Recommended Consultancy Project Report

Recommended Consultancy Project Report structure

Title Page , index, abstract, acknowledgments etc
Introduction (c2000 words)
Background Research and Literature Review (c3500 words).
Research Methodology and Method Justification and Explanation (c1500 words)
Data Analysis Results, Analysis and Findings (c3500 words).
Recommendations and Implementation Conclusions and Further Research (c1500/2000 words)
Total word limit 12,000 +/-

Bibliography and References
Appendices
( supplementary Data tables , meeting logs, Gant charts, Online Ethic form, questionnaires , permissions etc )

Section 1 – Introduction
Brief introduction to the research topic – briefly define any key terms.
Organisation/sector background – essential background to be able to understand the context of the report.
Problem statement – What problem you are looking to analyse and specifically what needs to be resolved.
Why your report is important to the company and/or sector and how might your analysis and recommendations be used in the future?
Aim and objectives – Have a clear aim – 1 sentence
Objectives – 3 to 4 specific objectives to your research
Limitations of the report – Discuss any limitations of the report and further work that may be required.

Section 2 – Background Research

Background research you have done on the problem/issue/opportunity.
This is your background research on the secondary data you have gathered.
The literature review element of this section has two main purposes:
To find information which will directly help address your chosen problem/issue/opportunity – derived from your objectives – key themes/use of models and theories, past empirical research
It also plays vital role in giving direction to your primary research.

Section 3 – Methods, Justification and Explanation

This section should briefly describe your primary research method(s) and then justify your chosen method(s).
You must cover the following areas:
Access – how you gained access to the organisation or why consent was not needed
Sampling method and sample size – probability or non probability
Primary data collection instrument used – such as your questionnaire or interview questions – to be included in the appendix
Data collection administration – how you went about conducting your questionnaire survey or your interviews
Data analysis approach – how you went about analysing the collected data
Ethical issues relevant to the research- what these were and how you addressed them.
Remember – you can not gather primary data if you do not have permission from your supervisor!