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Undergraduate Projects

Placements & Projects Brochure

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BSc in Business Administration - Final Year Projects

In their final year, BSc Business Administration students carry out a team project. The project involves working on a real business issue for a company or organisation from October until April.

The projects produce valuable and useable results for the companies involved and can cover issues such as strategic research, market research, feasibility studies and intraorganisational analysis.

Each multidisciplinary team of four or five students has a range of academic specialisms, business experience and in some cases language skills and so can meet the needs of their client in terms of specialist knowledge.

Why Participate?

• high quality, in-depth research
• the benefit of external objective ideas and analysis
• a team of high calibre, committed people to work on your project
• a creative, fresh approach to examining a business issue
• multidisciplinary teams capable of examining a business issue or problem from a variety of perspectives
• careful monitoring of the project by an academic specialist
• visibility to your organisation - in a competitive graduate recruitment marketplace organisations need to present a high profile in order to attract graduates of the right calibre
• value to your organisation

What constitutes a suitable project?

The main criteria for an appropriate project are that it:

• should involve a significant amount of fieldwork and research
• should not be desk-bound
• should lend itself to team-working.

A project typically involves:

• interpretation of the project brief
• diagnosis of the problem or issue
• development of a detailed project plan
• evaluation of the relevant literature
• primary and secondary data collection and analysis (quantitative and qualitative techniques)
• presentation of recommendations that demonstrate a well-founded solution to the diagnosed problem.

Above all, the project should be a task that the client needs to do and wants to have done. Ideally it is approved for content, objectives and resource commitment at the highest level in the client organisation.

Projects are likely to involve fact-finding and interviewing. Organisations commissioning a project need to be prepared to cooperate with the team, both by way of provision of information and by access to staff.

What kind of organisations offer projects?

Organisations which commission projects range from multinational companies to small businesses, and not-for-profit organisations:

Examples of past projects

Feedback from project sponsors has been extremely favourable and many of the findings and recommendations have been successfully implemented by the client organisation. A number of our students' research reports have been subsequently published by clients.

Examples of recent projects include:

1. Think Ahead - How does the perceived impact of technology impact graduate retention and performance.
2. Barrier to Female Progression in the Workplace.
3. The Elephant in the Room - Why consumers remain loyal despite poor customer service and quality focusing on the apparent paradoxes visible in consumer behaviour.
4. A Study on the External Communications of Non Profit Making Organisations.

How much does it cost?

The scheme offers the opportunity to have an extensive piece of overseas research performed at a very reasonable cost.

A fee of £1000 + VAT is charged for the projects. The fee is to cover costs incurred within the School for supervision and administration of projects. Small companies and charities may pay a reduced fee.

In addition, organisations are expected to offer a budget for travel and other project related expenses such as postage, photocopying, telephone market research carried out by the team, typing, stationery, etc.

International project sponsors are NOT required to meet the teams travel costs between the UK and the foreign country.

The Projects Officer can advise on the likely overall cost to an organisation for a particular project based on past experience. There is no remuneration to the students themselves.

How are projects supervised and assessed?

All projects are managed at the University by a dedicated Projects Officer who is the first point of contact for sponsoring organisations. Each team is also assigned a Project Coordinator from the academic staff who guides and monitors progress and acts as an examiner for the project.

Examination assessment

This takes place in April/ May and is based on both the final project report and group and individual viva examinations.

Company Presentation

Teams make a separate presentation to company personnel at the client's premises, usually before the university viva session. The client is requested to provide an appraisal of the project which is made available to the examination panel when setting the project mark.