BSc in Business Management

Final Year Projects

2014 - 2015

Guidelines for Businesses

BSc Business Management Final Year Projects

Guidelines for Businesses

1.

The project

2.

The value of the project in the final year degree scheme

3.

The elements of the project

4.

What the project is and what it is not

5.

First steps: moving from initial brief to formal proposal

6.

The final research proposal

7.

Costs

8.

Doing the project

9.

Roles and responsibilities

10. Assessment: interim report, final report, individual report and viva (oral) presentation
11. Feedback and sponsors report

1. The project
The final year project is a core part of all undergraduate BSc Business Management programmes. Teams of 4 - 6
students work together to complete a change project set by your organisation.
Types of projects vary significantly and can encompass any aspect of the organisation. Topics could include a marketing
research study for a new product, operational change planning, lean improvement, human resources studies, sales
strategy, stock market analysis or anything that you think is an issue you want addressed. Despite these differences the
aim of each project is the same to allow students to connect what they have learned in the classroom to the real world,
producing tangible and usable results for partner organisations.
Our students offer a wide and varied skill set and, working together, can bring a wealth of specialist knowledge and ability
to your organisation. Each project is supervised by a member of academic staff and the Student Mobility office works with
students and the partner company to maximise the benefits of the relationship.
What are the benefits to you?

External viewpoint and ideas

Motivated individuals with a fresh and innovative outlook
Specialist knowledge based on up-to-date teaching
Input into the project from an academic specialist
Visibility in a competitive graduate recruitment marketplace.

2. The value of the project

The Final Year Project counts as one quarter of the final year degree mark.

3. What the project entails

Projects should investigate something for which your organisation has a real need and that, upon completion, has a
usable outcome. The project should fit into the operational strategy of the company and, ideally, it should involve research
into a problem or issue and be suitable for team rather than individual working.
A completed project report would usually include:

A project brief and overview of the requirements

Detailed analysis of the problem or issue
A project plan
Literature analysis in the relevant area
Data collection to include quantitative and qualitative methods
Presentation of possible solutions to the problem and a final recommendation.

Due to the investigative nature of the projects, students will need access to information and to company staff to be able to
carry out the research element effectively.
The project is not a practical consultancy exercise performed to a sponsor's set brief. The stress is on action
research rather than consulting which, generally speaking, is helpful and practically useful whilst also being
academically valuable (research and action). Since the expectations of the School may sometimes differ from those of
the sponsoring organisation, teams are encouraged to view the terms of reference as something to actively negotiate with
their sponsor. The emphasis is on partnership and collaboration with both clients (and each other).

4. Stage one: the formal proposal

The initial project brief you have given is not viewed as the blueprint for the project, but as the first stage in discussions
and negotiation between you and your team. Hence, the early stages of the project will be helping you and the team to
get clarity on its precise content and boundaries

The nature of written briefs varies enormously and your conception of the problem(s) can, and frequently does, change
over time. Some projects will be clear from the start; others will require considerable refinement and negotiation. Your
team should take time to familiarise and orientate themselves with your organisation and ground their proposal in what
they have found out about it. The final proposal is arrived at interactively and collaboratively, calling upon skills of
communication, facilitation, negotiation, diagnosis, drafting and redrafting.

5. The final research proposal

Each team is allocated a member of academic staff to be their Academic Adviser. The Adviser is a source of advice, but is
not expected to get involved in the actual negotiation. It is essential that the team puts a great deal of effort into this
opening stage because it can save a great deal of time in later stages.
The formal proposal is a development of the initial brief and the team should agree this with their Academic Adviser by the
end of October at the latest.
The team is expected to comment in its written report on the differences (if any) between the initial brief and the final brief
and explain how and why any differences emerged. Any later amendments should also be outlined and be explained in a
similar way. What we are therefore recognising is that the formal proposal may, in certain circumstances, not be what the
team finally end up doing.
The research proposal will typically cover the following areas:
1. BACKGROUND TO STUDY: the historical/causative events that have led to the emergence of the problem or
issue that is to be investigated; why it needs to be done; how it fits into the company strategy.
2. OVERALL PROJECT OBJECTIVE(S): what you specifically wish to achieve as far as the project itself is
concerned the desired outcomes from your work.
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS/THEMES: identification of the appropriate principal and subsidiary research
questions: what will you actually be investigating?
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: sources of information; suggested research methods including data collection,
data analysis and data reporting.
5. ANTICIPATED RESULTS: timing and expected outcomes.
6. ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCIAL ASPECTS: administration fee, expenses, reporting and communication.

