Writing and Thriving in Graduate School

Recommendations for Enhancing MBA Students’

Performance on, and Experiences with, an Applied
Business Project Thesis-like Capstone Assignment

Prepared by
Peter Chiaramonte, PhD
 1

Executive Summary
Writing and Thriving in Graduate School addresses itself to bringing to life, fortifying,
and enhancing the quality of Applied Business Project theses. Writing support would
begin in the First Semester of the MBA program and continue alongside other core
courses throughout the curriculum. With faculty supervisor and community sponsor
involvement, this program is designed as a reflective, socially constructive
teaching/learning response, to help address universities’ commitment to community-
based action research projects for our students to become more engaged in.

The Argument: Greater attention on the craft of professional and scholarly writing—
merged with student/community research and networking—provide a “spillover effect”
into improved academic work in all courses. Since transferable skills of critical
thinking, logical synthesis, and constructive social research can be readily applied to
different settings and situations, focus on professional writing can lead to better results
and greater creativity across the curriculum. This will enhance the student experience
by creating opportunities for engaged action research and combined teamwork and
self-discovery, which includes students from other faculties within the University.

In this draft, special attention is given to Aboriginal and international students, as well
as those early to mid-career working professionals who are either entering or returning
to postsecondary education. In spite of some students asking why or when they will
need to know how to think and write about their research while doing it, the truth is
that critical writing skills play a larger part in our professional lives (affect and
cognition) than many realize. Employment recruiters increasingly report caring more
than ever before about what writing abilities and interpersonal skills a candidate has—
and how she or he would benefit the company—than other relevant considerations.
 2

Introduction

Graduate students—whether they are Aboriginal, new or native-born English-

speaking citizens, international students, or working professionals who are
entering (or returning) to postsecondary education after a hiatus—will face
progressively challenging writing tasks throughout their careers. Naturally,
these tasks vary from one program, course, or job to another. However, in most
professions we learn (by necessity) how to write longer, more thoughtful,
engaging, persuasive reports and proposals over time. That is, with plenty of
practice.

Thus, as management professionals, the ability to conduct thorough research

and present (in person and in writing), more complex investigations and
analyses in support of recommendations for practical solutions—be it for an
organizational problem or a community issue—becomes an essential skill set to
acquire. Something one must learn to engage in any business, community, or
profession you care to mention.

Writing is not only a means for communicating what we observe with our
senses or reflect in our minds. At its core, writing is also an instrument for
deeper reflection, creative and critical thinking, and for demonstrating that one
knows how to find, create, transfer, and/or re-apply something socially and
organizationally constructive in practice.

Background on Writing and Thriving in Graduate School

Graduate school, especially for some Aboriginal and international students—as

well as those early to mid-career working professionals who are either entering
or returning to post-secondary education—presents significant challenges. Not
only basic academic skills like navigating online journal databases and
composing essays, but also longer research reports such as thesis-like capstone
projects, e.g., Applied Business Projects (ABP). Indeed, researching and writing a
25 to 30 page business report is a daunting task for any experienced writer, and
therefore a challenging capstone to MBA degree programs.

Although full-time students are free to focus intently on their studies, they
don’t always have the luxury of immediately turning around and applying what
they’ve learned through coursework to an actual work setting. One sign of a
great school is that it provides for such a practice-based curriculum capstone as
the ABP. Provided it’s appropriately afforded. Excellence in this respect can pay
dividends in student satisfaction and retention, as well as institutional
reputation and so forth.

This course proposal for Writing and Thriving in Graduate School has been
designed to use students’ rough drafts for writing assignments in their other
core courses as exercise content. Each workshop is intended to work alongside
 3

core subject studies in International Business, Economics, Financial Analysis,

Marketing, HRM, Consulting, and Corporate Social Responsibility, etc, on a
semester-by-semester basis. Having the ABP research and development
running throughout the program as an integrated theme serves several
purposes. For one, in this way students can keep their focus on becoming
overall better qualified, effective leaders in applied business practices. Which is
consistent with the University’s commitment to strengthening community
engaged action research in the local community. Not to mention the real
challenge of simply learning by doing, not simply repeating some abstract
account of what others have done.

