A GUIDE TO PROJECT WORK

Introduction
Welcome to this Guide. It will provide you all, you to know to produce a project of high academic quality. It will also enable you to produce a business report of a professional standard. The project report is an essential part of the PG Program in Management, hence we have allotted a full semester to the research involved in the submission of the project. It is designed to allow the student to demonstrate his/her knowledge of the academic content of the course through its practical application in the business world. It is important to stress here that you must make use of course concepts, models & theories. You are not writing a mere description. An intelligent person who has not taken a PG Program in Management could do that. You have to put together an academic piece of work, your model is an academic journal but not newspaper. Always check what you write, because what you write is viewed through the course and not just common sense.

Topic Selection
The student has to select his/her own topic. The criteria for selecting a topic are: Specialization: The topic must be related to the specialization of the student. Originality: Your work must be yours alone and must be original. You must certainly take ideas from elsewhere, but be sure that you develop them in a way unique to suit yourself and the thesis that you are doing. Company Specific: The thesis must be done in an organization or any of its departments. The thesis must be able to conclude to the organization in which it has been done, whether what they have been doing is the best method of doing that activity, or are there any better methods. And, if so, what these methods are and their justifications. The name of the organization must be specified in the Title. You can do the study in the organization that you are working/ have worked/ intend to work and can take the advice of your senior to help you select the topic.

Other factors to Consider:

The topic of the project report must be of your own interest for you to be able to sustain interest in the project report until its completion. It will help if you have prior knowledge of the area in which you intend to do the study. You must have the knowledge of a certain industry through employment, for example. If your topic selection is one that is popular, then you will find two issues. First, there will be plenty of material available. Second, it will be difficult to be original. It is a good idea to link project report to your future plans/ ambitions. This will be a useful piece of research for you and it will also demonstrate to your potential employers your enthusiasm and knowledge.

 Remember that you are restricted in a number of ways, such as resources, time, equipments, etc.

Planning the Project:

You will find it necessary to plan ahead in order to complete the project report in the time allowed. There are a number of ways of doing this but they all share certain features. You must work out precisely how much time you have. This means you should schedule your work backwards to be able to finish your project report in due time. You must identify crucial dates and measures demonstrating that your progress is satisfactory by those days. You already have some- the date for sending your proposal to the institution and the date for final submission. The other dates will emerge after you start your research. If, for example, you plan a questionnaire, there will be a day after which you will not be able to include returned forms because it will lead to a serious delay. This must be included in your planning. Other examples would include the day by which you must finish your literature review or the first draft. Exactly what the events are can only be known after you start work.

Project Synopsis:
Draft Title: This should convey the general issue that interests you. The title should not be generic in nature and should imply that the research is being made to be able to make certain conclusions. The title should also indicate the organization in which the research is being carried out (titles of earlier projects done by students have been attached for your information). Aims and Objectives of the Research: The aims and objectives of the research should be clearly mentioned. Eg. What exactly is the aim of this research and what would be the end result etc. Methodology: You should be specific about the methods you are going to use. Also make it clear why you are choosing a particular method. Detailed Plan of Work: You should submit a plan showing how you intend to complete the project report on time. This will include any bar charts, etc. References: Be as detailed about this as possible. It is understood that you will still be developing this part of your research, but it helps us understand the direction that you are heading.

Format of Project Report

03 copies of the Project Report (04 Copies if Company Requires One) need to be submitted to IBMR in the format, as follows: 1. The full content of the project report must be bound together so that the pages cannot be removed or replaced. The format and the rear boards shall have sufficient rigidity to support the weight of the work when standing upright. 2. The project must be hard bound in Black with the lettering on the cover in Gold [Spiral Binding will not be accepted]. 3. The outside of the front board should show in Gold, in at least 24 points type, the title of the project, the name of the candidate, the award and the year of submitted. The format of the front cover has been attached for your reference. 4. The spine should also show the name, the award and the year. 5. Text pages should be printed on one side of the paper, mainly in 1.5 or double spacing and pages numbered at the bottom centre. Margins should be 2 on the left and 1 on the right. 6. 7. 8. The declaration must be duly signed by the student. There must also be a declaration duly signed by the Research Guide. The project report must comprise of 150-180- pages.

TITLE

AKNOWLEDGMENTS

SUMMARY

CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND APPENDICES INTRODUCTION

MAIN BODY

CONCLUSIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY / REFERENCES

PROJECT STRUCTURE What is it about? Should accurately describe what the report is about and must include the name of the organization. It is better to say Report on staff problems in the canteen instead of just Canteen Who has helped you? Try to be selective about this. The fact that your pet dog gave you comfort during your work is not really important. What are the key This should be written at the end but findings & should appear at the beginning of the recommendations? report and be very brief, so that the recipient: (i) Will read it (even if he or she is very busy) and be put in the picture immediately without having to read through the whole report. (ii) Can decide what has to be done, Ex, read it through later (if youve managed to interest him or her) or send it to someone else for action. Whats in it? List all the section of the main body of your report and show the page number they start on. This should be neatly done with page numbers ordered in a column to the right of the list of sections. What else is in it? Using the same system as for contents, show the location of Tables, Figures, and Appendices. Why was it written? Can include the brief reasons for the What is the report being thought necessary, who background? asked for it, and any terms of reference. What facts were Beware assuming that your reader discovered? already knows the facts. Your main How were they chapters should include: obtained? Literature review Methodology Results and Observations. Discussions. What pictures has Sum up the main arguments. Do not emerged? introduce new material into your conclusion. If you have numbered each paragraph, refer to them by no. What action is now This is the cutting edge of the whole required? report- what it all leads up to- which should be set out clearly and succinctly what needs to be done; the pros and the cons should be included and the implications too. What books, articles etc. These should be listed in alphabetical Have you used? order by authors names. A Print / Web / etc bibliography lists all the work of interest including those mentioned in

CONTENTS
Page No.

1. 2.

TITLE. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..

4.

CONTENTS..

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

LISTS OF TABLES, FIGURES AND APPENDICES. INTRODUCTION MAIN BODY FINDINGS CONCLUSIONS.. RECOMMENDATIONS. BIBLIOGRAPHY/ REFERENCES APPENDICES..

Note: Please use separate index sheets for all chapters. Each chapter should start from a new page.