6. Costs
We do not charge a fee for our final year project scheme. We do hope that companies will be able to support reasonable
expenses from students (for instance, printing or travel), but this is optional.
It is the teams responsibility to discuss this with you and then inform the Student Mobility Office of how reimbursement of
expenses will happen.

7. During the project

The teams are reminded that in any contact with organisations they are expected to ensure that their conduct is of the
highest professional standard.
In particular, teams are told to remember that:

Visits to organisations should be made by prior mutual arrangement only (preferably confirmed in writing).

They should be thoroughly prepared for interviews (agenda, roles, etc).

They should not tape record an interview without the prior explicit agreement of the interviewee. (Or, in the case
of children, guardian).

Data collected from organisations or individuals as part of the project must be treated as confidential and can not
be released to any other parties, other than those involved in the exam process. In their report, any such data
should be presented in a way which preserves the anonymity of an organisation or individuals.
No approach should be made to competitors of the sponsoring organisation under the guise of a research team
from Swansea University. As they are working for somebody else they will have to give some kind of indication of
this to those they approach, though whether or not they reveal the actual name of their sponsoring organisation is
a matter between them and you, and a matter upon which you will need to have their clear agreement.
All respondents who co-operate with the teams fieldwork should be aware that the students are from the Swansea
University, School of Management.
If questionnaires are used as part of the research, they should comply with current legislation regarding such types
of unsolicited approaches.
The Projects Officer will send a form to you towards the end of the project asking you to indicate whether or not
any subsequent final year project teams are allowed to consult the report.

8. Roles and responsibilities

The Company is expected:

To abide by the professional standards that we set as a School.

To co-operate in allowing reasonable access to material and individuals vital to the successful completion of the
project.

To ensure that students do not suffer hardship in paying out of pocket expenses for the completion of fieldwork
activities (as agreed in the proposal).

To formally comment on the reports submitted to them and the presentation at the end of the study, and allow
such comment to be made available to the examiners for their consideration in the assessment process.
The Student Team is responsible for the following:

Negotiations with the company and Academic Adviser to agree a proposal and research contract.

Negotiations with the company to agree a research budget.

Their Academic Adviser will not interfere in their relationship with their organisation. The team is entirely
responsible for managing and developing the team-organisation relationship and is aware that this aspect
of the project forms an integral part of the assessment process. Although, if you feel that the relationship is
breaking down and/or you are not being kept adequately briefed by the team please contact the Student Mobility
Office.

Meeting all the deadlines for submission and examination.

Collecting all the materials required to complete the project including all relevant literature and readings, and
primary and secondary fieldwork data.

Maintaining confidentiality both of the information you may allow them access to and the information they collect
from other organisations or individuals during the course of their research.

Seeking and obtaining advice from the Academic Adviser, other academic staff, and various other members in
their resource network.
Management of the student team dynamics. They may well encounter internal conflicts and problems with their
teammates. While, in extreme circumstances, their Academic Adviser will be on hand to advise in this regard they
are made aware that they are expected to self-manage cases of internal conflict.

Submitting a written report to the School and sponsor in the agreed format and by the agreed date. NOTE: the
written project report presented to the university may be (and often is) different from the one that is submitted to
the sponsor because of the different audiences and objectives for which they are intended the same will also
often apply to oral presentations.
The Head of Student Mobility:

To oversee the running of the projects scheme and to have overall responsibility for the academic side of the
project.

To ensure broad comparability between projects in terms of their scope and potential.

To give general help and guidance to ensure students have a clear understanding of the standards expected from
their project.

To oversee the examination and assessment process at the end of the programme.
The Student Mobility Team:

To make certain that all final year project teams secure a project either by finding projects and making them
available to the students or helping the teams to find their own project.

To liaise with the Projects Manager and teams to ensure that a proposal has sufficient scope to allow students to
demonstrate their abilities.

To be responsible for all aspects of the administrative, budgetary and ongoing management of the projects
programme.
To manage the examination and assessment process.