Indeed, with the addition of Writing and Thriving in Graduate School, university
programs would be adding substantial support—not only to students’
writing—but also on how to think about their research while they’re engaged
in doing it. Such deliberate, guided reflection alone strengthens engaged action
research in the workplace, MBA programs will be keeping their promise to
integrate real-world examples and exercises that are proven to help students
experience how they can use their education throughout their careers for
ongoing self-development.

Meeting the Needs of Our Students and

the Business Community
Many English writing problems encountered in postsecondary education are
common for a variety of constituencies, including native-born Canadian
citizens. Aboriginal students require special outreach as do a majority of
English-speaking international students. The same goes for some working
adults who are returning to school.1 Each of these groups face special
challenges that require additional support.

In spite of students asking why or when they will need to know (and practice)
all this, the truth is that writing skills play a larger part in our professional lives
than some realize. (In business it’s not about getting good marks on the next
essay assignment.) During a regular workday, most managers must write
concise and self-explanatory reports, presentations, and emails to employees,
notifying them of meetings or providing instructions for specific projects.
There’s no time to waste asking for further instructions.2 Business people are
busy and well-written communications save time and get things accomplished.

According to recent reports cited by Richard Suttle in the Small Business

Chronicle, “even accounting firms” report poor writing skill as a major reason for
job termination. Accountants lost their jobs because of it. “It’s already become

1
Research indicates that many return for some kind of developmental transition or crisis, e.g. job loss, illness,
changing relationships; or for clear goal-oriented purposes, e.g. a degree, enhanced activity and social
interaction, and/or learning for its own sake. Brocket, R.G. (2016) Teaching Adults. Stanford Center for
Teaching and Learning. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
2
As students often do with their instructors’ instructions.
 4

as important as the CPA,” writes Suttle. He also makes some excellent points
about recruiters screening for more than the grades of their applicants. If
grades were all that matters, why bother with interviews, documents,
references, and so forth? Why not just look at his or her transcripts and simply
get the recruit with the highest marks to sign? Because employers care more
about what writing abilities and interpersonal skills a candidate has than they
do all the numbers, and especially how she or he would benefit the company.

Additionally, good writing adds to the credibility of the writer and reflects
positively on the company’s image. Plus, now that more companies operate
internationally, human resources managers themselves need excellent writing
skills in order to attract, select, and retain the right employees to fit the
companies’ profile. Good writing skills can help any professional come across
as more credible and capable than others who frequently exhibit foggy
thinking, typos, and grammatical errors in important documentation. All
business school graduates need good writing and interpersonal communication
skills to get a good job, and keep that job after they’re hired.

Writing & Thriving Issues Specific to Canadian MBA Students

(International, Domestic, First Nations & Working Adults)
Canada’s attractiveness to international students is well documented. The
government of Canada has created and implemented immigration policies
designed expressly to help talented international students become residents.
For more than a decade these policies have helped to develop a more
prominent profile across the world as an attractive study destination.3 However,
research also suggests that international students, Aboriginal students, and
students entering or returning to school after three or more years work
experience all face a number of serious challenges. Problems such as language
/writing difficulties, culture-related learning differences, and academic support
issues with, for example, increased incidents of academic misconduct.

Faculty, administration, and the social community at large have good reason to
consider plagiarism a serious and unacceptable offense. Professional degrees
and certification are meant to ensure reliance and credibility. Besides which,
plagiarism is readily preventable, with coaching and practice with proper
methods of summarizing, paraphrasing, synthesizing, and referencing. It’s a
matter of ignorance as much or more than it’s a moral breach. However, the
professional consequences can be harsh and unforgiving. A bad habit such as
plagiarism signals laziness more than anything. It also impedes professional
development and the ability of graduates to perform in the workplace. But once
these skills are addressed, issues with academic misconduct will diminish
dramatically.

