Junior Management Science https://jums.academy/en/ Wir veröffentlichen die besten Abschlussarbeiten der BWL Mon, 17 Oct 2022 14:35:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://jums.academy/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/favicon.ico Junior Management Science https://jums.academy/en/ 32 32 108582177 How to find a topic for your thesis – (tips for Economics and Business Students) https://jums.academy/en/how-to-find-a-topic-for-your-thesis-tips-for-economics-and-business-students/ Wed, 31 Mar 2021 22:16:45 +0000 https://jums.academy/how-to-find-a-topic-for-your-thesis-tips-for-economics-and-business-students/

How to find a topic for your thesis – (tips for Economics and Business Students)

Towards the end of your degree writing a thesis is one of the major challenges that still await you. Before getting started with researching and writing your thesis the first important step is to find a topic to write about. This step often proves not only to be one of the most decisive steps in the process of producing a first-class thesis. It also tends to be one that students tend to struggle with. After all, there are so many potential topics!

It goes without saying that, of course, the topic you choose needs to be relevant to your course or major. Within the realm of your subject, though, you are usually very free to choose a topic that just interests you. Ideally, there are some modules in your degree that you found particularly interesting and about which you already have a profound general understanding. Maybe you are also aware of some topical research that you would like to study more thoroughly.

Spotting your interests may not be too hard, but coming up with a sufficiently concrete, relevant research question may prove to be much harder. This article is, therefore, dedicated to guiding you through the process of finding a suitable and exciting topic for your thesis.

How to find interesting subject areas

  1. Your course

The most obvious way of going about finding a thesis topic is to reflect on past topics in your course. By now, you will have attended many lectures, seminars, labs, or tutorials. Ask yourself: Which module did I enjoy most? Which essay did I find the most interesting to write? If there is a module/ essay you particularly liked it is worth thinking about which further, in-depth questions you might have about the topic. A long-term strategy to find an exciting thesis topic would also be to listen attentively to which topical research your tutors mention in lectures. Beyond, you can, of course, always walk up to your tutor after a lecture or seminar and ask them about more niche topics in the broader subject area which they would recommend writing a thesis about.

  1. Current publications

Looking into some recent publications in your subject area is a further source of inspiration. You will find a plethora of recent research topics that are highly relevant in the modern world. Often times you will also find literature reviews that summarise the state-of-the-art research and suggest further questions to be asked. If there are no literature reviews to a certain topic yet, you might also want to consider dedicating your thesis to doing one yourself. In his paper, State-of-the-Art dynamischer Methoden zur multikriteriellen Entscheidungsunterstützung JUMS-author Sebastian Schär did exactly that.

Literature reviews are not only helpful for gaining a good overview of state-of-the-art research. Oftentimes, researchers often include an entire “Future Research”-section at the end of their article/ paper which can serve as a direct source of inspiration for you.

  1. Personal Interests

You may also want to ask yourself whether there are any hobbies which you can somehow connect to your course. Maybe your sport has some hidden relevance to game theory? Maybe your family’s history is a good starting point for an enquiry into a certain historical period? You get the gist. There are plenty of opportunities to connect your interests and identity to a thesis topic if you want. Many of our JUMS-authors have done exactly that. Niklas T. Bretschneider, for instance wrote about Revenue Sharing in European Football: An Assessment of the Bundesliga’s New Four-Pillar Model, combining his interest in the German Soccer League with his Business studies.

  1. Brainstorming

Sometimes it is a good idea to let your thoughts flow. Just take a piece of paper and write everything down that comes to your mind. You can also choose a specific word such as “digitalisation”, “new work” or “Industry 4.0.” and brainstorm about it. Mind-mapping may help you with it.

  1. Fellow students and friends

Talking to fellow students and friends who are also looking for a thesis topic at the moment can be a helpful approach, too. Conversations often lead to new ideas and hearing other people’s thoughts on your ideas will assist you in sharpening your plans and thoughts.

  1. Work experience

Have you gained work experience or interned? Have you witnessed or heard about issues that are relevant to your field of study? Have you become aware of practical topics that   could use some theoretical investigation? In these cases, your work experience or internship may prove helpful in formulating a concrete and highly relevant thesis topic.

