As a guide, you should expect your research report to come in at 10,000 words or fewer, excluding
Appendices, and bibliographies, consistent with Massey University’s “Recommendations for Length
of Research Reports or Theses”. ARPs will typically range from 6000 to 10,000 words. You will not be
penalised for exceeding a word count of 10,000, assuming the content of the report remains
meaningful and relevant to the research aim, nor less than 6000 if you have covered the key issues
thoroughly and convincingly.
Consistent with the mission of the MBA as being an applied/practitioner degree, students may
undertake projects with a research element but for which the major output is of some other kind.
Examples might include:
• a marketing plan for a new product, where the research element is the assessment of demand to
be fed into the assumptions of the plan.
• a prospectus for a new business seeking capital, where the research element might relate to the
strategic plan, such as the development of evidence concerning operating feasibility and/or
market demand.
• a recommended change in operational policy for an organisation, where the research element
might be (for example) the determination of the causes of excessive staff turnover.
• a recommendation for a change in Government policy, such as a proposed submission, where the
research element might be a systematic literature review of the consequences of various policy
options.
In any case, all MBA research projects are expected to be of substantial practical relevance to
business/industry.
In accordance with Learning Objective 3, the audience for the project must be identified, and part of
the rubric must address how the findings can be disseminated to that audience and how appropriate
the communication is for that audience