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Business Dissertation Topics

Published by Owen Ingram at January 5th, 2023 , Revised On September 9, 2024

As a business student, you will study various aspects of conducting business. From handling human resources to managing marketing and finances, you will study them all. However, what is essential is to understand how you will put your learning into practice.

That is when the real challenge starts. You might have aced your quizzes and assignments and stood out in your class, but if you cannot implement your learning in your practical life, your academic success means nothing.

Thus, to help you understand the real-life scenario, the dissertation can be a great starting point. Dissertations help you understand the concepts, frameworks, and models of business in great depth.

Choose a topic for your dissertation that will interest you and help you in your professional life. Thus, to help you fulfil your academic condition and choose an appropriate dissertation topic, here is a list of topics that are recent and relevant.

To help you get started with brainstorming for business topic ideas, we have developed a list of the latest topics that can be used for writing your business dissertation.

These topics have been developed by PhD qualified  writers of our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You can also start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the problem,  research question , aim and objectives,  literature review , and the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  free example dissertations and free business and business management dissertation examples to get an idea of how to structure your dissertation .

You can review step by step guide on how to write your dissertation  here.

So, without further ado, here’s a list of business dissertation topics that will help you stand out in your class.

• International Development Dissertation Topics
• Cooperate Governance Dissertation Topics
• Business Intelligence Dissertation Topics
• Business Information Technology Dissertation Topics
• International Business Dissertation Topics
• Business Management Dissertation Topics
• Business Psychology Dissertation Topics
• Business Law Dissertation Topics
• Project Management Dissertation Topics
• HRM Dissertation Topics
• Management Dissertation Topics
• Operations Management Dissertation Topics

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2024 Business Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: an evaluation of the impact of business ethics on the moral obligations associated with business deals of corporations.

Research Aim: The research aims to conduct an evaluation of the impact of business ethics on the moral obligations associated with business deals of corporations

Objectives:

• To analyse the importance of ethics for the shareholders of a business.
• To evaluate the link between business ethics and successful business deals.
• To investigate the impact of business ethics on the moral obligations of corporations while executing business deals

Topic 2: The impact of AI-based tools on business decision making and overall organisational profitability.

Research Aim: The research aims to analyse the impact of AI-based tools on business decision making and overall organisational profitability.

• To analyse the impact of AI tools on the strategic management of the business.
• To evaluate the factors impacting business decision making and profitability.
• To investigate the impact of AI tools on business decision making and overall organisational profitability.

Topic 3: How does the HRM function impact the business health of organisations?

Research Aim: The research aims to understand how the HRM function impacts the business health of organisations.

• To analyse the role of the HRL function of organisations.
• To analyse the concept of business health and how it is measured.
• To examine the impact of HRM on the business health and wellbeing of the organisations.

Topic 4: The impact of corporate governance on firm performance and internationalisation.

Research Aim: The research aims to examine the impact of corporate governance on firm performance and internationalisation.

• To critically analyse the impact of corporate governance on brand image and equity.
• To investigate the impact of firm performance on internationalisation decisions.
• To investigate how corporate governance impacts firm performance and internationalisation.

Topic 5: An assessment of the impact of materials management on production efficiency and cost optimisation of business

Research Aim: The research aims to examine the impact of materials management on production efficiency and cost optimisation of business

• To investigate the impact of materials management in the production business
• To analyse the factors impacting production efficiency and cost minimisation of business.
• To evaluate how materials management impacts production efficiency and cost optimisation of business

Latest Business Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: impact of digital business on the economic growth of the country: a case study of xyz country.

Research Aim: This research will focus on the significance of digital business during the pandemic and its impacts, not the country’s economic growth. It is a detailed view of the future that needs to be digitalised.

Topic 2: Brand Marketing through social media

Research Aim: This research aims to focus on the importance of Brand Marketing through social media by addressing various current strategies used in brand marketing.

Topic 3: Impacts of social media on customer behaviour

Research Aim: This research aims to measure social media’s impacts on customer behaviour and address various strategies that are effective in attracting customers through social media.

Topic 4: What factors influence the consumer's buying decisions?

Research Aim: This research aims to identify factors that influence the consumer’s buying decisions

Topic 5: Black Friday sale strategy to drive sales

Research Aim: This research aims to identify how the Black Friday sale strategy effectively drives sales. How can huge discounts benefit sellers?

Topic 6: The role of Influencer Marketing in increasing sale

Research Aim: Influencer Marketers impact the customer’s perception. This research aims to examine the role of influencer marketing in increasing sales.

Topic 7: Impact of E-marketing on consumer purchase decision: the case of the luxury industry in the UK

Research Aim: This research aims to measure E-marketing’s impact on consumer purchase decisions in the UK luxury industry.

Topic 8: Analysis of the customer-centric marketing strategies in attaining competitive advantage for the firm and sustaining business success

Research Aim: This research focuses on attaining customer-centric marketing strategies in a competitive advantage for the firm and sustaining business success.

Topic 9: Traditional vs. digital marketing: a comparative study of the last ten years

Research Aim: This research aims to conduct a comparative study of traditional vs. digital marketing in the last ten years.

Topic 10: The impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty: an analysis of the Honda motor

Research Aim: This research aims to assess the impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty. An analysis of the Honda motor will be conducted as the base of the research.

Topic 11: The importance of search Engines in e-commerce

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the importance of search engines in e-commerce.

Topic 12: E-Commerce company's advertising strategy-critical analysis

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the importance of an E-Commerce company’s advertising strategy.

Topic 13: Importance of customer retention in E-commerce

Research Aim: This research aims to measure the importance of customer retention in E-commerce.

Topic 14: Importance of brand loyalty in Internet marketing

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the importance of brand loyalty in Internet marketing.

Top Business Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: assessing how the regional differences between countries influence the business strategies of multinational companies.

Research Aim: Their regional differences and conflicts between countries have directly affected trade activities. Therefore, this research will identify a highly sensitive issue by analysing how regional differences between countries impact the overall business strategies of multinational companies.

Topic 2: How corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects customer loyalty: A case study of the UK petroleum industry

Research Aim: Corporate social responsibility has become an important phenomenon as it directly impacts the brand image of the company. Therefore, the main purpose of the research is to analyse how CSR activities influence customer perception, which in turn impacts customer loyalty. The focus of the research will be the UK petroleum industry.

Topic 3: Assessing the leadership styles of a non-profit organisation and how they impact the overall business operations

Research Aim: Leadership has always been a significant aspect of any organisation as it has a drastic impact on the overall business processes. Many researchers have focused on identifying the best leadership style for MNCs and SMEs; however, few have focused on non-profit organisations. Therefore, the main purpose of the research is to assess the most effective leadership styles that non-profit organisations should practise and how it affect the overall operations.

Topic 4: Examining the impact of global business negotiations on cross border mergers and acquisitions

Research Aim: The main aim of the research is to analyse the effect of international business negotiations on cross border mergers. Due to intense competition, many companies are going for mergers and acquisitions to enhance their market share. Therefore, this research will explore the aspect of global business negotiations in mergers and acquisitions between two different companies in two different countries.

Topic 5: Analysing the impact of forwarding and backward integration on business performance and sustainability

Research Aim: To gain a competitive advantage, firms have devised various supply chain strategies that help them improve their business performance. One such strategy is forward and backward integration. Therefore, this research will be focusing on analysing the impact of both forward and backward integration on business performance and sustainability.

Topic C1: The economic suffering due to the plague of COVID-19

Research Aim: The research must assess the disruption that has been created by the spread of  COVID-19 in the world. This must include the global lockdown of the countries and the shutting of industries, resulting in soaring unemployment rates and a dramatic decline in economic statistics. The research aims to look at the economic consequences generated by the outbreak of COVID-19 in general.

Topic C2: The major sufferings in the economy as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak

Research Aim: The research must assess the reasons behind the rising suffering in specific business sectors and industries. For instance, the supply chain is suffering because China has become the manufacturing hub, which has brought disruption in the supply chain of the whole industry due to a complete lockdown in the country. The research aims to study majorly affected regions such as the entertainment sector, tourism industry, restaurant sector etc.

Topic C3: Expecting changes in the economic statistics by the outbreak of COVID-19

Research Aim: The recent expected changes by the professionals about the impact of COVID-19 on the global economic statistics must be discussed in the research, such as the estimated growth rates of the world and China was predicted to be 0% and 1.6%, respectively, for the year 2020 by the Ethan Harris, head of global economic research in the Bank of America according to his recent interview. Similarly, articles from other professionals must be included in the research to focus on the effects of an outbreak on the economy.

Topic C4: The major regions and business industries affected by the spread of COVID-19

Research Aim: The research would assess the regions (cities and countries) which are being affected by the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 and the major impacted business industries, such as the food industries like restaurants are completely locked down after the outbreak of the virus and the people that were engaged in those industries are unemployed now. The research aims to focus on such industries and the impact of their lowered productivity on the economy.

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Business Strategy and Globalisation Dissertation Topics

Globalisation can be defined as the process that assists organisations and businesses in spreading their operations and influence on an international scale to increase their profit levels.

According to the Financial Times Lexicon, it is  “a process by which national and regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through the global network of trade, communication, immigration and transportation.”

It would not be wrong to say that globalisation is the integration of policymaking, cultures, markets, industries, and economics around the globe.

In recent times, the concept of globalisation has been expanded to include a broader range of activities and areas such as biological, political, social, cultural, technological, climate and media factors, even though initially it primarily focused on the economies, capital flows, foreign direct investment, and trade.

Some recent topics with respect to globalisation and business strategy are listed below:

Topic 6: Why organisations and businesses must change their business strategies in the era of globalisation

Research Aim: Any and every company that does strategies based on globalisation will lose out on huge business opportunities. Thus, this research will focus on the reasons why companies should plan for globalisation-related strategies.

Topic 7: Business management framework and globalisation – An empirical study

Research Aim: This research will talk about a successful business management framework for companies operating in the era of globalisation.

Topic 8: Global business strategy for MNCs and the role of corporate vision, conflicts, and empowerment

Research Aim: This research will talk about the various business strategies available for MNCs and the role their vision, conflict management, and empowerment play in building these strategies.

Topic 9: Exploring the drivers of Chinese business expansion strategy into Africa and other developing countries

Research Aim: This research will explore the various factors that drive Chinese business expansion into Africa and other developing countries.

Topic 10: An investigation into the process of offshore outsourcing of customer services to determine the causes of poor customer satisfaction

Research Aim: This research will assess customer services’ offshoring process, which in turn impacts customer satisfaction.

Topic 11: Cross border management strategy – A research study focusing on foreign business organisations in Malaysia

Research Aim: This research will talk about cross border management strategies and specifically about foreign businesses operating in Malaysia.

Topic 12: An investigation into the impact of globalisation on UK businesses' operations on both a national and international scale.

Research Aim: This research will study the impact of globalisation on UK businesses. The impact on both national and international scales will be assessed.

Topic 13: How banks can implement business strategies in light of globalisation to improve connectivity with clients – A case of Barclays Plc

Research Aim: This research will focus on the globalisation of banks. Barclays PLC will be used as a case study for this research.

Topic 14: A study to examine the factors affecting the MNC’s choice of alliances and entry modes – The case of Sri Lanka

Research Aim: This study will discuss the various factors that impact the MNC’s choice of alliances and entry modes. Sri Lanka will be used as a case study for this research.

Topic 15: Performance, e-business strategies, and globalisation – Examining the factors affecting the social media strategy of business organisations in the UK

Research Aim: This research will discuss the factors that impact the performance, e-business strategies, and globalisation of UK based businesses. The study will also focus on factors impacting the social media strategy of these organisations.

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Strategic Change Management Dissertation Topics

Change management can be defined as the management of “change and development” within a business organisation. Dealing with the impact of change is of critical importance. Strategic change management helps managers deal with change from the perspective of the individual and an organisation.

An important aspect of this concept is the organisational tools that can help achieve successful transitions to adopt change. Furthermore, business organisations can effectively and quickly implement change to meet changing market requirements as part of the strategic change management process.

Topic 16: An investigation into the implementation of strategic change management in the UK retail sector

Research Aim: This research will analyse and investigate how the UK retail sector changes its business processes to stay relevant in the market.

Topic 17: Examining the factors affecting organisational changes from the perspective of employees – The case of HSBC

Research Aim: This research will focus on organisational changes from the perspective of employees. HSBC will be studied as a case in this research.

Topic 18: Use of a proprietary change management system with respect to transformational change and stakeholder communication

Research Aim: This research will discuss a proprietary change management system that helps with transformational change and stakeholder communication.

Topic 19: The role of feedback in organisational culture change: A case study of any multinational company

Research Aim: This research will assess the role of feedback, be it from employees or customers, in bringing and managing organisational cultural change. This study will be based on a company of your choosing.

Topic 20: Strategic management of change in Asian countries – The case of Singapore

Research Aim: This study will talk about strategic change management in Asian countries. Singapore will be the chosen country for the purpose of this study.

Topic 21: To establish the importance of measuring the stress levels of employees to successfully implement change

Research Aim: This research will talk about the importance of employee stress measurement in order to implement change successfully.

Topic 22: The role of senior management of business organisations in developing a framework that connects unexpected results and strategic plans

Research Aim: This study will talk about the role of senior management of businesses in developing a framework that will help the company bring together strategic plans and unexpected positive results.

Topic 23: Differences in working styles of Saudi project managers and foreign project managers

Research Aim: This research will help understand the different working styles of Saudi project managers and foreign project managers.

Topic 24: Intervention, project management, and change management – The banking sector in the UK

Research Aim: This research will talk about the change management and implementation barriers that companies are unable to implement change effectively.

International Human Resource Management Dissertation Topics

International Human Resource Management is a system that is designed to improve employee performance at national and international levels. The IHRM function primarily focuses on the policies developed to ensure efficient personnel management within organisations at an international level.

Various activities such as training and development, skills enhancement, employee recruitment, motivational programmes, bonuses and rewards systems, and performance appraisal are implemented to help businesses increase their work output.

Topic 25: Managing employees’ performance in non-profit organisations – A case study of any non-profit organisation

Research Aim: This research will help non-profit organisations understand how they can manage and monitor employee performance even when operating at an international level.

Topic 26: Developing an effective human resource management system in large multinational companies – The recommended practices and strategies

Research Aim: This research will help multinational companies develop an effective human resource management system.

Topic 27: Examining the impact of human resource professionals and human resource management in the new global economy

Research Aim: This study will help understand the impact of human resource professionals and shed light on human resource management in the new globalised economy.

Topic 28: Can human resource development and training help to remedy poor selection processes

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand whether resource development and training will lead to better selection processes or not.

Topic 29: The causes and forms of deviance in business and non-profit organisations

Research Aim: This research will help understand the causes and forms of deviance in business and non-profit organisations.

Topic 30: Investigating the effects of organisational transition on employees’ performance in large diversified companies.

Research Aim: This research will investigate the impact of organisational transition on the performance of employees in multinationals.

Topic 31: Configuration of human resource management system in multinational companies

Research Aim: This research will help understand how the human resource management system in multinationals is configured.

Topic 32: Learning from small businesses in the UK – How firm performance is associated with strategic human resource management.

Research Aim: This research will understand how firm performance in small businesses is linked with strategic human resource management and its benefits and limitations.

Topic 33: Human resource challenges for UK construction industry – Knowledge transfer and retention

Research Aim: This research will help understand human resource challenges for the UK construction industry, particularly knowledge transfer and employee retention.

