Master Project: Master Thesis (CK95300)

General information

Type:	TFP	Curs:	1	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	7 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Ed: 1	Ricard Serlavós Serra	Dirección de Personas y Organización	ENG

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Ed: 2	Ricard Serlavós Serra	Dirección de Personas y Organización	ENG

The aim of this course is to help students to elaborate and orally defend their MSc Master Thesis and it puts at the students' disposal a series of different learning elements designed for this purpose, more specifically:
- opening session (3-hour face-to-face, lecture-type session) designed to provide insight into the course organization and into what research is,
- academic writing seminar (one 3-hour face-to-face workshop) designed to provide students with useful tips regarding academic writing as well as the writing process

- Empirical MSc thesis quantitative (three 3-hour sessions) and Empirical MSc thesis qualitative seminars (two 3-hour face-to-face sessions). These are on demand tutorials, designed to offer the necessary specific insight into the quantitative or qualitative methods, according to the students' needs and interests

- Research Based Case MSc thesis seminar based on a thorough study of a Firm or a group of Firms with the aim of generate new theoretical insights
- Academic Literature Search Seminar providing students with helpful tools to organize and perform a successful literature search (search strategy, data basis, etc.)

Business success, especially in the presence of an overwhelming amount of information overload, can be achieved only with informed decision-making. Some decisions might be motivated by ¿good intuition¿, but the decision process is predominantly preceded by thorough and systematic data collection, analysis and interpretation of facts, events and players. Top executives are not fact-collectors; they are fact-users and integrators. The knowledge and skills to place together pieces of information in decision-making are among the most appreciated characteristics in a professional career. The research project (Master thesis) is the perfect opportunity to develop these.
This course intends to facilitate the process of Master Thesis writing with applied knowledge ranging from specific guidelines on the thesis format (in the academic writing seminar) to a more general overview of possible quantitative and qualitative research methods and their applicability to a research question (for instance, should a survey approach be preferred to a case study for a specific research question?).

At the end of this course, students should be able to:
- comprehend the purpose of scientific research, distinguish and follow the phases of the research process and elaborate their Master Thesis.
- be aware and use the research approaches and methods that best allow them to fulfil the objectives of their Master Thesis.
- critically select and collect information that is suitable for the research project.
- be successful in communicating a research design and results in both a written (Master Thesis) and oral (defence) form.

1. Face-to-face sessions -Opening session to explain what the Master Thesis consists of, its learning objectives and study dynamics; to answer initial queries; and to present the resources and tools available to you. Attendance to the opening session is compulsory -Research methods seminars: one focusing on quantitative methods and one focusing on qualitative methods. Tutors will suggest their students to pursue the seminar that can be most useful, according to the research study they are conducting for the Master Thesis. Tutors may suggest students to pursue both seminars if knowledge of quantitative and qualitative methods is considered necessary for the adequate development of their Master Thesis. Also, students may attend both seminars if they wish to do so. -Academic literature search and writing seminars: these seminars are optional and tutors may recommend their students to attend them if specific emphasis on these areas is considered necessary to ensure the quality of the Master Thesis.

2. The course website The Master Thesis course will have its own website to ensure that the resources and interactions are applicable.

This course differs from other courses because it is based not on contents or topics but on learning elements designed to provide students with keys to effectively confront the elaboration of their Master Thesis. Such learning elements are:
- Face-to-face sessions:
Opening session to explain what the Master Thesis consists of, its learning objectives and study dynamics; to answer initial queries; and to present the resources and tools available to you. Attendance to the opening session is compulsory
Since part of the MSc applicants have already acquired some of the competencies that the tutorial sessions offered provide, these will be organized on demand. At least 10 participants should apply to each specific tutorial in order to organize it.
- The course website:
The Master Thesis course will have its own website to ensure that the resources and interactions are applicable.

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

Group	Teacher	Department
Ed: 1	Ricard Serlavós Serra	Dirección de Personas y Organización

Group	Teacher	Department
Ed: 2	Ricard Serlavós Serra	Dirección de Personas y Organización