BATCH : SS 10-13

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• BATCH SS 10-13
• COURSE UG
• GUIDELINES FOR
• PROJECT THESIS
• (STEPS INVOLVED)

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INTRODUCTION

• Now that you have completed your classroom
  studies, the Institute would like to train you
  further towards becoming an efficient and
  effective manager. Thus now you would be required
  to demonstrate your ability and potential to do
  independent thinking and understand a real life
  managerial issue in your chosen functional area
  of management, viz, Finance, HRM, Marketing,
  Marcom IT. Moreover, you are expected to
  suggest solution to this kind of problem or at
  least report the existing solution.
• How do you go about accomplishing this task?
  Well, the guidelines follow for your perusal and
  usage.

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OBJECTIVE

• To help you develop ability to apply
  multidisciplinary concepts, tools, and techniques
  to focus on organizational problems and arrive
  at/report solutions. The aim is essentially to
  test your ability to apply your knowledge and
  skills after having studied management oriented
  subjects for 4 semesters, to a real life
  situation.

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TYPES OF PROJECT

• Comprehensive case study It covers single
  organization/ multifunctional area problem
  formulation, analysis, and recommendation.
• Interorganisational study It aims at inter firm/
  comparison/ validation of theory/survey of
  management practices.
• Field study Empirical study pertaining to
  functional areas.

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PROJECT FORMULATION
PROJECT MENTOR EVALUATOR

• Will be assigned by the college. You can take
  guidance from them as when required.

• You are required to prepare synopsis in the
  format provided.
• LENGTH OF THE REPORT
• Normally your report should contain 15000 -
  20,000 words, i.e. roughly 45-50 typewritten
  sheets. You will have to justify a shorter or a
  lengthier submission which in any case cannot go
  beyond a 5 variation.

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SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

• 1. Think of a topic you want to prepare a project
  report on
• 2. Submission of Thesis synopsis ( Max 2 pages)
  in hard copy in library for approval.
• 3. Approval of thesis synopsis by allotment of
  Registration Number sent through email.
• 4. Do your own research. The research will
  essentially involve collection, collation, and
  analysis of primary secondary information. A
  report based purely on secondary data will not be
  accepted.
• 5. Submission of Final Project Thesis.

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• STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT
• THE PRELIMINARIES
• Title Page
• Abstract
• Thesis Topic approval letter sent over email
• Synopsis
• Acknowledgments
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures Tables
• GENERAL PROJECT THESIS CONTENT
• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Research objectives Methodology
• Body of the report Literature Review, Findings
  Analysis
• Conclusions Recommendations
• Bibliography

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1. Title Page

• It will have the following information Capital
  letters in Golden color Portrait format
• Name of the Institute, logo.
• Title of the report
• Submitted to Name of the guide
• Submitted by Name of the student, class, roll
  number, project thesis id number, batch (In the
  middle)

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2. Executive Summary/Abstract

• This is a summary of the completed paper, from
  introduction to conclusion, in about 300 words.
  Broadly, it defines the concepts studied, states
  the purpose of the study, describes its scope and
  analytical tools used to arrive at the
  conclusions, and then states key findings. This
  section is written AFTER you have written your
  complete report.
• One example of the executive summary
• CRM is a philosophy that directs the organization
  to build its processes around its customers
  needs. The call centre (CC) is a CRM-embedded
  automation that builds long term, strategic
  relationship with its customers. It assures high
  volume performance for organizations, and fast,
  consistent service for their customers. Banks and
  other financial service providers can benefit
  most because they deal in information and funds
  that are electronically transacted. The CC is a
  technology cum attitude driven alternative to
  existing channels of the providers. American
  providers have put up a sterling performance in
  cc for their Indian counterparts. Indian
  organization have just made an entry, but
  awareness and interest in the gains in its
  business applications are steadily increasing.
  The cc is a strategic investment, and therefore
  must be driven by top management. However,
  process changes, technology integration and
  absorption, and regular cultural training are
  vital for success of the investment.

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4. Table of ContentsHere titles of chapters
along with their corresponding page numbers are
mentioned.
3. Acknowledgement

• Here you will talk about your report (in not more
  than 100-150 words) and acknowledge the
  contribution of various sources (teachers,
  professionals from the organization, friends,
  libraries, etc.) who helped you in completing the
  report.