Topic 34: The role of strategic human resource management in the public sector – The recommended practices and policies

Research Aim: This research will help understand the role of strategic human resource management in the public sector.

Information Technology Management Dissertation Topics

The process of managing all information technology resources of a business organisation is known as “information technology management”. It should be noted that the information technology resources of an organisation are usually managed in accordance with the priorities, policies, and requirements set out by the business.

Physical investments, including the staff, data centre facilities, networks, data storage databases, software, and computer hardware, are examples of information technology resources required to be managed within a company.

This is done using simple management skills such as organising and controlling, change management, and budgeting.

Topic 35: Developing a framework for the strategic management of information technology

Research Aim: This research will help companies build a sustainable framework for the strategic management of the information technology sector.

Topic 36: Role of information technology management in large diversified business organisations.

Research Aim: This research will help in understanding the role of information technology management in large businesses.

Topic 37: Analysing the issues associated with the implementation of Information technology in new technology-based firms.

Research Aim: This study will help in assessing issues associated with the implementation of information technology in technology firms.

Topic 38: Recommended practices to introduce and implement information systems in business organisations.

Research Aim: This study will help companies introduce and implement information systems in organisations.

Topic 39: How business organisations can gain a competitive advantage through social media branding in a fast-paced electronics industry?

Research Aim: This study is extremely relevant for this day and age as it focuses on gaining a competitive advantage through social media for the electronics industry.

Topic 40: The role of strategic alliances, acquisitions and mergers in building eCommerce business giants – A case study of any large scale and established virtual company.

Research Aim: This research will focus on understanding the role of strategic alliances, acquisitions, and mergers for e-commerce business giants. You can choose a large scale company of your choice for this study.

Topic 41: How can an e-HR system help UK energy companies improve their efficiency?

Research Aim: Electronic-human resource management systems are a thing of today. This research will focus on implementing e-HR in UK based energy companies.

Topic 42: Identifying the most influential factors affecting information technology management in the UK construction industry.

Research Aim: This research will identify factors that influence information technology management in the UK construction industry.

Topic 43: Investigating the Benefits and Limitations of Implementing Information Technology in the UK Fashion Industry.

Research Aim: This research will help explore the benefits and limitations of implementing information technology in the UK fashion sector.

Topic 44: To investigate the important elements of information technology management.

Research Aim: This research will focus on the essential factors of information technology management.

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Organisational Leadership Dissertation Topics

Business leaders are the management staff that provide operational oversights, inspiration and other administrative services. It is the duty of business leaders to help prioritise organisational objectives and corporate vision for other team members. Here are some interesting topics related to organisational leadership.

Topic 45: Examining the effects of leadership and clarity of vision on business organisations.

Research Aim: This research will understand the impact of leadership on businesses and how having a clear business vision helps organisations.

Topic 46: The impact of organisational culture and leadership behaviours on practices of knowledge management in small and medium-sized enterprises.

Research Aim: This research will examine the impact of organisational culture and leadership behaviours on knowledge management in SMEs.

Topic 47: Examining the impact of leadership on organisational performance of small enterprises in Saudi Arabia.

Research Aim: This research will study the impact of business leadership on the organisational performance of small businesses in Saudi Arabia.

Topic 48: Evaluating the impact of leadership on organisational performance – A case study of any large and diversified firm.

Research Aim: This research will help evaluate the impact of leadership on organisational performance. You can choose a company of your choice for this research.

Topic 49: Role of organisational leadership in developing countries – A case study of any home-grown company.

Research Aim: This study will evaluate the role of organisational leadership in developing countries.

Topic 50: Traits of prevention-oriented and charismatic leader for the successful operation of medium-sized enterprises.

Research Aim: This research will examine the various traits of leadership that are required for successful business operations.

Topic 51: Organisational leadership in the multicultural environment of Saudi Arabia.

Research Aim: This research will focus on organisational leadership in a multicultural environment in Saudi Arabia.

Topic 52: Distinguishing leadership from management to achieve corporate strategies.

Research Aim: This research will analyse and compare leadership and management which companies achieve corporate strategies.

Topic 53: Investigating the differences between individual charismatic leadership and traditional organisational leadership.

Research Aim: This research will help to investigate the differences between charismatic leadership and traditional leadership.

Topic 54: How leadership decisions to implement new business strategies can be influenced by organisational culture – A case study of Nokia.

Research Aim: This research will assess how leadership decisions help in implementing new business strategies and how they are influenced by organisational culture. This study will be based on Nokia.

International Business Strategy Dissertation Topics

International business can be defined as the transactions that occur across country borders as a result of trade. For example, a UK based company selling its products in another country is involved in international business.

Another definition of international business is the exchange/trade of goods or products among businesses and individuals in multiple countries.

However, it is worth noting that all commercial transactions, including transportation, logistics, investments, sales, governmental and private, that occur as a result of trade between two different regions are the elements of International Business.

Here are some interesting topics based on international business strategy:

Topic 55: Investigating the patterns of foreign direct investment in new global economies

Research Aim: This research will help outline foreign direct investment patterns in new global economies.

Topic 56: The future of the bamboo industry in Europe – Opportunities and challenges

Research Aim: This research will understand the bamboo industry in Europe, its opportunities, and the challenges the industry has to face.

Topic 57: How Telenor internationalised in Asia – The case of Pakistan

Research Aim: This research will focus on Telenor expanding its operations in Asia. International business strategies undertaken by the company will be discussed.

Topic 58: Internationalisation opportunities for Chinese multinational companies – The link between international business development and “knowledge and learning.”

Research Aim: This research will explore the internationalisation opportunities for Chinese multinational companies, i.e. the link between international business development and knowledge will be studied.

Topic 59: Exploring strategic alternatives in Research & Development through the exploitation of opportunities and capabilities

Research Aim: This research will talk about the various strategic alternatives in research and development by exploring various opportunities and capabilities.

Topic 60: The role of new theoretical models with respect to global politics and business

Research Aim: This research will understand the role of new theoretical models by considering global politics and businesses.

Topic 61: The impact of corporate governance on performance and internationalisation of business organisation

Research Aim: This research will focus on the impact of corporate governance on the performance and internationalisation of business organisations.

Topic 62: Examining the factors that could motivate large multinational corporations to adapt an internationalisation strategy

Research Aim: This research will analyse the factors that motivate multinationals to adapt to internationalisation strategies.

Topic 63: The growing importance of social media strategies in the global business environment – Internationalisation, e-business plans and performance of firms

Research Aim: This research will understand the importance of social media strategy in the global business environment, i.e. firm performance, e-business plans, etc.

Topic 64: Investigating “foreign direct investment” strategies of large and diversified companies in developing economies – The case of India

Research Aim: This research will examine foreign direct investment strategies of huge diversified businesses based in India.

Corporate Social Responsibility Dissertation Topics

The concept of corporate social responsibility has gained tremendous importance, thanks to growing social and environmental concerns that need to be integrated into business operations.

CSR allows business organisations to achieve a balance of social, environmental, and economic obligations and addresses stakeholders and shareholders’ needs.

Implementing CSR amongst small and medium-sized enterprises can prove to be an extremely daunting task primarily because it requires strategies to be designed in a manner where the respective capabilities and needs of these businesses are considered, but the profitability of the company is not adversely impacted.

Here are some relevant CSR dissertation topics for you to choose from:

Topic 65: Investigating the role of corporate social responsibilities in brand equity

Research Aim: This research will analyse how brand equity is built with the help of corporate social responsibility.

Topic 66: How values are associated with perceptions of corporate social responsibility

Research Aim: This research will talk about how values and perceptions are associated with corporate social responsibility and how businesses view it.

Topic 67: Effects of CSR on the performance of business organisations in transitional economies

Research Aim: This study will examine how CSR impacts businesses’ performance operating in transitional economies.

Topic 68: Investigating performance and strategic plans of UK firms with respect to corporate social responsibility

Research Aim: This research will investigate the performance and strategic plans of UK firms with regard to their respective corporate social responsibility.

Topic 69: To what extent do international certifiable management regulations influence business practices

This research will aim to understand the extent to which international certifiable management regulations impact business practices.

Topic 70: Corporate social responsibility in developing countries – The case of the Chinese construction industry

Research Aim: This research will talk about corporate social responsibility in developing countries and focus on the Chinese construction industry.

Topic 71: Corporate social responsibility and societal expectations – A case of any multinational corporation

Research Aim: This research will understand the expectations associated with corporate social responsibilities. A multinational will be chosen for this study.

Topic 72: How corporate social responsibility affect business practices of the UK energy sector

Research Aim: This research will help understand how corporate social responsibility impacts business practices in the UK energy sector.

Topic 73: The role of CSR on international corporate governance theories and practices

Research Aim: This research will examine the role of CSR in international corporate governance theories and practices.

Topic 74: Financial performance of selected European corporations in light of corporate social responsibility

Research Aim: This research will understand how the financial performance of European businesses is impacted by corporate social responsibility.

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Organisational Behaviour Dissertation Topics

Organisational behaviour can be defined as how individuals interact with larger groups to create more efficient businesses. The theories of organisational behaviour can help to achieve maximum output from individual members of a team. Here are some interesting topics to help you pick an appropriate dissertation topic on organisational behaviour.

Topic 75: Investigating the impact of values and beliefs on employees’ performance and commitment at the workplace

Research Aim: This research will investigate the impact of beliefs and values on employees’ performance and commitment at the workplace.

Topic 76: Studying the impact of culture on organisational behaviour – The case of the Indian telecommunication industry

Research Aim: This research will help study the impact of culture on organisational behaviour. The Indian telecommunication industry will be the focus of this research.

Topic 77: Examining decision-making process in multinational corporations in light of organisational behaviour and choice

Research Aim: This research will help examine the decision making process in multinationals with respect to organisational behaviour and choice.

Topic 78: Organisational citizenship behaviour and organisational commitment, psychological contract and conflict at Oxford University

Research Aim: This research will help understand organisational citizenship behaviour, organisational commitment, and conflict at Oxford University.

Topic 79: Exploring the relationship between a sense of belongingness and development of trust with managerial behaviour in large and diversified organisations

Research Aim: This research will help in understanding the relationship between trust and a sense of belongingness in huge, multicultural organisations.

Topic 80: Investigating causes of unethical actions of individuals in the workplace – Analysing organisational standards, practices, ethical behaviour

Research Aim: This study will explore causes that lead to unethical actions at workplaces. The research will analyse the organisational standards, practices, and ethical behaviour.

Topic 81: Developing organisational citizenship behaviour and organisational culture in the pre-inauguration stages – The case of the UK hotel industry

Research Aim: This research will help develop organisational citizenship behaviour and organisational culture in the early days of businesses. The UK hotel industry will be the main focus of this research.

Topic 82: Comparing employees’ attitudes and organisational cultural values in the Indian agricultural sector

Research Aim: This research will compare employee attitude and organisational cultural values in the Indian agricultural sector.

Topic 83: This study will explore the relationship between employee performance and corporate objectives.

Research Aim: The research will take into consideration the role of shared values and standards.

Topic 84: Introducing, Implementing, and Managing Change in a Multinational – Assessing the Conflicts associated with it

Research Aim: This research will study global change management as to how multinationals introduce, implement and manage change globally.

List of Top Trending Business Dissertation Topics In 2024

• The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Business Decision-Making
• Gig Economy’s Impact on Traditional Employment Structures
• Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management for Efficiency
• The Rise of Social Media Influencers and Their Disruption of Marketing Strategies
• Fostering Innovation in a Remote Work Environment
• The Ethical Implications of Big Data Analytics in Modern Business Practices
• The Growing Power of Customer Experience as a Competitive Differentiator
• Mergers and Acquisitions in the Age of Digital Transformation
• Redefining Leadership in a Multigenerational Workforce
• The Impact of Remote Work on Corporate Culture
• How E-commerce is Changing Consumer Behaviour and Shopping Experiences
• The Influence of Fintech on Traditional Financial Institutions
• Exploring the Potential and Challenges of Sharing Economy for Sustainable Business Models
• How Social Impact is Shaping Consumer Choices
• Protecting Businesses in a Digital World
• The Power of Data-Driven Marketing
• The Gig Economy and its Impact on Employee Benefits and Social Security Systems
• The Increasing Importance of Cybersecurity Awareness Training for Employees
• The Rise of Remote Work and its Implications for Urban Planning and Development
• The Growing Influence of Employee Activism on Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives
• The Impact of Automation on Jobs
• The Ethical Considerations of Artificial Intelligence in Business
• Redefining Work-Life Balance in a Technologically Driven World
• Blockchain Technology and its Potential to Transform Business Processes Across Industries
• The Power of Storytelling in Modern Marketing
• The Growing Popularity of Subscription-Based Business Models
• The Impact of Globalisation on Labour Practices
• The Ethical Challenges of Using Social Media Data for Targeted Advertising
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Important Notes:

As a student of business studies looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment with existing business theories – i.e., to add value and interest to your research topic.

The field of business is vast and interrelated to so many other academic disciplines like  civil engineering ,  construction ,  law , and even  healthcare . That is why creating a business dissertation topic that is articular, sound, and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field is imperative.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic; it is the basis of your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong; your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, and there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in  writing your dissertation , as you may end up in a cycle of rejection at the very initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

While developing a research topic, keeping our advice in mind will allow you to pick one of the best business dissertation topics that fulfils your requirement of writing a research paper and add to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalising your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and be practically implemented. Take a look at some of our sample business dissertation topics to get an idea for your own dissertation.

How to Structure Your Business Dissertation

A well-structured   dissertation can help students   to achieve a high overall academic grade.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Declaration
• Abstract: A summary of the research completed
• Table of Contents
• Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can  also be added to this chapter.
• Literature Review :  This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analysing published and unpublished literature available on the chosen research topic in light of the research questions to be addressed. The purpose is to highlight and discuss the relative weaknesses and strengths of the selected research area while identifying any research gaps. Break down of the topic, and key terms can positively impact your dissertation and your tutor.
• Methodology: The  data collection  and  analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter, which usually includes  research design, research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and  data analysis strategy .
• Findings and Analysis: Findings of the research are analysed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include  graphs ,  charts, and  tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
• Discussion and  Conclusion: The researcher presents his interpretation of results in this chapter and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section is to establish the link between the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regard to the implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
• References:  Make sure to complete this in accordance with your University’s requirements
• Bibliography
• Appendices: Any additional information, diagrams, and graphs used to complete the dissertation  but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

About ResearchProspect Ltd

ResearchProspect is a  UK based academic writing service that provides help with  Dissertation Proposal Writing ,  PhD Proposal Writing ,  Dissertation Writing ,  Dissertation Editing, and Improvement .

Our team of writers is highly qualified and is an expert in their respective fields. They have been working for us for a long time. Thus, they are well aware of the issues and the trends of the subject they specialise in.

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How to find business dissertation topics.

To find business dissertation topics:

• Research industry trends.
• Analyse unresolved problems.
• Review academic journals.
• Consider global challenges.
• Explore emerging markets.
• Select a topic that excites you and has research potential.

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Thesis / dissertation formatting manual (2024).

• Filing Fees and Student Status
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• Preliminary Pages Overview
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures (etc.)
• Acknowledgments
• Text and References Overview
• Figures and Illustrations
• Using Your Own Previously Published Materials
• Using Copyrighted Materials by Another Author
• Open Access and Embargoes
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UCI Libraries maintains the following  templates to assist in formatting your graduate manuscript. If you are formatting your manuscript in Microsoft Word, feel free to download and use the template. If you would like to see what your manuscript should look like, PDFs have been provided. If you are formatting your manuscript using LaTex, UCI maintains a template on OverLeaf.

