If you are interested in pursuing a bachelor's thesis in management at the Institute for Innovation, Strategy and Organization, you will find an overview of the subject areas in which we offer theses, as well as all relevant information about the process, on this website.

• Application & registration

  Applications can only be submitted within the period specified for the desired pickup quarter (see table below). Applications submitted outside these deadlines will not be considered.

   

  Please use the form on our website to apply. There you will specify five prioritized topics that you would like to work on as part of your bachelor's thesis. In addition, please upload your transcript of records and indicate on the form whether you have already taken courses at our institute—and if so, which ones.

   

  Once we have received your application, we will usually review it within ten working days. Please refrain from making any inquiries during this time. You will then receive feedback as to whether we can offer you a supervision place and which subject area your thesis will be assigned to. Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to academic suitability. We therefore recommend that you apply as early as possible, as the number of places available is limited. Once we have stopped accepting applications for a quarter, the application portal will be closed early.

  Once your application has been accepted, you will officially register for your bachelor's thesis via PAM.

  Shortly before the start of the respective quarter, a bachelor's thesis tutorial will take place, during which you will receive an introduction to academic work at our institute. You will receive further information about the tutorial after your application has been successfully accepted.

  Please note: We only supervise bachelor's theses in the field of management. If you would like to write in the field of finance, accounting, or marketing, please contact the relevant departments.

  Pickup of the topic	Registration period PAM	Priority query Institute
  First quarter of the year (January 1 - March 31)	August 1 - October 30.	August 1 - October 15.
  Second quarter of the year (April 1 - June 30)	November 1 - January 31.	November 1 - January 15.
  Third quarter of the year  (July 1 - September 30)	February 1 - April 30.	February 1 - April 15.
  4th quarter of the year (October 1 - December 31)	May 1 - July 31.	May 1 - July 15.

• Subject Areas

  Bachelor's theses are generally written as systematic literature reviews. Here you will find an overview of possible topics.

   

  Digitalization and Virtualization in Sports

  This topic area deals with the increasing digitalization and virtualization in sports. Sports often serve as a practical framework for research in order to gain insights that can also be applied to general management and transformation processes. Current developments such as virtual reality, digital platforms, and concepts related to the metaverse open up exciting fields of research at the interface between technology, sports, and business.

  Preservation of Integrity in Sports

  This topic deals with issues of integrity in sports competition. The focus is on measures to ensure fair performance, for example in the context of anti-doping or anti-match-fixing strategies. Current developments relating to digitalization in the context of sport are also relevant, such as the use of new technologies such as remote testing for sample collection. Both existing challenges and innovative approaches that contribute to strengthening sporting integrity are considered.

  Leadership and Organizational Dynamics

  Leadership is a key factor in the stability and development of organizations. This topic area examines leadership behavior and characteristics and their influence on change processes. The focus is on the effect of different leadership styles on employee motivation, satisfaction, and performance. In addition, the tension between control and trust in leadership is examined. With the use of AI-based systems, the concept of automated leadership is also coming into focus. This involves examining how algorithmic systems take on leadership functions and what organizational, psychological, and social implications this has.

  New Work and Work Design

  New forms of collaboration are being examined, particularly in the context of digitalization and remote work. The focus is on the effects on performance, well-being, and engagement at the individual and organizational levels. In addition, influencing factors that contribute to these effects are analyzed, including personality traits, attitudes, and structural conditions.

  Technology Acceptance and Human Interaction

  This topic area analyzes the acceptance of new technologies, especially AI systems, in organizational and social contexts. The focus is on user reactions and psychological, social, and structural factors such as trust, transparency, perceived control, self-efficacy, and benefits. The goal is to understand the conditions under which technological innovations are successfully accepted and integrated.

  Corporate Sustainability

  The focus is on strategic approaches to sustainable corporate management. The development, implementation, and effectiveness of sustainability strategies are examined, as well as internal prerequisites such as leadership, culture, or governance and external influencing factors such as regulation, social expectations, or market dynamics. Another central topic is the interplay between strategic sustainability communication and entrepreneurial action.

  Greenwashing & Sustainability Communication

  This topic deals with corporate sustainability communication between authenticity and misrepresentation. It analyzes the motives, mechanisms, and effects of CSR communication in complex environments with high credibility requirements. It addresses the design of sustainability messages and their impact on various stakeholders, including ethical, legal, and reputational implications.

  Four-Day Workweek

  This topic area is dedicated to the scientific examination of alternative working time models, in particular the four-day week. The focus is on the effects on work-life balance, health, motivation, and creative performance. The analysis covers corporate, social, and individual perspectives on reduced working hours and their implications for productivity, employee satisfaction, and organizational change.

  Employee Identity and Ownership

  This topic explores the psychological ownership of employees and its influence on identification, commitment, and loyalty. It examines the development of individual feelings of responsibility, the importance of role understanding, and mechanisms through which companies can promote a sense of ownership and belonging. The focus is on questions of organizational culture, leadership, and sustainable employee development.

  Top Management Teams and Strategic Innovation

  This topic analyzes the role of top management teams (TMTs) in promoting strategic innovation. The focus is on the composition, decision-making dynamics, and characteristics of leaders, especially CEOs. Emotional and cognitive influencing factors, leadership styles, and processes of change in complex, dynamic corporate environments are considered.

• Topic assignment

  The topic assignment for bachelor's theses always takes place on Wednesdays, usually by email from the secretariat. To pick up your topic, you must fill out the candidate section of the Index Card  (last name, first name, student ID number, email, degree program, topic proposer, supervisor) on the Monday before the Wednesday of the pick-up and send it to  iso@uni-muenster.de . The 8-week processing period begins when the topic is assigned. If the bachelor's thesis is to be completed during the course of study (i.e., fewer than 168 ECTS credits have been completed at the time the topic is picked up), the processing period can be extended to 12 weeks at the student's request. To do so, please mark the appropriate box on the index card and submit a transcript of grades (not older than 3 days). The chair will review the request and determine the processing period. Public holidays during the processing period will be added as credit accordingly. Nevertheless, the submission date is decisive for allocation to the respective quarter, regardless of credited public holidays. Please take this into account when calculating your desired submission date. You can find the online calculator for calculating your processing period here. If you wish to extend the processing time, e.g., due to illness, please inform your supervisor and submit an official request directly to the Examination Office.

• Formal Requirements

  Further information on the formal requirements can be found in our Guidelines for writing academic papers.

• Submission of Thesis

  Bachelor's theses should be submitted digitally by the last day of the processing period at the latest. The deadline ends at 11:59 p.m. The affidavit and the declaration of consent to the plagiarism check must be included at the end of the thesis (download from PAM). Department 04 provides an application, the Thesis Uploader, for submission, which must be used. In addition to the thesis in PDF and Word format, empirical theses must also include the data sets (e.g., questionnaire data, archive data, or interview transcripts) and the analysis codes (e.g., the Do file in Stata), which must be uploaded via the Thesis Uploader. If the data cannot be transmitted in this way due to size restrictions, discuss with your supervisor at an early stage how you can transmit the data (e.g., via WeTransfer). A quick guide and FAQ can be found here.