Management Research
Demystifying the master thesis process
Course objectives
This course is for students who write their master thesis at the Department of Management, Technology and Economics. You will learn how to approach management research from various perspectives, how to evaluate empirical research, and how to develop your own research project. The successful completion of the course will help you to improve the quality of your thesis and specifically, you will be able to:
- Think critically and make compelling arguments about the strengths and weaknesses of published management research
- Find and review appropriate literature and previous research for your thesis
- Develop and frame interesting and relevant research questions and problem statements
- Design your research and choose an appropriate methodology for analysis (specific research methods and techniques are not discussed in this course)
- Structure your manuscript
- Plan and manage your thesis project
Finally, this course intends to provide inspiration and insights for conducting your own thesis, so that you can take full advantage of this opportunity to study a topic of your own choice in depth.
Who should take this course?
The course is designed with two groups of students in mind: first, students who write their master thesis at the SMI chair and second, students who write their master thesis in the field of management at other MTEC chairs.
For both groups, the focal issues of this course will arise frequently during the journey of writing their thesis. We will provide some specific content (e.g., grading guidelines, thesis format) which might not be applicable for students tutored at other MTEC chairs; however, the main content should be relevant for all students.
Course material and assessment
The course material will be available on the Moodle course page. We will suggest additional resources such as methodology books and research articles during the course.
The course is graded based on the assignments, peer feedback, and participation in group discussions and other exercises.
Course topics
Thesis topic and proposal
- Choice of thesis topic, identification of research gap, formulation of research questions, writing of thesis proposal, planning and preparation of the thesis project
Literature review
- Search and evaluation of academic literature, use of reference tools, writing of theoretical background chapter of thesis
Empirical research design
- Types of empirical research designs, choice of methodology, data collection and analysis methods
Research output and report
- Writing of introduction, results and conclusion, thesis format and structure
Thesis assessment
- SMI grading criteria, MTEC guidelines