Master Thesis
As a business administration student at the LMU, you have the possibility of writing your Master thesis at our institute. We offer three application slots during the year (see schedule below).
Admission Requirements
The number of thesis students for supervision depends on the available capacity at IIM. We are able to consider students for supervision who meet the following requirements: Passed project course or seminar(s) and lectures at the IIM.
Application Process
The theses (topic and supervisor) are assigned after application within the stated deadlines. Please apply online and provide your topic preference (see list below).
Once you have completed the online application, please send the following documents to iim(at)som.lmu.de as one PDF: short letter of motivation, CV and transcript of records.
The date of registration with the ISC starts the clock on the 22 weeks to write your thesis.
Please be aware that you are expected to write your thesis in English and to conduct research of empirical nature (e.g. data collection, experiments, database research, etc.). Research topics will be selected and defined in close collaboration with your thesis supervisor.
You will present a progress report on your thesis work mid-way through the 22 weeks, where you will receive feedback and guidance on content- and process-related aspects of the thesis in progress.
Schedule 2022/2023
| Topics | Application | Confirmation | Registration (ISC) | Colloquium | Submission thesis (ISC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.09.2022 | 03.-07.10.2022 | 10.10.2022 | 21.10.2022 | 18.01.2023 | 24.03.2023 |
| 21.12.2022 | 09.-13.01.2023 | 16.01.2023 | 27.01.2023 | 14.04.2023 | 30.06.2023 |
| 03.04.2023 | 10.-14.04.2023 | 17.04.2023 | 28.04.2023 | 21.07.2023 | 29.09.2023 |
| 18.09.2023 | 02.-06.10.2023 | 09.10.2023 | 20.10.2023 | 12.01.2024 | 22.03.2024 |
Topics
The Institute for Innovation Management offers master theses in the following topics. These topics are updated regularly. You will be asked to indicate your topic preference(s) during the application procedure.
Title: Creating a more responsible food system: a qualitative study of industry practices
Topic Description: Whilst the evolution of food systems in developing countries has led to many positive results, rapid structural transformations of food systems in developed countries to meet consumer taste preferences and demand for variety have caused a range of negative health and environmental consequences (WHO, 2022). Responsible Innovation is viewed as a way to tackle such grand societal challenges and concerned with how - sometimes conflicting - priorities of corporate aspirations and societal objectives can be balanced (e.g., Voegtlin et al., 2019). The aim of this thesis is to explore how and why firms address responsible innovation in the food industry. To answer this question, the thesis takes a qualitative approach, which could be in the form of case studies or multiple interviews.
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Title: Labeling for animal welfare: an empirical investigation of the German market
Topic Description: In 2018, German retailer Lidl was the first to introduce a standardized label for meat products evaluating animal husbandry (”Haltungsform-Kennzeichung”). Other retailers and manufacturers followed and the label is planned to become mandatory in Germany. Whilst extant research studies firm responses to similar voluntary front-of-package labels for nutritional quality of food products (e.g., Bablani, 2020), no research has studied how firms are responding to the new animal husbandry label. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate firms’ product innovation responses in terms of adoption of the label, improvement in animal husbandry standards and price changes. To answer the question, the student will explore a product innovation data set and empirically test specific hypotheses that are based on existing front-of-package labeling literature.
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Title: How does foresight shape the future in which we live
Topic Description: Foresight in innovation management can be seen as thinking critically about expected and alternative long-term futures with an eye toward decisions today that make the most desired futures also the most likely. Innovation management scholars characterize foresight as an effective instrument for creating an anticipatory intelligence for decision-making (e.g., Ehls, Polier, & Herstatt, 2020) that in turn enables firms to create breakthrough innovations and thus achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The purpose of this thesis is to identify firms that seem to be best-in-class in conducting foresight (evidence-based), derive a framework containing identified best practices (as basis for the empirical study) and conduct an empirical analysis to test the relationship between “best-in-class” foresight and innovation performance.
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Title: Sustainability reporting helps companies understand and communicate their most significant impact on the environment, economy and people. To what extent does this actually lead to more sustainable practices within companies?
Topic Description: Companies are in a unique situation to play an essential role in contributing to a more sustainable environment, economy and people, and without their contribution, the UN 2030 Agenda cannot be achieved. For this they employ a variety of tools and instruments, including reporting standards, such as the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, to publicly disclose their impacts, both positive and negative, and how these are being managed. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the most widely used and recognized global sustainability standard (e.g., Gilbert & Rasche, 2008; KPMG, 2022; Yang et al., 2021). The goal of this thesis is to investigate why companies are reporting on their sustainability impacts and why they are using GRI for their sustainability report, as well as to explore whether and then how the use of GRI affects the behavior of companies beyond enhancing sustainability reporting capabilities, i.e. also regarding business practices and processes, including issues related to governance. The student working on this topic is expected to conduct interviews with sustainability managers and operational decision-makers of Europe-based companies (a representative sample of firms will be defined). This thesis will be conducted in cooperation with the Global Reporting Initiative.
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Title: Professional chambers: guiding lights and epic fights
Topic Description: Professional chambers have a leading and oversight function, tasked with representing the interests of their member profession. Political discourse is part of their job description, yet emotions can get the better of them. The aim of this master thesis is to apply a novel method and analysis approach (namely automated text and thematic analysis) to the exploration of public discourse on interdisciplinarity, innovation, and cooperation among professional chambers on the basis of the ongoing discourse around pharmacy service provision by doctor and pharmacist chambers. During the first steps, the student is expected to develop a research question, narrow the scope of the research, propose a methodological approach and outline potential theoretical constructs to guide data analysis.
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Last updated: April 3rd 2023, 11:00 am. Information subject to change.
Further details can be found in the specific examination regulations of your studies and exam organization at the ISC website.
Management - European Triple Degree (Master)
Please contact spanjol(at)lmu.de with Cc to the IIM office iim(at)som.lmu.de for further information.
Last updated on: September 19th, 2022