3
The number of international students in Canada grew 22.8 percent (as reported in 2015 on data from 2011-
13.) The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) found that half of its international student
respondents said they would apply for permanent resident status in Canada, planned to enter the labour
market, and start paying taxes at some point in the future. Thus the issue of international retention has taken
on a federal policy dimension.
 5

Although students often see their problems as primarily linguistic, in order to

thrive they’ll need to produce writing that will satisfy the norms and protocols
of the academic communities into which they wish to enter. This requires more
than good grammar.

International students from different countries might be accustomed to

educational systems that emphasize memorization, not critical thinking.
Therefore, they experience added challenges in terms of thinking and writing
critically. Even many native English-speakers, as well, have never been taught
how to think critically and creatively, or how to conduct social science research
at the graduate level. These and other development challenges can become a
competitive program advantage if turned around. Two or three groups working
together can learn four to five times as much from each other.

Writing and Thriving workshops are designed to work alongside core course
writing and research requirements—providing a common, interactive network.
For example, work groups and study-interest teams are naturally invited to
form, dissolve, and reform into various configurations, where domestic native-
speakers become engaged as grammar and style coaches for their international
cohorts, and vice versa. International partners can become engaged as strategy
and style coaches for domestic students truly interested in international
management as a business endeavor. The point being that each has much to
gain from collaborative feedback on how different cultures come across to one
another both in writing and oral presentation.

Sadly, and ironically, being rewarded with good grades in high school and
college for English writing can be an encumbrance to good professional writing
later on. Because what most of us learned to write in high school were single
draft term papers, usually thrown together the night before we handed them in.
The exact opposite of the professional skills and approach associated with
disciplined research, reflective action, analysis, rethinking, rewriting, and
editing.

Some students may have been given a lot of writing practice in school with the
near-exclusive focus on the final product. But not the process of how to produce
it. Or perhaps, in the case of students coming from other than mainstream
jurisdictions, some may not have been given a lot of practice at academic
English writing at all. For instance, in the 1950s, some say it was possible to
count the number of students from an Aboriginal background studying at
Canadian universities on the fingers of one hand.4 Numbers have grown since
then, with over 25,000 Aboriginal students now accessing higher education
across the nation.

4
Sarah Cunnane, “Aboriginal Canadians’ university challenges.” March 27, 2011
<www.timeshighereducation.com/>
 6

However, although the Aboriginal population in Canada is growing at three

times the national rate, university access and successful attainment is about
one-third of the national average. Therefore, there’s an urgent need to
demonstrate to present and future generations the potential for joy and other
important advantages of higher education. There’s real evidence today that by
setting this example early on, and sustaining it throughout high school,
children are more likely to attend college and enjoy the benefits of earning a
degree. Thus, Writing and Thriving in Graduate School aims to reach out in
support of this need to inspire new generations of scholars.

Lastly, in terms of growing numbers of applicants for graduate degree

programs—especially those oriented toward working adults re-enrolling to
make a career transition, learn new skills, and enhance their marketability in a
competitive job market—Writing and Thriving in Graduate School is designed to
reach out to address this audience with special confidence-building,
empowerment, and support on several fronts.

Many early to mid-career working professionals seeking to overcome their

initial reluctance to return to higher education share the following concerns:
cost, time commitment involved, challenges of attending classes alongside
younger students, social media/tech concerns, uncertain credit for their new
certifications by employers, and so on. Despite these concerns, the data show
that because of the real benefits of returning to university, many working
professionals report they are glad they didn’t let their fears prevent them from
pursuing postsecondary education. Indeed, many found this especially true
when they could complete at least part of their course requirements at home or
from the office.5

Writing Skills Assessments

Overall, in terms of the case study analyses, for example, even students with
good ideas often lack a basic understanding of note taking, data analyses, or
even topic sentence and paragraph structure. In my view, students often need
coaching in a supportive, confidence-building environment where they’re
encouraged to experiment with rough drafts, obtain feedback from their peers
and professors, and feel free to make errors without being penalized. Practice
with techniques as basic as summarizing, paraphrasing, editing, and
referencing, can go a long way to improving the confidence essential for writers
to develop at any level.6

Some students miss obvious opportunities for useful devices as fundamental as

hierarchical summary lists. Or often fail to paraphrase long, repetitive texts.
Many lacked important detail in their explanations. Most offered strings of
assertions without pausing to give examples, thus assuring the reader that
they’ve comprehended their meaning. The same goes for the ABP as with the

5
<www.educationcorner.com/>
6
Plagiarism is not caused by ill intent; so much as it’s a symptom of satisficing and ignorance.
 7

case studies analyses.