• Word: Annotated Template (Dissertation) 2024 Microsoft Word document of a template with annotations of what to look out for.
• PDF: Annotated Template (Dissertation) 2024 PDF of a template with annotations of what to look out for.
• Word: Thesis Template 2024 Editable template of the Master's thesis formatting.
• PDF: Thesis Template 2024 PDF template of the Master's thesis formatting (not editable).
• Word: Dissertation Template 2024 Editable Microsoft Word template of the PhD Dissertation formatting.
• PDF: Dissertation Template 2024 PDF template of the PhD Dissertation formatting (not editable).
• Overleaf (LaTex) Template
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Dissertation examples

Listed below are some of the best examples of research projects and dissertations from undergraduate and taught postgraduate students at the University of Leeds We have not been able to gather examples from all schools. The module requirements for research projects may have changed since these examples were written. Refer to your module guidelines to make sure that you address all of the current assessment criteria. Some of the examples below are only available to access on campus.

• Undergraduate examples
• Taught Masters examples

Graduate Student Success Center

• Thesis and Dissertation Information

Thesis and Dissertation Template

The Graduate College offers a thesis/dissertation template that contains all required content and formatting. You can either write your document from within the template or apply the template’s formatting to your previously created work.

Need help working in the template? Schedule an appointment today.

Before You Begin

The first time you download the template, save the template file to your computer before you begin work on your document. This is important if you are composing your thesis/dissertation within the template or if you are copying and pasting your content into the template. You may need the original template file in the future.

Please note: We offer the Google Doc template for initial drafts of your thesis/dissertation to share easily with your committee chair. We do not accept Google Documents as the final document of your thesis/dissertation. Google Docs does not have the functionality we require for our final theses/dissertations. Please use the Google Doc template while keeping in mind that you will need to convert your document to Microsoft Word later.

Download Thesis and Dissertation Template (Word Doc) Download Thesis and Dissertation Template (LATEX) Download Thesis and Dissertation Template (Google Doc)

Word Template Last Updated: February 2021

Word Document Template Information

Download instructions.

• Download the Boise State Template from the orange callout ribbon above.
• Show the downloaded file in the Downloads folder.
• Right click and select Open
• Enable Content
• Click File > Save As and name the file, for instance, Boise_State_Template.dotm (note the extension is “.dotm”) and  Save as type:  Word Macro-Enabled Template (*.dotm) .  It is recommended locating this file on your desktop – it may come in handy if you need to reattach the template to your document in the future (see below).
• Close this file.

Working Within the Template

To work within the template, styles are applied throughout the document. These styles can be found by clicking the arrow in the lower right hand corner of the Styles section in the Home tab. To apply a style, simply highlight the text that you wish to format and click the appropriate name from the styles list.

When entering your own work into the template, be sure to apply the following styles to the appropriate parts of your document. Failure to do so will mean that your Table of Contents, List of Figures, and List of Tables will be incorrect.

• Format a Heading 1 in all caps, and centered
• Format a Heading 2 in title-caps, bold, and centered
• Format a Heading 3 in title-caps, underlined, and aligned left
• Format a Heading 4 in title-caps, underlined, and indented once
• Format a Heading 5 in title-caps, underlined and indented twice
• Figure Captions are bolded and centered in the template. They may also be justified.
• Table Captions are bolded and aligned left in the template. They may also be justified.
• Appendix Heading 2
• Appendix Heading 3

Formatting Landscape Pages

When setting pages of your document to landscape orientation to accommodate large figures or tables, you must reformat their page numbers so that they will still be visible after binding.

• Open the landscape page’s header by double-clicking within the header.
• Deselect Link to Previous, located in the Navigation section of the Design tab. Repeat this step for the page following the landscape page.
• Delete the landscape page’s current page number.
• Click Insert → Page Number (in the Header & Footer section)→Page Margins.
• Select Landscape Page Numbers.

Note: If your other pages’ pagination disappears after inserting landscape page numbers, you likely did not turn off Link to Previous. Undo your changes to the page numbers and restart the instructions.

Replacing Table of Contents, List of Figures, and List of Tables

After your writing and editing is complete, you will need to replace the Table of Contents, List of Figures, and List of Tables.

• Right click the existing TOC, LOF, or LOT.
• Click Update Field.
• Select Update entire table and click Ok.

Note: All other lists (such as a List of Abbreviations or List of Graphs) are not updated automatically. Instead, the template includes examples of manually-created lists that can be altered to fit your needs.

Attaching the Template to a Preexisting Document. If your document is at or near completion, it may be easier for you to attach the template to your existing file than to paste your document into a new template.

Formatting Styles and Applying Styles

Before attaching the Thesis/Dissertation template to your document, you must first apply the following styles to the appropriate sections of your work. It does not matter how these styles look – when you first apply them they will not look right – only that the names of the styles match those in the following list exactly. After you have applied all the styles and attach the template the document will be formatted correctly.

These styles can be found by clicking the arrow in the lower right hand corner of the Styles section in the Home tab. Leave this menu open while you work through the document. To apply a style, simply highlight the text that you wish to format and click the appropriate name from the styles list.

Attaching Styles

• Access the Styles menu by clicking the lower-right corner of the Styles box on the Home tab in Windows. Keep this menu open on the side of your screen and apply the styles to your document as you work.
• Highlight the text you wish to format (it is often only necessary to “click in” the section you wish to format)
• Click the appropriate style from the Styles menu

Note: If the style you are looking for is not included in the list you may need to create the style (see next).

Creating Styles

Some required styles will not be listed in the premade styles, thus you will need to create them yourself.

• Highlight the text that you wish to format
• Right click the text and select Styles → Save Selection as a New Quick Style.
• Enter the appropriate style name and click OK.

Note: Remember, it does not matter how these styles look at this time, only that the style names match the names listed in the table above.

Attaching the Template

After applying styles to your document, you can attach the template, which will fix most of your document’s formatting issues.

• Download the Boise State Thesis and Dissertation Template and save it to your computer. See instructions above under “Before you Begin.”
• Open the Word document containing your thesis/dissertation, click file, click options, click add-ins, and select templates from the Manage drop down menu at the bottom of the page. Click go.
• In the Document Template section, click Attach.
• Navigate to the folder in which you saved the template and select it.
• Important: Check the box labeled “Automatically update document styles.”

Adjusting Margins

• Click Ctrl+A to select the entire document.
• In the Home ribbon, click layout, click margins and select the mirror margin option that contains inside margin 1.5″, top and bottom margins 1.”

Setting Page Numbers

Be careful that you set section breaks between front matter and body text and also between portrait and landscape-oriented pages (see Manually Formatting Your Document for instructions on setting page breaks). Each has a different way of formatting their pagination.

Front Matter

•  Set a continuous section break immediately before the Heading 1 on the first page that follows your approval pages.
• Set a continuous section break immediately before the title of Chapter 1.
• Open the footer on the first page following your approval page by clicking the Footer button in the Header & Footer section of the Insert tab and selecting Edit Footer.
• Deselect Link to Previous, located in the Navigation section of the Design tab. This step is only necessary for the first numbered page in the front matter.
• Insert page numbers. Front matter page numbers should be in lowercase Roman numerals and should be centered at the bottom of each page.
• Double-click inside the footer of the first page in Chapter 1.
• Deselect Link to Previous, located in the Navigation section of the Design tab. This step is only necessary for the first page in the body text.
• Delete the page numbers from the footer.
• Open the header on the same page by double-clicking inside the header.
• Deselect Link to Previous, located in the Navigation section of the Design tab.
• Insert alpha-numeric page numbers, starting with 1, into the upper right-hand corner of the pages.

Landscape Pages

• Repeat step 3 on the page following the landscape page.
• Click Insert → Page Number (in the Header & Footer section) → Page Margins.

Inserting Table of Contents and Lists of Figures or Tables

Finally, after your document’s content is complete, you will need to create the Table of Contents, List of Figures, and List of Tables.

• In the Home ribbon, select References , then select Table of Contents and choose the first option.
• To build your list of tables or figures do the following: on the Home ribbon, select references, select Insert List of Table of Figures, on the options drop down select either table captions or figure captions depending on which you are creating. You will then have to manually insert the heading.

Note: The template does not include macros for automatically generating other lists such as a List of Abbreviations or List of Graphs. However, it does include example lists that can be copied, pasted, and altered to meet your needs.

Helpful Tips

• Access the Styles menu by clicking the lower-right corner of the styles box on the Home tab in Windows. Keep this menu open on the side of your screen, or on a second screen, and apply the styles to your document as you work. To make the document styles behave, use the styles in the template. For example, for all Heading 1s, use the Heading 1 style, which will automatically insert a break and a 2 inch margin, etc. As long as the styles are used, the document should behave appropriately, and the table of contents will include the headings once updated. To modify the Table of Contents, click once to highlight the table in gray, right-click and select “Update Entire Field.”
• Show formatting marks as you work in your document.  Click on the File tab, then Options, Display, and click on the box “Show all formatting marks” and OK.

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Franklin dissertation resources, books to help you with your dissertation.

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Dissertation Calculator

• Dissertation Calculator The Dissertation Calculator is a tool created by the University of Minnesota. It helps break down the process into manageable chunks. Note that while most of the information is generic, some links refer to specifics for UM students.

OhioLINK ETD Center Upload

• A Guide to Submitting Your Dissertation Select the "A Guide to Submitting Your Dissertation" link under the "Doctoral Studies Handbook Documents" heading. Explains the University's dissertation formatting requirements, digital accessibility standards, and how to upload a completed dissertation to OhioLINK.
• Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center (OhioLINK) This link opens in a new window Online theses and dissertations from Ohio graduate students.
• Open Access Theses and Dissertations This link opens in a new window Information about and links to freely-available full-text to almost almost 3.5 million graduate theses and dissertations from over 1,100 colleges, universities, and research institutions.
• Open Dissertations This link opens in a new window Open access database providing both historic and contemporary dissertations and theses. Includes content of the American Doctoral Dissertations database, which provides more than 153,000 theses and dissertations from 1902 to the present, as well as additional dissertation information provided by colleges and universities from around the world. Includes links to full-text from free platforms where available.
• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window Doctoral dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day and offering full text for graduate works added since 1997, along with selected full text for works written prior to 1997. It contains a significant amount of new international dissertations and theses both in citations and in full text.
• WorldCat Dissertations and Theses This link opens in a new window Catalog of dissertations, theses and published material based on theses, worldwide.
• Franklin University Doctoral Resources Doctoral Studies Resource documents, including the dissertation handbook and guide to submitting your dissertation are available on the Office of Academic Scholarship page.
• Franklin University Student Dissertations View former Franklin student's dissertations in the OhioLINK ETD Center.
• Print Books

The library provides access to these dissertation-related ebooks which you can read online:

The library owns these dissertation-related books which you can check out:

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• Dissertation

How to Write a Dissertation or Thesis Proposal

Published on September 21, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

When starting your thesis or dissertation process, one of the first requirements is a research proposal or a prospectus. It describes what or who you want to examine, delving into why, when, where, and how you will do so, stemming from your research question and a relevant topic .

The proposal or prospectus stage is crucial for the development of your research. It helps you choose a type of research to pursue, as well as whether to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

You can download our templates in the format of your choice below.

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Table of contents

What should your proposal contain, dissertation question examples, what should your proposal look like, dissertation prospectus examples, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about proposals.

Prior to jumping into the research for your thesis or dissertation, you first need to develop your research proposal and have it approved by your supervisor. It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives .

Depending on your department’s requirements, there may be a defense component involved, where you present your research plan in prospectus format to your committee for their approval.

Your proposal should answer the following questions:

• Why is your research necessary?
• What is already known about your topic?
• Where and when will your research be conducted?
• Who should be studied?
• How can the research best be done?

Ultimately, your proposal should persuade your supervisor or committee that your proposed project is worth pursuing.

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Strong research kicks off with a solid research question , and dissertations are no exception to this.

Dissertation research questions should be:

• Focused on a single problem or issue
• Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
• Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
• Specific enough to answer thoroughly
• Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
• Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly
• What are the main factors enticing people under 30 in suburban areas to engage in the gig economy?
• Which techniques prove most effective for 1st-grade teachers at local elementary schools in engaging students with special needs?
• Which communication streams are the most effective for getting those aged 18-30 to the polls on Election Day?

An easy rule of thumb is that your proposal will usually resemble a (much) shorter version of your thesis or dissertation. While of course it won’t include the results section , discussion section , or conclusion , it serves as a “mini” version or roadmap for what you eventually seek to write.

Be sure to include:

• A succinct introduction to your topic and problem statement
• A brief literature review situating your topic within existing research
• A basic outline of the research methods you think will best answer your research question
• The perceived implications for future research
• A reference list in the citation style of your choice

The length of your proposal varies quite a bit depending on your discipline and type of work you’re conducting. While a thesis proposal is often only 3-7 pages long, a prospectus for your dissertation is usually much longer, with more detailed analysis. Dissertation proposals can be up to 25-30 pages in length.

Writing a proposal or prospectus can be a challenge, but we’ve compiled some examples for you to get your started.

• Example #1: “Geographic Representations of the Planet Mars, 1867-1907” by Maria Lane
• Example #2: “Individuals and the State in Late Bronze Age Greece: Messenian Perspectives on Mycenaean Society” by Dimitri Nakassis
• Example #3: “Manhood Up in the Air: A Study of Male Flight Attendants, Queerness, and Corporate Capitalism during the Cold War Era” by Phil Tiemeyer

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The research methods you use depend on the type of data you need to answer your research question .

• If you want to measure something or test a hypothesis , use quantitative methods . If you want to explore ideas, thoughts and meanings, use qualitative methods .
• If you want to analyze a large amount of readily-available data, use secondary data. If you want data specific to your purposes with control over how it is generated, collect primary data.
• If you want to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables , use experimental methods. If you want to understand the characteristics of a research subject, use descriptive methods.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research aims, that you collect high-quality data, and that you use the right kind of analysis to answer your questions, utilizing credible sources . This allows you to draw valid , trustworthy conclusions.

The priorities of a research design can vary depending on the field, but you usually have to specify:

• Your research questions and/or hypotheses
• Your overall approach (e.g., qualitative or quantitative )
• The type of design you’re using (e.g., a survey , experiment , or case study )
• Your sampling methods or criteria for selecting subjects
• Your data collection methods (e.g., questionnaires , observations)
• Your data collection procedures (e.g., operationalization , timing and data management)
• Your data analysis methods (e.g., statistical tests  or thematic analysis )

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

• Researchability
• Feasibility and specificity
• Relevance and originality

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The Dissertation Essentials area houses guides, manuals, and templates to assist you in your doctoral journey.  There is also a section specifically for rubrics for each of the chapters as well as the proposal and manuscript.  Along with these items, there are additional resources provided for the ASC, Library, technology, accessing published dissertations, and even some school specific resources.

• DSE Manual (Previously Handbook) Use this guide throughout the dissertation process to support you in understanding the courses, deliverables, and expectations of students and the dissertation committee.
• Dissertation Proposal/Manuscript Template You will use this templates to write all chapters of the dissertation.
• PhD-DS Dissertation Proposal/Manuscript Template Students in the PhD Data Science program will use this template to write all chapters of the dissertation.
• DSE Dissertation Revision Timeline Use this template to create a timeline for deliverable revisions in the dissertation.
• SOBE Best Practice Guide for Qualitative Research and Design Methods
• SOBE Best Practice Guide in Quantitative Research and Design Methods

If you are working on your CMP course, your course will provide information on how to format your prospectus/portfolio.

