Have you ever
wondered why your friends get lower marks even when they work so hard to
complete your assignments? If yes, you are not alone. Most students feel the
same. The problem lies in the art of writing as much as it depends on the
source of information used in the document.
You must pay
attention to the technicalities involved in writing an essay, especially if you are a MBA student. It is most
likely that you are overwhelmed by the loads of papers you have to complete by
the end of the month and the bad news is that we all have only 24 hours per
day. Therefore, you must be particularly
careful about concentrating on your assignments to the fullest so that simple
mistakes do not cost you huge marks. Besides, developing excellent
communication skills is an utmost necessity for management students, given that
they will be spending their life communicating with their peers and juniors to
complete any given task.
Here we will
discuss the common mistakes that students make while writing an essay. You can learn from these flaws and avoid replicating
them in your own MBA assignments.
o
Inconsistency in tense
Often writers
lose the sight of the outcome of the sentences they write. They may be so
passionate about the topics that they neglect the flow of the tense used.
Suppose you start your essay in simple present and end it in past participle,
it will be hard for the professor to digest your sentiments. In order to score
greater marks and improve your overall writing skills, make sure to use
consistent tense throughout your document, especially if you are writing in an
academic scenario.
o
Lack of analysis
In many cases,
students tend to provide a synopsis of each case study in order to provide
debatable information on their topic, which is one of the main factors behind
low scores. Synopsis is relevant when you are sending a proposal to your
professor related to your assignments. When you have actually started working
on your academic paper, analysing each case from tip to toe will be much
effective than providing a general plot summary.
o
Not formatting the quotations
Do you know what
professors hate while checking the assignments submitted by his students? It is
the excessive usage of quotations or lack of the same. Moreover, your marks
depend on how well you are able to present your document. Making the quotations
stand out by using single space between each word inside the quotes and writing
them in italics will do the job for you. And your readers will find it easy to
read and find the difference between your own statements and the ones you have
borrowed from others.
o
Using contractions
You must not use
contractions like ‘don’t’, ‘can’t’, ‘won’t’ in a professional scenario. Instead,
write the full forms with dignity.
o
Lack of evidence
What can you
expect from the professors if you submit an assignment that does not have
enough corporate evidences to highlight your point? In an academic atmosphere,
you have to rely on concrete documentation for proving your point of view. If
you are preparing a case study of KFC’s operations in China, make sure to use
charts and news stories that justify your argument.
o
Using passive voice
Writing in
passive voice in academic assignments is
an error worth avoiding. Passive voice often creates confusions in the mind of
readers about who is performing what, which is not desirable from a management
student.
o
Addressing the reader
Never address
the reader while writing an essay.
When you are working on your academic presentations, you are dealing with
bigger problems involving corporations and institutions or even the economy.
The topic may be of extreme importance to the citizens of your country but that
does not give you the authority to write the content in a formal tone. Although
you may like to grab the professor’s attention by involving him directly using
terms like ‘you’, ‘your’ and so on, he will not hesitate to deduct valuable
marks from your hard worked assignment.
o
Clichés
Now, you have to
be serious about this one. Your term papers are not pieces of philosophy but
examples of analytical explanation of any given corporate scenario. The reader
would not expect you to throw cliché dialogues such as ‘life is a war where
only the warriors survive’. Try to be specific in order to make your document
understandable and relatable.
o
Writing a ‘personal’ introduction
You should never
start your essays, theses or term papers using sentences like ‘In this essay of
mine’ or ‘Here I will focus on’. Allot the introduction for explaining the
summary of the topic you have worked on. Your professor already knows that you
have written the assignment. They can see your name on the cover. So do not
waste yours and your professor’s time by using unnecessary self-centric
sentences.
o
Writing on a broad topic
This one is the
most common mistake found in management projects across different streams. Many
students aim to assess a bigger problem, which often proves to be of broader
aspects. As a result, it distracts the writer from the original topic he
planned to write on and thus, the academic paper does not get its desired
shape. If a certain topic is broad, for example; the effects of World War on
global business scenario, figure out how you can be more specifically
concentrated on a single field. ‘The effects of world war on the American manufacturing
industry’ can do the trick for you.
Good essay writers are not the one who opt for perfection, but those
who make mistakes only to learn from them. As they say, there is no failure at
all; it is only success and lessons learned. Grab your pen to overcome your
obstacles. Let this guide help you to achieve your MBA dreams.