In sum, given the interdisciplinary nature of management and organization

dynamics, the fact is: learning is deepened in every discipline when students
are engaged to reflect on the connections between what they are studying,
observing, and writing about. One of the greatest challenges to achieving true
interdisciplinary study in faculties of management (in my experience) has
generally been the necessity for the collaboration of educators from different
subject orientations. This can be difficult to achieve, but not impossible.
Provided the overall aims of the program are to produce flexible managers,
who can tackle support for writing tasks from a variety of angles. That requires
everyone’s committed involvement.

Recommendations for Enhancing Students’ Performance on and

Experiences with Applied Business Project (ABP) Thesis-like
Capstone Exercises

Current research in the teaching of writing from the California Writing Project
(CWP)7 indicates strongly that, “Schools [in general] cannot improve writing
without teachers and administrators who value, understand, and practice
writing themselves.”8 Here is a summary of my suggestions for making the ABP
and writing in general a success.

• Bring to life, fortify, and enhance thesis-like capstone assignments with

faculty supervisors’ and community sponsors’ involvement; using
Writing & Thriving in Graduate School as a support process, not as an
extra course or additional academic burden to be put on the students. 9
• Administer Writing & Thriving as a blended, on-campus/online experience
that combines fortnightly face-to-face workshop instructional strategies
with online collaborative assignments that give students (esp. working
professionals) the flexibility to fit course work into their busy
schedules.10

• Acknowledge that professional writing and research is far more of a team

sport than is ordinarily realized. Writing & Thriving engages full- and
part-time MBA/BBA and domestic/international students together in
study/interest group clusters, e.g., international management/local
community organizational issues research teams.

7
Coincidently my alma mater, and the setting for my PhD dissertation at UCSB.
8
< www.californiawritingproject.org/ >
9
Most of the source work for class exercises will be directly linked alongside to core course assignments
being carried out each semester.
10
Workshops should be conducted fortnightly for two and a half hours approximately.
 8

• Explicitly focus on taking a reflective action approach to engaging

students in applied business learning, esp. as regards research for the
MBA ABP and community sponsor response to the applied research our
students are engaged in.

• Enhance the self-reflective essay and necessary ABP component through

ongoing exercise reports based on course texts and workshop exercises
in narrative psych approaches to self-science, synnoetics, how to think
about research while doing it, and the values and attitudes at work in a
global context.
• Place greater attention on student/community networking needs, through
the development of transferable skills of critical thinking, synthesis, and
constructive social research methods applied to different settings and
situations, which can lead to greater creativity that carries over into
improved academic work in all other courses. 11

• Begin Writing & Thriving as a 1-credit per semester series of 10 X 3-hour

workshops, beginning with the first semester. Each series is to be
conducted as a blended face-to-face on-campus curriculum, with online
tutor support during the course of three semesters. 12
• Reward teaching and learning through special honours, such as giving
students the privilege of presenting their research results in a Capstone
Open Forum;13 and to the university community at large, including the
incoming cohort of MBA candidates wishing to see (and take part in) the
teaching and learning outcomes of our program. 14

The way I’ve conceived it, Writing and Thriving in Graduate School (leading
alongside the Applied Business Project) is designed to support students’ action
research projects, as applied to a significant organizational or community issue
with some international dimension. Students become highly motivated simply
by having a vested interest in pursuing topics of their own choosing that are of
real interest to them personally. Given an authentic opportunity for learning
discovery and connecting it in a real-world context is stimulating.
Consequently, the learning becomes more meaningful and stays with the
student throughout their lifetimes.