• DSE Chapter 1 Rubric Use this rubric to guide you when writing Chapter 1 of your dissertation.
• DSE Chapter 2 Rubric Use this rubric to guide you when writing Chapter 2 of your dissertation.
• DSE Chapter 3 Rubric Use this rubric to guide you when writing Chapter 3 of your dissertation.
• DSE Dissertation Proposal Rubric Use this rubric to guide you when combining Chapters 1-3 into the Dissertation Proposal.
• DSE Chapter 4 Rubric Use this rubric to guide you when writing Chapter 4 of your dissertation.
• DSE Chapter 5 Rubric Use this rubric to guide you when writing Chapter 5 of your dissertation.
• DSE Dissertation Manuscript Rubric Use this rubric to guide you when combing all five of your dissertation chapters to produce your Dissertation Manuscript.

Not yet at the Dissertation phase?  Getting ready for your CMP course?  Check out the CMP Course Frequently Asked Questions document below:

• CMP Course Frequently Asked Questions

Library Dissertation Toolbox Workshop Series

The  Library Dissertation Toolbox Workshop Series  consists of engaging, skill-building workshops designed specifically for doctoral students. Students will learn how to effectively locate, evaluate, and use information relating to their dissertation research topics. Each toolbox session features a new research focus- sign up for the entire series, or just those that most appeal to you:

• Research Process Guide by NU Library Outlines important steps in the research process and covers topics such as evaluating information.
• Managing and Writing the Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation Dr. Linda Bloomberg's newest edition Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation: A Road Map From Beginning to End is out now. This resource includes an interview between Methodspace and Dr. Bloomberg.

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Theses and dissertations are already intensive, long-term projects that require a lot of effort and time from their authors. Formatting for submission to the university is often the last thing that graduate students do, and may delay earning the relevant degree if done incorrectly.

Below are some strategies graduate students can use to deal with institutional formatting requirements to earn their degrees on time.

Disciplinary conventions are still paramount.

Scholars in your own discipline are the most common readers of your dissertation; your committee, too, will expect your work to match with their expectations as members of your field. The style guide your field uses most commonly is always the one you should follow, and if your field uses conventions such as including all figures and illustrations at the end of the document, you should do so. After these considerations are met, move on to university formatting. Almost always, university formatting only deals with things like margins, font, numbering of chapters and sections, and illustrations; disciplinary style conventions in content such as APA's directive to use only last names of authors in-text are not interfered with by university formatting at all.

Use your university's formatting guidelines and templates to your advantage.

If your institution has a template for formatting your thesis or dissertation that you can use, do so. Don't look at another student's document and try to replicate it yourself. These templates typically have the necessary section breaks and styles already in the document, and you can copy in your work from your existing draft using the style pane in MS Word to ensure you're using the correct formatting (similarly with software such as Overleaf when writing in LaTeX, templates do a lot of the work for you). It's also often easier for workers in the offices that deal with theses and dissertations to help you with your work if you're using their template — they are familiar with these templates and can often navigate them more proficiently.

These templates also include placeholders for all front matter you will need to include in your thesis or dissertation, and may include guidelines for how to write these. Front matter includes your table of contents, acknowledgements, abstract, abbreviation list, figure list, committee page, and (sometimes) academic history or CV; everything before your introduction is front matter. Since front matter pages such as the author's academic history and dissertation committee are usually for the graduate school and not for your department, your advisor might not remember to have you include them. Knowing about them well before your deposit date means you won't be scrambling to fill in placeholders at the last minute or getting your work returned for revision from the graduate school.

Consider institutional formatting early and often.

Many graduate students leave this aspect of submitting their projects until it's almost too late to work on it, causing delays in obtaining their degree. Simply being aware that this is a task you'll have to complete and making sure you know where templates are, who you can ask for help in your graduate office or your department, and what your institution's guidelines are can help alleviate this issue. Once you know what you'll be expected to do to convert to university formatting, you can set regular check-in times for yourself to do this work in pieces rather than all at once (for instance, when you've completed a chapter and had it approved by your chair). 

Consider fair use for images and other third-party content.

Most theses and dissertations are published through ProQuest or another publisher (Harvard, for instance, uses their own open publishing service). For this reason, it may be the case that your institution requires all images or other content obtained from other sources to fall under fair use rules or, if an image is not considered under fair use, you'll have to obtain permission to print it in your dissertation. Your institution should have more guidance on their specific expectations for fair use content; knowing what these guidelines are well in advance of your deposit date means you won't have to make last-minute changes or removals to deposit your work.

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Overleaf's unofficial  Harvard PhD Thesis and Dissertation template was created 3 years ago, please consult the Form of the PhD Dissertation for specifics on formatting your dissertation.  We recommend reviewing this sample dissertation  and the Top Ten Common Errors provided by the Registrar's Office.

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Home > Colleges and Schools > Business > Business Administration ETDs

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Theses and dissertations published by graduate students in the Business Administration program, College of Business, Old Dominion University, since Fall 2016 are available in this collection. Backfiles of all dissertations (and some theses) have also been added.

In late Fall 2025, all theses will be digitized and available here. In the meantime, consult the Library Catalog to find older items in print.

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Dissertation: Two Essays on Industry Tournament Incentives , Sarah Almisher

Dissertation: Two Essays on Investor Sentiment , Amin Amoulashkarian

Dissertation: Two Essays on Retail Trading , Qiqi Liang

Dissertation: Two Essays in Real Estate Dynamics , Navid Safari

Dissertation: Firm Capabilities, Great Power Competition, and the Structural Reshaping of Globalization , Samuel Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Dissertation: Three Essays on Stock Price Informativeness, Stock Price Momentum, and Firm Investment Efficiency , Chen Chen

Dissertation: Exploring Blockchain-Based Digital Transformation In Organizations , Weiru Chen

Dissertation: Two Essays on Antecedents and Effects of Award-Winning CEOS , Veronika Ciarleglio

Dissertation: Two’s a Crowd? Implications of Economic Geography for Corporate Governance , Matthew Farrell

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Effects of CEO Social Activism , Habib Islam

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Role of Empathy in Consumer Response to User-Generated Content , Mohammadali Koorank Beheshti

Dissertation: Three Essays on the Effects of Other Customer Brand Tie and Employee Behavior on Consumer Behavior , Saeed Zal

Dissertation: Three Essays on CEO Traits, Corporate Investment Decisions, and Firm Value , Rongyao Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Dissertation: Two Essays on Antecedents and Effects of Board Female Representation Non-Conformity , Fatemeh Askarzadeh

Dissertation: Application of Optimization Techniques in Corporate Cash Management , Venkateswara Reddy Dondeti

Dissertation: Two Essays on Corruption, FDI, and Digitalization , Mahdi Forghani Bajestani

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Information Embedded in Flow of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) , Hamed Yousefi

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Dissertation: The Influence of Mating Motives on Reliance on Form Versus Function in Product Choice , Seyed Hamid Abbassi Hosseini

Dissertation: Three Essays on CEO Characteristics and Corporate Bankruptcy , Rajib Chowdhury

Dissertation: The Effects of CEO Dismissal Risk and Skills on Risky Corporate Decisions and CEO Compensation , Son T. Dang

Dissertation: Essay 1: How We Feel: The Role of Macro-Economic Sentiment in Advertising Spending-Sales Relationship; Essay 2: It Was the Best of Times; It Was the Worst of Times: The Effect of Emotional Uncertainty and Arousal on Healthy Food Choices , Leila Khoshghadam

Dissertation: The Accumulation of IT Capability And Its Long-Term Effect on Financial Performance , Jin Ho Kim

Dissertation: Three Essays on the Roles of Review Valence and Conflict in Online Relationships , Ran Liu

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Microstructure of the Housing Market: Agents' Diffused Effort and Sellers' Behavior Bias , Zhaohui Li

Dissertation: Two Essays on CEO Overconfidence in Relation to Speed of Adjustment of Firm Financial Policy and CEO Inside Debt , Xiang Long

Dissertation: Pricing the Cloud: An Auction Approach , Yang Lu

Dissertation: Two Essays on Consumer Envy , Murong Miao

Dissertation: Two Essays on Negotiations Between Entrepreneurs and Angel Investors , Aydin Selim Oksoy

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Dissertation: Two Essays on Bitcoin Price and Volume , Mohammad Bayani Khaknejad

Dissertation: Two Essays on Investor Attention, Investor Sentiment, and Earnings Pricing , Qiuye Cai

Dissertation: Success Factors Impacting Artificial Intelligence Adoption --- Perspective From the Telecom Industry in China , Hong Chen

Dissertation: Early Information Access to Alleviate Emergency Department Congestion , Anjee Gorkhali

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Consumer Acculturation Process – A Need for and Development of a Consumer Acculturation Measure , Kristina Marie Harrison

Dissertation: Three Essays on CEO Characteristics and Corporate Decisions , Trung Nguyen

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Effects of Organization Capital on Firm Behavior , Andrew Root

Dissertation: Underlying Factors Behind Generation of Different Types of User-Generated Content - Impact of Individual and Brand/Product Level Factors in Generation of Brand-Oriented Content and Community-Oriented Content , Kemal Cem Soylemez

Dissertation: Customers’ Goal-Related Behavior in Loyalty Programs , Junzhou Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Dissertation: Security Risk Tolerance in Mobile Payment: A Trade-off Framework , Yong Chen

Dissertation: Numerical Framing and Emotional Arousal as Moderators of Review Valence and Consumer Choices , Anh Dang

Dissertation: Three Essays on CEO Risk Preferences, and Ability, Corporate Hedging Decisions, and Investor Sentiment , Sonik Mandal

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Creation and Success of New Ventures , Amirmahmood Amini Sedeh

Dissertation: Effectiveness of Social Media Analytics on Detecting Service Quality Metrics in the U.S. Airline Industry , Xin Tian

Dissertation: Two Essays on Value Co-Creation , Hangjun Xu

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Dissertation: Two Essays on Forced CEO Turnover During Envy Merger Waves, and Dividends , Bader Almuhtadi

Dissertation: The Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism on the Effects of Domestic vs Foreign Product Failure on Post Consumption Emotions and Complaint Behaviors , Kittinand Bandhumasuta

Dissertation: The Impact of Help-Self and Help-Others Appeals Upon Participation in Clinical Research Trials , Susan Lewis Casey

Dissertation: Is Every Tweet Created Equal? A Framework to Identify Relevant Tweets for Business Research , Thad Chee

Dissertation: Three Essays on Mutual Funds, Fund Management Skills, and Investor Sentiment , Feng Dong

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Impact of Institutional Structures on Entrepreneurship: Country Level Analysis , Mehdi Sharifi Khobdeh

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Antecedents and Effects of Internationalizing Out of Emerging and Developed Economies , Mark Robert Mallon

Dissertation: From Placebo to Panacea: Exploring the Influence of Price, Suspicion, and Persuasion Knowledge on Consumers’ Perception of Quality , Vahid Rahmani

Dissertation: Essays on the El Niño Anomaly and Stock Return Predictability , Zhijun Yang

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Dissertation: The Effect of XBRL and Social Media on Information Asymmetry: Evidence from Bank Loan Contracts , Dazhi Chong

Dissertation: Two Essays on CEO Inside Debt Holding in Relation to Firm Payout Policy and Financial Reporting , Asligul Erkan

Dissertation: Two Essays on The Internationalization Speed of New Ventures , Orhun Guldiken

Dissertation: Two Essays on Shareholder Base, Firm Behavior, and Firm Value , Yi Jian

Dissertation: Valence or Volume? Maximizing Online Review Influence Across Consumers, Products, and Marketing , Elika Kordrostami

Dissertation: Essays on the Equity Risk Premium , Mohamed Mehdi Rahoui

Dissertation: A Study of the Impact of Information Blackouts on the Bullwhip Effect of a Supply Chain Using Discrete-Event Simulations , Elizabeth Rasnick

Dissertation: Two Essays on Investor Emotions and Their Effects in Financial Markets , Jiancheng Shen

Dissertation: Two Studies on The Use of Information Technology in Collaborative Planning, Forecasting & Replenishment (CPFR) , David McCaw Simmonds

Dissertation: Founder CEOs and Initial Public Offerings: The Role of Narratives, Institutions and Cultural Context , Christina Helen Tupper

Dissertation: Ambidexterity: The Interplay of Supply Chain Management Competencies and Enterprise Resource Planning Systems on Organizational Performance , Serdar Turedi

Dissertation: Two Essays on Short Selling , Zhaobo Zhu

Dissertation: Buying Love Through Social Media: How Different Types Of Incentives Impact Consumers’ Online Sharing Behavior , Yueming Zou

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Dissertation: Three Essays on Dividend Policy , Mehmet Deren Caliskan

Dissertation: "The Magic Formula: Scent and Brand"- The Influence of Olfactory Sensory Co-Branding on Consumer Evaluations and Experiences , Ceren Ekebas

Dissertation: The Value of Integrated Information Systems for U.S. General Hospitals , Liuliu Fu

Dissertation: Two Essays on Managerial Horizon, Cash Holdings and Earnings Management , Sanjib Guha

Dissertation: Three Essays on Opportunistic Claiming Behavior in a Services Setting: Customers and Front Line Employees Perspectives , Denis Khantimirov

Dissertation: Spillover Effects of Brand Alliance and Service Experience on Host Brands in Loyalty Program Partnerships , Gulfem Cigdem Kutlu

Dissertation: Measuring Consumer Expectations of Salesperson Unethicality: A Scale Development , Amiee Mellon

Dissertation: Essays on International Risk-Return Trade-Off Relations , Liang Meng

Dissertation: Two Essays on Investor Attention and Asset Pricing , Nadia Asmaa Nafar

Dissertation: International Venture Capital Firms Syndication and Performance: A Social Network Perspective , Amir Pezeshkan

Dissertation: Three Essays on Institutions, Entrepreneurship, and Development , Adam Smith

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Dissertation: An Empirical Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Earnings Management in Emerging Markets , Shuji Rosey Bao

Dissertation: Dynamic Capabilities and Resilient Organizations Amid Environmental Jolts , Stav Fainshmidt

Dissertation: An Empirical Examination of the Moderators of Direct Versus Indirect Comparative Advertising , Chun-Kai Hsu

Dissertation: Two Essays on Attracting Foreign Direct Investment: From Both a National and Firm Level Perspective , Ryan Lawrence Mason

Dissertation: The Effect of Online Reviews on Attitude and Purchase Intention: How Consumers Respond to Mixed Reviews , Chatdanai Pongpatipat

Dissertation: Three Essays on the Enterprise Strategy for Multinational Firms , Veselina Plamenova Vracheva

Dissertation: The Antecedents and Effects of Strategic Caring: A Cross-National Empirical Study , Thomas Weber

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Dissertation: International Banking sector Linkages: Did the Global Financial Crisis Strengthen or Weaken the Linkages? , James Edward Benton

Dissertation: Three Essays on Corporate Liquidity, Financial Crisis, and Real Estate , Kimberly Fowler Luchtenberg

Dissertation: Three Essays on Immigrant Entrepreneurship , Kaveh Moghaddam

Dissertation: The Response of Commercial Banks to Credit Stimuli , Denise Williams Streeter

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Dissertation: An Examination of Middle Manager Innovation Behaviors and Institutional Factors Impact on Organizational Innovation in the USA and Mexico , J. Lee Brown III

Dissertation: Essays on Foreign Reverse Mergers and Bond ETF Mispricing , Charles William Duval

Dissertation: Three Essays on Strategic Risk Taking , Krista Burrill Lewellyn

Dissertation: Two Essays on Executive Pay and Firm Performance , Thuong Quang Nguyen

Dissertation: A Study of Risk-Taking Behavior in Investment Banking , Elzotbek Rustambekov

Dissertation: A Study of Failures in the US Banking Industry , Joseph Trendowski

Dissertation: Two Essays on Behavioral Finance , Quang Viet Vu

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Dissertation: Three Essays on Individual Currency Traders , Boris Sebastian Abbey

Dissertation: Cross-listing Premium or Market Timing , Moustafa M. Abu El Fadl

Dissertation: Warranty and Price as Quality Signals: The effect of Signal Consistency and Unexpectedness on Product Perception , Sultan Alaswad Alenazi

Dissertation: The Behavior and Choices of Serial Bidders in M&A Transactions: A Prospect Theory Approach , Ahmed Essam El-Din El-Bakry

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Effect of Macroeconomic News on the Stock Market , Ajay Kongera

Dissertation: Intercultural Accommodation of Ethnic Minority Consumers: An Empirical Examination of the Moderating Effects in Service Encounters , Sarah Mady

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Home > Business > Doctoral Dissertations

Doctoral Dissertations

Submissions from 2024 2024.

