SUMMER PROJECT WORK GUIDELINES

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

ANNA UNIVERSITY- COIMBATORE FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

1. OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of the summer project work is to provide the students an opportunity for gaining insight into the business scenario and to understand the real problems faced by organizations.

2. SELECTION OF PROJECT
The first crucial step in the project work is selection of a suitable problem for research. The problem/topic should be such that considerable information or data could be obtained for analysis and study. There should also be scope for applying some management concepts and managerial tools of analysis in decision making.

A common difficulty faced by the students is that some of the organizations do not offer a subject of study suitable for a Summer Project. The project may be too simple or too narrow in scope. It is here that the student has to use his/her skill and tact in negotiating with the organization and get a subject amenable for research. If it becomes difficult to get a suitable project from an organization, it is advisable for the student to seek a project elsewhere rather than undertaking one which cannot give adequate scope for employing managerial concepts and techniques.

A summer project work need not necessarily be done in a business or industrial organization. Students can take up projects of academic in nature, dealing with industry wise problems or those which cut across industries. The faculty guide will be able to help the student to select a topic of this nature. The students are advised to collect review of literature for the academic research projects, before deciding a topic for study.

3. AT THE ORGANISATION
Take your identity card with you. Maintain a Logbook and record all the information gathered and work done daily. Faculty may visit your organization at any time to assess the progress of your work.

a) REPORT FORMS
After joining the organization the student must send one copy of the duty report form (Enclosed) to the Head of the Department, one copy to the company and have the other copy for their reference.

b) ACQUAINTANCE
Corporate Project The first job of the student would be to discuss with the organization and departmental heads, executives, field level personnel for general acquaintance, to know their programs and activities and also to understand the topic/problem chosen for research.

Academic Project The student must discuss with the faculty guide about the research problem and decide the topic.

c) RESEARCH PROPOSAL The student has to prepare a tentative research proposal along with the time schedule for completing various tasks. For example, the proposal should give a brief background about the industry, company, product profile, global and domestic scenario, justification/need for the study, general and specific objectives, scope of the study, tentative methodology covering details on sampling methods, sample size, data requirements both primary and secondary data, data collection method and a rough draft of the schedule/questionnaire.

d) APPROVAL OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL After preparing the research proposal, the student should preferably have preliminary discussion with both organizational guide and faculty guide before proceeding further.

e) ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATE On the completion of the project and before leaving the organization, a certificate from the company specifying the title of the summer project and period of stay has to be obtained in the format given below in the office letterhead

ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATE (Specimen copy)

This is to certify that Mr/Ms. _____________________ has done his/her summer project on _________________________ for this company, from _________ to __________

(Signature of Company Guide with date & seal)

f)

DOs & DONTS : You are required to strictly observe the office timings and other norms of office discipline prevailing in the organization to which you are assigned. Information obtained from the organization, formally or informally, orally or in writing, should be treated in strict confidence and no information should be disclosed to anybody or mentioned in the report unless it is cleared by the organization before hand. You are advised to seek clarification from the Chairperson, Corporate Relations Cell on what the organization has agreed to offer in terms of stipend or other facilities. You are not supposed to bargain for anything more from the organization. In case the organization prefers to disburse the stipend offered, if any, through the institute, you may please write to the Chairperson, Corporate Relations Cell immediately so that arrangements may be made to collect and pass it on to you in due course. Otherwise the institute does not accept any responsibility for reimbursement of cost of your travel, boarding, lodging or any such expenses connected with the assignment. You are advised to take care of your health and make your stay comfortable in the place of work. You are advised to be extremely tactful while discussing with people and avoid asking annoying, irrelevant or trivial questions. You are also advised to keep off politics, gossips and other interpersonal controversies, if any, within the organization. You are supposed to bear in mind that you are going there as a student in quest of knowledge and not as an Auditor / Investigator.

4. EVALUATION Purpose
To understand the experience and insight gained by the student on various aspects of business. To know the individuals competency in conducting a research work.

Components of Evaluation
The student has to make presentation of his/her findings and recommendations to the executives if necessary. The student must submit the project report along with the executive summary to the Department. The students should make a presentation to the class and a faculty team on the project. A separate schedule would be put up for the same. The Summer project work submitted is equal to 3 credits (i.e. 1 subject). The breakup is as under

Evaluation of Project Work Sl.No.

1.

Evaluated by
Institution Quality

Criteria

Marks
50

Depth & Breadth of analysis, Coverage, Scope and content Project fulfillment Data collection ability in the field Implementability Viva-voce Examination ( if any)

2.

External Examiner

50 100

TOTAL

5. RESEARCH REPORT Report writing:

This is to serve as a guide to the students in the presentation of research report. While the ideas, the findings and the inferences are of primary importance; their consideration by the reader depends in a large measure upon an orderly presentation. Normally there are three main parts, each of which may have several sections as indicated below. The preliminaries : it is composed of i. The Title page ii. Certificate from sponsoring company iii. Bonafide Certificate iv. Acknowledgement v. Table of contents vi. List of tables vii. List of figures viii. List of appendices ix. List of abbreviations used x. Abstract The text is composed of i. Introduction ii. Methodology iii. Analysis and interpretation iv. Findings and Inference v. Recommendations / Suggestions

The reference matter is composed of i. Appendix ii. Bibliography FORMAT FOR TYPING: Font : Arial Font Size : Heading: 12 pts. Body Text : 11 Pts. Paragraph : Double Line spacing Margin : 1.5 all the sides COLOR FOR BINIDNG : White ( Calico binding)

Title Page
The title should be precise and clear. The title should not claim more for the study than it actually delivers. It should also not be stated very broadly that it seems to provide an answer that cant be generalized, either from the data collected or methodology adopted. The title page format will be as per format given on the next page.

