Preliminary Research Proposal (1000-2000 words)

Guidelines for writing a Preliminary DBA Research Proposal

In putting together your research proposal you may find useful the following suggestions: 1. Define your research question 2. Link your research question to existing literature and programme focus 3. Discuss the broader scope of your research 4. Discuss some of the issues related to methodology and access to information 1. Define your Research Question It is considered good practice, if you can describe your project in one sentence, in the form of a research question, for example, Why the implementations of Human Resource Management software, such as PeopleSoft, take longer in public compared to private organisations in the USA?, or, What are the effects of Internet patent databases on the significance of patents as a source of information for solving everyday problems in German engineering small firms?, or, How software engineers in a joint venture between IBM and Tsingua University in Beijing, China, share knowledge and seek advice for problem solving in new software development?

This question should give a clear initial idea of what the scope of your suggested study is and the broad context of your research. Of course, you, with the help of your supervisor, will refine and modify, if necessary, your research question in the early stages of your DBA project. 2. Link your Research Question to existing Literature and Programme Focus Ideally, you should be able to discuss your research question and position it within a distinctive body (or, bodies) of academic and professional literature, providing few key references and hints of why your question is interesting and relevant to be undertaken as a research project at doctoral level. Please also remember to highlight your preferred disciplinary perspective (for example, economics of innovation, IT management, strategic marketing, human resource management, finance and accounting), and, if possible, the relationship of your question to the thematic focus of the programme on technology, innovation and change management. 3. Discuss the broader scope of your research It is also considered good practice if you are able to discuss in your research proposal the initial scope of your research project, in terms of the broader issues related to: Industry / Sector Country / Region Time Period(s)

4. Discuss some of the issues related to methodology and access to information Last but not least, it would be interesting if you would discuss in your research proposal issues related to preferred method(s): Qualitative (e.g. case studies, interviews) Quantitative (e.g. surveys using statistical analysis) Mixed methodologies combining both qualitative and quantitative methods as well as personal circumstances, facilitating access to people, organisations and relevant information that may be of significant help in conducting your fieldwork and carrying out the empirical part of your research in later stages of your DBA.

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH PROPOSAL

1. The Question
What is the organizational and managerial impact of the introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based communication tools in multicultural organizations? PRELIMINARY RESEARCH PROPOSAL

2. Existing Literature and Program Focus

a) About Organizationsi,ii

In a recent collective workiii of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, organizations are primarily defined as social entities and groups of people , rather than engines centred on core competencies and aiming at serving the market. According to Michael Hammer an organization is something more than a set of products and services. It is also a human society
b) Sensitivity to Communication Strategies

As social entities or human societies, organizations are quite sensitive to the internal communication strategies put in place to support the organizations mission and managerial culture as well as to the communications tools used within this framework. This is particularly true in multicultural organizations, where the communication patterns must be adapted to the diversity of the working force.
c) About Cultural Diversity

The cultural and labour force diversity can be described in terms of biographyiv (such as age, gender, ethnic origin, nationality, language, religion, civic status, seniority), or of workrelated valuesv (such as distance to power, individualism versus collectivism, long-term orientation versus short-term orientationvi, tolerance towards ambiguity or uncertainty, quantity of life versus quality of life, or poor versus rich communication contextvii).
d) New Communication Tools

Since the beginning of the 90s, new ICT-based communication tools have been developed and implemented, both for personal and professional usage. These tools include both asynchronous communication channels such as websites, blogs and emails, but also synchronous tools such as instant messaging systems, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or chat. More recently, new tools such as social networking systems have also proved quite successful, as have done wiki-based experimentations. Both websites and blogs are used primarily for external communications, e.g. to keep the market (or the organizations community) aware of the portfolio of activities of the organization (and to publish and maintain the catalogue of products and services). Email is now being used extensively, both for internal and external communications, from direct marketing to personal communications, from the dissemination of internal notes to all staff to negotiations with customers and service providers.
e) Existing Literature

Recent literature extensively describes the usage of ICTs to enhance external

communications, e.g. communication with the market, information to customers or to the community, etc. This literature mainly represents the field of marketing, of customer relation management, or of corporate and institutional communications. However, less literature exists so far developing and describing best practices in the usage of ICTs for internal communication. Similarly, little exists describing the impact of ICT-based internal communication tools on managerial and operational processes, or on staff performance, motivation, dedication and/or commitment. There is a clear discrepancy between changes in terms of technology, lifestyles and geopolitics witnessed during the last half-century and the slow evolution of management viii. According to Gary Hamel, there has been during the last 70 years much more publications about technological innovation or technical innovation, product innovation, strategic innovation or business innovation than on management innovation, organizational innovation or managerial innovation.
f) Why this research?