11
This too, benefits teaching-focused productivity, by freeing up instructors for other activities.
12
Faculty supervisor and online tutor support comes before, after, and during the drafting stage, giving
students the chance to incorporate this feedback into subsequent drafts at each stage of the ABP and other
course work.
13
For instance, ABP authors whose project reports have been graded B+ or better, could take part in VIU’s
annual CREATE Conference—a cross-institutional celebration that aims to recognize the diversity of
programs at VIU. CREATE is open to the general public and University community, same as the proposed
Capstone Open Forum.
14
Furthermore, copies of these outstanding ABPs will be entered and kept in the Library.
 9

During the first semester, students will conduct a preliminary survey of

individuals and organizations in the business community—with a view to
identifying a catalogue of urgent research requirements related to the needs of
their host organizations. Here, in addition to working on current writing
assignments from their core courses, students would venture deeper inside
observation techniques and conduct interviews with business practitioners
working in the local community.

During the second and third semesters, students will continue to combine
crucial elements of their written work from other courses with case study/field
research design and practice, and actual participant observation, interviewing,
and preliminary data collection. In addition, participants will work in teams
assigned to outlining multicultural/international business theses of their own
choosing, and presenting them in person to the cohort. The final assignments
due at the end of the Third Semester are students’ preliminary draft
Statements of Applied Business Project intentions. This may, of course,
change depending on students’ internship experience and interactions with
their ABP supervisor, as well as their community sponsor/internship mentor.
However, it still provides them with highly valuable opportunity to proactively
envision and visualize possibilities that the ABP presents to them.

Conclusion
In summary, my view as to what’s needed is greater clarity about what
constitutes excellence in terms of capstone projects such as the ABP. So that
distinction can be both assured and rewarded. Some believe that a greater
professionalization of university teaching and learning is necessary in order to
secure its value and status to the larger community. Others see the issue as one
of institutional leadership and strategic foresight. I see it both ways. I see this as
confluent education—human teaching for human learning.

I believe educational systems that serve our students best are those that foster a
love of learning. Both in the way we address students’ individual differences
and in the way we help to develop important, transferable (critical and creative)
thinking skills to all disciplines and applied business issues. Writing & Thriving
is one more way to ignite that spark of enthusiasm, thus enabling students to
become sole proprietors of their own careers. What happens next with
teaching-focused programs and courses such as this will depend on the strategy
and values of senior management, without question. And it’s the extent to
which these are reflected in the things that students, faculty and staff, deans,
and heads of department all do, write, and say that will make all the difference.
 10

Peter Chiaramonte, Ph.D. is an author and scholar with 30

years experience as a professor and program director in
leadership development and organization dynamics with the
Richard Ivey School of Business at UWO, the Rowe School at
Dalhousie, the Kenan Flagler School at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and elsewhere. Peter is a
former vice president for academic affairs at the Georgian
American University in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, and was
director of organizational leadership graduate degree
programs at Chapman University San Diego and Mansfield
University of Pennsylvania.
<independent.academia.edu/PeterChiaramonte>

MBA Xxx, Writing and Thriving in Graduate School

Sample Syllabus
— Peter Chiaramonte, PhD

Course Description

As domestic and international business tasks become more complex and

demanding, the more they will depend on clear, critical thinking. The
quality of professional research and writing reflects this. MBA Xxx focuses
on those writing tasks required in the early stages of scholarly research,
for business and the professions.

Learning Objectives

• Conceive and present an action research project applied to a

significant international business problem or management issue.

• Demonstrate proficiency at separating writing tasks of generation

and evaluation from one another, by submitting a series of rough-
to-final drafts of various documents assigned in the MBA program.

• Conduct a preliminary survey of individuals and organizations in the

business community—with a view to identifying (and presenting) a
 11

catalogue of urgent research requirements related to the student’s

scholarly field of endeavor.

• Effectively manage data collection techniques involving: online and

offline research sources, survey design, planning and practicing
field study interview tactics, and composing brief book, film, and
journal blogs and reviews.

