GUIDELINES FOR

PROJECT
BY

MANAGEMENT STUDENTS (PGPM/MBA/PGDM)

Applicable for 2009-11 batch onwards

 CONTENTS
Page. No

1. INTRODUCTION

………………………………………1

2. PROJECT WORK FLOW CHART

……………………2

3. GUIDLEINES ON PROJECT WORK …..

……………3

4. COVERAGE OF

REPORT…………………………..… 6

5. FORMAT OF REPORT

………………………………...9

6. Annexure

1) FORMAT OF SYNOPSYS …………………………………..12

2) CONTENTS OF REPORT…………………………………....13

3) FORMAT OF TITLE PAGE …………………………………14

4) FORMAT OF DECLARATION …………………………..…15

5) FORMAT OF CERTIFICATE BY COMPANY ……………16

6) FORMAT OF CD COVER …………………………………...17

7) PROJECT EVALUATION & ASSESSMENT ……………..18

 INTRODUCTION

The Project is a compulsory for the students to complete by the end of their PGPM /
MBA course.. The Project represents the culmination of your studies. It is an opportunity
for you to research something of interest and importance to you and/or your organization.
You should also develop a “state of the art” expertise in your chosen area. Students
should regard their projects as an ideal opportunity and vehicle for integrating what they
have learnt during the PGPM / MBA program and applying these concepts and skills to a
real problem at work

This note aims to provide students with a guide on how to go about the various stages of
doing the project and also include information on the formal system devised by US which
should be followed by students in letter and spirit.

OBJECTIVE

The main objectives of the PROJECT are:

a. To provide students with an opportunity to draw together and integrate the

knowledge gained and the skills developed from the PGPM / MBA Program
b. To provide students with an opportunity of independent study and to develop an
ability to organize work with a view to achieve a specific goal
c. To develop students’ skills in business strategy, operations or in similar integrated
activities appropriate and relevant to their organizations and personal
development needs and goals
d. To undertake an academic project based on sound management principles and
intellectual reasoning.
e. To ensure true reflection of philosophy of “practice of theory”

TIMELINE

3
a. The Project is done by the students as a part of their Internship Program during
the 2nd year of PGPM / MBA
b. The duration of the Project work would be approximately 8 to 10 weeks as the
last activity of the Internship
c. The Project is done in the same organization where they do their Internship
d. The output of the Project would be in the form of a Project Report (considered as
a dissertation or a mini thesis) to be submitted to for evaluation.

PROJECT WORK FLOW CHART

4
 GUIDLEINES ON PROJECT WORK

Having gone through the subject of Research Methodology during the 1 st year, students
are expected to know the process of doing a research project. It would be worthwhile to
re-visit it to acclimatize yourselves with the methodology and process of doing a
Management Research.

Type of Project

The Project may take any one of the following forms:

i) Survey Type: Field level survey ( to get formatted
information and analysis of such data for managerial decision making)
ii) Case Study Type: Comprehensive case study (covering
single organization / multifunctional area problem, formulation, analysis
and recommendations)
iii) Exploratory Study : Inter-organizational or industry level
study aimed at inter-organizational comparison/ validation of theory.
iv) Desk Research: Making use of published data, analyzing the
data, interpreting such data and arriving at meaningful conclusions.
v) Experimental Research: Evolution of any new conceptual /
theoretical framework relevant to management.
.
Choice of topic
.
Much before the project work starts, you are advised to start mulling over possible topics
for research. Consult your Internship Company first. They may have some minor
projects, on which you could be of help to them. Also consult your (Dean and Head
Academics) for appropriateness of the short listed topics. Alternatively, make topics
autonomously where you can use the company platform for the data.

When finalizing the project topic, students should look for the following:
• To what extent can you apply the theories learnt in the class room?

5
 • Is it of relevance and use to your Internship Company and / or
Management as a filed of study?
• Does the topic lend itself for data / information collection and analysis?
• Is the topic of the kind which can be effectively researched in the given
timeline? (Should not be too short or too long)

Synopsis

Synopsis ( a project proposal) is the most important document before starting the Project
Work. It outlines the following:
a. Identification of specific project topic and its relation to existing similar work
a. Specification of the goals of the project
b. Outline of strategy and methodology for achieving goals
c. Literature references with comments as to their relevance
d. Your understanding of the basic principles underlying the project
e. Foreseeable problems and strategies for resolving them.

The synopsis (project proposal) comprises:

• Project definition
• Investigation of Project Background
• Project Plan

Refer the Format of Synopsis (Annex 1) and submit for approval as per format only.
While the discussions can be held with the Project Guide and Head Academics/
Dean, the final authority for approving the Project lies with the Dean / Head
Academics

Project Guide

Choose your Project Guide in consultation with Head Academics, who will suggest,
finalize and approve the Project Guide either from the pool of internal faculty, visiting
faculty or any eminent person in academics or industry. You should finalize the Project
Guide before making a shortlist of topics so that he/she can guide you from the
beginning. The Project Guide represents till the submission of report.

