The Dissertation units are designed to provide high-level business research skills to final year MBA students who have a personal interest in research. The dissertation builds on a number of disciplines studied in the MBA program and on the awareness of issues that the maritime and logistics industries face globally, in part due to the intense competition and increasing customer demands. Successful completion of this unit requires prior knowledge of research methods. Therefore, the Research Methods unit (JNB508) is a prerequisite for the dissertation units.

A dissertation is equivalent to three units of coursework. The dissertation is to be completed over two or more semesters, after completion of the Research Methods unit.
The dissertation program consists of three parts with individual unit codes as follows:

• Dissertation Part 1/3 (JNB718): Research proposal development and literature review
• Dissertation Part 2/3 (JNB721): Data collection and analysis
• Dissertation Part 3/3 (JNB722): Report writing and presentation

The three units are interdependent and must be taken as one integrated unit under the designation of dissertation. They must be completed sequentially throughout the semester(s) and not as normal units which are assessed at the end of the semester. There will be no grade for each individual unit; instead, a grade of XX is shown for Parts 1 (JNB718) and 2 (JNB721). The three units will be assessed as one dissertation unit and awarded one overall grade shown for Part 3 (JNB722) after the examination of the dissertation. There are no set study guides or materials for the dissertation.

In this unit you will be guided, through the supervisory process, to conduct research that is of theoretical and practical significance value to business management. Once the research problem has been selected, a supervisor will be assigned to you to assist you ensure that the problem is clearly defined, the appropriate research methods and techniques are used and the expected research outcomes are produced within an established timeframe. It is very important for you to keep up with the research schedule and manage your time wisely so that the dissertation can be submitted on time and be of good quality.

To facilitate the learning process, you are provided in this Unit Outline with clear statements of the aims of the unit as well as the expected learning outcomes and how these will be accomplished through the learning and assessment processes. As the unit unfolds, you will learn a range of research skills and management skills that you can confidently use in your future career development to conduct business research of high quality.