Identifying a Research Question for the Dissertation/Project

This document provides guidance on identifying a research question for a dissertation or project. It discusses the possible sources of research data, the concept of continuous innovation strategy, and its effectiveness in building a sustainable business. It also covers the aims, objectives, and supporting questions of the research study.

Identifying a Research Question for the
Dissertation/Project
WORKSHEET FOR RESEARCH DISSERTATION
PLAN
This template is to assist you in preparing your Research Dissertation Plan. Your research
Plan is the foundation of your dissertation. Please bring the sheet with you to the research
tutorials to demonstrate your progress – this is a record of your work-in-progress
Student’s Name Supervisor
Student’s Number Date Allocated
What are the possible
sources of your
research question?
These may include
academic subjects you
have studied, your
(business related)
personal experience,
your future career
intentions. Above all the
topic should arouse and
engage your interest.
There are different sources through which data for the research
can be collected. The sources can either be primary or
secondary sources of information.
Primary Sources – These sources provide first-hand and direct
information from the respondents (Cai and et. al., 2019). The
different primary sources include eye witnesses, statistical data,
audio recordings, videos, speeches etc.
Secondary Sources – On the other hand, secondary sources
of can include books, journal articles, diaries, newspapers.
Secondary data has already been collected by another person,
which can be used by a research. The researcher can tailor the
information available on different secondary sources based in
the need of the research.
Apart from this, other possible sources for the research can
include the different academic subjects being taught at the
university, personal experience as well as career intentions for
the future. This is a quantitative research.
What is your
proposed research
question?
Research Questions
 What is the concept of Continuous Innovation Strategy?
 What are the advantages of implementing Continuous
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This states the
business problem – add
a comment – what is
the anticipated benefit
that may result from
investigating the
problem
Innovation Strategy for Apple?
 How does Continuous Innovation Strategy assist in
providing sustainability to Apple?
Anticipated Benefit
From investigating the problem, the researcher will be able to
provide an understanding about the concept of Continuous
Innovation Strategy. Apart from this, the audience will get to
understand the different advantages of implementing
continuous innovation strategy.
How has the problem
arisen?
Provide the contextual
background to the
problem –
Summary of
organization and
summary of the
problem
Continuous Innovation Strategy can be defined as the process
of wherein products as well as services are designed and
delivered in such a way that they are based around the problem
of the customers (Ngo and et. al., 2019). The problem for this
research is to understand the effectiveness of Continuous
Innovation strategy in providing sustainability to an organisation.
Organisation chosen for the report is Apple Inc., which is a
multinational technology company. The company is
headquartered in California and was founded in the year 1976.
Apple Inc. is one of the strongest technology companies in the
world that offers a wide range of high quality technology
products.
What are the aims
of the research
study?
One research aim
which will be
reflected in the title
of your dissertation
Title: An investigation on the effectiveness of Continuous Innovation
Strategy to build a sustainable business.
Aims of the study:
The aim of the study is - “To analyse the effectiveness of Continuous
Innovation Strategy in building a sustainable business. A study on
Apple.”
Research question:
 What is the impact of continuous innovation strategy on the
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performance of a business?
Quantitative
Study What are
the objectives of
your research
study?
What do you plan
to do during your
research?
For quantitative
research list up to
up to three
objectives
the fourth objective
is to recommend a
course of action
(For quantitative research)
The objectives of the study are :
 To identify the concept of Continuous Innovation Strategy.
 To analyse the advantages of implementing Continuous
Innovation Strategy for Apple.
 To evaluate how Continuous Innovation Strategy assists in
providing sustainability to Apple.
Based on the study findings it is expected to recommend the
company to implement continuous innovation strategy because it
will help in maintaining an effective business performance as well as
gaining a competitive advantage against the competitors.
Qualitative Study
What are the
supporting
questions of your
research study?
What do you plan
to do during your
research?
For qualitative
research list up to
three supporting
questions
the fourth objective
is to recommend a
(For qualitative research)
The supporting questions of the study are
….
…..
Based on the study findings it is expected to recommend
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course of action
What is the main
academic theme
of your proposal?
Include an
academic definition
of the key terms,
supported by
academic literature
cited using the
Harvard
referencing system
The academic theme of the proposal is about the concept of
continuous innovation strategy. It means that a company designs as
well as develops the products to the customers in such a way that
they fulfil their needs in an effective manner (Pieroni, McAloone and
Pigosso, 2019). A continuous innovation strategy can act as a tool
for the overall success of an organisation and can provide it long
term competitive advantages. It can act as one of the key tools for
attaining success within the industry. Continuous Innovation
Strategy also allows an organisation to fulfil the needs of the
customers in an effective manner and thus, gain their loyalty.