Project Supervisor

The executive to whom you report to in the Internship Company would be the natural
choice as the Project Supervisor. However, you can finalize the Project Supervisor in
consultation with your company. The Project Supervisor would guide you from the
company relevance viewpoint and will finally issue a certificate for the Project done in
the Company.

Project work

6
After receiving the official approval from us, you can start the project work. The work
can be simultaneous to your regular internship activities or can be done after completing
the expected tasks in the company. Consult and get suitable decision from the Project
Supervisor.

The project work itself should be carried out as per the flow chart given earlier and
explained again below:

1. Literature Survey (1 week): Read through books, periodicals, articles etc

and note all the relevant aspects of the field of knowledge in which you
have planned your project. Make and note appropriate references, so as to
use them while writing your dissertation. Also check if similar work has
been done earlier and its relevance or otherwise in your work.

2. Preparing Research tools ( 1 week):

i. Decide on which tools you need to use for getting your data
( questionnaire, data fields, interview guides etc)
ii. Decide on the type and size of sampling you will use so that it is
not only scalable but also representative.
iii. Decide on the tools you will use for analysis of data / information
(statistical tools, analytical tools). Brush up you knowledge of
applying such tools
iv. Decide on the limitation of applicability of the likely result of the
analysis.

3. Collection of Data / Information (2 weeks): Use the tools created to

collect your data. If possible, revalidate the data and information. Also
look for sufficiency of the collected data / information for the planned
analysis.

4. Analysis and inference ( 2 weeks): Consult your Research Guide more

regularly at this stage. Analyze the data / information as per plan. Use the
skills and knowledge learnt during the classes on IT, Statistics, MSP etc
(use MS Excel extensively). Draw inferences and derive results in
presentable form (for use in the dissertation). Ensure the following
i. Relation with theories learnt
ii. Practical application of management tools
iii. Demonstration of managerial decision making skills
iv. Final recommendation being of practical use by the Company

5. Preparation & Submission of Draft / Final Report ( 3 weeks) : This is

the principal deliverable by the student for evaluation and assessment.
(Refer Annex 7 for Evaluation criteria) Use all the skills learnt during
MSP and while studying the subject of Business Communication
(grammar, language, written communication, report writing skills etc)

7
 After submitting the Draft to your Research Guide ( in soft copy) you may
need a couple of alterations / corrections. The final project report in the
hard copies should be as per the guidelines given:
i. Contents as given in Contents of Report (Annex 2)
ii. Explanation of the contents given in the “Coverage of Report”
section of this document
iii. Guidelines for physical aspects of the report “Format of Report”
section of this document

COVERAGE OF REPORT

1. Blank Page
2. Title Page – As per format (Annex 3)
3. Acknowledgement
You should acknowledge the contribution of all those who were of help to
you during the project work (your guides, company and any other
individuals)
4. Declaration by student - As per format (Annex 4)
5. Certificate by Company - As per format (Annex 5)
6. Table of contents
Table of the contents appearing in the report. Do not number this page.
Your page numbering should start after this page
7. Introduction
State the need and relevance of the project.
8. Executive Summary
This is the summary of all that would appear in the report. Briefly cover
each of the chapters, specially background, methodology, data analysis
and recommendations. This section is “report at a glance”.
9. Industry Profile
This section gives the profile of the industry in which your Company
operates. It should cover the following
• Industry sector and classification
• Size of the industry
• Past and future growth of the industry
• Analysis of the industry based on Porter’s 5 forces model
10. Company Profile
This section gives details of the company which you would have studied
during orientation and internship. It should cover:
• Background and inception of the company
• Nature of the business

8
 • Vision, Mission and Quality Policy
• Product/Services Profile
• Area of Operation – Global/National/Regional
• Ownership Pattern
• Organization Structure
• Infrastructural facilities
• Competitors’ Information
• Financial results for past 3 years
• Company’s strategic plan for the future
• SWOT analysis of the company ( your own analysis based on
information gathered)

11. Background of the research project

This section states the research problems/ issues/ hypotheses that have
been examined in the project . It provides the background of the study and
indicates in general terms what you had intended to study. Include the
following

• Genesis of the project. – Explain how and why you chose the topic
• Objective(s) of the Study and/or Hypotheses - This should describe
in detail, the problem statements, the research objectives, research
questions, and/or hypotheses of the research.
• Significance of the Study - This should state the contribution of the
research to theory and practice of management or of use to the
company
• Scope of the Study - This section should describe the parameters of
the study including limitations
• Reference to any similar project and the difference of the present
project in comparison to other similar projects

