Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
2014-2015
th
Prepared by Helen Bollaert. Last updated November 12 2014.
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Aim of the MSc thesis
Your master thesis is an original individual piece of work which gives you the opportunity to study in
depth a topic which is of personal interest to you. When you are caught up in the day-to-day routine of
study or work it is difficult to step back and take time to analyze situations deeply. The master thesis
gives you the opportunity to do just that. In addition, it can significantly enhance your CV. In the vast
majority of cases, your work will be directly or indirectly linked to your chosen career. It shows potential
employers that you are skilled this this area. It is also a potential subject of discussion in your interview.
If you can explain your master thesis convincingly to potential employers you can shine during
interviews.
The MSc thesis is a key part of your postgraduate education. Successful completion of the master thesis
shows that you have developed several key skills. First, you acquire the ability to develop an original
project which reflects you own area of interest. Second, you develop critical thinking skills through
benchmarking existing work in your chosen area. Third, you learn to apply specific methods to test your
idea through your empirical work. Fourth, you gain new insights in your chosen topic through analysis
and interpretation. Finally, you learn to critically question your own work as you assess what you have
done and understand its implications and limits.
Practicalities
The research methods class in semester 1 gives you the opportunity to develop your research proposal.
Your teacher will be able to help you refine your subject and will be in a position to provide you with
initial feedback on topic relevance and feasibility.
The project belongs to you and it is up to you to ensure that you meet deadlines. Your supervisor's role is
to provide advice and support throughout the process. It is your responsibility to make sure that you
contact your supervisor regularly and hand in documents before the deadline. You are also responsible
for ensuring that you contact your supervisor in a timely manner without imposing unreasonable
demands (eg. insisting on feedback the night before a deadline; expecting your supervisor to be available
outside regular office hours) because you have not worked regularly.
Supervision
You will be assigned a supervisor by your academic department in consultation with your program
manager. During the course of the first semester, you may come in contact with professors and discuss
possible supervision of your master thesis with them. You may put forward this person (with their prior
agreement) to become your supervisor. If you are not in a position to propose a supervisor at the end of
the first semester, you will receive advice and assistance from your program manager and/or your
academic department. No student will be left without a supervisor.
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Assessment
The master thesis assessment comprises two parts, continuous assessment worth 25% of the final grade
and a final complete master thesis document worth 75% of the final grade. The continuous assessment is
made up of four pieces of work to be handed in to a given schedule. The exact schedule for your master
thesis depends on your program and when you started your course. You will find the list of programs and
details of the schedule for each in appendix 3. Details of the grading scale for the final complete master
thesis are provided in appendix 2.
There is no systematic master thesis defense for the MSc programs at SKEMA. However, your supervisor
may request a defense if he/she deems it necessary.
A student who receives 0 for his/her continuous assessment will automatically fail the master thesis (Fx
grade). Students who receive a final grade of between 5/20 and 10/20 have to opportunity to carry out
extra work to improve their project (under the guidance of their tutor). The deadline for submitting a
new version of the MSc thesis is October 31st 2015. Students receiving a grade of less than 5/20 fail the
master thesis and are therefore not eligible for graduation from the MSc program during the academic
year. They will have to write a new master thesis the following academic year.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Should instances of plagiarism be identified in your work, the
resulting grade will automatically be F, with the resulting impact on graduation and without
possibility of appeal. Cases will be dealt with by a disciplinary committee which has full power to
decide on the appropriate sanction. The latter may go as far as exclusion from the program and
the school. Dissertations will systematically be sent to the URKUND website to track plagiarism.
Subject
The subject of the master thesis should be in direct relation to the MSc in which you are studying. While
SKEMA is flexible and encourages original topics which may take students into other disciplinary fields, a
significant part of the master thesis should be directly related to the content of the MSc program. You
are encouraged to find your own subjects but if you may also choose subjects proposed by professors or
other interested parties. The final validation of the proposed subject rests with the master thesis
supervisor.
Requirements
Literature Review
The literature review should contain at least 20 papers from academic, peer-reviewed journals and one
reference book (not a textbook).
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Data sources and analysis
As part of your master thesis, you will be required to provide empirical evidence relevant to your chosen
research question. Your evidence should be meaningful – readers should be convinced of its relevance
and probity. The guidelines below will enable you to develop meaningful empirical analysis according to
your chosen method of analysis.
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In some cases, your research question may be atypical so your methodological approach might not fit
the items in the grid above. In that case, you can consult your supervisor who will advise you on finding
an appropriate amount of data, and analysis techniques which are equivalent in quantity and quality to
those listed above.
Some MSc programs require master theses which meet the standards imposed by practitioner
organizations. In that case, your program manager will provide you with suitable data and analysis
requirements.
Final document
The final master thesis should be a minimum of 50 pages in length, excluding appendices. Note that the
document should contain a reasonable amount of text and should not be a mass of tables, graphs and
figures. The master thesis should be formatted in Times New Roman 12 (or equivalent) with 1.5 line
spacing and 2.5cm margins. Text should be justified. In text-references and the bibliography should use
the Harvard system of referencing.
