Management Thesis - Six Steps for Enhanced Effectiveness

Management thesis is a very useful tool for gaining knowledge, enhancing research skills and for
attractive placement opportunities. Hence effectiveness in management thesis is important. Given
below are six steps towards effective and successful completion of the Management Thesis:

1. Let student take-up a topic of his/her interest: A Management Thesis aims at deepening a
student's knowledge and researching skills by providing an exposure to organizational situations
or to study issues of academic importance. It also enhances their employability by matching
industry expectations. Hence, it is of prime importance to keep the student’s interest in mind so
as to maintain the motivational levels of the students.

2. Company sponsored/interested research project: A company backed/sponsored research

project is desirable as student has to deliver value for the company. It also helps in enhancing
industry interface, brand building and creates a long term relationship. A well designed research
project provides an opportunity for the company to benefit from the objective and unbiased
perspective the student provides based on concepts and skills imbibed. For e.g., projects in the
areas of strategy formulation, business process re-engineering, MIS, ERP implementation,
retail/investment banking, industry analysis, new product launches, sales & distribution, market
research and advertising among others can assist a company in implementing the outcomes of
the project in an organizational set-up.

3. Focus on Literature Review: The main aim of literature review is to provide a complete
survey of previous work published around the chosen theme of the thesis and how it has guided
or informed the present proposed research. Ensure that the relevance, reliability and validity of
the citations are evaluated and related to the present work being carried out. It should provide a
complete survey of previous work published around the chosen theme of the research project,
identify gaps in the existing literature and justify how the present work adds value to this field of
knowledge and research.

4. Pay attention to Research Methodology: The methodology section includes information on the
overall research design adopted and a justification of research tools (or methods) that were
selected to analyze and obtain the result. It should also describe the data collection methods and
participants involved for primary data collection (how many/how they were selected/their
characteristics etc). The questionnaire design should also be elaborated here. An objective
reflection on the limitations of the methodology and methods used can present the study in the
right perspective.

5. Implement Weekly MT workshops: Each Faculty Supervisor shall schedule weekly

Management Thesis Workshops for the students guided by him/her. These workshops should be
aimed at giving an opportunity to the student to improvise on their thesis and bridge any gaps
found during such workshops before each submission for evaluation i.e. synopsis, interim and
final thesis submission. It is intended that during the workshops the students present the progress
made by them in their MT and the focus of presentations changes progressively from the
beginning to the end of the semester.

6. External Evaluator: An external evaluator, usually a company representative or an active

researcher from a local academic institution may be roped in for evaluation from the synopsis
submission stage. This will greatly help in enhancing the quality of research work done by the
student and increase the objectivity of evaluation.
All the Faculty Supervisors and Campus Heads are requested to follow the above steps and benefit from
them by delivering good quality thesis work.
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