PROPOSED TOPIC:

THE IMPACT AND INFLUENCE OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE ON INNOVATION MANAGEMENT".

CASE STUDY: NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION, SIERRA LEONE

The Project in this module consists of two elements:

• Critical Literature Review (2,000 words)

• Research Proposal (3,000 words)
Completing your Project

Use the instructions below to complete all required elements of your Project.

1. Critical Literature Review (2,000 words, 40%)
Your Critical Literature Review should review published, peer-reviewed scholarly literature relevant to the research topic and question. In your review, you should:

• Critically analyse the major themes, perspectives, and types of research on the topic.

• Situate the research question within the literature you reviewed. In other words, determine how the research question relates to problems identified in the literature, to studies on similar questions or to gaps in understanding of the topic identified in similar studies.
Additionally, you should include a review of methods and methodological approaches used to study the topic, in which you should:

• Examine the theoretical perspectives and paradigms in the research literature you reviewed.

• Identify eight to ten research articles from peer-reviewed journals that address your research topic or a very similar topic. Critically analyse the methodological approaches used in previous research on your chosen topic.
Address the following questions:

• What have researchers said about your research topic? What types of studies have they done, and what have been the findings?

• What epistemological perspectives have served as the foundation for these studies?

• What research approaches and methodologies were used and why?

• What aspects of the topic seem to have been studied the most? What aspects seem to have been studied the least?

• How can the literature you reviewed inform your own planning for a management research project?

2. Research Proposal (3,000 words, 60%)
Prepare the Research Proposal for approval following this general outline:

• Topic, Research Objectives, Context, and Rationale

o Present the topic, research question, objectives for conducting the research, the context for the research question and your rationale for choosing it, using references to the research literature for support.

• Methodology and Methods

o Select and analysethe chosen research paradigm and its impact on the research question.

o Describe your chosen methodology and how it relates to the research question.

o Critically analyse the strengths and weakness of choosing this particular methodology, including why you did not select an alternative methodology.

o Discuss the types of data you intend to collect with your chosen methodology.

o Present a data collection and analysis plan and detail the following:

- How do your strategies for data collection and analysis align with your methodology and research question? Include your approach to sampling and how you will determine your sample size, if appropriate

- What other data collection and analysis strategies could you have considered to answer your research question? Why did you choose to exclude these strategies?

- Critically analyse the ethical implications of the research methodology and methods and explain how you will address any ethical challenges.

o Be sure to support all of your decisions about methodology and methods with references to relevant literature.

• Practical Considerations and Plan for Completion
o Describe the potential challenges you might encounter in collecting and interpreting your research data and what you might do to minimize these issues. Are there strategies that you can put in place or changes you can make in your plan to mitigate these challenges? What additional knowledge or skills will you need to acquire in order to implement your plan, and how might you acquire these?
• Explain how you would present your data and what presentation format would you use to convey the results to your audience.
- What presentation formats did you consider?
- How did you decide what formats to use? (Explain your reasoning.)
- How can the data presentations be designed to avoid misinterpretation?
o Comment on how you would reduce the chances for misinterpretation of your data.

Readings:
Easterby-Smith, M., R. Thorpe, & P. Jackson, (2012) Management Research, 4th edition, London: SAGE Publications
• Chapter 1: ‘Introduction to Management and Business Research'
• Chapter 2: ‘The Philosophy of Management Research'
• Chapter 3: ‘Designing Management Research' (pp. 36-74; ebook pp. 1055-1917)
• Chapter 5: ‘Reviewing the Literature'
• Chapter 6: ‘Creating Qualitative Data' (pp. 124-160; ebook pp. 3127-3950)
• Chapter 7: ‘Framing Qualitative Data' (pp.161-220; ebook pp. 3957-5106)
• Chapter 9: ‘Summarising and Making Inferences From Quantitative Data' (pp. 244-277; ebook pp. 5669-6323)
• Chapter 8: ‘Creating Quantitative Data' (pp. 221-243; ebook pp. 5113-5660)
• Chapter 4, ‘The Politics and Ethics of Management Research' (pp. 75-100; ebook pp. 1935-2565)
• Chapter 11, ‘Writing Management and Business Research' (pp. 313-335; ebook pp. 7019-7508)

PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM

Title of Research Project:

Brief Description of Research Project, and What Participation Involves:

TIPS FOR COMPLETING PARTICIPANT FACING DOCUMENTATION
(E.g. Participant Consent Form, Debriefing Form, Questionnaire, Posters)

Project Details

• The project title should be consistent across all documentation.

• The Brief Description of the Project should contain brief information on what will be involved, e.g. number of participants, how and where the research will be conducted, interviews, timings and that interviews will be audio recorded (if applicable). This is to ensure that a participant knows what participation involves, so that they can give informed consent

Information for Participants

• You should include information on the participants' right to withdraw without giving a reason and how a participant would do this (e.g. via use of an ID number which appears on the Debriefing Form). The implications of withdrawal should also be explained in the consent statement (e.g. that data in an aggregate form may still be used/ published).

• Headings should clearly refer to either the researcher or participant.(‘I' should not be used ambiguously in the participant-facing documentation)

• The participant facing documentation should refer to the investigator's willingness to discuss any concerns that may arise as a result of participation, and details of who a participant should contact if they feel any physical or emotional discomfort (e.g. GP, support groups etc)

• Payment of expenses to participants (e.g. vouchers) should be referred to as reimbursement or similar, rather than as ‘a payment'

Presentation

• The Consent Form should follow the proforma on the page above including the University logo, title, description of project, full contact details of investigator and programme director, and independent party.

• TheUniversity logo and contact details should be presented in a consistent manner on all documentation. The contact name and full address of the appropriate department should be given followed by a University email address and telephone number.

• All documents that are more than one page in length should have page numbers

• All participant-facing documentation should have been proof-read for typos, the text should be formatted consistently in style and size and track changes should have been removed