Alternatively, if you have a clear idea of what kind of career you want to work in after graduating, you could choose your topic according to your career plans and impress a potential future employer with your apposite thesis. A thesis that proves your theoretical expertise in your preferred area of work might give you that necessary edge over other candidates.

  1. Tenders

If you don’t have any ideas yourself or feel overwhelmed by the breadth of choice, you can also check whether the departments at your university are currently offering topics for theses. This will save you the trouble of looking for a topic and, in many cases, you will already have a supervisor. With advertised topics, you are usually contributing to larger research projects. Your thesis will therefore become part of a greater scientific puzzle. Benefits of taking up thesis-tenders do not only include the satisfaction derived from helping a bigger, more influential project succeed but also the highly intense supervision you will profit from. By the way: Not all departments are communicating digitally yet. Thus, it is sometimes also worth looking at the noticeboards at the departments.

  1. Companies

You can also write your thesis as part of work experience at a company. Usually, you will be working for the company for three to six months as an intern. During this time, you can simultaneously gain professional experience and write your thesis. Sometimes the topics are already specified in the job advertisement whereas in other cases it is only the subject area that is specified in which case you have more room for making a personal topic choice. If you want to write your thesis in a company, you can combine theory and practice, but you have to satisfy both the university and the company with your work. This is usually much more time-consuming than writing your thesis at university, but in many cases, you also get paid by the company.

General Tip: Choose a topic that genuinely interests you rather than the one the first that comes to your mind! You will have to work on the thesis topic for several weeks or months, so it is imperative to be passionate about the subject you are researching and writing about! Choosing an exciting and relevant topic will pave your path to receiving the distinction you are aiming for!

My personal tip: If you can’t find a topic that you really “burn” for, take a look at what your potential supervisor is specialising in. Maybe you can choose a topic that is interesting for both of you!

Prof. Dr. Dominik van Aaken, JUMS-Editor and Professor for Strategic Management and Organisation, University of Salzburg

Narrowing Down the Topic

As you have seen, there are many ways to find a suitable topic for your thesis. What is worth keeping in mind is that your thesis will not be meant to explain the whole world. Usually, you have a very limited timeframe to complete your work. Therefore, it is important to narrow down your topic.

These steps will help you narrow down your research question:

  1. Narrow down the topic area – Which subject area does the topic you want to deal with originate from? Can your topic be allocated to a specific sub-area? If your topic is still too broad, you can make it more specific by picking particular periods in time, geographical circumstances, schools of thought, or other relevant factors.
  2. Objective – What do you want to achieve with your thesis? Do you want to apply a theory to a new area, confirm or falsify a hypothesis or summarise state-of-the-art research?
  3. What knowledge and insights have already been achieved in your area of interest? Can you enrich the state-of-the-art research with your reflections or by applying theories to the real world? What is your potential contribution to the current state of knowledge?
  4. Research question – In this crucial step, try to formulate a research question that you find stimulating and exciting to answer with your thesis. At this step, always bear in mind your objective and how you narrowed down the topic.
  5. Hypotheses – Now your aim is to formulate hypotheses about your thesis’s topic. Do you aim to falsify or is there something you want to confirm with your work? It is sensible to formulate more hypotheses than you will eventually address in your thesis. This will be helpful insofar as you might realise how some of your ideas work together or how they contradict one another. If you want to explore a phenomenon in a methodologically novel way, you do not need hypotheses derived from the literature.
  6. Working methods – How do you want to approach your work methodically? Do you already have an idea of what data might be useful for substantiating your case? Do you want to conduct interviews, make a survey or use previous data sets? Are you planning to base your work on broad reading? Are experiments or observations suitable? The (relevant) choice of methods also further narrows down your thesis.

If you are not yet able to formulate a research question, you can go through the individual steps again and try to narrow them down further.

Tip: If you are not yet able to sufficiently narrow down your topic, but have a rough idea, schedule an appointment with your professor or supervisor. Together with them, you can talk through your interests and chances are that with the help of your tutor you will find a suitable research question. The same applies if you are not yet able to formulate a research question but have an idea for your thesis. In any way, make sure to take your notes about the “narrowing down process” with you when you meet with your supervisor. Also, bear in mind that it is better to talk to your supervisor about your topic in a timely manner rather than tinker with your research question for a long time without a result. You can benefit from your supervisor’s advanced knowledge of the topic and their expertise in formulating excellent research questions.
As soon as the research question has been chosen, you dedicate your work to creating a preliminary outline for your paper. Of course, this outline can and will change during the writing process, but it is the first point of reference for you. It will support you in keeping in mind your goal while researching the topic.

