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Diploma Thesis Exchange

Diploma Thesis Exchange

The KMU-HSG and the CFB-HSG invite applications for Bachelor's and Master's thesis topics that either correspond to the research interests of the institute or are brought to us by practice partners.

Teaching and research at the University of St.Gallen emphasises practical relevance. The KMU-HSG is also part of this tradition: Along our «Schwungrad», questions from the areas of executive education and consulting are addressed as part of research projects. At the same time, results and proposed solutions from SME research flow back into teaching and work with practice partners.

In this way, we also see ourselves as mediators between students and companies in dealing with business management issues in SMEs. Here you can see an overview of the current topics on offer:

 

Registration Topic Type of thesis
No thesis available at the moment. -

In addition, please find below an overview of supervisors at our institute. In case of requests for thesis supervision, please contact directly the respective person and thereby take into consideration the instructions and requirements described in the overview.

Supervisors and assistants

Subject areas:

Methods:
Quantitative and qualitative methods; no single case studies or practice projects.

Thesis topic postings:
Heiko Bergmann primarily supervises topics that are advertised on the corresponding platform (Diploma Thesis Exchange). Direct inquiries with own topic proposals are possible, but the available capacities are very limited.

Contact
heiko.bergmannunisg.ch

Subject areas:

  • SME Leadership Competence
  • Service Excellence
  • Aesthetic development
  • Co-entrepreneurship through the social context of an organization
  • Further information on the Field of Expertise “SME Management”

Methods:
Qualitative

Thesis topic postings:
None at the moment, thesis topic can be selected freely but should be located in one of the subject areas listed above

Contactg:
urs.fueglistallerunisg.ch

Subject areas:

Contact:

For thesis supervision requests please get in touch with Djordje Djokovic.
 

Current subject areas:

  • Exit Strategies for Family Business Owners: How do entrepreneurs plan their exit? What paths do entrepreneurs take to exit, and what do the timelines look like? What do entrepreneurs do after they exit?
  • Family Offices: What do the governance structures in family offices look like? Are family offices good owners?
  • Ownership Strategy: Literature overview of ownership transfer in family firms (BA thesis); What ownership strategies do family businesses pursue? How is ownership transferred over time?
  • NextGen: How can the next generation be successfully integrated into succession planning in the family business?
  • Family Businesses in Southeast Asia: Ownership structures, corporate governance, and succession in the cultural context.

Methods:

  • Quantitative and qualitative methods. No single case studies, no practical projects.            

Contact:
christine.scheef@unisg.ch

Subject areas:

  • Family business: Governance, strategy, succession, control, growth
  • Entrepreneurship: Management of and under uncertainty, idea development, validation of business ideas, handling feedback in the validation of business ideas
  • Strategy and growth of owner-managed firms
  • Theory of ownership
  • Further information on the Field of Expertise “Family Business and Succession”

Contact:

For thesis supervision requests please get in touch with Marie KleinAnna Paulina Schröder or Fabio Arena.

Subjects areas:

  • Regulation of cognition and motivation in contexts of uncertainty (self-regulated learning of entrepreneurs): How can entrepreneurs regulate their motivation? How can entrepreneurs enhance their decision-making processes under uncertainty?
  • Regulation of cognitive biases of entrepreneurs (e.g. overconfidence or overoptimism)
  • Information search process of entrepreneurs to recognize business ideas
  • SMEs and digitalization
  • Agility in entrepreneurial organizations
  • Further information on the Field of Expertise “Entrepreneurial Development”

Methods:
Quantitative and qualitative research methods depending on the research question.

Thesis topic postings:
-

Contact:
alexander.fustunisg.ch

Subject areas:

  • Entrepreneurial leadership
  • Co-entrepreneurship
  • Experimental entrepreneurship research

Methods:
Quantitative and qualitative research methods depending on the research question.