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5. Introduction

• You will introduce the subject matter of your
  project here in 1-2 pages. This must describe the
  topic and the problem. The first thing is your
  problem statement. Emphasize the problem area and
  its related effects. State the main objective of
  your exercise here.
• One example of the way Introduction is
  written is given below
• Depreciation is a method of spreading the cost of
  a fixed asset over its economic life. The
  economic life of a fixed asset is greater than
  the accountancy periods across which financial
  statements are made and presented to
  stakeholders. Depreciation therefore allocates
  the cost of the asset to the accounting periods
  benefitting its use. Companies adopt different
  methods of depreciation, and may change these
  methods from time to time. Consequently, readers
  arrive at different conclusions, when they read
  the financial statements..
• (Note This is an abridged from only of
  Introduction and is in regular font size of 12
  Times New Roman)

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6. Methodology

• You have to begin with by doing desk based
  (secondary sources centered) research. Then you
  have to administer questionnaire / conduct
  interviews to collect primary data/ responses. If
  you had chosen either of them, give your
  justification for doing so, this section is
  written in past tense. You have to describe new
  process used, if any.
• To illustrate
• The sample was drawn from Business Todays list
  of 500 largest companies (Sep 22 October
  6,2011). Out of these, only the largest 200 in
  terms of size of assets were covered, provided
  they were at least 20 years old, as on 31 March
  2009. Data was collected through a structured
  questionnaire sent to the CEO/CFO/ Director
  (Finance) in these companies. The data was
  analysed using factor analysis

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7. Body of the report

• Here you will write the main body of your report
  (20-25 pages). In this section you provide all
  the details including your findings with
  particular reference to the problem areas.
  Undertake and report statistical analysis here.
  Emphasize areas of conformance /divergence from
  concepts, assumptions and practices.
• For example, the following form part of the main
  text of 2 different reports
• 81 of the respondents listed five factors to
  be of crucial importance (see Table 3 below)
•  
• This identified 11 key areas which organizations
  must build for competing successfully in the
  global market. These are indicated in Table 6
  below.

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8. Conclusion

• In this section you will highlight the main
  points of your project report and draw your own
  conclusion. You may even make suggestions.
  Consolidate your findings. Do make
  recommendations towards a better system.
  Critically analyse your report. Also report
  limitations like size and quality sample, etc.
• One report, for example, concluded
• Although Deming emphasized the need to adopt an
  employee centric approach to implement TQM, the
  study showed that the companies in our study
  implemented TQM successfully without undue
  dependence on their people. This contradicted the
  popular view that TQM is effective only if all
  the people in the organization participated in
  the exercise. The study was limited to one large
  metropolis, and respondents were wihin a narrow
  age group of 35-45. A broader sample is
  recommended for better results.

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9. Tables and figures

• Any detailed facts and figures which do not form
  the part of the main text can be included here.
  (These pages are in addition to 30-35 page
  report)
• Remember, these statistics are the ones which
  have NOT been already incorporated at different
  places in the main body of the Essay

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10. Bibliography

• You will quote here all the books, articles and
  web based sources. Without this listing your
  report will be rejected immediately. It is of
  utmost importance that you document all your
  primary sources and the secondary references
  while you are researching for your report. DO NOT
  wait till the stage of writing since you would
  not be able to retrieve these sources at that
  stage. A minimum of 10 references must be
  provided, the use of which in your report will be
  cross checked by the evaluator. Any fraudulent
  mention (meaning, no actual use of the quoted
  reference for writing the report) will summarily
  invite an instant rejection of the report.
• You have to follow the following style
• Books
• Bowersox, Donald J. (2008) Logistics
  Management. Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi
• Journals and other articles
• Schemenner, R. W (1999) Company information and
  Share Prices Movement Journal of Finance
  Economics, Vol. 21, No. 1, PP 83-104
• Online Resources
• Measuring Marketing at Retail in Chain
  Drugsstores. http//www.popai.com (accessed on
  September 10, 2011)
• Reporting of references any other way will invite
  penalty

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You have to compulsorily follow the following
format
SYNOPTIC VIEW OF WHAT TO INCLUDE WHERE
ABSTRACT Definitions of concepts to be studied Purpose of study Scope of study Analytical tools used within Key Findings INTRODUCTION Description of topic, problem, and objective of study MEHODOLOGY Use of secondary and primary data Their description Analytical tools employed, in detail MAIN TEXT Details of your project Findings Areas of conformance/divergence CONCLUSION Consolidated findings Recommendations towards a better system/ process REFERENCES Separate listing of books / journals/sounds/web based sources (Follow alphabetical order)
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REPORT WRITING DETAILED GUIDELINESREPORT
WRITING TITLE PAGE

• The Title Page
• Allows the reader to easily identify the context
  /coverage of the report
• Has details of
• - Title of the report
• - Your name and identity (registration
  number, batch, etc.)
• - To whom it is addressed, including the
  course it is submitted for
• - Date of submission
• Is visible even before opening the report

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REPORT WRITING EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Allows reader to get an overview of the report
  before focusing on the details
• Gives a summary of the whole report and not the
  introduction or recommendations alone
• Focuses on FINDINGS and NOT on STRUCTURE of the
  report
• Includes a brief statement of the original
  problem and the main argument or evidence that
  have led you to your conclusions
• Is only one page long
• Is best written after you have finished writing
  the main body of the report
• Is placed even before the contents page

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REPORT WRITING CONTENTS LIST

• Shows major and minor section headings
• Gives the page on which each section starts
• Also gives titles of any attached appendices

REPORT WRITING INTRODUCTION

• Is written to orient the reader to the subject of
  the report
• Is not merely paraphrasing of the title goes
  beyond
• Addresses the following questions
• - Why is the topic important?
• - What is the purpose of the report?
• - What is the main argument contained?
• - On what evidence is the main argument
  based?
• - How is the argument structured?
• - What are the implications of the argument?