 

An appointment with your supervisor

As soon as you have finalised your research question and created an outline, make an appointment with your supervisor to determine your next steps. At this stage, some lecturers require an exposé, clearly explicating the objectives of your thesis. Therefore, it makes sense to be well-prepared for your appointment.

During the appointment, you will present your research question and outline your plans to your supervisor who will then go on to consult you. Please don’t be unsettled if your research question and outline change after the first meeting. Your supervisor has a completely different perspective and more experience. They will help give your research question the last edge so that your topic is ready for approval and you can start working!

We hope that our tips for finding a topic have helped you. We wish you every success in writing your thesis!

 

Tip for all Masters candidates:

Are you already thinking about doing a doctorate after your Master’s degree? If so, it could be a good and time-saving idea to use your Master’s thesis as preparation and groundwork for a possible doctoral dissertation. Further, you can also test whether you are passionate enough about your Master’s thesis’ topic to commit yourself to it over several years. If you are considering using your Master’s thesis, make sure to talk to your supervisor or professor about this early on so that they can give you their best advice.

 

about the author:

Prof. Dr. Dominik van Aaken

JUMS-Editor and Professor for Strategic Management and Organisation, University of Salzburg.

]]> 38443 How to cite correctly? https://jums.academy/en/how-to-cite-correctly/ Wed, 31 Mar 2021 21:59:25 +0000 https://jums.academy/how-to-cite-correctly/ Picture this: The next essay is due soon and you already know what you are going to write about? The literature has been selected and you could start writing your essay straight away? Great! But before you start working on your essay, you should dedicate some time to make sure you know how to cite correctly!

To do so, it is important to understand why citation is crucial in the first place.

Citation is important because it is necessary for the reader to understand which knowledge and findings come from which person or research institution and did not just pop into your head. Being able to derive this kind of information from your citation is necessary because intellectual property is protected by copyright. Citation makes clear which intellectual property you adopted and which thoughts and findings are your own. This makes your results transparent, verifiable, and comprehensible.

 

How to avoid plagiarism

If you write a scientific paper and pass off another author’s findings as your own, this is called plagiarism. This can apply to both literal and analogous copying of texts. You can avoid plagiarism by writing down and organising your sources of literature from the beginning so that you know exactly which statements you took from which author. There are also literature management programmes that can help you cite in a structured and clean manner. Citavi or EndNote are some of the most popular citation software. Sometimes universities even offer free access to these programmes.

It is often the case that when you work on a text for weeks or even months you become confused about what you wrote yourself and which sentences were quotes or paraphrased. Even if this inaccuracy should be avoided at all costs, citation mistakes can never be completely ruled out. For this purpose, some universities offer programmes which allow you to check your work for possible plagiarism before you submit it. You can also find plagiarism software such as Scribbr, Unicheck Mentorium, Bachelor Print, and others on the Internet. In most cases, however, these are not free of charge. Anyhow, it remains necessary to make sure that you go through your literature properly and work with it; this will save you a lot of work.

 

What and when do I have to quote?

Quotations are literal and indirect reproductions of content or knowledge from other sources.

Ex. direct quotation: Hegel is of the opinion that “the spirit exists as absolute freedom” (Hegel, 1807, p. 386).

Ex. indirect quotation: Hegel writes that consciousness is the element in which spiritual beings or powers have their substance (cf. Hegel, 1807, p. 387).

 

Do I have to quote everything?

General knowledge is often based on findings that have been recorded by various scientists and have been known for a long time and are therefore no longer controversial. This includes, for example, dates of well-known historical events or elementary knowledge from your subject area. Therefore, you do not have to cite general knowledge in most cases. Examples of general knowledge include terms such as managers, companies, or liquidity. Terms such as the BCG matrix or Porter’s Five Forces are terms that every business student will have heard before, but they must be cited because they cannot be assumed to be general knowledge. The BCG matrix, for example, could be cited from the work “Henderson on corporate strategy” (Henderson, 1979).

