Final theses

Doctoral theses

Bachelor, master and diploma theses

To apply for a bachelor, master or diploma thesis, please send the following information to Tobias Walther: 1) a current CV and 2) an up-to-date transcript of records. 

Please note, that we strongly prefer theses with empirical character. We acknowledge, however, that writing an empirical thesis requires some familiarity with basic econometric methods on the one hand and some type of spreadsheet application (e.g. Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice Calc) on the other. To allow you to check your level of knowledge in these areas, we have prepared a brief test, which is available from Tobias Walther upon request.     

Further details of the application process can be found here [in German only].

Note: Generally, we recommend STATA, Eviews or SPSS for statistical analysis. However, most of the analyses (at least for BSc theses) may also be done in Excel (see for instance the book by Cynthia Fraser "Business Statistics for Competitive Advantage with Excel 2010" published by Springer - available here)

• We warmly welcome BSc students to write their thesis with us. To facilitate the process and to guide students during that journey, we have defined a standard process, which consists of two steps:
  
  (1) Students are invited to attend our BSc seminar, which is offered every semester.
  (2) Given the experience from the seminar, students are invited to write their bachelor thesis with us.
  
  Specifically, we define semi-annual topics for bachelor theses at our Institute and consider attending the corresponding BSc seminar (in the semester prior to the bachelor thesis) as a prerequisite for writing a bachelor thesis with us. The seminar covers the theoretical foundation of the topic, issues of academic writing as well as principles of data collection and analysis. Further (general) information can be found here.
  
  
• In general, we encourage students to write bachelor theses in groups of two students.
  
• The topic for the upcoming summer term 2013 is "The German Corporate Governance Code" ["Der Deutsche Corporate Governance Kodex"].

Master theses

• Value based management
• Corporate Governance
• Incentives
• Earnings and cost management
• Shareholder activism

"Durch die vorbildliche und professionelle Betreuung während des gesamten Bearbeitungszeitraums und die Ausrichtung des Themas an aktuellen Forschungsfragen wurde die Masterarbeit für mich zum Highlight des gesamten Studiums. Vor allem hat es mich begeistert, ein empirisches Projekt selbstständig über alle Phasen hinweg von der Datenerhebung über die Entwicklung von Forschungsfragen, der statistischen Auswertung bis zur Interpretation der Ergebnisse bearbeiten zu können."

"With its focus on empirical theses, the institute offers an insight into academic research and writing in the interesting fields of the Institute's research topics. This and the excellent support provided by the supervisor turn the work on a bachelor thesis into a recommendable experience."

"Meine Bachelorarbeit am Institut für Controlling ermöglichte es mir erstmals die im Studium erlernten theoretischen und methodischen Kenntnisse auf wissenschaftlicher Ebene umzusetzen. Unterstützung fand ich hierbei durch meinen Prüfer, der für Fragen und Anregungen stets offen war. Jedem dem die Forschungsschwerpunkte und somit die Thematik der Abschlussarbeiten zusprechen und sich nicht scheuen empirisch zu arbeiten, kann ich dieses Institut empfehlen."

"Meine empirische Diplomarbeit am Controlling-Lehrstuhl hat mir viel Spass bereitet und ich fühlte mich jederzeit gut betreut. Die Einarbeitung in ein interessantes Forschungsgebiet hat mir sowohl fachlich als auch persönlich weitergeholfen."