The primary hypothesis of the proposed research is that the introduction of ICTs in organizations not only affects the way organizations communicate externally, but is also having an impact on the way they communicate internally, and eventually on the way there are managed and on their proper structure. This hypothesis is based on personal experience as manager and as expert in the field of ICTs. I have witnessed (and contributed to) the development and evolution of ICTs during the last three decades. I have also noticed how we all became beginners again with the introduction of ICTs in organizations. The second hypothesis of the proposed research is that attitude toward technology (and technological change) varies between cultures. As such, I considered that the introduction of ICT-based communication and management tools might have specific impacts on multicultural organizations, such as the international organizations and multinational companies based in Geneva. I also noticed that literature in this specific field is not abundant, either because attention to market is considered to be more relevant than attention to human resources, or because the introduction of new technologies is too recent (thus the adjective new in new technologies) to have been properly studies and described. I therefore concluded that the proposed research would be of general interest, not only for those in charge of the implementation of new ICT-based communication tools within organizations, but also for executive levels as well as human resources management.
g) Further thoughts

Some, as Gary Hamel and Bill Green, consider that the Internet might be the best metaphor of XXIst century management. Internet is, in many ways, the new management technology (Hamel, p. 337). While Hamel briefly explores the trendy concept of Management 2.0, Robbins concentrates on two aspects of management in electronic organizations: motivation and ethics (Robbins, p. 460). Both concur in believing that tomorrows organizations and their management still have to be designed. I would like to contribute to this design trough the proposed research.

3. Scope of Research
The first target group for the proposed research will be the international organizations, in particular the United Nations Specialized Agencies based in Geneva (HCR, ILO, ITU, UNOG, WHO, WMO, WTO, etc.) These organizations offer a truly international and multicultural environment. The second circle of organizations would be the ITU Sector Members, e.g. the private sector companies members of the International Telecommunication Union, and which represent the broader ICT industry. Most of these companies are multinational entities and make a wide usage of ICTs for their own business. Both circle therefore offer a proper environment, corresponding to the framework of the proposed research. Having worked during since 1978 in the field of telecommunications and ICTs, I would like to contribute by my work to the benefit of this industry.

4. Methodology
I intend to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Since I have a number of contacts within the circles mentioned in 3 above, I would like to conduct some interviews with colleagues and business contacts. I would also like to develop a questionnaire to send to a panel of contacts for further analysis.

Preliminary References

Frederick W. Taylor, Principios de la Administracin Cientfica, Bogot, Edigrama, 2003 (Spanish translation of Principles of Scientific Management, 1911) ii Henry Fayol, Administracin Industrial y General, Bogot, Edigrama, 2003 (Spanish translation of Administration industrielle et gnrale, 1916) iii Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith, Richard Beckhard, La organizacin del futuro, Barcelona, Deusto, 2006, p. 19 (Spanish translation of The organization of the future, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1997) iv Stephen P. Robbins, Comportamiento organizacional, Mxico, Pearson Educacin, 2004 (Spanish translation of Organizational behavior, 10th edition, Pearson Education, Prentice Hall, 2003) v Geert Hofstede, Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Beverly Hills, Sage, 1980 (See also http://www.geert-hofstede.com/) vi Edward Twitchell Hall, Beyond culture, New York, Anchor Press, 1976 vii Gabrielle Grard, in Management interculturel, Sminaire dchange des pratiques, HEC Lige, 2005, p. 4 <http://www.udi.hec.ulg.ac.be/cours/seminaire_echange_pratiques/fiches/2005_18.pdf> viii Gary Hamel with Bill Green, El futuro de la administracin, Bogot, Grupo editorial Norma, 2008, p. 4 (Spanish translation of The future of management, Boston, Harvard Business School Publishing, 2007)