Thesis in Business & Management

Course Director: Filip Wijkström, Jonas Colliander

The course is designed to provide you with the tools and insights needed to execute and finalize your Master thesis. The course consists of 12 lectures and interactive seminars/workshops that will focus on supporting you on how to identify an interesting and relevant research topic, how to pin down the boundaries of existing knowledge in order to find an appropriate knowledge gap, how to design and carry out an appropriate study, and how to finalize the thesis. Workshops supporting your thesis work relating to both theory, as well as collecting data and performing analysis using qualitative and quantitative methods are offered. The aim is to provide the building blocks and tools, in theory and practice, for attaining a scientific approach in executing a research project.

Attending thesis presentations

Participants may begin attending presentations of theses already in current semester. Doing so is an excellent way to learn and to get inspired.

Thesis format & formalities

• The deadline for thesis proposal is Dec 18, 2026. This is so we can match students and supervisor early so that the students can start the thesis right away when the semester starts.
• In order to be assigned a supervisor you must also submit your course registration form by the applicable deadlines. Please note that as of spring 2026, supervisors will now be assigned by the course directors. Students are therefore not required to look for their own supervisor. There will be more info on this during an information session.
• The master thesis should be maximum 16 000 words excl abstract, appendixes, front page, list of content, and bibliography
• It should normally be written in pairs
• You should have passed 45 ECTS to start the writing process
• Further info given at the online info session at the end of this semester as well as at course start

Course administrator: Tina.Bengtsson@hhs.se

After the course students should be able to:

• Design and conduct an advanced research study, including the collection and analysis of relevant data, to address a theoretical or empirical problem.
• Communicate the results of a research study.
• Assess the relevance and quality of research results.

You should have passed 45 ECTS to start the writing process.

Emma Bell, Alan Bryman, Bill Harley (2022). Business Research Methods 6ed. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0-19-886944-3. Earlier available editions may be used.

Research design in quantitative studies:

• Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Houghton-Mifflin.
• Other available editions may be used, for example the earlier editions often freely available online (and available in the library):
• Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental research designs.
• Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1991). Foundations for program evaluation.

Research design in qualitative studies:

• Daft, R. (1983), Learning the craft of organizational research, Academy of Management review, vol. 8, pp 539-546
• Edmondson, A. C., and McManus, S. E. (2007), Methodological Fit in Management Field Research. Academy of Management Review, vol. 32. pp. 1155-1179.
• Gioia, D. A., Corley, K. G., & Hamilton, A. L. (2013). Seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research notes on the Gioia methodology. Organizational Research Methods, 16(1), 15-31.
• Making theoretical generalizations and contributions from qualtitative data:
• Eisenhardt, K. M., & Graebner, M. E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25-32.
• MacInnis, D (2011), A Framework for Conceptual Contributions in Marketing. Journal of Marketing Vol. 75, pp. 136-154.
• Welch, C., Piekkari, R., Plakoyiannaki, E., and Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, E. (2011) Theorising from case studies: Towards a pluralist future for international business research. Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 42, pp. 740–762.

Writing theory and theoretical contributions generally:

• Sutton, R.I. and Staw, B.I. (1995) What Theory is Not. Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 40, 371-384
• Locke, K., and Golden-Biddle, K. (1997), Constructing Opportunities for Contribution. The Academy of Management Journal 40. pp. 1023-1062.
• Corley, K. G., & Gioia, D. A. (2011). Building theory about theory building: what constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of management review, 36(1), 12-32.

Additional articles may be assigned

Course requirements

• Own MSc thesis submitted, presented and defended.
• Own MSc thesis approved by faculty examiners.
• Discussion of one assigned MSc thesis.
• Individual written evaluations of four additional theses, and participation in their thesis presentation seminars.

Grading criteria

The grading template will be available in Canvas.

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit

Online info session

An online info session will be scheduled in December for students taking the course in the spring.

Have you been granted educational support because of a documented disability? If so, please contact the course director as soon as possible so that adequate accommodations can be made.

Contact specialneeds@hhs.se if you have questions about being granted educational support or need a copy of your educational support certificate.

For more information, visit the Specific Educational Needs page on the Student Hub (login required).