12. Research methodology

The aim of this section is to provide a complete description of the specific
steps followed for the project. The following sub-sections should be covered
 Research Design
 Data Collection Procedures
 Instrumentation
 Sampling Design including justification of sample size
 Procedure / tools of Data Analysis

13. Literature survey

In this section give the theoretical background of the field of study. You may
quote the relevant passages, definitions, information etc from books, journals,
periodicals etc. Include the following

9
 • Quotes with references forming the theoretical models and
information leading to the current study
• References to past similar research

14. Data analysis and findings

In this section present the following
• Data and information in suitable form
• Analyzed data with graphs & figures
• The inferences of the analyzed data, graphs, figures

15. Conclusions and recommendations

This section ties the results of the study to theory, practice and policy by
pulling together the theoretical background, literature review, potential
significance for application and results of the study. This section has the
following possible functions:
• To conclude or summarize - The findings of the study in the form of
conclusions and / or summary of the main findings.
• To integrate – This section attempts to tie the results together to
achieve meaningful conclusions and generalizations.
• To theorize – Wherever possible, it should also attempt to integrate the
findings into an existing theory or generate original theory.
• To recommend or apply – Since management and business
administration are applied fields, research in these areas should
provide recommendations that can be applied in practice.
• To suggest extensions – This section should be concluded with
suggestions for further research, replications, or refinements.

16. Learning experience

This section should include your overall learning experience in three specific
areas:
• Summary of learning during the Internship ( drawing from the weekly
reports)
• Major learning from the Project done
• How the Internship and Project will help you during your future
career.

17. Appendices
a. Bibliography
b. Copy of data collection tool/s
c. List of tables
d. List of figures
e. List of abbreviations

10
NOTE :
While the report content would vary depending on the work done, the number of
pages should not be less than 50 and should not exceed 75, as counted from
“Introduction” to “Learning Experience”

FORMAT OF REPORT

NUMBER OF COPIES

Each student should make the following:

1. 2 copies of Hard Bound report ( as per guidelines in “Binding”)

i. 1 copy to be submitted to us for valuation and records
ii. 1 copy for your record
(You may make additional copy, if needed by the company)
2. One soft copy in .pdf file format in a CD to be submitted to us for
records.
3. The CD should be kept in a hard CD cover with a CD label inside the top
hard plastic cover.
4. The CD label should be of a size encompassing the entire area of the top
hard plastic cover. The format of the label should be as given in Annex 6

PAPER
Size - A4 (21.0cm X 29.7cm)
Quality – Executive Bond paper of 70 / 80 GSM
Color – White

COMPOSING & PRINTING

Use MS Word for text composing and also Excel, Power Point for developing charts and
graphs. Wherever needed, photographs etc should be scanned. However, the charts,
graphs, photos etc should be finally embedded in the MS Word pages, so that the whole
manuscript finally is in MS Word.

11
Printing should be done on LaserJet / Inkjet printer. Those pages needing color should be
printed on color printer. (It is advisable to make charts & graphs in color)

The project should be typed and printed on one side of the page only

FONT SIZE AND TYPE

Use Arial font only throughout the report.

Font Size:
a. For running text use 12-point font (regular).
b. For paragraph headings use 12-point font (bold).
c. For chapter titles use 14-point font (bold).
d. For tables and figures, use 10-point.
e. For citations use 10-point font (regular, italics).
Headings should be typed in upper case while sub-headings are to be typed in sentence
case.

Chapter headings are to be centered and written in bold, upper case letters. Other sub-
headings are to be aligned to the left margin. Underlining and boldface in the sub-
headings is at the student’s discretion.

PARAGRAPHS
Spacing between two paragraphs in the basic text should be set at 4.0 spaces.

LINE SPACING
The text should be double-spaced throughout, with single-spacing for the following only:

• Appendices
• Long headings or subheadings
• Long captions to tables, figures, or plates
• Bibliography
• Tables
• Quotations

Set the justification to “full” and the margins to the following measurements:
• The left margin should be 4 cm (for binding purposes)
• 2.5 cm for the top, right and bottom margins.

PAGINATION

Each page of the report must be counted and numbered consecutively including pages of
figures, tables etc. The page numbers should be centered at the bottom of the page using
“footer” option. Numbering should be started from “Introduction” chapter (1, 2, 3 …).
The pages for appendices should be numbered as i, ii, iii….

12
CITATIONS

Source material must be documented in the body of the paper by citing the author(s) and
date(s) of the sources at the bottom of the page (not in footer) after a clear horizontal line
giving 2.5 cm margin from the bottom. The text for which citations are given should be
marked in super script in any convenient way ( 1, @, * etc).

