Education

In the third year of their study students choose a major. The Department of Organisation, Strategy and Entrepreneurship offers two Strategy majors (one in each semester), two Organization majors (again one per semester), and one Entrepreneurship major.  Part of doing a major is that the student writes a thesis associated with this major and supervised by the department that hosts the major. This is something to keep in mind for two reasons.

1. The Bachelor (BSc) thesis is an academic paper that describes a research project conducted by an individual student. The BSc thesis process takes about five months and starts by guiding you in formulating a research question and setting up a theoretical foundation based on prior research. Students identify and define a problem that is relevant for society, business and academics. Students develop research questions that contribute to the solution of the problem, and answer these questions; Find appropriate literature to evaluate the problem and formulate hypotheses; and finally outline an empirical analysis before drawing conclusions. Within OSE, the thesis follows the format of a so called research proposal, which is a concise summary of a proposed research endeavor. The purpose of a research proposal is to show how you intend to tackle a research and whether you have thought through the practicalities. It sets out the central issue or research question that you intend to address and explains which methods will be used to answer this research question. Like a literature review, a research proposal gives an overview of the current state of the academic literature in a particular domain and uses this overview to motivate the relevance of the proposed research project. However, in contrast to a literature review, a research proposal has an additional component, namely the research methodology. Here you describe which method you would use, which sample you would select, what the model will look like, how you intend to measure the variables, how you intend to collect the data, etc. So a research proposal will have both a literature review section and a section on the proposed research methodology.

2. The set of bachelor courses our department gives in Strategy, Organization, and Entrepreneurship can give an idea of the contours of topics that we prefer to see in a bachelor thesis. Look for touchpoints and find a creative topic connected with or contained by these topics. 

To sketch a background on our majors may help the previous point. The 1st-semester Strategy major has a business and society angle, and contains the courses Business and Politics in Europe and International Business History. The 2nd-semester Strategy major has a dynamic capabilities angle, and considers two dynamic capabilities: project management in Project and Process Management, and innovation and consulting in Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation. The 1st-semester Organization major confronts management with two problem areas: Crisis Management in Organizations and Comparative Management. The 2nd-semester Organization major places the human being center stage with Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. The Entrepreneurship major includes the courses Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, Diversity in Entrepreneurship, Technology Entrepreneurship and, Social and Environmental Entrepreneurship.

The upshot is: be inspired by what you learn here but also keep a keen eye open to the reality of business in the world at large. Your bachelor thesis should have touch points with both elements. If you do this you will find our supervisors eager to work with you and able to give valuable support.

One of the requirements for the Master of Science (MSc) degree is the completion of a master thesis. At the department of Organisation, Strategy and Entrepreneurship (OSE) students follow one of the three study tracks within the International Business MSc programme: Strategy and Innovation; Organization Management, Change and Consultancy; Entrepreneurship and Business Development. The areas in which a student following one of the tracks may write a thesis include International Business, Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship and small business management, Organizational theory and behavior, Industrial Organization as well as the intersection of these disciplines. Students work on their thesis under the supervision of a staff member of the OSE department. The following points are important to keep in mind: 

• Students need to be enrolled in one of the skills courses EBS4013, EBS4018, EBS4025 to be allocated for supervision at the OSE department
• Students pursuing MSc degree are entitled to 20 hours of supervision during the 7 contiguous months starting from the time they enroll in the thesis skills course
• Master thesis carries 17 ECTS credits, which is equivalent to approximately 3 months of full-time study
• A thesis writing process starts with a student drafting a proposal that has to be endorsed by a supervisor
• A thesis writing process ends with the submission of a thesis to the assessment committee consisting of the supervisor and a second examiner and an oral examination

Dr. Boris Lokshin is the MSc thesis coordinator at the OSE department and coordinates the ‘Writing a master thesis proposal’ skills courses offered in Semester 1 and Semester 2.

For BSc & MSc information on full-time as well as part-time internships, please contact the OSE department’s coordinator for internships: Dr. Ir. Peter Bollen.

More information can also be found via the SBE Internship office as well as on Student Portal (Login > go to "SBE Student Info" > Extra study > (EM) internships & TIP > Internships.)