The definition of what counts as general knowledge and what does not, however, varies depending on the target group. For Bachelor’s theses, it is, therefore, advisable to cite more than for Master’s theses, since elementary knowledge is already a prerequisite for a Master’s programme. In case you are unsure about whether you need to quote a particular term, it is better to cite too much than too little!

 

Citing original sources

There are primary and secondary citations. Primary quotations are quotations from original sources. An example of this is, as mentioned above, the citation of the BCG matrix according to Henderson. Secondary citations are quotations of citations, i.e., one obtains the findings of one scientist from the work of another. Secondary citations should be avoided if the original work can be obtained at a reasonable cost. This also includes interlibrary loans within your country. For literature acquisition, it is definitely worthwhile looking at footnotes or bracket references in order to read the original sources as well!

 

Citation Styles

First of all, ask your supervisor which citation style they prefer. Often there is also a style guide for your respective department, which you should consult.

 

  1. APA style (author-year style)

In this citation style, the last name of the authors, the year of publication, and the page numbers from which you are quoting are given in brackets. Ex.: (Schmid, 2001, pp. 220-230).

(cf. American Psychological Association, 2010)

 

  1. IEEE editorial style (numerical style)

Here, a number is placed after the cited text passage, starting with the number 1. Ex.: [1]. The complete source is then listed in the bibliography under [1].

(cf. IEEE website)

 

  1. Chicago style (footnote style)

 

For this variant, the footnote is referred to within the text with a superscript number. The sources are located at the bottom of each page in the footer.

(cf. Univ. of Chicago Press, 2010).

Of course, there are other citation styles; however, the above are very commonly used.

 

How to cite efficiently

There are literature management programmes that can help you to cite correctly and create a bibliography in a structured and clean manner. Examples of such programmes are, as already mentioned, Citavi or EndNote.

 

How to manage your findings and reading

If you are in the middle of writing a seminar paper and would like to add a thought or insight that you gained a few days ago but can’t remember where it is, it is always helpful at this point to summarise scientific papers on one page so that you can find the information you have read more quickly.

This can be done in bullet points and in tabular form:

  • What is the title?
  • Who are the authors?
  • When was it published?
  • What is the research question?
  • What methodology is used?
  • What data are used?
  • What results do the authors find?
  • How might this be relevant to my own work?
  • What is good/bad about the study?

This way, you can quickly and repeatedly check whether you have quoted from the right source or find out more quickly where you might have found an insight.

 

Bibliography

You must include a bibliography at the end of your paper. What it looks like often depends on the citation style you use. The various organisations that have developed these citation styles sometimes also make specifications. Last but not least, it is important what your supervisor specifies. In all citation programmes, you can set very precisely what your bibliography should look like.

 

Citation is nothing too difficult

At first, citation may seem a little complicated. But once you’ve got to grips with it, it’s not difficult at all. Our blog post offers a good first point of reference. Most universities also provide advice on how to cite correctly and some have their own citation guidelines that you can use as a guide for your own academic work. So, you don’t need to be afraid of plagiarism as long as you follow the tips mentioned here.

We wish you every success with your next essay or thesis!

Sources:

  1. American Psychological Association (Hg.) (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Sixth Edition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  2. Homepage der IEEE (Advancing Technology for Humanity). Zuletzt geöffnet am 05.06.2020.

https://www.ieee.org/content/ieee-org/en/error/404.html/

  1. Univ. of Chicago Press (Hg.) (2010). The Chicago Manual of Style [The essential guide for writers, editors, and publishers]. Sixteenth Edition. Chicago, Ill. [u.a.]: Univ. of Chicago Press.
]]> 38441 Learning tips for students https://jums.academy/en/learning-tips-for-students/ Mon, 09 Mar 2020 08:11:42 +0000 https://jums.academy/learning-tips-for-students/

This is how you get through the exam period!

As January draws to a close, the exams are just around the corner. For many, this means stress, working through the night and coffee consumption that is certainly no longer healthy. But how do you actually get through the exam phase?

We have a few tips for you so that you don’t have to spend your nights in a haphazard way, so that you come through the exam session well prepared!

  1. Planning is everything

Before you start with the actual learning, you must first make a plan. Which exams are actually scheduled? In which time intervals do you have to write them and what material will be tested? Do you only have to recognize the material, like in a checkbox exam, do you have to write an entire essay or solve tasks? Think about what exactly is important in the exam and see how much material is there. Then you can divide the material into many small portions and take a certain amount each day. Take a monthly or weekly schedule and cross out the days when you don’t have time to study and also plan a day off per week when you don’t study. On the remaining days, you look at how many topics you can probably manage there, but be realistic. You should study for a maximum of six to seven hours a day. 