The project includes the following materials and sections, in the sequence indicated (see details in
appendix 1):
• Title page
• Keywords and abstract (150 words) in English (and possibly French)
• Preface and/or dedication and/or acknowledgments
• Table of contents
• Executive summary (2 or 3 pages)
• List of tables
• List of figures
• Body of text
• Reference list
• Appendix or appendices (if any)
The final document should include an introduction and a conclusion of at least 2 pages in length each.
Confidentiality
Generally, the master thesis should not be of a confidential nature and academic supervisors will assume
that the detail of the work is not confidential unless otherwise informed. If required, students and
SKEMA supervisors may sign confidentiality agreements.
Where a dissertation contains material considered to be confidential, it should be marked clearly on the
title page. In that case, the thesis will not be available for consultation at the library for a two-year
period.
Students must not circulate or disseminate the dissertation before official notification of the grades by
SKEMA. Students have the proprietary rights to their dissertation, but SKEMA is free to use these reports
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in its library, teaching, and marketing activities. SKEMA cannot be held responsible for the contents and
conclusions of the thesis.
Resources
Your master thesis supervisor is a key source of advice and support during your master thesis. You will
receive guidance on each stage of the process to help you progress regularly and produce a piece of
work of the highest possible quality. You should, however, remember that you are responsible for your
master thesis. Your supervisor will only be in a position to advise you if you contact them and ask. You
should also ensure that you hand in documents for the deadlines – if you don't, your supervisor will not
be able to give you feedback. Finally, remember to keep your demands reasonable – your supervisor
cannot do the work in your place and should not be expected to drop all their other work and respond to
your urgent requests because you have a deadline.
Documentary databases
SKEMA provides access to the following academic databases which provide access to papers from
journals:
• Emerald
• JStor
• Proquest
In addition to the academic databases, SKEMA subscribes the Factiva database, also available through La
Fusée, which may provide you with additional material. You will also find numerous reference books on
Cyberlibris: http://library.skema.edu/fr/scholarvox/. You can contact La Fusée staff on your home
campus for advice on remote access.
Other databases
SKEMA subscribes a number of other databases providing financial information about firms or markets,
industry analyses, market studies etc. These are available through La Fusée website
(http://library.skema.edu/category/bases-de-donnees/). Examples are: Amadeus, IODS and Xerfi. You
should note that some databases require additional access codes which you can obtain from La Fusée
staff on your home campus.
Students in some MScs may have access to other databases. These should be presented to you during
your Research Methods 1 class. You can contact your program manager or Research Methods 1 teacher
for more details.
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APPENDIX 1 – DETAILS OF MASTER THESIS ORGANISATION
Along with the report students should also submit a one-page abstract containing the following
information:
• Year:
• FIRST NAME (Given name)
• FAMILY NAME
• NATIONALITY
• Title:
• Keywords: (Up to ten keywords)
• Supervisor:
• Sponsoring organization and contact person (if applicable)
2. Title page
The title page should conform to the appropriate format as specified the document provided on the
Konwledge platform. The title and subtitle must be exact as previously approved.
3. Preface
The preface is used primarily to mention matters of background necessary for an understanding of the
subject that does not logically fit into the text. It is customary to include a brief expression of the
author's appreciation of help and guidance received in the research. The preface is not the same as an
introduction, which is a part of the main body of the thesis.
4. Table of contents
The table of contents contains the headings and subheadings of the chapters and sections of the thesis
with the numbers of the pages on which these chapters and sections begin.
All headings should correspond exactly in wording, arrangement, punctuation, and capitalization with
the headings as they appear in the body of the dissertation.
The number of the page on which the division begins in the text of the thesis is given in the table of
contents. Double spacing is used except for over-run lines, which are single-spaced. For an example of
the layout see 2b.
5. Executive summary
After writing up the final draft you need to write an executive summary which should be placed up front,
just after the table of contents. In this summary you have to summarize the whole report; problem,
method and findings. This summary should not exceed 3 pages.
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6. List of tables, figures
If the report contains charts, figures, maps, tables, photographs, or other types of material, each series
of these should be listed separately in an appropriate list on the page or pages immediately following the
table of contents. Each such list should appear on a separate page. In format, such lists should follow the
general style of the table contents. Tables, figures, etc. should be numbered according to their chapter
and position in the chapter. Thus figure 2.10 is the tenth figure in chapter two.
The report properly begins with the first page of the first chapter section. Each chapter or section should
represent an important division of the thesis. Each chapter should have a title identifying the subject
contained therein. Typically, a thesis contains the following chapters:
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion and Implications
8. References
The References section should typically contain only the works consulted and found relevant and thus
cited by the author in the report. The inclusion of an irrelevant item is as much a defect as the exclusion
of a relevant one. Each item should be a full reference in the standard order specified in Appendix 2c of
these notes. All references should be listed in alphabetical order (and numerical order for several
references of the same author).
