Research Paper

The final research paper should involve the exploration of a “network” issue of interest to the student’s research. The domain may include (i) a network analysis of a particular enterprise, industry, or ecosystem, (ii) a critical literature review of some specific aspect of organizational network research, or (iii) a theory development paper, proposing a new theoretical direction and specifying a research agenda for complex networks and enterprises. Written topic proposals (one page or less) must be submitted for approval by the instructor no later than June 23.

Students should discuss the motivation, provide a relevant literature review, theoretical underpinnings (not restricted to the topics covered in the course), and research propositions. A plan for conducting the research and research materials as well as potential results and contributions should also be discussed. With additional work after this semester, it is expected that the paper would be of quality accepted in leading conferences in your research field. To ensure that everyone is making good progress in selecting a topic for their research proposal, a one page overview and a one to two page outline of the proposal are due on July 14.

In addition you will be required to do a conference-length presentation (~20-30 minutes) to the class at the end of the term on August 4 . Based on the comments and feedback you receive, the final research paper is due August 6 . Note that you are required to prepare and submit a paper to a conference or journal, but whether the paper is accepted will have no bearing on the evaluation.