection of the topics which are set out in the abbreviated proposal in Appendix 3. The abbreviated form of the proposal gives priority to background, research questions, aims and objectives, and hypotheses. It also features the research paradigm and methodology, significance, feasibility and references. Once the essence of the research has been captured on the abbreviated form, you can naturally move on to complete the research proposal in the full form as required.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
At the stage of developing researchable propositions, writing and documentation are important since the process forces you to think through ideas in depth, it tests clarity and consistency and also provides a concrete output which can be discussed with others, constructively criticised and improved. At the stage of designing the research methodology, you may find it useful to choose research sites with different characteristics because they provide a basis for comparison and may supply a dimension that is significant to your argument. The choice of research site could be another opportunity for you to extend your interests. If you are curious about South Africa, for instance, and can sensibly include it in your research design, then why not do so. Researchable also means delivering on the objectives set for DBA. The requirements for a DBA are clearly set out in manuals, official documents, and Introduction to Business Research courses. As you approach a decision on a topic for your research, you are advised to study these requirements. You may find a small amendment to the research design will substantially increase the research’s ability to deliver on the requirements. Be cautious if you are working in the situation that you are investigating. There is a huge difference between research and consultancy. A researcher, doing a case study of good practice in a FTSE 40 company, received an offer to present the findings to the CEO and decides to do so. However, there will be conflicting objectives. The researcher will be seeking to discover how the company works. The CEO will be interested in finding out from the research how to do better. He may already know how the company works. He may at least think he knows! A similar issue arises in terms of access when some of the information comes from within your area of authority. This information may be richer because you have access. In this case the information you get from elsewhere may be more superficial, creating an imbalance. If you are the boss, then the information from within your department may already have been screened. Worse still, you may be screening the information unconsciously because of your own perceptions. You may see what you expect to see. It is necessary at this point to underline the fact that failure to make choices at this stage or decisions avoided may come to plague you later. For instance; failure to be clear or to limit the scope of the research in the early stages, may lead to a lot of wasted effort by way of collecting more data than necessary or lack of clarity may lead to confusion as to what you are really looking at. It is a false assumption that a bit of ambiguity causes no difficulty as it will be easy to iron out as you go along. This is the design stage. It is akin to the architectural plans for a building.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
Writing the proposal At this stage you are ready to complete the full research proposal for submission to the DBA Research Committee. The template for the proposal is set out in the main part of the mentoring document. 7.2 Appendix 2: Research Development Questions Informal questions about experience and theory, concept or models These questions are intended for your benefit. The idea behind the questions is that your choice is likely to be stimulated by your own interest and experience. Please note that answering these questions should be not viewed as a course assignment. Instead, you should seek to be relaxed and informal because an unstructured style can prompt unexpected thoughts that can lead to new insights and creative thinking. Write less than two sides on each. A Question of Experience Describe something from your business or management experience in the past five years that caught your imagination. Why did it interest you? Do any concepts or theories you have studied on DBA courses explain or otherwise relate to this experience? A Question of theory Describe a management theory, model or concept that captured your imagination on the DBA or other Master’s level courses. Give a reference, which will enable EBS staff to identify the model. Why did this appeal to you? How did it relate to your experience as a manager? 7.3 Appendix 3: The format of the research proposal This is the format, which should be used for submitting the research proposal to the DBA Research Committee 1. The Abstract The abstract is a short and precise summary of the proposal. Most research proposal abstracts need not be any larger than about 200 words. The abstract should be carefully written, and should use keywords to help other researcher to find the work if it is relevant to their area. The abstract should state the problem, its context and significance, the general research methods used, the type of results and their potential use. 2. The Summary The summary should follow the same line of thought as the abstract. Each important element in the abstract should be developed and extended slightly in the summary. The summary is very important and should generally be a minimum of about 200 words and a maximum of about 1000 words.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