• Identify, and secure, the sanction and support of a host

organization, business sponsor, and faculty advisor—for granting
on-site access to a venue for conducting participant observations.

Texts: Writing and Thriving Course Pack will be provided.

Textbook: Howard S. Becker (1997). Tricks of the Trade: How to Think About
Your Research While You’re Doing It. University of Chicago Press.

Term Assignments for Each Semester

1. a) Personal statement of academic/professional career intent.

(750 words)
b) Summary essay on workshop exercises (1,000 words).

2. a) Book, film, or business journal review 15 (1,500 words).

b) Action research engagement report: involving a recorded,

transcribed, face-t0-face, or real time interview with at least two
practitioners engaged in the student’s primary field of interest (2,000
words).
3. a) In teams—outline a multicultural/international business thesis of
participants’ choosing, summarize the appropriate knowledge with
respect to the area of interest, and develop a rationale for further
research or investigation (1,200 words + oral presentation).
b) Preliminary statement of (international) project intent for the MBA
Applied Business Project. The international context may include
examples of multicultural approaches to solving the issue.

What MBA Xxx is not:

There are plenty of books and composition services that contain good
advice on the most common faults of writing. For example, university
Language Centres. However, bad writing also stems from some practical

15
Even the way a manager conducts a simple book review demonstrates higher-
level skills of critical analysis, evaluation, and judgment.
 12

and theoretical problems within the business settings and subjects

themselves. So for that we refer you to your program advisors.
Grading Scheme:
Each assignment (listed above, page 2) is weighed equally for each semester’s work as a
whole. Satisfactory completion of assignments will earn a grade of C or C+.
Unsatisfactory, late, or incomplete work will receive a grade of D, F, or Incomplete.
Satisfactory work that provides additional evidence of hard work and industry will be
graded B or B+. If, in addition to industry, there’s real evidence of innovation and
creativity, a grade of A or A+ will be awarded.

MBA Xxx Course Outline

First Semester Workshops:

NB: Given that the purpose and final outcome of Writing & Thriving in
Graduate School is to conceive and present an action research project applied
to a significant international business project or management issue, each of the
nine weekend workshops will include student oral presentation components,
with extensive coaching and advanced interpersonal communication skills.

1. Writing and thriving in graduate school. Writing is one of the few ways a
graduate student can act like a professional, thereby learning their trade by
practice. It is because of the unyielding character of our social being that we
must learn about it firsthand through a variety of media, empirical data, and
intuition—all benefitting from the inclusion of some progressive proficiency at
writing. Reading: Howard S. Becker, (1997). Chapter 2: Imagery. Tricks of the
Trade: How to Think About Your Research While You’re Doing It. University of
Chicago Press. <http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/popular-blog-
posts/ >

2. Synnoetics. This unit seeks to assist each participant in combining a study of

their intra- and inter-personal, professional, and scholarly interests. Readings:
Philip Phenix (1964) “Synnoetics” (the argument) pg. 3-14; (personal knowledge)
pg. 193-211. Realms of Meaning. Columbia University. McGraw Hill; Peter
Chiaramonte (2006) “Values and Attitudes at Work,” in A.J. Mills (Ed.)
Organizational Behaviour in a Global Context. Pearson/Broadview/Garamond
Press. Assignment due: Personal statement of academic/professional career
goals or intentions.
 13

3. Sampling. In this unit we explore the underlying structure to solving

business problems through various processes of academic writing and
rewriting. (For example, such as addressing your host sponsor’s
organizational issue or problem.) Reading: Howard Becker (1997) Chapter
3: Sampling. Tricks of the Trade: How to Think About Your Research While
You’re Doing It. University of Chicago Press, p. 90-108. Here we examine
which international management issues and action research projects are of
interest to business.

4. Interviewing inside the business world. Here we venture deeper inside

the inscrutable language of interviews, e.g. investigating active dialogical
listening/discourse analysis, and the understanding of nonverbal
communications. Reading: Howard Becker (1997) Chapter 4: Concepts.
Tricks of the Trade: How to Think About Your Research While You’re Doing
It. Assignment due: Summary essay on workshop exercises.

