Your 531 paper begins with a series of taught workshops that will accelerate development of your applied business research and workplace readiness skills. This paper has two components: Applied Business Research Project and Virtual Consultancy Practices Project.

Applied Business Research Project- Case Study (Individual)

Learn how to undertake applied business research by working on a case study that will require you to present a business research proposal, conduct the research, and write a business research report.

As part of your taught sessions, you will learn how to: identify the problem(s) worth solving, gather data, apply useful theories to solve the problem(s), develop recommendations, evaluate the feasibility of your recommendations. Each student will be supervised by an academic supervisor (this will usually be the course teacher).

Virtual Consultancy Practices Project (Group)

Students will work in groupsto undertake a real project provided by a local business or organisation. These projects will be managed by the Waikato Management School with input from the host organisations. Student groups will complete this project by presenting their findings to a panel from the university and/or the host organisations where feasible. Students are required to follow the University of Waikato’s Ethics Protocols.

Your work-related project will provide you practical experience in business consultancy while giving you the opportunity to build essential professional skills. Learn how to conduct yourself in business and how to contribute value to the organisation.

Please Note: This paper will be delivered fully online via Zoom (synchronously). We expect students to participate in all sessions synchronously and some assessments may be scheduled at specific times. Class recordings will be made available via moodle. You are expected to participate fully in group work and assessments for you to be able to meet the requirements and expectations of this paper.

You are expected to satisfactorily undertake the consultancy project, meet pre-identified deliverables and fulfil all professional commitments agreed with the organisation.

COVID related considerations

Please check Moodle pages on a daily basis to check if there are any changes in arrangements due to COVID.

Refer to Moodle for more details and resources.

All assessment must be submitted as a Word document, unless otherwise stated.

PLEASE NOTE: The University has zero-tolerance for Plagiarism.

Booking of rooms for group meetings

Library Group Study Rooms - https://www.waikato.ac.nz/library/services/spaces/group-rooms
Please refer to Moodle for assessment details.

The workload associated with this paper is 300 hours. This includes approximately 30 hours of taught classes and supervision sessions with your supervisor. You are expected to complete 100 hours in your work related consultancy project and the remaining 170 hours is to do the research for your paper, write up your findings and recommendations and complete your assessments.