3. Background (literature review) This is a mini-literature review of work previously published by other researchers. It demonstrates that you are aware of the published work in the chosen research area and has read the works of the main authors and has used this knowledge in the development of the research. It should place the current research proposal in the context of the existing literature, and particularly in relation to any gaps in the literature and how the current research is positioned in relation to these gaps. 4. Research questions, aims, objectives and hypotheses This section should state research aims and objectives, and any operational hypotheses that have been adopted. The aims are the overall outcomes that are desired. The objectives are the individual actions necessary to achieve the aims. This section can be completed in about 500 words. 5. Research paradigm and theoretical framework This refers to intended paradigm (positivist or phenomenological) and the theoretical framework. 6. Research methodology This should give sufficient detail on the proposed research methodologies and demonstrate why a particular methodology has been chosen. Choice of methodology should be backed up by references from the literature, where possible citing similar research that has been carried out using similar methodologies. 7. Sample design and details of the data collection process This should provide the necessary level of detail to describe what is being done and why. 8. Accessibility This should make clear what access has already been obtained and what is still required to complete the research. 9. Research ethics You should make it convincingly clear that ethical issues have been thought through and the research is acceptable. This should make clear if any assistance will be required and any assistance will be consistent with the University’s regulation that the doctorate is substantially the author’s own work. It is your responsibility to ensure that your research is in accordance with the ethical policies of Heriot-Watt University and if in doubt you should seek the advice of your mentor/supervisor in the first instance. Any breach of the ethics policy could result in your DBA degree not being awarded or rescinded.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
10. Deliverables This section should summarise each anticipated output 11. Significance This small section is very important. It should make clear the applicability of the research and also its relationship with other research. It should pay particular attention to integration between disciplines. 12. Resources required to implement research 13. Timetable of expected completion dates This should show the expected completion date for each part of the research. Any chart or diagram should be as clear as possible 14. References, bibliography, letters of support and appendices As a general rule you should try to include all the major researchers who are active in the field. 7.4 Appendix 4: The abbreviated proposal as a basis for research development This is the format, which may be used for the process of mentoring. It selects issues to focus on at the developmental stage and groups’ issues around the logic that exists at the critical stage. The fact that an element of the proposal is not included in the abbreviated proposal does not indicate that it is less important for the research, but merely that it is less significant at the development stage of the proposal. 1. Background (literature review) This should have sufficient of the mini-literature review to demonstrate that key works have been consulted and suggest the place that the proposed research might have in filling gaps in the literature. 2. Research questions, aims, objectives and hypotheses This section should state research aims and objectives. , The aims are the overall outcomes that are desired. The objectives are the individual actions necessary to achieve the aims. It should also define the research problem and the research question very precisely. At this early developmental stage, you may prefer not to adopt hypotheses 3. Research paradigm and research methodology This refers to intended paradigm (positivist or phenomenological) and should give sufficient detail on the proposed research methodologies and justify the choice of a particular methodology. There should be a single sentence outline of sample design and data collection process
DBA Research Proposal Manual
4. Significance This should make clear the applicability of the research and also its relationship with other research. 5. Feasibility This should cover any issues of accessibility, research ethics, resource requirements that might affect the completion of the research. This should be realistic about the likelihood of access. 6. References This should give only key references relating to the literature review at this stage 7. Other relevant factors This should cover any other factors within the research proposal, not included in this abbreviated version but which are of significance to this research.
DBA Research Proposal Manual
7.5 Appendix Five: DBA research proposal progress report
DBA Research Proposal Manual
DBA Research Proposal Manual
7.6 Appendix Six: DBA research proposal feedback form
DBA Research Proposal Manual
7.7 Appendix 7 The research timetable showing expected completion dates Actions Period 1 Period 2
Period 3
Period 4
Period 5
Period 6
Abstract Summary Literature Review Research Questions, Aims Objectives & Hypothesis Research Paradigm & Theoretical Framework Research Methodology Sample Design & Details of Data Collection Accessibility Research Ethics
Deliverables Significance Research Timetable References, Bibliography, letters of support & appendices
DBA Research Proposal Manual
Resources Required to Implement Research
DBA Research Proposal Manual
7.8: Appendix Eight: Research proposal pro forma Name:
SID
Version:
Degree Sought:
(i.e. First, Resubmission, Final)
DBA in Strategic Focus
Declaration In accordance with the appropriate regulations I hereby submit my research proposal for consideration by the DBA Research Committee and I declare that: 1) 2) 3) 4)
the proposal embodies the results of my own work and has been composed by myself where appropriate, I have made acknowledgement of the work of others and have made reference to work carried out in collaboration with other persons I understand that as a student of the University I am required to abide by the Regulations of the University and to conform to its discipline my research is compliant with the University policy on ethics.
Signature of Candidate:
Submission Submitted By (name in capitals): Signature of Individual Submitting: Date Submitted:
Date:
