Planning to write IGNOU MS 100 Project Report
One of the most common reasons MBA students struggle with their IGNOU MS 100 Project Report is because they do not devote enough time to planning it. This may be unavoidable in part because conducting a literature study, developing appropriate research questions, data collection, collation, and analysis all take longer than anticipated. Writing an IGNOU MS 100 Project Report, on the other hand, might be a difficult undertaking. The basic need therefore becomes to think through the proposal plan, build in some slack for when things go wrong, and, most importantly, stick to deadlines. Until one month before you are expected to formally submit, you will find that deadlines for supervisors in the area are a “movable feast.”
General Tips for the IGNOU MS 100 Project Report
• The lack of a logical single driving question, or one that is far too broad, is perhaps the most common reason MBAs struggle with their IGNOU MS 100 Project Report. For example, “Developing a small business growth strategy” or “The secrets of commercial success” are admirable goals, but not ones that an MBA project should explore. They usually result in sporadic pieces of work that worsen rather than improve with additional effort. As a result, having a single focused, workable query is crucial, and we strongly advise you to discuss this with your supervisor right away.
• Work with theories and frameworks that already exist. You lack the time, money, expertise, or reputation to create whole new small business or entrepreneurial models.
• Look for something that has the potential to be useful or interesting in the future. It’s a shame you spent so much time and effort “just” to pass the project and earn the MBA. It will also be easier for you to stay motivated.
• Work on a project where you can collect reliable data.
• Always keep in mind that you’re attempting to make a recommendation, and that your recommendations should typically be twofold. First, some specific suggestions for your (nascent) business or subject. Second, in light of your study, some more general advice for the field or for other organisations experiencing comparable difficulties. We mention this because we know that with this assignment, you normally have to satisfy two masters: one practical and the other academic. Unless you are aware that you must please both, it is all too simple to focus on one at the expense of the other.
• You can help yourself by choosing a title that constantly reminds you of your dual goals.
Structuring the IGNOU MS 100 Project Report
You are only (as good as) what you write for an IGNOU MS 100 Project Report. We don’t see what you do or how much effort you put in; all we see is what you write, so be careful! A fair rule of thumb is that your project grade will be based on just 20% inspiration and brilliance in substance, and 80% determination in presenting and structuring the work so that the reader can grasp what you’re trying to say. We’ve found the following structure to be quite useful:
• Executive Summary
We are all enticed into further engagement by ‘shop windows’ that interest or appeal to us in study, as well as in business and life in general. Your summary is your MS 100 Project’s “shop window.” Its objective is to say to passers-by, “Hey, this is intriguing; you should investigate deeper.” And, because we’re all so busy, we need to get it done quickly.
As a result, your summary should be limited to one page. It should briefly state:
- what you’ve looked into,
- why it’s important, and
- A summary of your main results.
Tip: In 3-5 bullet points, summarise your major results.
Tip: Write the Summary last before submitting your project. It will provide the reader (and the examiner) a summary of the project, and all other sections will fit within it.
• Introduction
Set the setting, compose the agenda, and sketch out the important points here. The question or questions that are motivating your MS 100 project are set out here from a research standpoint. Supervisors will be obsessed with getting you to answer: “What is your question?” This is because it is crucial for the project’s success (and your sanity) that you understand this before you begin collecting data. Nothing is more frustrating than gathering a large amount of literature/interview/survey/desk data only to discover that it is irrelevant to your thesis’s (implied) question. Worse yet, once you’ve finally articulated what you’re attempting to learn, you’ll have to go back and collect more data, as well as discard stacks of stuff you’ve diligently gathered.
When you’ve finished writing your introduction, take a step back and see if it addresses the following points:
- What are you researching?
- Why are you researching?
- Where are you researching?
- Which questions will you have answered at the end? (It’s a good idea to include a brief overview of your replies in the Introduction, as well as why these answers are of possible value or interest.)
- How will you organise the rest of the dissertation to persuade the reader that your answers are correct (short chapter summaries may be used).
• Literature review
It’s remarkable how many students leave this chapter till the very last minute! Because this chapter is about summarising what is known about a subject, returning to it at the end usually leads to the student understanding that the rest of the world already knew his or her conclusions and that they had been presented more successfully several years before.
Take a keyword/phrase that describes your theoretical area (“entrepreneurship” is too wide!) as a place to start. then look for new studies that review the present state of affairs in journal databases. From here, you can learn about the latest frameworks in use and apply them into your MS 100 Project Report. As a result, your work will be current and hence relevant.
• Research Hypotheses
This goes back to the first page. We think it vital that you are able to identify your research questions (hypotheses). Ideally, these research questions should be identified from your literature review. The literature review should tell you what the existing gaps in the literature are and provide direction as to the sort of research questions that are appropriate. The research questions that you identify should subsequently be tested in the results section of the dissertation.
• Methodology
An excellent MBA project report will explain the reader:
- How you got your data;
- Why this was a trustworthy and legitimate method of accomplishing it;
- What you learned from the experience;
- How well this method fits the questions you’re posing;
- Why you picked one approach over another (e.g., quantitative survey vs. qualitative case studies).
- What tests or methods do you plan to use to analyse your data?
- What are the flaws in your methods and how you plan to address them?
Your project will be meaningless on both an academic and an applied level if you use poor methodological design and approach. For example, “interviews” are problematic in a variety of ways, including the interview style (structured, semi-structured, unstructured), the use or non-use of probes/prompts, the interviewer’s experience, and so on.
• Results
You give an organised picture of the data you’ve obtained in this chapter by answering the research questions you derived from your literature review.
The outcomes chapter is the primary source of your MS 100 project’s additional value. This is data that is frequently unique to your thesis in primary research (i.e. study where you went and got data directly through interview/survey/etc.). It is the chapter where you obtain data that is frequently only available in disaggregated form in secondary research (you have gathered data that others have gleaned through interview/survey/etc. – sometimes referred to as “desk” research).
The data is presented (in summary form if there are significant quantities of interview data, etc.) and then contrasted and linked using the research questions you developed previously (analysed). Again, keep your research questions in mind as you go through this process; you’ll be answering those questions and giving recommendations, so plan appropriately.
• Discussion
In this chapter, you show why your project was worthwhile from an academic standpoint (i.e., aside from getting you that MBA Degree!). In this section, you interpret your data/analysis and answer the issues/questions that your thesis is based on. What conclusions can you draw from your data and analysis? What role does your subject have in your theory? How does it relate to the practises you’re criticising? What are the ramifications of your data? How might all of this help you get a better picture of the region you’ve been looking at?
Tip: In light of your inquiry, you should highlight what may be added to existing theory or our general academic understanding, as mentioned in the previous tip on the outcomes chapter. For example, the literature may recommend eight crucial factors, but your research may have lead you to suggest a few more or determine that just four are important.
• Recommendations
You make specific recommendations and summarise the responses to your more general research questions in this section. The first part may be considered more important from a practical standpoint. However, keep in mind that this is being examined as an academic project, not a consultancy report.
You should also make sure that your recommendations take into account the quality of your data and the methods you used to obtain it (methods). Make sure you’re not making forceful suggestions based on shaky facts or research. Allow the facts to drive your recommendations rather than the other way around. Remember, you’re not “selling” solutions; you’re delivering research-based advise, so avoid simplistic, concrete, static prescriptions if the data suggests complicated, subtle, dynamic connections. This brings you to your final chapter: Conclusions.
Tip: By all means, use bullet points, but avoid the urge to condense the entire chapter to bullet points.
• Conclusions
A critique of your findings should be included in this chapter. Most managers will not criticise their strategy in front of clients because doing so would be a fairly messy suicide. Self-criticism, on the other hand, is seen as a sign of strength in academia, and it gives the reader more confidence in the writer’s ability. This is your chance to point out any potential dangers or issues with what you’ve done. This critique should address both the general (i.e., all case study research has the same set of problems) and special (i.e., the problems you discovered in your settings that are unique) issues raised by your research. This is not a justification or defence of your endeavour, but rather an objective observation of the fallibility of your research process – it’s the “caveat emptor” that saves you from the charge of “false certainty.”
It’s also your opportunity to tell us about what you’ve learned about conducting business research. A wonderful way to do this is to be honest about how you would have tackled the project differently if you had known then what you know now. Outline ‘suggested areas for additional investigation’ as a nice approach to end.
• Bibliography (References)
The majority of students manage this poorly. For a variety of reasons, you reference (properly):
1. To demonstrate that you have done some research in the area.
2. To avoid plagiarism allegations – The institution takes your claim that the thesis is entirely your own work extremely seriously. As a result, if you use Porter’s 5 forces without citing Porter, the institution will believe you’re claiming the framework as your own, even if your name isn’t Porter.
3. So that when the second marker comes to this section, the familiarity of professional-looking reference gives him/her a pleasant glow, and he/she forgets about the trouble he/she was having with your findings.
Link to Download IGNOU MS 100 Project Report Pdf
Now you can download some IGNOU MS 100 Synopsis Pdf & IGNOU MS 100 Project Report Pdf. Just Click on the link below: