Serving Multiple Constituencies in Business Schools - Research Paper Example

The research report chosen substantially conforms to the standard template or outline presented in the text (Trieschmann, Dennis, Northcraft, and Niemi, 2000, pp. 1130-1141).

To be specific, the chosen research report details an Abstract, an Introduction, a section on Methods, a Results section, and a Discussion section. The Conclusion is lumped together with the Discussion, forms the last part of that section, and ties with the first paragraph of the Discussion section too. The first paragraph looks at the factors that impact MBA program performance and research performance, and they are different, with differing performance ratings for each set of criteria for all of the business schools examined. Meanwhile, the other half of that Conclusion found in the first paragraph of the Discussion section is in the last paragraph, and details a recommendation for business schools to be more balanced in their emphasis on both MBA program performance and business research performance. In this sense, based on the Discussion above, this research report deviates somewhat from the standard outline in the text, in that there is no separate Conclusion section. Other than that, the research report substantially complies with all of the required sections in the template (Trieschmann, Dennis, Northcraft, and Niemi, 2000, pp. 1130-1141).

To further discuss, the research report details a Discussion section that substantially tackles research implications, limitations, and directions/suggestions for future research, though not in the ordering as specified in the text outline. As already mentioned above, the Conclusion can be found as consisting of the first and last paragraphs of the section. Meanwhile, directions for future research are found right in the middle of the section, around the fifth and sixth paragraphs out of nine paragraphs, whereas in the text outline, Future Research is the last section. Therefore, even as the chosen research report substantially conforms to the outline, the differences in the presentation have implications for its proper interpretation. Readers will have to sift through the discussion and understand it intimately, so they know what to look for and where. This is because the sections are not clearly delineated in this particular research report, whereas in the ideal outline in the text, the sections are clearly marked. On the other hand, one can see that the research report is written in a lucid and organized manner, and an astute reader should be able to relate the text to the standard template presented in the text with little difficulty (Trieschmann, Dennis, Northcraft and Niemi, 2000, pp. 1130-1141).