  • Tip: Don’t write down exactly which topic or subject you want to learn and repeat on that day. Just make a list of how many topics are possible on that day so that you can decide for yourself what you want to learn on that day.
  1. Do you have all the materials?

Check if you have all materials, such as lecture slides, summary, thesis papers or exercise sheets, and compare your documents with those of your fellow students. Often you can also find summaries or old exams at student councils or in internal groups (such as Facebook or Dropbox), it is often worthwhile to have a look there.

  1. Summarize substance 

Before you try to internalize the material, you usually have to bundle and summarize it first. Try out how you can learn best. No matter whether on index cards, summaries on the PC or by hand, on large posters or as a podcast recorded by yourself. Find out what kind of summaries work best for you and then start going through the material.

  1. Being able to play back material

Make sure that you can not only copy the material, but also play it back. For definitions you can write technical terms on small cards and try to reproduce the definition of the terms by heart. Also try to explain facts or definitions to other people and simply recite what you have learned by heart. You can do this before going to bed, brushing your teeth or even in the car, try to use free time to refresh what you have learned often.

  1. Applying what you have learned 

If you have to apply the material in the exam, do not neglect any exercises. It is not enough to know theoretically how to solve a task, schedule exercises regularly.  So you can also check directly whether you have understood the subject matter. 

  1. When can you learn best?

Each of us has a different daily high. Find out for yourself at what time you can work most productively. Personally, I have my daily high from five o’clock in the morning, but if you prefer to sleep in until nine o’clock and then work better, that’s fine too, just as some people don’t get really productive until nine o’clock. Find out for yourself when you can learn best, that’s up to you. Then try to put the main working hours at this high point of the day and use your low points for breaks.

My personal tip: The most important thing is to start first. If you have problems finding a learning rhythm, I can recommend the Pomodoro technique. With this technique you alternate between work and break times. After a 25-minute working phase follows a 5-minute break, always alternating. After four working phases you should plan a longer break. With such small work phases you don’t notice how much you have actually achieved. You can either use a normal timer or one of the numerous Pomodoro apps.

Michelle Grebe, JUMS - Marketing

7. Take a break!

The feeling of having learned and mastered everything never occurs! There is always something to repeat or practice, but don’t forget to take breaks, especially in very stressful times. After two to three hours at the latest, you should take a break, stretch your legs, drink a large glass of water and get some fresh air. Don’t plan on more than six or seven hours a day to learn productively, because at some point the air will be out of your system. During the breaks between the learning units, however, you should not spend unnecessary time at the PC or even watch TV. During these breaks your brain is still busy internalizing the learning material, if you add new stimuli, your brain is overstrained. Therefore it is better to open a window, do nothing for the moment, do sports or take a little power nap.

  1. Reward yourself!

He who learns a lot deserves a reward. This can be a small reward after a productive day of learning, like an episode of your favorite TV show, a free Sunday morning or just an extra hour of sleep. Set regular rewards, large and small, to motivate you. This way you can also set yourself a bigger reward at the end of your exam phase: this can be a trip, a nice dinner, the next holiday or simply the certainty to spend a weekend between couch and fridge without having a bad conscience. Sometimes even a piece of chocolate is enough as a reward!

  1. Write cheat sheets

Shortly before the exam there are still some things that just won’t go into your head. Write down all the things you can’t remember on a cheat sheet. And then you go through this cheat sheet again and again. On the day of the exam you leave the crib sheet at home of course, because you have internalized these things now that you have gone through it over and over again, so that the crib sheet is now unnecessary.

  1. Allow yourself to sleep

When time is short and the material does not seem to be manageable, sleep is usually the first thing you save on. But going through the nights and living only on coffee is firstly totally unhealthy and secondly it doesn’t help at all. You need enough sleep to be able to concentrate on your work and also to remember the material. When you are sitting at your desk, completely tired, you will soon find that you can’t think of anything else but how tired you actually are. 

Always remember: even the worst and longest exam phase will eventually pass!

We wish you much success for the exam phase and good persistence!

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