[PROJECT TITLE]
A PROJECT REPORT Submitted by [Name of the student] [Roll no] in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Anna UniversityCoimbatore for the award of the degree of Master of Business Administration

College Logo
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES COLLEGE NAME

JULY 2008

Acknowledgement
Normally it should not exceed one page and should be written in third person. When written in first person the researcher should sign it. Generally it includes i. ii. A word of thanks to guide and other faculty Gratitude to people in the organization, etc [Name of the Student]

CONTENTS
Description Acknowledgement Contents List of tables List of figures List of symbols, Abbreviations or Nomenclature (optional) Abstract 1. Introduction 1.1. Project 1.2. Industry 1.3. Company 1.4. Review of literature (if necessary) 2. Methodology 3. Analysis & Interpretation 4. Findings & Inferences 5. Recommendations 6. Conclusion Appendices Bibliography Page no. (i)

The main headings are numbered serially. The subheadings are indented two spaces to the right under the concerned main headings. Page number starts from the introduction chapter.

List of tables & figures

Separate pages for tables and figures should follow the table of contents. Sometimes both tables and figures are given together in the same page itself. Figures refer to maps, drawings, graphs, charts, diagrams and photographs. The full titles of the tables and figures, worded exactly as they appear in the text, are presented with corresponding/consecutive numbers and page location.

S.no

LIST OF TABLES Table title

Page No.

Abstract
[Type abstract with two line spaces between paragraphs not exceeding a page ] It includes organization profile, justification with emphasis on the objectives, methodology, key findings and recommendations of the study.

Chapter 1:
Introduction
It presents the problem statement, justification, objectives, hypothesis, scope, limitations and a plan of project work or organization of the report.

This chapter should be used to introduce the project to the reader and arouse interest in him/her. For example, it should give background information of the industry, company and the product profile and justification or need for the study, the statement of the nature and importance of the problem with specific questions to be answered.

Against this backdrop, the objectives of the study should be specified. The general objective is stated in broad terms. The specific objectives should help in achieving the general objective and therefore should be well within the framework of the general objective.

Scope of any investigation is dependent on several factors such as time and money available to the investigator, availability of sample, accessibility of the investigator to the respondents, etc. So, scope of any research can be given only with reference to the limitations. Presentation of limitations facilitate easy reading of the reader, serves as a source of research problem for potential (future) researchers who can conduct a similar study by relaxing one or few of the constraints specified, etc. and therefore limitations can be accommodated in the introduction chapter.

Chapter 2:
Methodology

This chapter includes overall research design namely population, sampling method, sample size taken, primary data gathered, sources of secondary data, methods of data collection and analytical tools used.

Chapter 3:
Analysis and Interpretation The information/data collected with reference to the specific objectives of the study should be analyzed and presented in an organized manner. The data gathered can be presented in the form of tables/graphs.

The tables/figures should have a table number, title, units used, source and footnote if required. Either upper case Roman numerals (I, II) or Arabic numerals (1, 2) can be used for numbering but should follow the same pattern throughout the report.

Give an introduction to the tables, present the tables and then interpret and draw inference from the tables.

Chapter 4:
Findings and Inferences The findings of the study are presented in this section. Findings should be drawn based on the analysis of data. Inferences made should be meaningful.

Chapter 5:
Recommendations or Suggestions Recommendations made should be practical taking into account all the difficulties that may arise in implementing them, given the companys resources, policies etc.

The Reference Matter

Appendix An appendix is used for additional or supplementary materials, which has not found place in the main text. The materials that can be included here are original interview schedules/questionnaire, copies of

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covering letters used, documents and long explanatory notes to the text, statistical tests used and tables referred and any other material of considerable reference value.

Bibliography

The books, journals, reports and other sources of secondary data according to alphabetical order of last name (surname) of the author are to be listed in the format given below:

Book
th

James A T Stoner et.al., Management, (6 ed; New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd, 1997) Ch.II, p.584. Kothari C R, Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, ( 2 1996) Ch.I, pp.30-38.
nd

ed; New Delhi:Viswa Prakasham,

Articles

Nirmala Banerjee, Trends in Womens Employment, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 4(2):1989, pp. 1022. Ramu S Deora, Child Labour in India, The Hindu, June 14, 1998, p.6.

Note : For guidelines on preparing questionnaires, selection of sampling methods and other details, students are advised to carry their class notes and text book of marketing research courses for ready reference. Pretest the questionnaire before use.

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WORK DIARY DUTY REPORT FORM

Name of the student Roll No. Date of Reporting Reporting Department and Person Organizational guide name Address : : : : : :

Telephone Fax No. Email Student Contact Address

: : : :

Telephone/ Mobile Phone Email Topic Area of Research

: : : :

Signature of the Organizational Guide with date

Signature of the Candidate with date

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