Thesis topic postings:
None. Priority will be given to thesis supervision requests by participants of Prof. Gasda’s courses.
Note: Currently no additional thesis supervisions are accepted. Waiting list possible.

Contact:
joerg-michael.gasdaunisg.ch

Topic areas:

  • Multimodal Entrepreneurial Communication: How do different forms of communication—verbal, vocal, and visual—impact the success of entrepreneurs? How can our AI Pipeline analyse these modes in entrepreneurial videos to uncover insights?
  • Entrepreneurial Exit Strategies: What are the various strategies entrepreneurs use to successfully exit their businesses? What factors influence these exit decisions?
  • Artificial Intelligence in Entrepreneurship Research: How can advanced methods like machine learning be applied to study and enhance entrepreneurial activities?
  • Entrepreneurial and Venture Capital Networks: How do different network topologies of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists affect their success in raising capital and driving business growth?

Methods:
Primarily quantitative studies; qualitative work in the form of literature reviews possible; no case studies and no practical projects.

Thesis topic postings:
Primarily quantitative studies; qualitative work in the form of literature reviews possible; no case studies and no practical projects. 

Contact:
djordje.djokovicunisg.ch
Assistant to Prof. Dr. Isabella Hatak
Main supervisor: Prof. Dr. Isabella Hatak

Subject areas:

  • Family business, business succession (succession processes, procedures and implications), conflicts in family businesses
  • Control in owner-managed companies
  • Business succession exchanges as an option for family businesses without intra-family succession solutions (for example: advantages and disadvantages of succession exchanges; governmental vs. non-governmental regulated; Process of simultaneous entrepreneurial entry and exit)

Methods:
Qualitative theses; no single case studies and no practice-oriented projects.

Thesis topic postings:
No specific topics; thesis topic can be selected freely but should be located in one of the subject areas listed above.

Contact:
marie.klein@unisg.ch
assistant to Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger
Main supervisor:
Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger

Subject areas:

  • Aesthetic business management
  • SME Leadership Competence
  • Service Excellence
  • Organisational identification

Methods:
qualitative

Thesis topic postings:
-

Contact:
pascal.schlegelunisg.ch
assistant to Prof. Dr. Urs Fueglistaller
Main supervisor:
Prof. Dr. Urs Fueglistaller

Subject areas:

  • Scientific Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial action under uncertainty, hypothesis-driven idea development, business idea validation, handling feedback and pivoting
  • Entrepreneurial Action Modes and Cognitive Styles
  • Entrepreneurship: Teams, financing, growth/scaling

 Methods:
Quantitative or qualitative work; no single case studies and no practice-oriented projects.
 

Topics:
None; thesis topic can be selected freely but should be located in one of the subject areas listed above.
 
Contact:
annapaulina.schroederunisg.ch
Supervision assistant to Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger
Main supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger

Subject areas:

  • Control in owner-managed firms (How do owners exercise control in their firm?)
  • Corporate governance mechanisms and their influence on firm performance in owner-managed firms
  • Strategic goals under different types of owners (e.g., family firms, owner-managers (e.g., founders), venture capitalists, or private equity)

Methods:
Quantitative theses; no single case studies and no practice projects.

Thesis topic postings:
Owner Types and CSR Performance.

Contact:
sebastian.sigg@unisg.ch
Assistant to Prof. Dr. Christine Scheef
Main supervisor: Prof. Dr. Christine Scheef

Subject areas:

  • (Scientific) Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial action under uncertainty, idea development, hypothesis-based development of business ideas, validation of business ideas, dealing with feedback in the validation of business ideas
  • Development of hierarchies in start-ups
  • Family businesses, SMEs, business succession (handover processes, procedure and implications)

Methods:
Quantitative or qualitative work; no single case studies and no practice-oriented projects.

Thesis
None; thesis topic can be selected freely but should be located in one of the subject areas listed above.

Contact:
fabio.arenaunisg.ch
Assistant to Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger
Main supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger

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