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning on Organizations Cybersecurity , Mustafa Abdulhussein

High Workload Effects on Patient Satisfaction and Profitability of Nursing Homes , Richard RA Alrayes

Retention as a Challenge for Healthcare Managers: A Look into the Field of Applied Behavior Analysis , Gertrude Asante

Risk Management in Human Resource Development and Talent Management , Kumba Bayoh

Possible Under Utilization of Agile Management in Curriculum Change Process of Aviation Degree Programs , Samantha Bowyer

Exploration of the Financial Impact of the Pandemic Among Filipino Asian Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Duval County Florida , Thomas N. Cannistra

Crowdsourcing Strategizing: A View From the Top , Priscilla L. Eddings

Marketing Management of Online Negative Reviews of Medical Services , Christopher Edward Feltes

Developing and Retaining High-Potential Non-Academic Employees in Private Higher Education Institutions to Create Sustainable Non-Academic Leadership Pipelines , Sheraine D. Gilliam

The Perpetual Challenges of Nonprofit Board Governance and Its' Impact on Operations , Gala U. Harvell

Artificial Intelligence and Its Need in Healthcare , Michael Haskins

The Impact of a Project Management Approach on Micro-Businesses in Achieving Strategic Goals , Karen M. Lowe

Formalized Succession Planning: A Need in East Tennessee Health Departments , Elizabeth A. Maples

Millennial Turnover: An Implication for Human Resource Management , Folake Titilola Olumide

Impact of the Increased Use of Telehealth on Health Care Management and Administration: The Case of New Care Management Practices , Immacula Pierre

A Multiple Case Studies Review of Collaboration in Rural Nonprofits , Jacob T. Ratliff

A Case Study of Using Social Media Influencers for Sponsored Posts , Meagen Rockenbach

Revenue Cycle Management , Mary Scalf

A Study of Leadership's Role in Building Relationships Among Virtual Team Members , Danna V. Smith

Corporate Social Responsibility Programs in Supply Chain Strategies , Craig A. Standridge

Does Deviating from Agile Principles Have an Impact on Project Success in North Carolina Higher Education Institutions? , Douglas A. Stanley

Mental Health Provider Shortage in Rural Communities , Barrow N. Tabe

Credit History Controls the Ability of Small Businesses to Obtain Working Capital: A Case Study , Tiffany Leeona Thompson

Best Practices Associated with Medical Device Regulatory Strategy Success: A Case Study , Jonathan P. Ward

Submissions from 2023 2023

The Use of Multidisciplinary Care Teams in Diagnosing and Managing Care of Cancer Patients in Eastern Kentucky , Terry Lee Adams

Impact of Leadership for Startup Companies , Emem Okon Akpanekong

Assessing the Lack of Project Management Soft Skills Toward Project Completion Rates , Rene Orlando Aleman

Effective Strategies for Midsized Nonprofit Human Service Organizations in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area to Maintain Financial Sustainability , Ivy Ann Beckham

Financial Capability – Examining the Impact of Financial Education on U.S. Military Members , Philip Mason Chapman

High Health Care Cost in the U.S. and Its Impact on an African American Church Community in East Orange, New Jersey , William Charles

Exploring Target Marketing at Private Universities Directed to the Nontraditional Student Population , Connie Chester Christian

Current Management Issues in Health Information Technology , Gladys Dadson

Strategic Leadership for Managing Diversity , Amdy Diene

Cultivating Employee Relationships , Kimberly Lynn England

Leadership Support as an Influence on Frontline Healthcare Employee Retention in the Washington Metropolitan Area (DMV) , Tamika Fair

Exploring the Impacts of Funding Models on Business as Mission Organizations in Asia: A Multiple-case Study , Jeremiah Joel Finch

Organizational Cultures Effect on Productivity in Manufacturing , Jonathan Karl Foley

Air Force Support for the Joint Military Environment: A NATO Allied Command Operations Headquarters Case Study , James R. Hamilton

Biblical Leadership: Combatting Authoritarianism , Katherine M. Inman

A Quantitative Examination of the Relationships Between Work-Life Balance, Burnout, and Turnover Intentions Among Texas Public Accounting Professionals , Vicky Ruth Johnson

Unlocking the Talent Puzzle: Examining the Impact of Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Career Development on Talent Attraction and Retention , Angela Denise Lamar

Weak Organizational Culture in Higher Education Leads to Unmet Organizational Goals , Jennifer Willard Matthews

Impact of Audit Time Pressure on Audit Quality , Janae Monet McClam

Organizational Preparedness Required for System Implementation , Kaitlyn Marie McCollum

An Assessment of Hospice Patients’ Experience from Cancer Care Services in the United States Hospitals: A Mixed-Method Study , Femi Obasun

A Qualitative Analysis of Corporate Responsibility for the Education of U.S. Citizens , Heidi Leslie O'Donnell

The Impact and Inability of Leaders to Address Employee Grievances , Esther Ayomide Osayi

Redesigning an Effective Pathway to Consumer Loyalty for Sustainable Competitive Advantage , Stephen P. Panczak

A Multiple Case Study: Male Correctional Officers’ Experiences and Attitudes Regarding “Gender Quota” Human Resource Management Strategies in Corrections , Rebecca Jo Patterson

Quantifying the Value of Renewable Energy as a Hedge Against the Volatility of Natural Gas Prices in Wisconsin , Miodrag Petrovic

Understanding Workplace Conditions Contributing to Physician Burnout Prevalence in Maryland State , Fatima Adefunke Queen

TeamSTEPPS and Organizational Culture , Amelia Arca Quinto

Succession Planning in the Federal Government , Christine Noel Roberts

The Impact of Project Management on the Adoption of Emerging Media to Non-commercial Broadcasting Media Businesses in Hispanic Markets , Jonathan Rosado

Sustainable Activity-Based Costing in a Small Flexible Manufacturing Environment , John Edward Schlaack

Effectiveness of Government Leadership to Maintain Productivity in a Virtual Environment , Crystal J. Showell

Remote Leadership: Assessing Productive Work Environments in a Post-Pandemic Future , Kimberly Diane Snodgrass

The Middle Management Leader and the Matrixed Organization , Donald Keith Stephens

Improving Strategic Management Planning in Non-Profit Organizations: Federally Qualified Health Centers , Esther Taylor

Managing Cyber Defense as a Business Threat for Small and Medium Enterprises , Binh Quang Vo

Attracting and Sustaining Volunteers: Leadership Impact on the Recruitment and Retention of Volunteers in Nonprofit Organizations, and Differences Observed when Organizations are Predicated on Faith , Lascel A. Webley Jr.

Organizational Behavior , Molly Xiong

Submissions from 2022 2022

An Empirical Study of the Relationship Between Organizational Commitment, Employee Voice Behavior, and Psychological Well-Being Among Employees Within Mid-Size Service , Katelin Barron

Government Contract Re-compete Impacts on Employees , John James Bergmann

Fraud Risk Management to Detect and Prevent Employee Fraud in Small Rural Businesses , Daphne Yuying Bishop

Exploring the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Hawai'ian Small Businesses , Farrel Anthony Blake

The Effects of Leadership Organizational Culture on Employee Performance Resulting in High Turnover, Low Morale, and Decreased Productivity , Damon Brown-Crawford

Pandemics and United States Pharmaceutical Stocks’ Rates of Return , Ronald Franklin Burnette Jr

Effect of Supervisor Bias on Performance Motivation During Incentive-Based Performance Reviews , Jessica Lace Burrell

Just-In-Time/Just-In-Case Inventory Management as an Influence on Supply Chain Disruption in Medical Systems Based in the Southeastern United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Brooke Gibson Coslett

Internal Controls in Small City Government , M. Wade Cothran

Empowering Healthcare Workers through Transformational Leadership , Angela Nicole Craig

Big Bath Earnings Management in Accounting , Shannon Danysh-Hashemi

Distribution Center ERP Utilization , Andrew B. Davidson

Exploring Succession Planning for Executive Leadership Positions within Ohio's Faith-based Organizations: A Multiple-Case Study , Gilda Drammeh

Exploring Financial Literacy and Overconfident Investor Behavior , Ryan J. Drews

Communicating the Value Contributions of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PaLM) to Healthcare Administrators, Evidence of Value from a Multiple Cases Study , Susan K. Edralin

The EMS Deficit: A Study on the Excessive Staffing Shortages of Paramedics and its Impact on EMS Performance in the States of South Carolina and North Carolina and Interventions for Organizational Improvements. , James Boyd Eubanks

Mental Health Experiences in the Workplace , Laura L. Goff

Certified Nursing Assistant Turnover in the Long-Term Care Facility Industry , Michael Leroy Gregory

Employment Branding for University Graduates in Jamaica , Caroline Harvey

The Lack of Communication in Leadership , Wendy Webb Hicks

Project Management Skills for Highly Successful Virtual Project Teams , Andrea Hogge

Substance Abuse's Impact on Public Accounting , William Dennis Holmes

The Impact of Strategic Planning in Small Business: Empirical Evidence From East Tennessee , Sara Howe

Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Levels and Employee Performance , Omotola Idowu

Enhancing Success Through Leadership , Wendy T. Jewell

Going Virtual: Addressing the Challenges Faced by Organizational Leaders When Employees Transition to Virtual Environments in Times of Crisis , Mary Susan Johnson

Telework in Times of Crisis , Samantha Jones

Distributed Leadership in West Virginia Higher Education , Jennie Lee Khun

Mitigating Supply Chain Disruptions, Risks, and Vulnerabilities , John Jeong Kim

Human Resource Strategy in Times of Disruption , April R. Kinchen

Decision Usefulness of Goodwill in Financial Statement Reporting , B. Mechelle Lafon

Overcoming Barriers to Social Enterprise Expansion, Growth, and Financial Sustainability: The Leadership Challenges , Elizabeth A. Lee

Evaluating the Impact of Diversity Training in the Workplace. , Vilmarie Lopez

Stronger: Can Financial Adversity Faced by Small Business Enterprises Lead to Small Business Success & Resilience , Jeffery R. McDurmont

Adapting North American Selling Methods to Cross-Cultural Technology Sales Engagements in the Borderless Global Economy , Zachary Paul McKinley

Organizational Change in the Workplace during the COVID-19 Pandemic , Takeisha Shante Miles

Strategies and Internal Control Procedures for Decreasing Fraud in Faith-Based Nonprofit Organizations , Shawn Thomas Miller

Local Food in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Destination Marketing – The Case of Trinidad & Tobago , Winston Mohammed

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• Doctor of Business Administration
• Dissertations

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Explore past dissertations from members of the Doctor of Business Administration program at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

2024 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Implementing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Principles in Organizations: The Role of Leadership and Impacts on Corporate Financial Performance
• Dissertation: African Energy Crisis: Designing Sustainable Solutions
• Dissertation: Predictive Accuracy of Performance in Knowledge Work: Comparison of Human Judgment, Regression and Artificial Intelligence Models
• Dissertation: Individual-Level Factors Affecting the Success of New Product Development Teams
• Dissertation: Thriving Together: The Virtuous Cycle of Business for Good, Positive Leadership, and Employee Well-Being
• Dissertation: The Concept of Awe and Its Role in Idea Creation
• Dissertation: At the Boundary of Risk and Uncertainty: Behavioral Insights Into Enterprise Risk Management
• Dissertation: Telemedicine's Evolutionary Sociotechnical Fit
• Dissertation: What Are the Impacts of Leader Political Skill on Organizational Change?

2023 Dissertations

• Dissertation:  Do Emergency Physicians Treat Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Differently? A Mixed-Methods Integrative Paper
• Dissertation: Reliability and Resilience at U.S. Hospitals During the Global COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study on the Effect of Leader and Team Behavior on Crisis Response 
• Dissertation: The Experience of American Frontline Health Care Workers with Electronic Medical Records Technology During the Time of COVID-19: A Phenomenological Inquiry Following the Systems Approach
• Dissertation: The Impact of Business Unit (BU)-Information Technology (IT)-Relationships on Business Transformations: A Mixed Methods Study
• Dissertation: Cognitive Load, EHR Use, and Psychological Stressors Influence on Decision-Making Performance Within Healthcare
• Dissertation: Are Food Banks Impacting Food Retail? Examining the Relationship Between Hunger Relief Distributions and Retail Transactions in a Local Food Environment 

2022 Dissertations

• Dissertation:  Factors Influencing the Advancement Of African American Women In Banking: “Yet None Have Advanced Into The C-Suite Of The Top Four U.S. Banks”
• Dissertation:  Embodied Awareness, Embodied Practice: A Powerful Path to Practical Wisdom
• Dissertation:  The Dynamics and Impacts of Conference Change in Intercollegiate Athletics: A Strategy Group and Institutional Analysis  
• Dissertation:  Heuristics and Bias in New Venture Valuations
• Dissertation:  Mixed Methods Study Examining Organizational and Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Management of Pet Populations in Shelters
• Dissertation:  Factors Influencing Academic Engagement: A Social Support Perspective
• Dissertation:  Latino Entrepreneurship in the United States: A Fresh Perspective
• Dissertation:  The Effect of Supply Chain Strategies on Direct-to-Consumer Industry Evolution: A Mixed-Methods Study
• Dissertation:  Building Character and Leading Through The "Eyes of Others:" A Qualitative and Quantitative Study of Ethical Decision-Making  
• Dissertation:  Unveiling the Arab Mind: What are the Characteristics of Leaders Who Need to Capture Followers' Hearts and Minds?