HEADERS & FOOTERS

The Header & Footer should be on each page (starting with “Table of Contents”)

Header :
• Institution name (Left aligned)
• Brief title of the Project ( Right aligned)
• A line of 1pt size below the header text
Footer
• Your name ( Left aligned)
• Page no. (Centered)
• Your Reg. No (Right Aligned)
• A line of 1pt size above the footer text

BINDING

Both the hard copies of the report should be in permanent hardcover binding (not spiral
binding etc). The hard bound report should have a white colored wrap around sheet ( 120
GSM) covering the whole bounded manuscript. The top hardcover should have the same
printing as the Title Page (format as per Annex 3) on the wrap around sheet.

NOTE : Adherence to all the guidelines of the Format Of Report is mandatory and
will form one of the important evaluation criteria. (Report presentation is one of the
important skills needed in future and this will be a good practice opportunity)

13
 Annex 1
FORMAT OF SYNOPSYS
(Max 2 pages)

Name : --- Your name ---

Reg. No : --- your Institution Reg. No ----

Batch : ---- your batch years (e.g 2009-11) ---

1. Proposed Title of the Project

Give exact title in full. Recommended to be not more than 20 words

2. Objective of the Project

Clearly give specific objectives your project will try to achieve

3. Theoretical Background
Give the details of field of knowledge, theories etc which forms the basis of study

4. Research Design
Give the full process by which you will conduct the study. This should include your
sampling method with justification.

5. Tools for Data collection

Give various tools - e.g. questionnaires, interview guides, survey instruments etc – which
you plan to use

6. Methodology of Analysis

14
Give details of statistical tools or other analytical tools you plan to use and how you
would like to arrive at results. Also include the method by which you will come to the
conclusions

7. Limitations
Mention the limitations in the Project (not time constraint)

8. Relevance
Detail out how your study would contribute to your internship company and / or the field
of Management

(Sig. of Student) (Sig. of Project

Guide)

Space for Approval by Dean / Head Academics

Annex 2
CONTENTS OF REPORT

1. Blank Page
2. Title Page – As per format (Annex 3)
3. Acknowledgement
4. Declaration by student - As per format (Annex 4)
5. Certificate by Company - As per format (Annex 5)
6. Table of contents (to include all the following with page numbers)
7. Introduction
8. Executive Summary
9. Industry Profile
10. Company Profile
11. Background of the research project
12. Research methodology
13. Literature survey
14. Data analysis and findings
15. Conclusions and recommendations
16. Learning experience
17. Appendices
a. Bibliography
b. Copy of data collection tool/s
c. List of tables
d. List of figures
e. List of abbreviations

15
 Annex 3
FORMAT OF TITLE PAGE

Xxxxx xxxxxxxxxx Title of the Project xxxxxx

Xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arial bold 14 font size

Arial bold 24 font size

Project Report
(In Partial Fulfillment of PGPM /MBA)
Arial bold 16 font size

Arial bold 14 font size

Submitted By
Arial bold 18 font size
Xxxxxxx your name xxxxxxx
---- your Reg. No ----

16
 Arial bold 14 font size

Logo in full color. Ht 1.25 inches

Arial bold 24 font size

sfsfdsfdfgdgfdgdgfdgfdfgdgfdgfdgfdgfdgfd
Bangalore
Arial bold 18 font size
--- Month and year of submission ( e.g March, 2011)---

Annex 4
FORMAT OF DECLARATION

DECLARATION

This is to certify that the Project titled “ xxx xxxxx Full title of the project xxxxx”
is an original work of Mr/Ms --- your name --- and is being submitted in partial
fulfillment for the (MBA/PGPM) of Management, Bangalore.

This report or part of this report has not been submitted earlier either to institution
name or to any other University / Institution for the fulfillment of the requirement
of a course of study or published / presented for any other purpose.

Name & signature of the student Name & signature of project guide

Place :

Date :

17
 Annex 5
FORMAT OF CERTIFICATE BY COMPANY
(on their letterhead)

CERTIFICATE

This is certify that Mr / Ms ---(your name) --- has done internship with us from
(date of starting) to ( date of completing) for the partial fulfillment of the Post
Graduate Program in Management (PGPM /MBA) of Management, Bangalore.

This is to further certify that his project titled “ xxx xxxxx Full title of the project
xxxxx” is an original work of Mr/Ms ( your name) done in our organization.

(Space for comments, if any, by the company regarding student’s conduct,

usefulness of the Project etc.)

Name, Desig. & sig. of project supervisor

Place :

Date :

18
 Annex 6

FORMAT OF CD COVER

19
 Annex 7
PROJECT EVALUATION & ASSESSMENT

Evaluation and assessment would be done in three stages

1. The Project guide would assess the work done and award marks at the
time of submission of final report
2. The hard / soft copy of the report would be sent to an external assessor at
the sole discretion of Head Academics
3. A Viva Voce ( about 15 min) would be held where the student will
a. Make a presentation on the project ( with ppt) – 5 min
b. Answer questions asked by the assessors - 10 min

Evaluation Criteria

20