The Academic Adviser is responsible for:

Giving general guidance on the conduct of the teams work and acting as a sounding board to test various ideas.
They will offer some help in suggesting other academic advisors, whom the team may need to approach for
specialist advice, and deciding appropriate courses of action. Their role is to encourage, advise and warn, but not
to make the decisions for the team.

Being one of the two examiners for each project (the other being an internal academic member of staff).

9. Assessment
A. Interim Report
In order to help us gauge whether the teams are on target with their project, they are required to submit, to the University,
an interim report on their activities to date before the Christmas recess.
The interim report should not exceed 1,000 words in length. It should summarise clearly the work the team has carried
out in the first semester and indicate how close they are to their original timetable of planned activities. Any deviation from
their original research contract should be explained and clearly justified. They should comment also on the nature of their
internal group dynamics and the relationship they have with their client organisation.
B. Final Report
The final written report that the team submits, to the University, for academic assessment should be 10,000 words in
length (excluding appendices, tables, figures and footnotes)
The deadline for this report is the end of the Spring taught semester.

C. Viva (oral) Presentation

Examination of the project involves all the written submissions the team and team members make and a Viva (oral
presentation).
Two examiners, both of whom will attend the viva, mark the project:
The Academic Adviser
Another internal examiner
Oral presentations (vivas) will be held prior to the end of the Spring semester.
The viva involves:
A team presentation of about 30 minutes
Questions to the whole team for about 15 minutes
Individual question/interview sessions of about 10 minutes per person if there is disagreement on the contribution
of different members of the group.
What the examiners will be looking for in both the final academic report and oral presentation is evidence of the groups
competence in conducting a rigorous and penetrating investigation of the relevant problems and issues raised in the
agreed brief. Breaking this down further, the qualities and attributes the examiners are looking for might typically include:

Demonstration of initiative, originality, imagination and skill in the construction and execution of the investigation

Clarity of aims, objectives, and research questions, plus a clear sense of direction to the work - of knowing where
it is all heading

A well chosen, well justified and well executed research approach that fits the themes and issues being addressed
in the project, producing, at the end of the day, quality data. Approach here includes research methodology and
wider issues relating to the broader research strategy developed by the group

Evidence that the literature/body of knowledge has been thoroughly investigated, understood, and effectively
incorporated into the project

Evidence of conceptual and theoretical development within the project, and a sense that this has added value to
the final work

Insightful and skilful analysis interpretation of the collected data. Evidence that the group has been able to handle
complex data sets, and to come up with something valuable and distinctive
A discussion of the findings in the light of the literature and previous studies, drawing attention to omissions in
previous work, and offering new possibilities for future research
The development of themes, arguments, theses and/or hypotheses that are logical, clear, well-reasoned,
empirically defensible and, above all, plausible and convincing
Presentation of relevant and well-founded conclusions and recommendations, that grow out of and are supported
by the data and body of knowledge
Criticality - the extent to which the authors successfully challenge and provoke their readers and clients to
question and re-examine their own taken for granted views and beliefs; the critical, probing aspects of the project
Report structure and presentation: how well shaped and crafted the report is in terms of structure, flow, storyline
and architecture. Issues around the clarity, conciseness and logic of the report, and how accessible its arguments
are to the reader
Evidence of a sound understanding of the research process in which they have been involved (note: this includes
not only what they have learned about their own group dynamics but the whole research process: the thinking and
doing of projects, relationships with clients and others, the use of experts and sources, strengths and weaknesses
of their project, and so on.)

10. Feedback
Approximately half way through the project, and at the end, you will be sent an appraisal form to complete. This will allow
you to provide us with some feedback on the conduct and outcome of the teams work.
The interim appraisal information is given to the teams Academic Adviser. The final appraisal information is given to the
Academic Adviser and the other examiner prior to the teams viva.
It is up to you to decide and agree with the team how frequently and in what format you receive feedback from them
throughout the project.
It is the teams responsibility to provide you with a final written report and to organise, if required, a final presentation to
you. We suggest to the teams that they do this final presentation to you in April.

We hope the project will be a valuable experience for you and we thank you for your support.
For further information please contact:
Sophie Dare-Edwards
Student Mobility Officer (Placements, Study Abroad and Projects)
School of Management
Swansea University
Swansea, SA2 8PP
s.l.dare-edwards@swansea.ac.uk