2021 Dissertations

• Dissertation: System Influence Framework: IT Project Managers’ Influence to Form Critical Stakeholder Alignments and Promote Value Realization
• Dissertation: A Mixed-Method Study of Investigating the Effects of Organizational Preparedness of Supply Chain Management Performance in the Food and Manufacturing Industry
• Dissertation: Managing Successful Strategic Turnarounds: A Mixed Methods Study of Knowledge-Based Dynamic Capabilities
• Dissertation: Price Wars and Managerial Sensemaking: A Mixed-Methods Study
• Dissertation: Integrative Ecosystem Management: Designing Cities and Co-creating the Flourishing Ecosystem
• Dissertation: Effectiveness of Nonprofits on Factors That Influence the Social Aspects of Well-Being in Food Deserts
• Dissertation: Managing Scholar/Practitioner Tensions in Professional Programs: A Study of Library and Information Science Faculty
• Dissertation: Three Studies of Unexpected Organizational Decisions: Some Commonalities in Decisions to Report Workplace Violence and Decisions of Scope in Audit Testing for Complex IT Environments

2020 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Operational Excellence and Organic Revenue Growth
• Dissertation: Breakthrough Teams & Innovation in Orbit: Entrepreneurial Group Initiatives in Established Organizations
• Dissertation: The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A): An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Inquiry Into the Factors Influencing M&A Outcomes
• Dissertation: Coaching and Development as Part of a Manager-Subordinate Relationship: A Mixed-Methods Study of Tools, Dynamics and Outcomes
• Dissertation: Role of a CEO in the Era of Technology Disruption: Influence on Timing of Adoption
• Dissertation: Why Do People Bribe and Is It Worth It? A Mixed Methods Study of Bribing Antecedents and Outcomes in Former Soviet Countries
• Dissertation: Cross-Functional Team Performance: Inquiry, Identity and Shared Reality
• Dissertation: Managing Rational Divergence: Testing the Effects of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Technique on Collaborative Versus Competitive Behaviors in a Game Theoretic Setting
• Dissertation: Equity and Justice For All: The Absence of Subjective Well-Being for the African American Male
• Dissertation: How Do Professionals Find Life Meaning?
• Dissertation: Do You Have the "S" Factor for Service Innovation? How Stewardship Contributes to Service Innovation Capabilities in Service-Dominant Logic
• Dissertation: Coaching Millennials
• Dissertation: Antecedents Of Radicality And Commercial Success Outcomes In SBIR Projects
• Dissertation: Omni-Brand: The Paradox of Global Acceptance and Local Authenticity
• Dissertation: What drives individual decision-making of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Designing the Framework of Entrepreneurial Relationship Management (ERM) for Strategic Actions and Effective-Decision Making
• Dissertation: Building Big Data Analytics as a Strategic Capability in Industrial Firms: Firm Level Capabilities and Project Level Practices
• Dissertation: The Influence of Individual, Organizational and Contextual Factors on Saudi Women Career Commitment and Satisfaction in Nontraditional Occupations
• Dissertation: The Patient Perspective: Exploring the Influence of Social Interactions on Chronic Disease Outcomes
• Dissertation: Hyperconnectivity Giveth and Taketh Away: Reconciling Being an "Always-On" Empowered Consumer and Privacy in an Era of Pervasive Personal Data Exchanges
• Dissertation: Inspirational Professors, Their Emotional Intelligence and its role on Relational Climate
• Dissertation: Emergent Learning in Digital Product Teams
• Dissertation: Improving Job Satisfaction for Nurses in Acute Healthcare Facilities through Engagement and Teamwork
• Dissertation: Leadership and Practices for Strategic Adaptation in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
• Dissertation: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring How IRS Special Agents Choose Cases for Investigation

2018 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Green Investment and Organizational Performance: Evidence from the Nigerian Pulp and Paper Industry
• Dissertation: Antecedents of Managerial Moral Stress: A Mixed Methods Study
• Dissertation: Purposing: How Purpose Develops Self-Organizing Capacities
• Dissertation: The Changing Landscape of Finance in Higher Education:  Bridging the Gap Through Data Analytics
• Dissertation: Barriers and Facilitators of Growth in Black Entrepreneurial Ventures: Thinking Outside the Black Box
• Dissertation: Honorable Mavericks: A Mixed-Method Study of what Influences Subsidiary Managers Compliance with Headquarters Instructions
• Dissertation: Fifteen Minutes of Shame: A Multilevel Approach of the Antecedents and Effects of Corporate Accounting Scandals
• Dissertation: What Really Matters to NFL Fans: The Effects of Team Performance and Self-confidence on Fan Commitment and Purchase Intention
• Dissertation: Crossing the Quality Chasm: A Mixed Methods Study of Physician Decision-Making when Treating Chronic Disease
• Dissertation: The Power of Relationships: Navigating the Dance of Change through Executive Coaching
• Dissertation: Learning Within and During IT/IS Projects: Its Process, Antecedents, and Outcomes
• Dissertation: The Complexity of Change: The Middle Managers’ Emergent Contributions
• Dissertation: STEM Entrepreneurs: Educating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Underrepresented Minorities (URM) and Non-Minorities for Job Satisfaction and Career Success
• Dissertation: Mixed Methods Study of Factors Influencing  Business to Business (b2b) Sales Performance: The Role of Design Attitude
• Dissertation: Making Heads and Tails of Distributional Patterns in Private-Equity-Owned Companies: A Value-Creation-Type and Industry-Based Analysis
• Dissertation: The Professional Development Mindset

2017 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Legislators as Leaders: Investigating and Elucidating the Influence of Gender, Religious Beliefs, and Mindfulness on Legislative Decision Making
• Dissertation: Purpose Matters to Leaders at a Personal and Company Level
• Dissertation: Forecast Revision as an Antecedent to Strategic Change
• Dissertation: An Examination of Followers' Upward Influence
• Dissertation: Empowering the 99%...One ESOP at a Time! A Mixed Method Study of Employee Owned Company Acquisitions
• Dissertation: Factors Contributing to Sustainable Brand Growth
• Dissertation: Looking Beyond Culture: Determining Success Factors for Transnational Multiparty Collaboration
• Dissertation: Bringing Social Innovation to Scale: Leveraging Relational Capital and Risk-Taking Behaviors of Actors in Complex Ecosystems
• Dissertation: Positive Impact: Factors That Drive Businesses Toward Shared Prosperity, Environmental Regeneration and Human Wellbeing
• Dissertation: The Role of an Ethos of Sustainability: The Hidden Value of Intangible Resources
• Dissertation: What is Retirement in the 21st Century?
• Dissertation: The Potency of Informal Learning in Paid and Non-Paid Work: A Mixed Study
• Dissertation: Strategy as Configuration: Recursive Organization of Strategy Implementation Factors and Their Effect on Strategy Execution Effectiveness
• Dissertation: Are we Having Fun Yet?: What is the Relationship Between Mentoring, Fun at Work and Job Satisfaction?
• Dissertation: Senior Information Technology (IT) Leader Credibility: Knowledge Scale, Mediating Knowledge Mechanisms, and Effectiveness

2016 Dissertations

• Dissertation: The Intersection of Auditor Independence, Objectivity, and Integrity in High Risk Audit Conditions
• Dissertation: Characteristics of Effective  Leadership of Community College Presidents - A Mixed Method Analysis
• Dissertation: Cultural Factors:  Entrepreneurial Orientation or Not – Innovation Drivers in Small to Medium Sized Enterprises
• Dissertation: Igniting the Fire: The Impact of Anticipatory Entrepreneurial Passion on Effort and Affect in Nascent Entrepreneurs
• Dissertation: Frontline Employee Role Passion and the Impact on Service Encounters
• Dissertation: An Original Microgrid Business Model Determines Conditions for a New Asset Market
• Dissertation: Sustainable Value And Eco-Communal Management: Systemic Measures For The Outcome Of Renewable Energy Businesses In Developing, Emerging, And Developed Economies
• Dissertation: A Theory of Micro-Level Dynamic Capabilities: How Technology Leaders Innovate with Human Connection
• Dissertation: When is Earnings Guidance a Treacherous Servant?
• Dissertation: Routines of New Venture Conceptualization: Evidence and Extension of an Entrepreneurial Dynamic Capability
• Dissertation: Remote and Onsite Knowledge Worker Productivity and Engagement: A Comparative Study of the Effect of Virtual Intensity and Work Location Preference
• Dissertation: Who We Are Matters: The Identity of the Information Technology Organization and Outsourcing Success
• Dissertation: A Theory of Steering Committee Capabilities for Implementing Large Scale Enterprise-Wide Information Systems
• Dissertation: Financial Stress in an Adaptive System: From Empirical Validity to Theoretical Foundations
• Dissertation: Experiential Workplace Design in Knowledge Work Organizations: A Worker-Centered Approach
• Dissertation: Understanding the Journey of Inner-City Communities to a Sense of Community and Well-Being
• Dissertation: Deliberate Disruption: How Corporate Leaders' Break the Liability of Expertise
• Dissertation: The Role of Mentorship in Developing Leadership Ready Gen X and Gen Y Females
• Dissertation: Antecedents and Outcomes of Perceived Creepiness in Online Personalized Communications
• Dissertation: The Effects of Visual Analytic Strategies on Organizational Decision Making

2015 Dissertations

• Dissertation: What Influences the Economic Model In the Private and Public Sectors In the Two Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai? A Comparative Study 
• Dissertation: Design Attitude and Social Innovation: Empirical Studies of the Return on Design
• Dissertation: Attentional Change Decisions: Exploring the Role of Attention in Shaping Change Decisions: A Mixed Methods Approach
• Dissertation: Interprofessional Teams in Healthcare: A Mixed-Methods Study
• Dissertation: Helping Top Talent To Thrive: The Significance of Relational Capacity, Teamwork and Organizational Support
• Dissertation: Narrative Shock: Helping North Korean Defectors Narrate Their Lives Fully in South Korea
• Dissertation: Team Adaptation and Mindful Boundary Management: The Dynamics of Internal and External Balancing
• Dissertation: The Collaboration Blueprint: Designing and Building Effective Strategies for Innovation and Rejuvenative Collaboration
• Dissertation: Developing the Next-Generation Leadership Talent in Family Business: The Family Effect
• Dissertation: Creating Customer Love: How Organizations Can Engender Positive Affect in Online Product-Centered Communities
• Dissertation: Playing to Win: Dynamics of Teams That Innovate
• Dissertation: Organizational Commitment - A Requisite for Quality of Life in Assisted Living.
• Dissertation: Promethean Framework and Measurement Instrument: Career Development, Maintenance and Transitions in Convulsive Economic Cycles
• Dissertation: Cohesion, Flexibility, and the Mediating Effects of Shared Vision and Comparison on Engagement in Army Acquisition Teams
• Dissertation: Title How Hackers Think: A Mixed Method Study of Mental Models and Cognitive Patterns of High-Tech Wizards
• Dissertation: Procedural Rationality as a Means for Evidence-Based Management in Conflicted Decision-Making:  A Mixed-Methods Study
• Dissertation: Disempowering the "Robin Hood" Fraudster: Empathetic Pathways Weaken Regulators and Enable Fraudulent Behavior – A Framework For Redesigining Controls
• Dissertation: Organizational Adoption of Social Media Technologies: A Mixed-Methods, Multi-Level Study of Effects on Productivity and Work-Home Life Balance
• Dissertation: Trust by Design: The Affective and Cognitive Antecedents Among African Americans, Building Long-Term Business Relationships
• Dissertation: Thriving in Transition: Cognitive, Social & Behavioral Resources For Times of Change

2014 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Towards Flourishing: How Sellers Can Forge Stronger B2B Relations and Increase Buyer Loyalty
• Dissertation: Improving the Capacity for Strategic Anticipation: How Upstream, Downstream and Lateral Immersion Contribute to the Capacity to Anticipate Strategic Moves
• Dissertation: Does Upper Echelons Team Dynamic Matter? The Criticality of Executive Team Behavior in Economic Value Creation
• Dissertation: Facilitating Radical Innovation in Consumer Electronics and Information Technology Industries
• Dissertation: Staying Alive: The Experience of In Extremis Leadership
• Dissertation: The Significance of Influence in Our Current Work Environment: Understanding and Exploring the Shift and Emergent Domains
• Dissertation: Understanding Managerial Influences:  A Mixed Methods Study of employee engagement, well-being, and performance
• Dissertation: Factors That Influence Firms' Environmental Performance: An Examination of Large Companies
• Dissertation: Title A Theoretical, Empirical and Practical Approach to Academic Knowledge Production and Job Satisfaction: The Role of Academic Alignment
• Dissertation: Equine-Assisted Experiential Learning: Implications for Management Development and Education
• Dissertation: Bridging the Medical Knowledge and Practice Gap: Antecedents of Successful Scientist Physician Collaboration
• Dissertation: Supply Chain Management Performance: Factors Contributing to Successful Risk Mitigation & Resiliency
• Dissertation: A Theory of Overload and Equivocality Effects on Learning during Knowledge Transfer within Policy Making Dyads

2013 Dissertations

• Dissertation: A Theory of Viral Growth of Social Networking Sites
• Dissertation: Socio-Cognitive Foundations of Entrepreneurial Venturing
• Dissertation: The Belief System and Behavior of Financial Advisors After a Market Disruption
• Dissertation: Relationships Matter, Even for CPAs
• Dissertation: Designing Successful Social Ventures: Hands-On Feedback-Seeking Engagement with Stakeholders to Unravel What to Do Next
• Dissertation: Pricing Capabilities and Firm Performance: A Socio-Technical Framework for the Adoption of Pricing as a Transformational Innovation
• Dissertation: Coming Out and Being Out in the C-Suite: The Experiences of Openly Gay and Lesbian Executives
• Dissertation: The Impact of Social Competencies and Role Factors on the Relational Construction of Identity and Participation of Physician Leaders
• Dissertation: Credibility: A Foundation for All Leaders
• Dissertation: Why We Care: The Mediating Effect of Positive and Negative Emotional Attractors on Social Responsibility
• Dissertation: Systemic Corruption: A Multi-Theoretic, Multi-Level and Mixed Methods Analysis of the Interplay among Institutional Logics, Strategic Agency and Reward Expectancy

2012 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Tenure, Charisma and Conflict in Venture Backed Teams
• Dissertation: Decision Making in the Corporate Boardroom: Designing the Conditions for Effectiveness
• Dissertation: How and To What Extent Does Collaboration Affect Employee and Cross-Functional Team Performance?
• Dissertation: Women Persisting in the Engineering Profession: A Paradoxical Explanation Adapting Intentional Change Theory
• Dissertation: Organizational Agility and Complex Enterprise System Innovations: A Mixed Methods Study of the Effects of Enterprise Systems on Organizational Agility
• Dissertation: How a Learning Orientation, Modern Portfolio Theory and Absorptive Capacity Contribute to University Endowment Performance
• Dissertation: A Multi-Level Investigation into the Antecedents of Enterprise Architecture (EA) Assimilation in the U.S. Federal Government: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Research Study
• Dissertation: The Impact IT Professionals Have On Performance: What Differentiates Superior from Average Performers and Understanding How to Keep Them Engaged

2011 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Pluralistic Diversity in Voluntary Associations on College Campuses: A Multi-Method study
• Dissertation: Managing the Unexpected: Detecting, Preventing and Mitigating Surprises in the Banking Industry
• Dissertation: The Strategic Decision-Making Process of the Board and Its Impact on Decision Outcomes
• Dissertation: Worlds Connected and Worlds Apart: Postures and Dependencies Influencing Government - Agency Relations
• Dissertation: A Multi-Method Exploration of the Role of Legitimacy in Cross-Sector Partnerships for the Natural Environment
• Dissertation: Knowledge Sharing in Bioscience Clusters: Nature, Utilization and Effects
• Dissertation: Impact of School Leadership on Academic Achievement in Kenyan Secondary Schools
• Dissertation: Non-Financial Perspectives on Family Firm Performance
• Dissertation: The Great Recession and Nonprofit Endurance: Framing the Mission-Defensive Paradox
• Dissertation: The Global Financial Crisis: Bankers Shaken, But Some Awaken