Second Semester Workshops:

5. Confluent approaches to qualitative/quantitative analysis. Describing
the qualitative appearance and assessed value of a phenomenon, as well
as how to measure its quantity. When qualitative variables are added, our
image becomes clearer, more so than a mere compilation of statistics alone
can provide. (If you multiply any number, no matter how large, by zero, the
result is still zero.) Which combined approach works best in each case
depends on its overall context, and the socially specific conditions that vary
from case to case. Reading: Howard Becker (1997) Chapter 5: Logic. Tricks
of the Trade: How to Think About Your Research While You’re Doing It.
Here we examine which data collection techniques are best suited to
certain cases.
6. Case study/field research design and practice. Crucial elements of
combining surveys, participant observation, interviews, theoretical
antecedents and document reviews will be surveyed. In the analysis and
presentation phases we are sure to determine the usefulness of such
concepts as core technology, task environments, boundary spanning
activity, time lines and critical decision points. Assignment due: Book, film,
or business journal review.
7. Necessary skill sets of the contemporary scholar. Learning how writing
social science research at the graduate level requires considerably different
skill sets than either business-oriented writing or writing in the humanities.
Reading: Howard Becker (2007). Chapter 2: Persona and Authority. Writing
for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article.
University of Chicago Press, p. 26-42. Assignment due: Action research
engagement report.
Third Semester Workshops:
 14

8. Critical reading and critical thinking through writing. Based on students’

own volition—but referencing abstracts of scholarly papers and other
resources—participants will be assigned—in teams—to outline a
multicultural/international business thesis of their choosing, summarize the
appropriate knowledge with respect to their area of interest, and develop a
rationale for further research or investigation. (Students must also submit a
copy of at least three or four pages of their research notes with their
presentations.)
9. Secondary analysis, secondary reflection, and official statistics.
Reading: Albert J. Mills (2017) “Secondary Analysis and Official Statistics.”
Assignment due: Preliminary statement of applied business project
intentions and speculative recommendations. Assignment due: Preliminary
statement of (international) project intent for the MBA 581, Applied
Business Project.
10. Unfinished business. Purpose, strategy, and organization.

Statement on Plagiarism and Other Misadventures:

The objective in this course is not merely to provide you with subject matter
information, but to have you gain an appreciation for the breadth of skills, thinking,
and possibilities associated with conducting quantitative and qualitative social
research. Here’s what we request of you:

Pass This Course: Participate. Do the readings and research. Do the writing
and rewriting. Bring your entire self to the endeavor. Take advantage of our
invitations for consultation and guidance, especially with respect to research
design and the later analysis. It’s pretty straightforward. Remember, the real
focus here is on the learning and active participation that will enable you to get a
good head-start on your Applied Business Project and to learn something useful
about critically informed, professional, ethical research practices.

Workshop Participation: The success of this course is based on mutual

collaboration and participation among all of us working together. For example,
using draft materials from work in other courses, and sharing that work with
others in a climate of professional trust and cooperation. How each person
performs in the various seminars is highly dependent on how everyone else
prepares, participates, and engages. I encourage you to bring your whole person
to each and every workshop. Many concepts that may at first appear alien,
abstract, or irrelevant, become very practical advice during the second and third
trimester workshops and presentations.

Assignments: The course is designed to be progressive in its learning and in the

process of designing and conducting research. As well, everyone’s learning is
dependent on the various methodologies being presented at occasionally
 15

student-run seminars. Therefore we are all counting on each other to come fully
prepared with the prep work required for each session. Thus, we cannot accept
late assignment submissions. For obvious reasons.

The “P-Word”: As you probably realize, individual faculty members consider

plagiarism to be a serious and unacceptable offence. More important, it’s easily
preventable with practice at summarizing, paraphrasing, and careful referencing.
Plagiarism impedes your development as a learner and your ability to perform in
your future workplace. Let’s cut it out, shall we?