FAQ
Why must MBA students do research?
Well, firstly, it is legislated that Master’s degrees have to include a significant research component. But, that aside, there are solid business reasons as well. Research contributes to a wide range of key management skills outlined in points a) to g) below, also legislated to be included in all educational endeavours, as follows:
- Collecting, analysing, organising and critically evaluating information is the prime purpose of the literature review that leads to the formulation of the research hypotheses, propositions or questions.
- Identifying and solving a problem or problems is at the heart of the research process, which is usually not allowed to proceed without clear, definitive articulation of what the problem actually is.
- Demonstrating an understanding of the world as a set of interrelated systems
can support the researcher in the gathering and evaluation of information and problem solving, since it is about seeing the whole as well as the parts, and seeing the connections between events that may appear to be unrelated. It is also about finding patterns, interrogating cause and effect relationships and finding creative solutions to problems.
- Communicating effectively using visual, mathematical and/or language skills in the modes of oral and/or written persuasion are developed in the research process at several stages. The proposal and the final document must be written in clear report format according to strict guidelines of academic acceptability. In order to conduct the research, the researcher must construct or locate a suitable instrument, persuade potential respondents to participate in the study, then gather the data from the respondents or conduct interviews, which may require additional advanced communication and
persuasion skills. The analysis, organisation and evaluation of the data may require mathematical skills as well as the ability to communicate effectively using mathematical expressions, and the synthesis of the final report can clearly only be done with English language skills in the mode of written persuasion.
- Organising and managing oneself responsibly and effectively is key to completing a research project. MBA students have typically completed their course work by the time they undertake the actual project, which needs to be fitted in with the return to work and attempted normalisation of life and relationships. It takes discipline and focus to complete, submit and graduate.
- Using technology effectively enables the researcher to collect, analyse and organise information both during the literature review phase and when data-basing, analysing and presenting their findings. At the very least they
should be able to use a word processing software package.
- Working effectively with others as a member of a team, group, organisation or community may be more or less important depending on the nature of the research, but often, the research process is a lonely one, and students may benefit greatly by working in support groups.
