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Submissions from 2024 2024.

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning on Organizations Cybersecurity , Mustafa Abdulhussein

Possible Under Utilization of Agile Management in Curriculum Change Process of Aviation Degree Programs , Samantha Bowyer

Exploration of the Financial Impact of the Pandemic Among Filipino Asian Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Duval County Florida , Thomas N. Cannistra

Crowdsourcing Strategizing: A View From the Top , Priscilla L. Eddings

Marketing Management of Online Negative Reviews of Medical Services , Christopher Edward Feltes

Developing and Retaining High-Potential Non-Academic Employees in Private Higher Education Institutions to Create Sustainable Non-Academic Leadership Pipelines , Sheraine D. Gilliam

Artificial Intelligence and Its Need in Healthcare , Michael Haskins

The Impact of a Project Management Approach on Micro-Businesses in Achieving Strategic Goals , Karen M. Lowe

Formalized Succession Planning: A Need in East Tennessee Health Departments , Elizabeth A. Maples

Millennial Turnover: An Implication for Human Resource Management , Folake Titilola Olumide

Impact of the Increased Use of Telehealth on Health Care Management and Administration: The Case of New Care Management Practices , Immacula Pierre

A Study of Leadership's Role in Building Relationships Among Virtual Team Members , Danna V. Smith

Mental Health Provider Shortage in Rural Communities , Barrow N. Tabe

Credit History Controls the Ability of Small Businesses to Obtain Working Capital: A Case Study , Tiffany Leeona Thompson

Submissions from 2023 2023

The Use of Multidisciplinary Care Teams in Diagnosing and Managing Care of Cancer Patients in Eastern Kentucky , Terry Lee Adams

Impact of Leadership for Startup Companies , Emem Okon Akpanekong

Assessing the Lack of Project Management Soft Skills Toward Project Completion Rates , Rene Orlando Aleman

Effective Strategies for Midsized Nonprofit Human Service Organizations in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area to Maintain Financial Sustainability , Ivy Ann Beckham

Financial Capability – Examining the Impact of Financial Education on U.S. Military Members , Philip Mason Chapman

High Health Care Cost in the U.S. and Its Impact on an African American Church Community in East Orange, New Jersey , William Charles

Exploring Target Marketing at Private Universities Directed to the Nontraditional Student Population , Connie Chester Christian

Current Management Issues in Health Information Technology , Gladys Dadson

Strategic Leadership for Managing Diversity , Amdy Diene

Cultivating Employee Relationships , Kimberly Lynn England

Leadership Support as an Influence on Frontline Healthcare Employee Retention in the Washington Metropolitan Area (DMV) , Tamika Fair

Exploring the Impacts of Funding Models on Business as Mission Organizations in Asia: A Multiple-case Study , Jeremiah Joel Finch

Organizational Cultures Effect on Productivity in Manufacturing , Jonathan Karl Foley

Air Force Support for the Joint Military Environment: A NATO Allied Command Operations Headquarters Case Study , James R. Hamilton

Biblical Leadership: Combatting Authoritarianism , Katherine M. Inman

A Quantitative Examination of the Relationships Between Work-Life Balance, Burnout, and Turnover Intentions Among Texas Public Accounting Professionals , Vicky Ruth Johnson

Unlocking the Talent Puzzle: Examining the Impact of Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Career Development on Talent Attraction and Retention , Angela Denise Lamar

Weak Organizational Culture in Higher Education Leads to Unmet Organizational Goals , Jennifer Willard Matthews

Impact of Audit Time Pressure on Audit Quality , Janae Monet McClam

Organizational Preparedness Required for System Implementation , Kaitlyn Marie McCollum

An Assessment of Hospice Patients’ Experience from Cancer Care Services in the United States Hospitals: A Mixed-Method Study , Femi Obasun

A Qualitative Analysis of Corporate Responsibility for the Education of U.S. Citizens , Heidi Leslie O'Donnell

The Impact and Inability of Leaders to Address Employee Grievances , Esther Ayomide Osayi