Therefore, it can be said that it is the gradual evolution of the
business processes as well as products of the company.
In context of apple Inc., there are various benefits of implementing
Continuous Innovation Strategy. It can help the company in
increasing the overall productivity in the market place and also keep
innovating products as well as services from time to time. This
further leads to retaining the customers for a longer period of time.
Lastly, the delivery time of the finished products is reduced and they
are designed in such a way that the needs of customers are
satisfied.
Sustainability is important because it can provide an organisation
gaining a competitive advantage over competitors. And this can be
done by innovating the products continuously from time to time. This
helps in reducing any kind of unnecessary features from the
products that the customers don't consider to be of much
importance. Apple Inc. is known for offering highly innovative as well
as differentiated products.
What Academic
theory underpins
the research
question?
This is addressed for each objective.
You should use evidence drawn from six recent academic
journals and texts to discuss the objectives; and therefore the
research question.
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You should have at least two recent journal articles supporting each
objective if you have three objectives and at least three journal
articles supporting each objective if you have two objectives.
Evidence
underpinning
Objective 1
One sentence explaining what the evidence says in relation to
objective 1:
Continuous Innovation Strategy is concerned with introducing
gradual changes within the products so that the overall efficiency is
improved (Rubio and et. al., 2019).
Evidence
underpinning
Objective 2
One sentence explaining what the evidence says in relation to
objective 2:
The major benefits include an increase in the overall performance as
well as productivity of the company as well as gaining a competitive
advantage against competitors (Wang and et. al., 2019).
Evidence
underpinning
Objective 3
One sentence explaining what the evidence says in relation to
objective 3:
Continuous Innovation strategy can contribute to the overall
sustainability of the company (Ngo and et. al., 2019). This is
because the products match the overall needs as well as
expectations of the customers.
List the academic
journal articles
Use the full
Harvard
referencing
system
REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Cai, W. and et. al., 2019. Promoting sustainability of manufacturing
industry through the lean energy-saving and emission-reduction
strategy. Science of the Total Environment. 665. pp.23-32.
Ngo, L. V. and et. al., 2019. Effective sense-and-respond strategies:
Mediating roles of exploratory and exploitative innovation. Journal of
Business Research. 94. pp.154-161.
Pieroni, M. P., McAloone, T. C. and Pigosso, D. C., 2019. Business
model innovation for circular economy and sustainability: A review of
approaches. Journal of Cleaner Production. 215. pp.198-216.
Rubio, S. and et. al., 2019. Effectiveness of extended producer
responsibility policies implementation: The case of Portuguese and
Spanish packaging waste systems. Journal of Cleaner Production.
210. pp.217-230.
Wang, W. and et. al., 2019. Uncertain environment, dynamic
innovation capabilities and innovation strategies: A case study on
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Qihoo 360. Computers in Human Behavior. 95. pp.284-294.
Online
Ethical considerations. 2020. [Online]. Available
through:<http://mypeer.org.au/monitoring-evaluation/ethical-
considerations/>.
Ethical considerations
Ethical considerations within a research are one of the most important parts. Researchers
should always consider ethics in order to ensure that the research is completed in an
effective manner. The different ethical considerations are described below -
 Informed Consent – It means that the people who participate in the research are
fully aware of the and informed about the research. The research should always
make an attempt to inform the participants or respondents about the theme of the
research as well as its purpose.
 Do Not Harm – Harm can be in different forms like pain, anxiety, invasion of
privacy or stress (Ethical considerations, 2020). It is important that the people who
participate in the research are not harmed in any way or intend to do so.
 Confidentiality – The researcher must also ensure that all the important
information regarding the research as well as that of the participants is kept
confidential at all times. Also, they should also make sure that the words included
in the research are not offensive in any way.
 Voluntary Participation – Participant who take part in the research should always
be free to withdraw their names from the same at any time. This is because it is
their right to leave the research if they feel it is of no interest to them.
Consider issues of access to the participant organisation and individuals
Draft letter requesting access to the organisation;
Draft a Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form
Fill-in part of the university’s Ethics Form
Ethical Approval:
Explain how you
will obtain written
authorization to
collect research
data
Compulsory for all academic research
Organisational level: Who is your contact? How do you know the
contact? At what level are they operating within the organization?
Individual level: Participant information sheet and consent form.
Issues related to implied consent (especially for survey
questionnaires)
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