2010 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Causal Ambiguity and Its Impacts on Firm Performance
• Dissertation: Exploring Sustained Collaborations: Activities and Behaviors That Make a Difference
• Dissertation: Adoption of High Trust-High Risk Technologies: The Case of of Computer Assisted Surgery
• Dissertation: Bridging Structure-Agency Divide: A Structurational Approach to Institutional Adaptation and Innovation
• Dissertation: The Effect of Social Factors on Project Success Within Enterprise-Class System Development
• Dissertation: Nonprofit Leaders and Their Organizations: Routes to and Repertoires for Effectiveness
• Dissertation: Drivers of Employee Engagement and Teamwork Performance
• Dissertation: Payoffs of Championing "Tough Issues": Why Corporations Need to Nurture Quixotic Champions at the Board and Within Senior Management Teams
• Dissertation: Improving the Effectiveness of Microfinance in Reducing Household Poverty
• Dissertation: How Many Hands Does a Team Have? Developing Ambidextrous Teams in Academic Medical Centers
• Dissertation: The Delicate Balance of Organizational Leadership: Encouraging Learning and Driving Successful Innovation
• Dissertation: Dare to Restore Trust and Drive Loyalty in Distrust-Dominated Environments: A Stakeholder Perspective
• Dissertation: The Impact of Charisma on Employee Volunteer Programs

2009 Dissertations

• Dissertation: A Study of the Impact of Informational Complexity, Transparency and Stewardship on Decision Usefulness: The Users' Perspective
• Dissertation: Generative Characteristics as Antecedents to Engagement
• Dissertation: Managing Commitment as Antecedents to Engagement in Faith-based Organizations: Chinese Protestant Churches in the United States
• Dissertation: When Practice and Theory Conflict: Do Performance Incentives Drive Management Behaviors in Mergers and Acquisitions?
• Dissertation: Ethical Ideologies and Decision Making Among College Student Athletes
• Dissertation: The Role of Human Capital in Predicting Business Outcomes
• Dissertation: Inside the Outsourcing of Innovation
• Dissertation: The Role of Organizational Learning in Renewing Competitive Advantage
• Dissertation: The Private Sector and Anti-Terrorism Spending for Physical Security
• Dissertation: Unraveling Adaptive Selling: An Empirical Analysis of Underlying Relational Behavior
• Dissertation: Design and Discovery: The Structure and Function of a Research Network
• Dissertation: Into the Family and Business Nexus: Succession and Daughters in Family Owned Businesses
• Dissertation: Executive Leader Development: Mentoring in U.S. Government and Commercial Organizations
• Dissertation: An Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Accreditation in the Nonprofit Sector
• Dissertation: Beyond Financial Transparency and Institutional Structure: Emergent Forms of Accountability in the New Era of Responsibility

2008 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Developing a Regional High Tech Environment: What Factors Matter
• Dissertation: The Impact of the Internet on Airline Fares
• Dissertation: Managing Multiple and Interacting Congregations Within the Same Church: The Case of Chinese Protestant Immigrant Churches in North America
• Dissertation: Heaven, Hell and Everything In Between: How Do Authentic Leaders' Values Contribute to Organizations in Which Followers Flourish?
• Dissertation: They're Making All the Wrong Decisions: Managing Cognitive and Emotive Balance
• Dissertation: The Pathfinder Leader and Complex Decision Making: The Role in Collective Action Governance
• Dissertation: College Environments as Enablers and Barriers to Youth Entrepreneurship
• Dissertation: The Role of Learning and Care Giving Style in Practitioner-Patient Co-Production of Therapeutic Outcomes
• Dissertation: Effective Leadership of Financial Service Firms: A Study in Resonance and Emotional Intelligence
• Dissertation: Selling Money: Success Factors for Financial Advisors
• Dissertation: Role Engagement in Co-operative Organizations: A Relational Framework for Understanding Board Commitment
• Dissertation: Virtual Teams: Can They Be More Effective
• Dissertation: Commitment to Change as Dynamic Push-Pull Alignment of Messages
• Dissertation: The Impact of Organizational Destruction in Social Capital
• Dissertation: The Duplicity Effect: Professional Investment Decisions for Others Versus Self
• Dissertation: You Can Change Strategies in a Conversation: Decision Making in Innovation in the Durable Goods Industry

2007 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Disconnected: A Consumer Study of Mobile Telephone Technology Rejection in the United States
• Dissertation: The Social-Technical Project Manager Practices That Motivate Knowledge Sharing and Learning in Information Technology Project Team Environments
• Dissertation: Social Change – Making the Improbable Possible through Collaboration: A Series of Studies on NGO Collaboration in South Africa
• Dissertation: Employee Reactions to Mergers and Acquisitions - The ‘ME-I Syndrome’; Avoiding ‘Merger-Enabled-Individualism’
• Dissertation: Service Feature Considerations for Developing Consumer Satisfaction in Online Environments
• Dissertation: Studies in Workplace Behaviors and Organizations
• Dissertation: Transitioning from Staff Nurse to Nurse Manager-A Change in Identity
• Dissertation: Resilience in Action: Exploring Constructive Transitions Among Mid-Career Leaders
• Dissertation: Change Leader Retention and Career Development: The Role of Social Capital and Balancing Commitments
• Dissertation: Venture “TERROIR” Can We Define It ? VC Decision Processes for Investing in Genesis/ Pre-seed ICT Entrepreneurial Teams
• Dissertation: The Effects of Ownership, Control Rights and Experience on Joint Venture Success
• Dissertation: Social Entrepreneurship: Creating Impact in the Social Sector
• Dissertation: An Investigation of Electronic Medical Record Technology Adoption by Family Practice Physicians

2006 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Three Aspects of Social Change Management: Project Ownership, Ethical Project Transfer and Economic Correlate
• Dissertation: Corporate Governance in the Era of Sarbanes-Oxley
• Dissertation: The Practice of Medical Error Reporting
• Dissertation: The Social Construction of the Interactive Practices of Multicultural Professionals
• Dissertation: Practicing Pragmatic Collaboration: The Challenge of Recognizing and Managing Rational Divergence
• Dissertation: Focusing on the End User: Promoting the Successful Deployment of Workplace Programs and Initiatives
• Dissertation: Exploration of Social Capital in the Context of Elected Public School Officials
• Dissertation: A Journey with the End in Mind: An Examination of How Advance Planning May Influence End-of-Life Decisions
• Dissertation: Innovative or Expendable Human Capital: The Effect of Labor Market Choices, Career System Practices and Self-Directed Career Orientation on Organization Outcomes
• Dissertation: Immigrants Transnational Activities for Home Community Development: The Nigerian Immigrants in the United States
• Dissertation: Factors that Facilitate Entrepreneurship Among Students and Nascent Entrepreneurs
• Dissertation: An investigation of Customer Perceived Value, Exchange Partner Trustworthiness and Service Perceptions in e-Commerce
• Dissertation: Impact of Knowledge on Electricity Markets

2005 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Corporate Responses to Accounting Regulation
• Dissertation: Information Technology Adoption by Middle Managers: The Case of Trial Court Judges
• Dissertation: Strangers in the Commons: Understanding and Measuring Successful Aging for Low-Income Seniors in Affordable Housing
• Dissertation: Adolescent Leadership Development: The Role of Authoritative Parenting and the Mediating Effect of Psychological Autonomy and Mastery Orientation
• Dissertation: Trust, Education and Development in Jamaica, 1950-2000
• Dissertation: The Link Between Governance Responsibilities and Performance in Healthcare Organizations: A Trustees Perspective
• Dissertation: Nonprofit Intrapreneurship: How Nonprofit Managers Facilitate and Balance Entrepreneurial Activity
• Dissertation: All Cake and No Icing: An Exploration of Female Executive Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector
• Dissertation: A Framework for Maximizing Board Member Outcomes in Nonprofit Organizations
• Dissertation: The Impact of Electronic Medical Records on the Doctor-Patient Relationship in Hospitals in Japan, Korea and the United States: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

2004 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Sparks of Innovation: Observing the Elements that Lead to Creative and Innovative Success
• Dissertation: Pastoral Leadership and Parish Vibrancy
• Dissertation: A Tale of Two Colleges: The Fiscal Crisis of the 1990's Strategies for Managing in Uncertainty
• Dissertation: Converting Highly Legitimized Structural Barriers into Vehicles of Change: A Case for Transformational Leadership in Liberal Arts Colleges
• Dissertation: The Social Capital of Nonprofit Leaders
• Dissertation: Synthesizing Managerial Agency and Institutionalism in Manufacturing Facilities
• Dissertation: The Evolving Nonprofit Board: Relational Practices and Effective Governance
• Dissertation: Entrepreneurial Emergence: The Challenge of Growth in Urban Contexts
• Dissertation: Change On the Frontlines: A Perspective from the Trenches
• Dissertation: Perspectives on Life Insurance Selling, Retirement Savings among African Americans and Precautionary Saving of Blacks compared to Whites
• Dissertation: Managers, Micro-entrepreneurs and Performance Outcomes: Lessons from Two Worlds
• Dissertation: Trust in Project Management Relationships
• Dissertation: Free at Last? Culturally Rooted Differences in the Workplace Experience
• Dissertation: Organization and Empowerment: Policy, Practice and Outcome - The Study of Development Organizations in St. Lucia, West Indies

2003 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Individual Behavioral Competencies & Organizational Constraints: Some Insights From Health Care
• Dissertation: From Sitting on Top of the World to Crunched in the Back of the Bus: The Transformation of the U.S. Domestic Airline Industry From 2000 Through 2003
• Dissertation: Stakeholders and Organizations: A Three Part Approach to Better Understandings of Who and What Counts
• Dissertation: Research Reports: Strength of Strong Ties: Two Studies on EVA in Cyclic Markets
• Dissertation: Beyond the Requirements: Using Technology and Implementing Service Learning
• Dissertation: What Tangled Webs We Weave: A Comparative Study of Cooperation, Coping, and Networking Strategies of Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs
• Dissertation: Customer Service Satisfaction in Inter-Cultural Service Encounters
• Dissertation: Research Into the Effectiveness of an Alternatives to Violence Program in a Prison System
• Dissertation: A Qualitative Analysis of the Historical and Social Significance of the African American Male Oral Tradition: A Study in Linguistic Anthropology
• Dissertation: Leadership Pathways: How Leaders Communicate, Network, and Find Success in Diverse Environments
• Dissertation: Reciprocal Learning in Teams: Relational Practices for Securing the Best From Leadership Volunteers in Nonprofit Organizations

2002 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Workforce Development in a Small Manufacturing Organization
• Dissertation: Forces Shaping the Extent of Markets: An Exploration of Wholesale Distributors in Latin America
• Dissertation: The Meaning of Decision and Choice to a Leader in a Nonprofit Organization
• Dissertation: Another Thrice-Told Tale: Strategy Formation, Accountability, and Competent Governance in a Nonprofit Organization
• Dissertation: Study of Direct Internet Selling by Airlines in the U.S. Air Travel Distribution Industry
• Dissertation: The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Work Team Cohesiveness and Performance
• Dissertation: Political Economy and Price Ratio Changes: Electric Industry Under Transition
• Dissertation: Understanding the Characteristics of an Effective Physician-Hospital Contractual Arrangement from a Dyadic Perspective
• Dissertation: The Connected Celebrity and Nonprofit Advertising

2001 Dissertations

• Dissertation: A Study of the Impact of Ohio’s Instructional Support Funding Process On Institutional Behavior At Two-Year Colleges
• Dissertation: The Contributions and Status of Women Inside Directors in Fortune 1000 Companies
• Dissertation: The Influence of Self-Development, Experimental Learning and Networking on the Career Satisfaction of EMBA Graduates
• Dissertation: Toward A Theory of Technical Change
• Dissertation: More Than Directing Money: Theories in Use for Helping Distressed Communities as Practiced by Independent Foundations

2000 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Money and Theology - It's Not an Oxymoron!!
• Dissertation: Parental Choice of Elementary Schools Within the Cleveland Catholic Diocese and Its Implications for the Financial Policies of Diocesan Schools
• Dissertation: Business Is War: An Investigation Into Metaphor Use in Internet and Non-Internet IPOs
• Dissertation: Theoretical Aspects of the Japanese Institutional Relations Model and Its Effectiveness for Corporate Governance in the Context of Globalization
• Dissertation: Sensemaking in a Hospital Strategic Planning Process
• Dissertation: Strategic Alliance Decisions: The Interpersonal Experience of Alliance Building

1999 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Environomics: Managing Environmental Change from Rio de Janiero to Buenos Aires (Via Berlin and Kyoto
• Dissertation: Habitus Wars and Field(s) of Dreams: Using Bourdieu to Reframe the Sense of a Crisis
• Dissertation: Managers in the Middle: A Study of Long Term Care Regional Managers Dealing With Organizational Stress
• Dissertation: The Relationship of Error-Based Experimental Learning to Organizational Change: How and Why What We Learn May or May Not Change How We Behave
• Dissertation: Back to the Future: A Search for Economic Progress or Roots? A Comparison of Experiences Between African American Entrepreneurs in the United States
• Dissertation: The Quest for Sustainable Leadership: The Importance of Connecting Leadership Principles to Concepts Of Organizational Sustainability
• Dissertation: Achieving Potential in Hospital Mergers
• Dissertation: Mill Creek: A Case Study Applying Actor Network and Transformational Leadership Theories to Urban Housing Development

1998 Dissertations

• Dissertation: America in the 21st Century: Finding Harmony Between Economic and Social Goals
• Dissertation: The Social Construction of Workforce Development Organizations in Singapore and Penang, Malaysia
• Dissertation: The Marketplace of Management Ideas
• Dissertation: The Changing Face Of Money: Will Electronic Money Be Adopted in the United States?
• Dissertation: Ordinary Canadians: Identity of Time and Place
• Dissertation: Straight to the Heart: Cleveland Leaders Shaping the Next Millennium
• Dissertation: Capacity Building: An Appreciative Approach
• Dissertation: The Structure of Management Practices and the Formation of Coping Habitus

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Graduate Writing Resources

Whether it’s writing your thesis, brainstorming for a seminar paper, or completing final formatting edits, CSULB offers various writing resources to its graduate students. 

The Thesis and Dissertation Office offers formatting support to graduate thesis/dissertation students in preparation for their submission to the office (usually around the time of committee approval/the student’s thesis defense). The online formatting resources linked below are a great place to start. To schedule an appointment with the Thesis Office staff, click the link below to email them at [email protected]

Thesis Formatting Resources

CSULB Format Manual

Mini Manuscript

Email Thesis Office

For CSULB graduate students seeking writing help earlier in the process, the Graduate Center’s Writing Specialist is available to assist as well as advise on general academic writing concerns (e.g., avoiding plagiarism or overcoming writing anxiety).

To schedule a writing support appointment, see the Graduate Writing Specialist’s webpage: 

Request Appointment

The CSULB Library is also a well of resources for all students to receive support as they research their topics and refine their citation knowledge and skills. Each discipline has its own librarian dedicated to offering specialized assistance in that area. To view your department/topic’s research guides and connect with your librarian, click the button below.

Library Research Guides

In addition, the following resources offer various types of writing support to the CSULB community:

• University Writing Center (open to all CSULB students, both graduate and undergraduate)
• Career Development Center (offers career-development support--including career counseling, job searches, and assistance with résumés--for CSULB students and alumni) 
• BMAC Center (offers writing support to students with disabilities)
• The CSULB Learning Center (offers Language and Writing Tutoring for ESL students) 
• Succeeding at the Beach website (offers text-based resources on academic writing, study skills, maintaining mental health, and other useful topics)
• The Graduate Writing Guy website (writing resource site maintained by our Graduate Writing Specialist; offers tutorials, videos, and other resources on graduate writing and graduate admissions).