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REPORT WRITING MAIN BODY

• Usually contains a number of major and minor
  sections
• Aims to develop arguments, based on evidence that
  build up to your eventual conclusions
• Incorporates diagrams/tables/figures to support
  and clarify the text
• Refers to more detailed analysis which is in the
  appendices at the appropriate point in the main
  body

REPORT WRITING CONCLUSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS

• Should follow on naturally from the arguments
  raised in the main body
• Should contain no surprises or new material
• Recommendations deal with the implementation of
  the conclusions
• Recommendations are action oriented
• Recommendations are given in order of priority
• Recommendations have to be in consistency with
  the prevailing conditions of the environment and
  the organization.

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REPORT WRITING APPENDICES

• Contain detailed evidence for those readers who
  want further details, or for those wanting more
  information before they are convinced of your
  arguments.
• Are referred through letter (A,B,C.) and not
  numbers (1,2,3..)

REPORT WRITING REFERENCES

• List of all secondary data used, but NOT primary
  sources
• It also includes nowadays the web based sources

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LAYOUT REQUIREMENTS

• Spacing - 1.5 Inch space or Double space
  throughout
• Exceptions Title page and approval page,
  Table of contents, Captions, table or figure
  headings, Extensive quotations, Footnotes or
  endnotes, Entries in reference section,
  Appendices.
• Font - Preferably bookman old style or else any
  standard font is acceptable Use the same font
  throughout Use font size 12
• Exceptions Captions (not smaller than 9
  point), Headings (not larger than 20 point)
• Header and Footer - The Header should include
  the Institutes Logo with Name ( in center)
• The footer should include the Students
  Batch ( Extreme left) and Project Thesis
  Alumni Id Number ( Extreme Right )
• Margins - Pages must have at least1.5 inch left
  margin 1 inch top, bottom and right margins
• Paper - 8.5 X 11 inches (A-4 Size) , White
  bond,25 (or higher) cotton content.
• Overall Appearance - All corrections should be
  made before final copy is printed in bounded form
  ( black colour)
• Printing the Final Copy - Print must be sharp and
  of uniform darkness One side only.

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• ILLUSTRATIVE LIST
• OF
• TOPICS
• (IMP You are entirely free to select any other
  topic )

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Finance
Sample topics

• Foreign exchange rate fluctuations and Indian
  textile exports
• Leasing finance and its influence on automobile
  sector
• Industrial sickness in engineering industry
  causes and remedies
• Electronic fund transfer opportunities,
  applications, and challenges
• Credit rating agencies in India case study of
  CRISIL
• Funding options of corporate sector-a comparative
  analysis
• Merchant banking in India A case study
• Financial risk reduction in international trade
• Venture capital and its scope in India.
• The GAAP and its application in India.

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HRM
Sample topics

• Computerisation and its effect on employees
  morale Case study of SBI
• Compensation trends for middle management during
  2011
• Job satisfaction in an organization case study
  of Infosys
• Stress and its causes in workplace
• Organisational restructuring strategies and
  actions case study of Marico
• Role of TQM in HRD
• Performance appraisal and management in
  entertainment industry
• Indian managers and their skill development in
  new business environment
• Motivating sales executives Experience of HUL
• Reward system and its impact on productivity
  improvement A case study of TCS

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Marketing
Sample topics

• Brand awareness and purchase behaviour for
  branded biscuits
• Marketing strategy of fast food chains study of
  McDonald's
• Aftershave lotion The scope for a new entrant
• Buying process of a prospective buyer of Car in A
  segment
• Study of adoption of fashion among college going
  youth in Delhi
• Advertising on internet by booksellers Issues
  and future
• Media planning and advertising effectiveness
• India's foreign trade in textile and clothing
  segments and potential, 2012
• Vendor selection factors case study of Escorts

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Project Thesis Deadlines
Submission of synopsis in Hard copy By
15th March 2013 Submission of Final Thesis
By 15th May 2013 One Hard copy One soft
copy)
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Contact Thesis queries related to Marketing
Human Resource area Dipti Sharma
(dipti.sharma_at_iipm.edu Ph No 42789995 )
Thesis queries related to Finance area
Ramakar Jha (ramakar.jha_at_iipm.edu Aamir
Hossain (amir.hossain_at_iipm.edu )
Any other query contact Krishna Rai (
projectthesis1012_at_gmail.com) Ph. No 30168408