Step 1: Preliminary selection of the topic

Here you can get an overview of potential research foci and topics in which Bachelor's theses are currently offered. We are generally open to your own suggestions for topics that are not directly included in the list but are related to our main research areas. Usually, bachelor's theses focus on literature reviews or conceptual works but empirical analyses are also possible. We encourage bachelor's theses written in English.

• List of Topics for Bachelor's Theses

  Predictive Human Resources

  • How can organizations use HR data to forecast future trends and how can these forecasts help to anticipate challenges and achieve goals? How are such forecasts made, how reliable are they, and what are the limits of this method?
  • Methods: Conceptual
  • Note: You will develop a theoretical model based on a literature review. 

   

  Communication and Team Creativity in Remote Work:

  • Possible subtopics and research questions: How should communication in remote teams be designed to promote team creativity? How are team processes relevant to creativity influenced by virtual collaboration? And how can organizations influence them? 
  • Method: Conceptual
  • Note: You will develop a theoretical model based on a literature review.

   

  Work-Life Balance in Remote Work:

  • Analyze the challenges remote employees face in separating work and personal life and develop organization-specific measures to promote a healthy work-life balance.
  • Method: Conceptual
  • Note: You will develop a theoretical model based on a literature review.

   

  Psychological effects of remote work:

  • Possible subtopics and research questions: How does remote work affect the psyche and motivation of employees in companies? What are the possible challenges (e.g. stress, social isolation or burnout)? And how can these be addressed by organizations?
  • Method: Conceptual
  • Note: You will develop a theoretical model based on a literature review.

   

  Informal Leader Emergence During Team Collaboration 

  • What are antecedents and consequences of informal leader emergence during team collaboration? What is the status quo of research? How do informal leaders emerge during team collaboration and how does this influence team performance?
  • Methods: Literature review and conceptual
  • Note: You will create a dataset by coding video footage from a current team experiment. For a conceptual work, you will then conduct a literature review and develop a theoretical model that fits the experiment.

   

  Work Behavior of Digital Nomads 

  • What is the status quo of research on digital nomadism? How does the location independency of digital nomads influence their working behavior? Which factors are advantageous/disadvantageous for the work productivity of digital nomads?
  • Methods: Literature review and qualitative
  • Note: You will create a literature-based interview guideline, conduct interviews, and subsequently analyze the content of these interviews.

   

  Virtual Reality and Team Collaboration 

  • What is the status quo of research regarding the usage of virtual reality for team collaboration within the framework of media richness theories? What are the information-carrying capacities of virtual reality compared to other types of communication media?
  • Methods: Literature review and theory development
  • Note: You will develop a theoretical model based on a literature review.

   

  Gender Diversity and Innovation

  • What is the relationship between gender diversity or female leadership and innovation in teams and firms? How does this relationship work and how does it depend on contextual contingencies?
  • Methods: Conceptual
  • Note: You will develop a theoretical model based on a literature review. 

   

  Cultural Influences on Multicultural Female Leaders

  • How are female leaders affected by the interplay of different cultural environments? How are they shaped by the gender roles they grew up with? How do they cope with the (different) gender roles they face in a new cultural environment?
  • Methods: Conceptual (and possibly qualitative) Note: For a conceptual work, you will develop a theoretical model based on a literature review. For a qualitative work, you will create a literature-based interview guideline, conduct interviews, and subsequently analyze the content of these interviews.

   

  Gender Dynamics in Virtual Teams

  • How do female leaders interact with their team members in virtual teams? Which gender differences prevail in virtual environments, and which vanish? What role do individual and technical characteristics play in these relationships?
  • Methods: Conceptual (and possibly quantitative)
  • Note: You will create a dataset by coding video footage from a current team experiment. For a conceptual work, you will then conduct a literature review and develop a theoretical model that fits the experiment. You can also use the created dataset for a quantitaive empirical analysis.