Redesigning an Effective Pathway to Consumer Loyalty for Sustainable Competitive Advantage , Stephen P. Panczak

A Multiple Case Study: Male Correctional Officers’ Experiences and Attitudes Regarding “Gender Quota” Human Resource Management Strategies in Corrections , Rebecca Jo Patterson

Quantifying the Value of Renewable Energy as a Hedge Against the Volatility of Natural Gas Prices in Wisconsin , Miodrag Petrovic

Understanding Workplace Conditions Contributing to Physician Burnout Prevalence in Maryland State , Fatima Adefunke Queen

TeamSTEPPS and Organizational Culture , Amelia Arca Quinto

Succession Planning in the Federal Government , Christine Noel Roberts

The Impact of Project Management on the Adoption of Emerging Media to Non-commercial Broadcasting Media Businesses in Hispanic Markets , Jonathan Rosado

Sustainable Activity-Based Costing in a Small Flexible Manufacturing Environment , John Edward Schlaack

Effectiveness of Government Leadership to Maintain Productivity in a Virtual Environment , Crystal J. Showell

Remote Leadership: Assessing Productive Work Environments in a Post-Pandemic Future , Kimberly Diane Snodgrass

The Middle Management Leader and the Matrixed Organization , Donald Keith Stephens

Improving Strategic Management Planning in Non-Profit Organizations: Federally Qualified Health Centers , Esther Taylor

Managing Cyber Defense as a Business Threat for Small and Medium Enterprises , Binh Quang Vo

Attracting and Sustaining Volunteers: Leadership Impact on the Recruitment and Retention of Volunteers in Nonprofit Organizations, and Differences Observed when Organizations are Predicated on Faith , Lascel A. Webley Jr.

Organizational Behavior , Molly Xiong

Submissions from 2022 2022

An Empirical Study of the Relationship Between Organizational Commitment, Employee Voice Behavior, and Psychological Well-Being Among Employees Within Mid-Size Service , Katelin Barron

Government Contract Re-compete Impacts on Employees , John James Bergmann

Fraud Risk Management to Detect and Prevent Employee Fraud in Small Rural Businesses , Daphne Yuying Bishop

Exploring the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Hawai'ian Small Businesses , Farrel Anthony Blake

The Effects of Leadership Organizational Culture on Employee Performance Resulting in High Turnover, Low Morale, and Decreased Productivity , Damon Brown-Crawford

Pandemics and United States Pharmaceutical Stocks’ Rates of Return , Ronald Franklin Burnette Jr

Effect of Supervisor Bias on Performance Motivation During Incentive-Based Performance Reviews , Jessica Lace Burrell

Just-In-Time/Just-In-Case Inventory Management as an Influence on Supply Chain Disruption in Medical Systems Based in the Southeastern United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Brooke Gibson Coslett

Internal Controls in Small City Government , M. Wade Cothran

Empowering Healthcare Workers through Transformational Leadership , Angela Nicole Craig

Big Bath Earnings Management in Accounting , Shannon Danysh-Hashemi

Distribution Center ERP Utilization , Andrew B. Davidson

Exploring Succession Planning for Executive Leadership Positions within Ohio's Faith-based Organizations: A Multiple-Case Study , Gilda Drammeh

Exploring Financial Literacy and Overconfident Investor Behavior , Ryan J. Drews

Communicating the Value Contributions of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PaLM) to Healthcare Administrators, Evidence of Value from a Multiple Cases Study , Susan K. Edralin

The EMS Deficit: A Study on the Excessive Staffing Shortages of Paramedics and its Impact on EMS Performance in the States of South Carolina and North Carolina and Interventions for Organizational Improvements. , James Boyd Eubanks

Mental Health Experiences in the Workplace , Laura L. Goff

Certified Nursing Assistant Turnover in the Long-Term Care Facility Industry , Michael Leroy Gregory