How To Write A Research Proposal

A Straightforward How-To Guide (With Examples)

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewed By: Dr. Eunice Rautenbach | August 2019 (Updated April 2023)

Writing up a strong research proposal for a dissertation or thesis is much like a marriage proposal. It’s a task that calls on you to win somebody over and persuade them that what you’re planning is a great idea. An idea they’re happy to say ‘yes’ to. This means that your dissertation proposal needs to be   persuasive ,   attractive   and well-planned. In this post, I’ll show you how to write a winning dissertation proposal, from scratch.

Before you start:

– Understand exactly what a research proposal is – Ask yourself these 4 questions

The 5 essential ingredients:

• The title/topic
• The introduction chapter
• The scope/delimitations
• Preliminary literature review
• Design/ methodology
• Practical considerations and risks 

What Is A Research Proposal?

The research proposal is literally that: a written document that communicates what you propose to research, in a concise format. It’s where you put all that stuff that’s spinning around in your head down on to paper, in a logical, convincing fashion.

Convincing   is the keyword here, as your research proposal needs to convince the assessor that your research is   clearly articulated   (i.e., a clear research question) ,   worth doing   (i.e., is unique and valuable enough to justify the effort), and   doable   within the restrictions you’ll face (time limits, budget, skill limits, etc.). If your proposal does not address these three criteria, your research won’t be approved, no matter how “exciting” the research idea might be.

PS – if you’re completely new to proposal writing, we’ve got a detailed walkthrough video covering two successful research proposals here . 

How do I know I’m ready?

Before starting the writing process, you need to   ask yourself 4 important questions .  If you can’t answer them succinctly and confidently, you’re not ready – you need to go back and think more deeply about your dissertation topic .

You should be able to answer the following 4 questions before starting your dissertation or thesis research proposal:

• WHAT is my main research question? (the topic)
• WHO cares and why is this important? (the justification)
• WHAT data would I need to answer this question, and how will I analyse it? (the research design)
• HOW will I manage the completion of this research, within the given timelines? (project and risk management)

If you can’t answer these questions clearly and concisely,   you’re not yet ready   to write your research proposal – revisit our   post on choosing a topic .

If you can, that’s great – it’s time to start writing up your dissertation proposal. Next, I’ll discuss what needs to go into your research proposal, and how to structure it all into an intuitive, convincing document with a linear narrative.

The 5 Essential Ingredients

Research proposals can vary in style between institutions and disciplines, but here I’ll share with you a   handy 5-section structure   you can use. These 5 sections directly address the core questions we spoke about earlier, ensuring that you present a convincing proposal. If your institution already provides a proposal template, there will likely be substantial overlap with this, so you’ll still get value from reading on.

For each section discussed below, make sure you use headers and sub-headers (ideally, numbered headers) to help the reader navigate through your document, and to support them when they need to revisit a previous section. Don’t just present an endless wall of text, paragraph after paragraph after paragraph…

Top Tip:   Use MS Word Styles to format headings. This will allow you to be clear about whether a sub-heading is level 2, 3, or 4. Additionally, you can view your document in ‘outline view’ which will show you only your headings. This makes it much easier to check your structure, shift things around and make decisions about where a section needs to sit. You can also generate a 100% accurate table of contents using Word’s automatic functionality.

Ingredient #1 – Topic/Title Header

Your research proposal’s title should be your main research question in its simplest form, possibly with a sub-heading providing basic details on the specifics of the study. For example:

“Compliance with equality legislation in the charity sector: a study of the ‘reasonable adjustments’ made in three London care homes”

As you can see, this title provides a clear indication of what the research is about, in broad terms. It paints a high-level picture for the first-time reader, which gives them a taste of what to expect.   Always aim for a clear, concise title . Don’t feel the need to capture every detail of your research in your title – your proposal will fill in the gaps.

Need a helping hand?

Ingredient #2 – Introduction

In this section of your research proposal, you’ll expand on what you’ve communicated in the title, by providing a few paragraphs which offer more detail about your research topic. Importantly, the focus here is the   topic   – what will you research and why is that worth researching? This is not the place to discuss methodology, practicalities, etc. – you’ll do that later.

You should cover the following:

• An overview of the   broad area   you’ll be researching – introduce the reader to key concepts and language
• An explanation of the   specific (narrower) area   you’ll be focusing, and why you’ll be focusing there
• Your research   aims   and   objectives
• Your   research question (s) and sub-questions (if applicable)

Importantly, you should aim to use short sentences and plain language – don’t babble on with extensive jargon, acronyms and complex language. Assume that the reader is an intelligent layman – not a subject area specialist (even if they are). Remember that the   best writing is writing that can be easily understood   and digested. Keep it simple.

Note that some universities may want some extra bits and pieces in your introduction section. For example, personal development objectives, a structural outline, etc. Check your brief to see if there are any other details they expect in your proposal, and make sure you find a place for these.

Ingredient #3 – Scope

Next, you’ll need to specify what the scope of your research will be – this is also known as the delimitations . In other words, you need to make it clear what you will be covering and, more importantly, what you won’t be covering in your research. Simply put, this is about ring fencing your research topic so that you have a laser-sharp focus.

All too often, students feel the need to go broad and try to address as many issues as possible, in the interest of producing comprehensive research. Whilst this is admirable, it’s a mistake. By tightly refining your scope, you’ll enable yourself to   go deep   with your research, which is what you need to earn good marks. If your scope is too broad, you’re likely going to land up with superficial research (which won’t earn marks), so don’t be afraid to narrow things down.

Ingredient #4 – Literature Review

In this section of your research proposal, you need to provide a (relatively) brief discussion of the existing literature. Naturally, this will not be as comprehensive as the literature review in your actual dissertation, but it will lay the foundation for that. In fact, if you put in the effort at this stage, you’ll make your life a lot easier when it’s time to write your actual literature review chapter.

There are a few things you need to achieve in this section:

• Demonstrate that you’ve done your reading and are   familiar with the current state of the research   in your topic area.
• Show that   there’s a clear gap   for your specific research – i.e., show that your topic is sufficiently unique and will add value to the existing research.
• Show how the existing research has shaped your thinking regarding   research design . For example, you might use scales or questionnaires from previous studies.

When you write up your literature review, keep these three objectives front of mind, especially number two (revealing the gap in the literature), so that your literature review has a   clear purpose and direction . Everything you write should be contributing towards one (or more) of these objectives in some way. If it doesn’t, you need to ask yourself whether it’s truly needed.

Top Tip:  Don’t fall into the trap of just describing the main pieces of literature, for example, “A says this, B says that, C also says that…” and so on. Merely describing the literature provides no value. Instead, you need to   synthesise   it, and use it to address the three objectives above.

Ingredient #5 – Research Methodology

Now that you’ve clearly explained both your intended research topic (in the introduction) and the existing research it will draw on (in the literature review section), it’s time to get practical and explain exactly how you’ll be carrying out your own research. In other words, your research methodology.

In this section, you’ll need to   answer two critical questions :

• How   will you design your research? I.e., what research methodology will you adopt, what will your sample be, how will you collect data, etc.
• Why   have you chosen this design? I.e., why does this approach suit your specific research aims, objectives and questions?

In other words, this is not just about explaining WHAT you’ll be doing, it’s also about explaining WHY. In fact, the   justification is the most important part , because that justification is how you demonstrate a good understanding of research design (which is what assessors want to see).

Some essential design choices you need to cover in your research proposal include:

• Your intended research philosophy (e.g., positivism, interpretivism or pragmatism )
• What methodological approach you’ll be taking (e.g., qualitative , quantitative or mixed )
• The details of your sample (e.g., sample size, who they are, who they represent, etc.)
• What data you plan to collect (i.e. data about what, in what form?)
• How you plan to collect it (e.g., surveys , interviews , focus groups, etc.)
• How you plan to analyse it (e.g., regression analysis, thematic analysis , etc.)
• Ethical adherence (i.e., does this research satisfy all ethical requirements of your institution, or does it need further approval?)

This list is not exhaustive – these are just some core attributes of research design. Check with your institution what level of detail they expect. The “ research onion ” by Saunders et al (2009) provides a good summary of the various design choices you ultimately need to make – you can   read more about that here .

Don’t forget the practicalities…

In addition to the technical aspects, you will need to address the   practical   side of the project. In other words, you need to explain   what resources you’ll need   (e.g., time, money, access to equipment or software, etc.) and how you intend to secure these resources. You need to show that your project is feasible, so any “make or break” type resources need to already be secured. The success or failure of your project cannot depend on some resource which you’re not yet sure you have access to.

Another part of the practicalities discussion is   project and risk management . In other words, you need to show that you have a clear project plan to tackle your research with. Some key questions to address:

• What are the timelines for each phase of your project?
• Are the time allocations reasonable?
• What happens if something takes longer than anticipated (risk management)?
• What happens if you don’t get the response rate you expect?

A good way to demonstrate that you’ve thought this through is to include a Gantt chart and a risk register (in the appendix if word count is a problem). With these two tools, you can show that you’ve got a clear, feasible plan, and you’ve thought about and accounted for the potential risks.

Tip – Be honest about the potential difficulties – but show that you are anticipating solutions and workarounds. This is much more impressive to an assessor than an unrealistically optimistic proposal which does not anticipate any challenges whatsoever.

Final Touches: Read And Simplify

The final step is to edit and proofread your proposal – very carefully. It sounds obvious, but all too often poor editing and proofreading ruin a good proposal. Nothing is more off-putting for an assessor than a poorly edited, typo-strewn document. It sends the message that you either do not pay attention to detail, or just don’t care. Neither of these are good messages. Put the effort into editing and proofreading your proposal (or pay someone to do it for you) – it will pay dividends.

When you’re editing, watch out for ‘academese’. Many students can speak simply, passionately and clearly about their dissertation topic – but become incomprehensible the moment they turn the laptop on. You are not required to write in any kind of special, formal, complex language when you write academic work. Sure, there may be technical terms, jargon specific to your discipline, shorthand terms and so on. But, apart from those,   keep your written language very close to natural spoken language   – just as you would speak in the classroom. Imagine that you are explaining your project plans to your classmates or a family member. Remember, write for the intelligent layman, not the subject matter experts. Plain-language, concise writing is what wins hearts and minds – and marks!

Let’s Recap: Research Proposal 101

And there you have it – how to write your dissertation or thesis research proposal, from the title page to the final proof. Here’s a quick recap of the key takeaways:

• The purpose of the research proposal is to   convince   – therefore, you need to make a clear, concise argument of why your research is both worth doing and doable.
• Make sure you can ask the critical what, who, and how questions of your research   before   you put pen to paper.
• Title – provides the first taste of your research, in broad terms
• Introduction – explains what you’ll be researching in more detail
• Scope – explains the boundaries of your research
• Literature review – explains how your research fits into the existing research and why it’s unique and valuable
• Research methodology – explains and justifies how you will carry out your own research

Hopefully, this post has helped you better understand how to write up a winning research proposal. If you enjoyed it, be sure to check out the rest of the Grad Coach Blog . If your university doesn’t provide any template for your proposal, you might want to try out our free research proposal template .

Psst… there’s more!

This post is an extract from our bestselling short course, Research Proposal Bootcamp . If you want to work smart, you don't want to miss this .

30 Comments

Thank you so much for the valuable insight that you have given, especially on the research proposal. That is what I have managed to cover. I still need to go back to the other parts as I got disturbed while still listening to Derek’s audio on you-tube. I am inspired. I will definitely continue with Grad-coach guidance on You-tube.

Thanks for the kind words :). All the best with your proposal.

First of all, thanks a lot for making such a wonderful presentation. The video was really useful and gave me a very clear insight of how a research proposal has to be written. I shall try implementing these ideas in my RP.

Once again, I thank you for this content.

I found reading your outline on writing research proposal very beneficial. I wish there was a way of submitting my draft proposal to you guys for critiquing before I submit to the institution.

Hi Bonginkosi

Thank you for the kind words. Yes, we do provide a review service. The best starting point is to have a chat with one of our coaches here: https://gradcoach.com/book/new/ .

Hello team GRADCOACH, may God bless you so much. I was totally green in research. Am so happy for your free superb tutorials and resources. Once again thank you so much Derek and his team.

You’re welcome, Erick. Good luck with your research proposal 🙂

thank you for the information. its precise and on point.

Really a remarkable piece of writing and great source of guidance for the researchers. GOD BLESS YOU for your guidance. Regards

Thanks so much for your guidance. It is easy and comprehensive the way you explain the steps for a winning research proposal.

Thank you guys so much for the rich post. I enjoyed and learn from every word in it. My problem now is how to get into your platform wherein I can always seek help on things related to my research work ? Secondly, I wish to find out if there is a way I can send my tentative proposal to you guys for examination before I take to my supervisor Once again thanks very much for the insights

Thanks for your kind words, Desire.

If you are based in a country where Grad Coach’s paid services are available, you can book a consultation by clicking the “Book” button in the top right.

Best of luck with your studies.

May God bless you team for the wonderful work you are doing,

If I have a topic, Can I submit it to you so that you can draft a proposal for me?? As I am expecting to go for masters degree in the near future.

Thanks for your comment. We definitely cannot draft a proposal for you, as that would constitute academic misconduct. The proposal needs to be your own work. We can coach you through the process, but it needs to be your own work and your own writing.

Best of luck with your research!

I found a lot of many essential concepts from your material. it is real a road map to write a research proposal. so thanks a lot. If there is any update material on your hand on MBA please forward to me.

GradCoach is a professional website that presents support and helps for MBA student like me through the useful online information on the page and with my 1-on-1 online coaching with the amazing and professional PhD Kerryen.

Thank you Kerryen so much for the support and help 🙂

I really recommend dealing with such a reliable services provider like Gradcoah and a coach like Kerryen.

Hi, Am happy for your service and effort to help students and researchers, Please, i have been given an assignment on research for strategic development, the task one is to formulate a research proposal to support the strategic development of a business area, my issue here is how to go about it, especially the topic or title and introduction. Please, i would like to know if you could help me and how much is the charge.

This content is practical, valuable, and just great!

Thank you very much!

Hi Derek, Thank you for the valuable presentation. It is very helpful especially for beginners like me. I am just starting my PhD.

This is quite instructive and research proposal made simple. Can I have a research proposal template?

Great! Thanks for rescuing me, because I had no former knowledge in this topic. But with this piece of information, I am now secured. Thank you once more.

I enjoyed listening to your video on how to write a proposal. I think I will be able to write a winning proposal with your advice. I wish you were to be my supervisor.

Dear Derek Jansen,

Thank you for your great content. I couldn’t learn these topics in MBA, but now I learned from GradCoach. Really appreciate your efforts….

From Afghanistan!

I have got very essential inputs for startup of my dissertation proposal. Well organized properly communicated with video presentation. Thank you for the presentation.

Wow, this is absolutely amazing guys. Thank you so much for the fruitful presentation, you’ve made my research much easier.

this helps me a lot. thank you all so much for impacting in us. may god richly bless you all

How I wish I’d learn about Grad Coach earlier. I’ve been stumbling around writing and rewriting! Now I have concise clear directions on how to put this thing together. Thank you!

Fantastic!! Thank You for this very concise yet comprehensive guidance.

Even if I am poor in English I would like to thank you very much.

Thank you very much, this is very insightful.

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