   

  Virtual Environmental Cues 

  • How do environmental cues (e.g., background or lighting) and technical settings (e.g., camera perspective or video and audio quality) in virtual teams influence group dynamics and leadership?
  • Methods: Conceptual (and possibly quantitative)
  • Note: You will create a dataset by coding video footage from a current team experiment. For a conceptual work, you will then conduct a literature review and develop a theoretical model that fits the experiment. You can also use the created dataset for a quantitaive empirical analysis.

   

  Interruptions and Incivility in Virtual Teams

  • How do interruptions between team members (i.e., one team member interrupting another) affect group dynamics in virtual teams? Are the effects only destructive or can interruptions foster constructive conflict and enhance creativity? How does the virtual setting shape the nature and effects of interruptions? Which leadership styles prevent or encourage interruptions and which leadership styles foster destcrutive or constructive effects of interruptions?
  • Methods: Conceptual (and possibly quantitative)
  • Note: You will create a dataset by coding video footage from a current team experiment. For a conceptual work, you will then conduct a literature review and develop a theoretical model that fits the experiment. You can also use the created dataset for a quantitaive empirical analysis.

   

  Leadership Challenges of Remote Work

  • Which challenges are caused by remote work and virtual collaboration, and how should practitioners respond to them? How does leading change when followers work (partly) from home? 
  • Methods: Conceptual
  • Note: You will develop a theoretical model based on a literature review. 

   

  AI in Human Resources

  • How can organizations effectively integrate AI into HR? In what areas of HR is AI already an established instrument? What are untapped potentials and what are the limitations of using AI in HR?
  • Methods: Conceptual
  • Note: You will develop a theoretical model based on a literature review. 

Step 2: Application at the Chair

Once you have found a topic you would like to study (or even better, a shortlist of topics you would like to study), please contact Dr. Felix Hoch via this contact form.

The application period at the Chair for Transformation of Work runs until one month before the end of the offical registration period of the examination office (please find the exact deadlines below). We may not be able to take later applications into account.

One or two weeks after the end of the application period of the Chair for transformation of Work (so at least two weeks before the end of the registration period at the examination office), you will get feedback, whether you can write your Bachelor's Theses at our chair and also more information for the following procedure. All approvals will be collected and communicated together after the end of the application period, since we only there have an overview of applications and support capacities.

Please avoid making inquiries during the application period of the Chair for Transformation of Work! You will receive feedback before the registration deadline of the examination office.

Step 3: Registration at the Examination Office

After receiving the confirmation of the Chair for Transformation of Work, you must register your theses at the examination office. Even if some details regarding your topic are still open, the registration at the examination office can still take place anyways.

These information are provided without guarantee and is for guidance only. Please inform yourself about the relevant deadlines of the Examination Office! Link

Step 4: Individual Support and Topic Issue 

During the last month of before the term for the topic issues (e.g. in September for a topic issue in Q4), you will be connected with your individual supervisor.

Please avoid making inquiries during the application period of the Chair for Transformation of Work! You will be assigned to a supervisor in time for the earliest possible topic issue.

Now you can contact your supervisor to prepare the start of your thesis ("Themenausgabe"). Together with your supervisor you can than specify your preferred topic and agree on a date for the topic issue. Starting your thesis can take place digitally or in person at the chair. Please submit a completed guidance card ("Leitkarte") to your supervisor. You will get all necessary information for the procedure of the topic issue with your confirmation of the chair. From this point on you can always reach out to your supervisor with further questions. 

For the topic issue, you will also be added to a Learnweb course with all further information, formal requirements and helpful tipps on topics from literature research to submission on your final theses. 

You will find more information on the formal criteria on the website of the examination office. You can calculate the exact start and submission dates for your specific thesis period in the online calculator here.

Please note the possibility of an extended processing time if you are writing your Bachelors Theses study-accompanied. Find more information on the website of the examination office.

Contact:

Dr. Felix Hoch
Assistant Professor