You can select one of the selling-related topics (e.g., social media and its impact on selling) of your choice and write a research paper. The instructor may help students choose research topics. Once a topic is agreed between the student and the instructor, students search the academic articles dealing with the topic (minimum 10 most suitable recent journal articles), and write up a research paper. The paper is expected to include: (1) introduction (objectives, key variables, definitions, academic and managerial impact) (2) literature review (including in-depth discussion on previous research, the table of the findings, diagrams specifying relationships among key variables), (3) global implication of the findings (e.g., cultural and country-specific), (4) future research suggestion (e.g., proposed hypotheses, methodology), (5) managerial and industry implications (e.g., how can a company put the knowledge in practice), (6) summary and conclusion, and (7) references.
Proofread the paper before submission. You can search, find, and use both empirical and conceptual articles for your research project. Please limit your topic to sales management and personal selling issues. The research paper that incorporates global aspect will be preferred, if not required. It is strongly recommended that students familiarize themselves with the Hofstra database and the library resources (e.g., Journal Finder). The adequate length of the research paper will be 15-20 pages excluding the cover page, the table of contents, figures and tables, and references (double-spaced).
The individual paper proposal (2-3 pages) states: (1) major sales management and/or personal selling topics (e.g., millennials and selling; servant leadership; social media and sales; sales performance assessment), (2) rationale of your choice: why is the topic relevant and important? (3) global/cultural analysis (e.g., country, particular culture) (4) table of contents of the research paper and (5) sample references.