Thesis

Introduction

The students shall, as part of the exam’s requirement, write a thesis. The students are allowed to work on the thesis in groups of a maximum of three students. A student is allowed to write the thesis by him/herself, but experience indicates that group work creates better results and students are encouraged to create intercultural working groups.

The topic should be an analysis and evaluation of a real life challenge facing a company. The students should choose the topic from their own company or a company that they have close connection to. The students should be able to observe and discuss the topic with people dealing with the challenge in the company. Many of the issues taught should be discussed in the thesis, and the students should demonstrate their ability to apply the theory they have studied to a real situation.

Course content

Teaching
There will be a one-day lecture on thesis work and methodology at an early stage of the program. The lecture will cover the following topics:
How to write a thesis
Phases in thesis work
Critical evaluation of published article
Introduction and problem formulation
Theory, research model, and hypotheses
Methods considerations and documentation
Analysis
Discussion, implications for practice and theory

Supervision
Supervision will be given to the students, by Norwegian professors. The Norwegian professors will supervise in person as well as electronically.

Thesis work schedule
A topic hand-in is requested at an early stage (e.g. module 5), and the thesis will be presented orally at late in the program (e.g. in connection with the last or one of the last modules).
Deadline for handing in the thesis will be two months after the last module.

Student presentation
The students have to present their theses verbally to the graders and fellow students after hand-in.