Employment Branding for University Graduates in Jamaica , Caroline Harvey

The Lack of Communication in Leadership , Wendy Webb Hicks

Project Management Skills for Highly Successful Virtual Project Teams , Andrea Hogge

Substance Abuse's Impact on Public Accounting , William Dennis Holmes

The Impact of Strategic Planning in Small Business: Empirical Evidence From East Tennessee , Sara Howe

Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Levels and Employee Performance , Omotola Idowu

Enhancing Success Through Leadership , Wendy T. Jewell

Going Virtual: Addressing the Challenges Faced by Organizational Leaders When Employees Transition to Virtual Environments in Times of Crisis , Mary Susan Johnson

Telework in Times of Crisis , Samantha Jones

Distributed Leadership in West Virginia Higher Education , Jennie Lee Khun

Mitigating Supply Chain Disruptions, Risks, and Vulnerabilities , John Jeong Kim

Human Resource Strategy in Times of Disruption , April R. Kinchen

Decision Usefulness of Goodwill in Financial Statement Reporting , B. Mechelle Lafon

Overcoming Barriers to Social Enterprise Expansion, Growth, and Financial Sustainability: The Leadership Challenges , Elizabeth A. Lee

Evaluating the Impact of Diversity Training in the Workplace. , Vilmarie Lopez

Stronger: Can Financial Adversity Faced by Small Business Enterprises Lead to Small Business Success & Resilience , Jeffery R. McDurmont

Adapting North American Selling Methods to Cross-Cultural Technology Sales Engagements in the Borderless Global Economy , Zachary Paul McKinley

Organizational Change in the Workplace during the COVID-19 Pandemic , Takeisha Shante Miles

Strategies and Internal Control Procedures for Decreasing Fraud in Faith-Based Nonprofit Organizations , Shawn Thomas Miller

Local Food in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Destination Marketing – The Case of Trinidad & Tobago , Winston Mohammed

Leadership Adaptability Within the Higher Education Industry , Rebecca Niemeyer Rens

The Impact of Network Engineer Configuration on Campus Network Performance , Ralph Chimaren Odima

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Leadership Development Programs in the Public Sector and Its Impact on Organizational Performance , Chijioke Henry Osuagwu

The Effects of Big Data and Blockchain on the Audit Profession , Tereesha Marquette Patterson

Ergonomic Safety in Supply Chains , Andrew Thompson Prior

Operational Structures Forming Complex Feedback Loops in Health System / Accountable Care Partnerships – A Multiple-Case Study Investigation to Enable System Dynamics Simulation , Richard J. Pro

Diversity as an Influence on Talent Management and Competitive Advantage: The Absence of Female African American Executive Leadership in the Insurance Industry , Lateisha Tamarra Rainey

Family Business Leadership Succession , Elissa A. Rogers

Strategic Planning and Business Model Innovation in Higher Education for Historically Black Colleges and Universities , Shatila D. Sago-Hart

Leadership Strategies and Behaviors that Support Career Advancement for Teleworkers , Glory Ann Sanders

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Business Dissertation Topics

Published by Owen Ingram at January 5th, 2023 , Revised On April 16, 2024

Introduction

As a business student, you will study various aspects of conducting business. From handling human resources to managing the marketing and finances, you will study them all. However, what is essential is to understand how you will put your learning into practice.

That is when the real challenge starts. You might have aced your quizzes and assignments and stood out in your class, but if you cannot implement your learning in your practical life, your academic success means nothing.

Thus, to help you understand the real-life scenario, the dissertation can be a great starting point. Dissertations help you understand the concepts, frameworks, and models of business in great depth.

Choose a topic for your dissertation that will interest you and help you in your professional life. Thus, to help you fulfil your academic condition and choose an appropriate dissertation topic, here is a list of topics that are recent and relevant.

To help you get started with brainstorming for business topic ideas, we have developed a list of the latest topics that can be used for writing your business dissertation.

These topics have been developed by PhD qualified  writers of our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You can also start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the problem,  research question , aim and objectives,  literature review , along the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  example dissertation to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

You can review step by step guide on how to write your dissertation  here.

