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2015/2016  BA-BINBO1143U  International Business Thesis

English Title
International Business Thesis

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 15 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Fourth Quarter, Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in International Business
Course coordinator
  • Bersant Hobdari - Department of International Economics and Management (INT)
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalization and international business
Last updated on 12-08-2015
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Subject Area: The project must be written within the field of international business.
  • Topic: The research question must be problem oriented and should be connected to the programme curriculum to date.
  • Methodology: The project must include an explicit outline of the methodology used. The choice of methodology must be clearly discussed, and problems in relation to the chosen methodology must be analyzed.
  • Application of Theory: The thesis must include relevant theories from the program curriculum. The thesis must include a literature review, where abstract concepts are dicussed and anlyzed in detail leading to a set of hypotheses or research assumptions. Concepts must be measured promptly and be aligned to the empirical analyses.
  • Emperical Methods: The project must document the ability to gather relevant and rich data, evaluate its reliability, systematize and interpret it in relation to hypotheses or research assumptions.
  • The thesis should include an introduction that outline the relevance of the research questions, and outline the main contributions of the thesis work.
  • The thesis must include a concluding section that presents the main results of the survey. Conclusion is followed by a section discussing the perspectives of these results in relation to 1) future research, and 2) implications for managers and/or policy makers.
Examination
International Business Thesis:
Exam ECTS 15
Examination form Oral exam based on written product

In order to participate in the oral exam, the written product must be handed in before the oral exam; by the set deadline. The grade is based on an overall assessment of the written product and the individual oral performance.
Individual or group exam Group exam, max. 3 students in the group
The exam is an individual oral defence based on the written group project.
Size of written product Max. 80 pages
Assignment type Bachelor project
Duration
Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
30 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Grading scale 7-step scale

The student’s spelling and writing skills are taken into consideration in the overall assessment of the examination performance, but the academic content is given the highest weight.
Regulations regarding the summary The summary must be written in English.
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period Summer, The regular exam takes place in June. The make-up and re-examination takes place in August.
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Make-up examinations and Retake examinations takes place according to the same rules as the regular examination. However, the following supplementary rules apply:

If a failing grade (-3 or, 00) is earned by all individual members of the group, the overall project is deemed unacceptable and the individual members of the group will not graduate from the BSc IB Programme in June. The individual members of the group must have a retake examination in August/September. Before the retake examination the project must be revised and improved. For guidance in this respect, the examiner and the external examiner will submit a brief written critique of the project within eight working days of the individual oral examination.

If a failing grade (-3, or 00) is earned by some of the group members, the student will not graduate from the BSc IB Programme in June. The student must have a retake examination in August/September. The student who fails the oral defence has the option of writing an individual bachelor project based on a new topic subject to approval by the BSc IB Programme Study Board unless the advisor approves the current project and indicates that adequate changes can be made to pass the exam. For guidance in this respect, the examiner and the external examiner will within eight working days of the individual oral examination submit a written critique of the respective student performance and specify the supplementary material needed.
Description of the exam procedure

Each group is to prepare a project proposal of max. 3 pages. The proposal form includes the following sections: Introduction, Research Question, Literature Review, Methodology and a Reference list. The project proposal must be signed and approved by the advisor.

The maximum length of the bachelor project depends on the number of students in the group. The page count does not include front page, declaration of authorship, executive summary, bibliography and appendices.

1 group member: maximum 40 pages
2 group members: maximum 60 pages
3 group members: maximum 80 pages

Declaration of Authorship must be included in the group project.
Course content and structure

See teaching methods
Teaching methods
The role of the Thesis advisor is to participate in a critical dialogue with students about the project drafts. The initiative always lies on the students’ shoulders. Thesis advising is always guided by the students’ questions. Based upon these facts, the role of the advisor is as follows:

1. The advisor involves her/him self in discussions concerning issue formulation and choice of methodology and theory.

2. The advisor involves her/him self in discussions about the project as it progresses: s/he shall read and question drafts of the issue formulation, as well as read and discuss drafts of some individual sections of the project and discuss these with the group. The advisor will not read the entire project at any point in the supervision process.

3. The advisor is not to be viewed as an encyclopaedia, dictionary, or editor.

4. The advisor supports teamwork and cooperation in the group.

5. The advisor may not tell the group the name of the external examiner before the oral exam.

6. An advisor may never grant an exemption from any thesis deadlines.

7. At the oral exam, the advisor’s role changes from that of advisor to that of examiner. The advisor will evaluate and grade the thesis.

Each group is entitled to a pre-determined number of supervision hours, listed below, dependant upon the number of students in the group. These are the total numbers of hours available per group. The below-mentioned hours include all time used with each advisor, including actual consultation, email reading/writing, preparation for meetings, proposal reading, etc.

Number of students / Advising Hours
1 student 7 advising hours
2 students 12 advising hours
3 students 16 advising hours

To benefit most from these limited hours, plan very strategically how you expect to best utilize your supervision time. As well, always arrive well prepared for your meetings with your advisor!
Last updated on 12-08-2015