8/2/2019 Guidelines for Master's Thesis
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Universitt St.GallenHochschule fr Wirtschafts-, Rechts-und
Sozialwissenschaften (HSG)
University of St.Gallen
Institute of Management
Dufourstrasse 40 A
CH-9000 St.Gallen
Switzerland
Prof. Steven Floyd, PhD
Director
Phone +41 (0)71 224 2363
Facsimile +41 (0)71 224 2355
[email protected]
Guidelines for Masters theses
Level: In general, we supervise theses by students from one of
our masters courses.
Deadlines: It is exclusively the students responsibility to
manage all relevant deadlines
(including registration, submission, co-referee nomination,
signatures etc.).
Content: We supervise theses whose topics fall into the domain
of either the strategy process or
the strategy as practice field. Students are urged to consult
the respective Strategic
Management Societys special interest group (SMS SIG) statements
on page two of this
document and to consider whether their potential thesis topic
complies with either of
these statements.
Process: A decision whether to supervise a thesis involves the
following steps.
Thesis proposal: We expect that any request for supervision is
submitted as a one page
thesis proposal that outlines all of the following key
elements:
SMS SIG compliance: Which SMS SIG domain statement does your
plannedtopic comply with? How?
Focal issue/question: What is the core issue theoretical and/or
practical thatyou aim to investigate?
Conceptual framework: Which conceptual framework is at the core
of yourwork?
Premises/Literature: Which premises/literature do you ground
your argumentin?
Method: Which method of data gathering - if any - do you intend
to use? Analytical Strategy: How do you intend to analyze the data
as to address your
initial question?
Contributions: What contributions for theory and practice do you
anticipate?Refinement of proposal: Please send this document with
your request to Carola Wolf
([email protected]) who will assist you with refining the
document.
Decision: Based on this proposal, the Chair will decide whether
to accept supervision of
the outlined thesis.
Timing: All of the above needs to happen prior to any formal
registration with exams
office.
Signature: Once the proposal has been accepted and a co-referee
has been identified,
please approach Prof. Floyd for signing the respective form.
Thesis planning and writing: Carola Wolf will be your main
contact before and during
thesis writing. She will assist you in planning scope,
timeframe, milestones etc. of the
thesis and guide you through the process of writing. Any changes
in scope and timing
need to be synchronized with her.
Good luck!
Prof. Steven Floyd, PhD October 1st, 2008
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Strategy Process Interest Group
Domain Statement
Strategy process research focuses on the factors that govern the
formation of strategies at the group,
functional, business, corporate, and network levels of analysis.
The area draws on diverse theories
including intra-organizational evolution, bounded rationality,
power/politics, organizational learning,
socio-cognitive theory, organizational contingency theory, and
others. Research streams encompass a
broad range of phenomena, including 1) strategic planning, 2)
strategic decision-making, 3) strategy
implementation, 4) strategic change & renewal, 5) consensus,
politics and power in strategy-making, 6)
the role of organizational actors in strategy-making (e.g. CEOs,
top management teams, boards of
directors, middle-level and operational managers), and 7) the
development of comprehensive models of
strategy formation. Emerging research streams include: 1) the
micro-practices of strategy making, 2) the
development of strategic initiatives, 3) idea generation and
creativity in strategy, 4) the role of chance
events, 5) capability development and 6) the role of emotions in
strategy. A major role of the strategy
process research area is to act as an integrative mechanism in
the wider strategic management domain for
the dynamics of strategic elements over time.
The Practice of Strategy Interest Group
Domain Statement
This interest group focuses on the strategy worker. These are
individuals both within the firm as well
as in management consulting firms and universities, who have a
key role in shaping a firms strategy.
Some of the questions of interest to this group include: How are
strategy problems identified and
conceptualised? How are potential solutions generated,
evaluated, and decided on? Who are the
individuals who influence these decisions? How do they work?
What tools and methodologies do they
employ? How effective is their work? How could their
effectiveness and impact be improved?
(For further information on this topic you might also consult
www.strategy-as-practice.org)
