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2012/2013  BA-HAI_3THES  International Business Thesis

English Title
International Business Thesis

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 15 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Course period Fourth Quarter, Summer
Two thesis workshops will be given in the beginning of Spring term (January/February) prior to deadline for thesis proposal form.
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for BSc in International Business
Course coordinator
  • Jens Gammelgaard - Department of International Economics and Management
Can-Seng Ooi, Department of International Economics and Management will teach the two workshops.
Main Category of the Course
  • Globalization, International Business, markets and studies
Last updated on 05-09-2012
Learning objectives
  • 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:
Type of test Oral with Written Assignment
Marking scale 7-step scale
Second examiner External examiner
Exam period May/June and August, the regular exam takes place in June. The make-up and re-examination takes place in August.
Aids Please, see the detailed regulations below
Duration 30 Minutes
The exam is an individual oral defence based on the written group project. Groups can maximum have three (3) students. The length of the thesis depends on the number of students in the group and varies from 40 to 80 pages, excluding Front page, Declaration of Authorship, the Executive Summary of maximum 2 standard pages, bibliography and appendices.

1 group member: maximum number of standard pages is 40
2 group members: maximum number of standard pages is 60
3 group members: maximum number of standard pages is 80

The length of the oral exam is 30 minutes. Grades are given according to the Danish 7-point grading scale and a minimum grade of 02 is required to pass the course and the BSc degree as a whole.

Declaration of Authorship must be included in the group project.
Examination
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.
Prerequisites for attending the exam
Each group is to prepare a project proposal of max. 3 standard 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.
Course content

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 10 advising hours
2 students 13 advising hours
3 students 13 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 05-09-2012