9. Appendices
The main purpose of an appendix is to keep the text of the report from being interrupted or cluttered
with supplementary, minor and illustrative materials. The text of pertinent documents, very lengthy
quotations, excerpts from diaries, transcripts of minutes, forms of documents, copies of sample
questionnaires, and the like, may be included as appendices if they are pertinent to the subject matter of
the dissertation and they cannot appropriately be incorporated into the body of the text. Appendices
should appear immediately following the body of the text. Each appendix should start on a separate
page. Appendices should be designated sequentially as I, Appendix II, etc. and they should appear in the
order that they are referred to in the text. Whenever possible and appropriate, the source of material in
the appendix should be given.
10. References
When referring in the text of the research project to items in the bibliography the author's name and the
date of publication should be cited:
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e.g. "Surveys conducted by Smith (1988) showed ...."
For publications by two authors, both are given: e.g ."A recent study (Smith & Jones, 1988) showed ..."
For publications by three and more authors, the first author is given, followed by et al. A recent study
(Smith et al., 1988) showed ..."
See further in the APA style guidebook or any other style agreed with your supervisor.
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APPENDIX 2 – MSc THESIS GRADING SCALE
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LO 52 To assess a business issue and formulate solutions in a specialized discipline
Note sur 5
A.5. Argumentation et conclusion - Discussion and conclusion Grade out of 5
Argumentati on bien orga nis ée, logi que et s upportée par des preuves / Well organized,
l ogical a nd full y s upported by evidence Bel ow Meets Above
Qual ité de l'ana lys e des i mpl ica tions s tra tégi ques et des limita tions / Stra tegi c
i mpl ica tions and li mita tions cri tica lly cons idered Bel ow Meets Above
Conclusi on clai re et en cohérence a vec l'a rgumenta ti on / Clear, comprehens ive concl us ion
tha t ties up the a rgument wel l Bel ow Meets Above
Points à améliorer/room
for improvement
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APPENDIX 3 – DETAIL OF PROGRAMS AND SCHEDULES
Fall Spring
MSc Campus Length Program manager Schedules
2014 2015
Case 3Bis,
Auditing, Management Accounting and Information Systems Paris YES NO 18 Raluca Sandu
case 3 Ter
Case 3Bis,
Auditing, Management Accounting and Information Systems Sophia YES NO 18 Maxime Peltier
case 3 Ter
Case 1,
Corporate Financial Management Paris YES YES 12 Amaury Goguel
Case 2
Case 1,
Corporate Financial Management Sophia YES YES 12 Laurence Gialdini
Case 2
Financial Markets and Investments Paris YES NO 12 Charles Reuter Case 1
Financial Markets and Investments Sophia YES NO 12 Tarek Amyuni Case 1
Financial Markets and Investments Raleigh YES NO 12 TBC Case 1
Case 1,
International Marketing and Business Development Paris YES YES 12 Peter Spier
Case 2
Case 1,
International Marketing and Business Development Sophia YES YES 12 Peter Spier
Case 2
Case 1,
International Marketing and Business Development Lille YES YES 12 Anke Middlemann
Case 2
International Strategy and Influence Paris YES NO 12 Benjamin Lehiany Case 1
Case 1,
Strategic Event Management and Tourism Management Sophia YES YES 12 Mady Keup
Case 2
Case 1,
Luxury and Fashion Management Sophia YES YES 12 Ivan Coste
Case 2
Case 1,
Luxury and Fashion Management Suzhou YES YES 12 Ivan Coste
Case 2
Case 1,
Global Luxury Management Raleigh/Sophia YES NO 12 Ivan Coste
Case 2
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Fall Spring
MSc Campus Length Program manager Schedules
2014 2015
Case 1,
Digital Marketing Sophia YES YES 12 Muriel Walas
Case 2
Case 1,
International Business Sophia YES YES 12 Philippe Chereau
Case 2
Case 1,
International Business Suzhou YES YES 12 Laubie Li
Case 2
Case 1,
International Business Raleigh YES YES 12 Oussama Amar
Case 2
Case 1,
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Sophia YES YES 12 Philippe Chereau
Case 2
Case 1,
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Suzhou YES YES 12 Philippe Chereau
Case 2
Case 1,
Human Resources Management Sophia YES YES 12 Béatrice Toustou
Case 2
Business Consulting and Information Systems Management Sophia YES NO 12 Corinne Hirzmann Case 1
Supply Chain Management and Purchasing Sophia YES NO 18 Lapo Mola Case 3
Project and Programme Management and Business Case 3,
Paris YES YES 18 Thierry Verlynde
Development Case 4
Project and Programme Management and Business
Lille YES NO 18 TBC Case 3
Development
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CASE 1: 12-MONTH MSC, FALL 2014 INTAKE
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CASE 2: 12-MONTH MSC, SPRING 2015 INTAKE
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CASE 3: 18-MONTH MSC, FALL 2014 INTAKE
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CASE 4: 18-MONTH MSC, SPRING 2015 INTAKE
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CASE 3 Bis : MSC Audit (18-MONTH) , FALL 2014 INTAKE, internship from January 2015 to April 2015
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document. September 30th. All MSc master
theses will be sent for Urkund
analysis.
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CASE 3 Ter : MSC Audit (18-MONTH) , FALL 2014 INTAKE, internship from July 2015
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We wish you every success in your master
thesis project:
Good luck!
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