Writing Conventions for Business and Management
The gatekeeping question is “what is the theoretical contribution?”
Management journals reject well-executed studies that only confirm what is already known. The introduction has to name the gap in the theory and say what your paper adds to it, which is a different claim from saying your data are new.
Hypotheses are stated formally and numbered
Quantitative papers develop each hypothesis in prose and then state it in a labeled sentence — H1, H2, H2a — with the direction of the predicted effect. Results and discussion then refer back by number, so a reader can track support hypothesis by hypothesis.
Practitioner implications are a required, separate section
Business research answers to managers as well as scholars, so the discussion splits into theoretical and managerial implications. The managerial half names the decision the finding should change, not just the topic it touches.
The teaching case and the research case are different genres
A teaching case narrates a decision point, withholds the outcome, and ships with instructor notes. A research case study builds theory from evidence and states its analytical method. Writing one in the shape of the other is a common and costly mistake.
Reports invert the structure a journal article uses
A consulting report or strategy memo leads with the recommendation in an executive summary, then supports it. An article builds to its conclusion. Reusing an article’s shape in a report buries the answer past the point where an executive reader stops.
Harvard referencing dominates outside the US
Most UK and European business schools require Harvard, though the variants differ by institution — check your school’s guide, since “Harvard” is a family rather than a single manual. Copyeditor formats APA, which is close in shape, but not Harvard itself.
