How to refine a rough research theme for dissertation proposal formulation: an illustration

How to refine a rough research theme for dissertation proposal formulation: an illustration

The query from MBA student A is as follows: About topic of my dissertation topic, I would like to propose as follows: 

Impact of the catering industry under the epidemic and changes in business models

Please can you give me your comments and suggestions how to refine the idea for preparing dissertation proposal?

My suggestion is to provide a rough draft of a management-concerns diagram [an embryonic management-concerns diagram] as follows: [note: (i) the organizational unit of analysis under investigation is the HK catering industry and (ii) research type: consulting]

A simple reminder on the diagram: item 1 belongs to ALRA diagram zone 1 (environmental drivers); item 2 belongs to zone 2 (organizational capabilities) and item 3 belongs to zone 3c (solutions-related).

This diagram can be converted into a theoretical framework level-0 draft [an embryonic theoretical framework level-0] by changing the wordings of the management-concerns diagram shown as follows:

With reference to this embryonic theoretical framework level-0, the proposal title is: An investigation on the existing business models' competence of the HK catering industry under covid-19.

The two main research objectives, based on the core-focus-domain, are: 

Main research objective 1: to evaluate the existing business models' competence of the HK catering industry under covid-19

Main research objective 2: to find out how to adapt the business models of the catering industry in Hong Kong under covid-19

One minor research objective: to evaluate the impacts of covid-19 on the HK catering industry.

For the two main research objectives, the researcher needs to do some literature review on the topic of "business models". For the minor research objective, the notion of systemic PEST analysis is useful.

As to research methods, there are quite a number choices to consider: interview research, questionnaire survey, observation research, focus group and desk research.

This note introduce the idea of embryonic diagramming for the agile literature review approach (ALRA). Embryonic diagramming is useful for kickstarting the ALRA employment by the researcher.