So, without further ado, here’s a list of business dissertation topics that will help you stand out in your class.

• International Development Dissertation Topics
• Cooperate Governance Dissertation Topics
• Business Intelligence Dissertation Topics
• Business Information Technology Dissertation Topics
• International Business Dissertation Topics
• Business Management Dissertation Topics
• Business Psychology Dissertation Topics
• Business Law Dissertation Topics
• Project Management Dissertation Topics
• HRM Dissertation Topics
• Management Dissertation Topics
• Operations Management Dissertation Topics

2024 Business Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: an evaluation of the impact of business ethics on the moral obligations associated with business deals of corporations.

Research Aim: The research aims to conduct an evaluation of the impact of business ethics on the moral obligations associated with business deals of corporations

Objectives:

• To analyse the importance of ethics for the shareholders of a business.
• To evaluate the link between business ethics and successful business deals.
• To investigate the impact of business ethics on the moral obligations of corporations while executing business deals

Topic 2: The impact of AI-based tools on business decision making and overall organisational profitability.

Research Aim: The research aims to analyse the impact of AI-based tools on business decision making and overall organisational profitability.

• To analyse the impact of AI tools on the strategic management of the business.
• To evaluate the factors impacting business decision making and profitability.
• To investigate the impact of AI tools on business decision making and overall organisational profitability.

Topic 3: How does the HRM function impact the business health of organisations?

Research Aim: The research aims to understand how the HRM function impacts the business health of organisations.

• To analyse the role of the HRL function of organisations.
• To analyse the concept of business health and how it is measured.
• To examine the impact of HRM on the business health and wellbeing of the organisations.

Topic 4: The impact of corporate governance on firm performance and internationalisation.

Research Aim: The research aims to examine the impact of corporate governance on firm performance and internationalisation.

• To critically analyse the impact of corporate governance on brand image and equity.
• To investigate the impact of firm performance on the decisions to internationalise.
• To investigate how corporate governance impacts firm performance and internationalisation.

Topic 5: An assessment of the impact of materials management on production efficiency and cost optimisation of business

Research Aim: The research aims to examine the impact of materials management on production efficiency and cost optimisation of business

• To investigate the impact of materials management in the production business
• To analyse the factors impacting production efficiency and cost minimisation of business.
• To evaluate how materials management impacts production efficiency and cost optimisation of business

Business Dissertation Topics for 2023

Topic 1: impact of digital business on the economic growth of the country: a case study of xyz country.

Research Aim: This research will focus on the significance of digital business during the pandemic and its impacts, not the country’s economic growth. It is a detailed view of the future that need to be digitalised.

Topic 2: Brand Marketing through social media

Research Aim: This research aims to focus on the importance of Brand Marketing through social media by addressing various current strategies used in brand marketing.

Topic 3: Impacts of social media on customer behaviour

Research Aim: This research aims to measure social media’s impacts on customer behaviour and address various strategies that are effective to attract customers through social media.

Topic 4: What factors influence the consumer's buying decisions?

Research Aim: This research aims to identify factors that influence the consumer’s buying decisions

Topic 5: Black Friday sale strategy to drive sales

Research Aim: This research aims to identify how the Black Friday sale strategy effectively drives sales. How can huge discounts benefit sellers?

Topic 6: The role of Influencer Marketing in increasing sale

Research Aim: Influencer Marketers impact the customer’s perception. This research aims to the role of influencer marketing in increasing sales.

Topic 7: Impact of E-marketing on consumer purchase decision: the case of the luxury industry in the UK

Research Aim: This research aims to measure E-marketing’s impact on consumer purchase decisions in the U.K luxury industry.

Topic 8: Analysis of the customer-centric marketing strategies in attaining competitive advantage for the firm and sustaining business success

Research Aim: This research focuses on attaining customer-centric marketing strategies in a competitive advantage for the firm and sustaining business success.

Topic 9: Traditional vs. digital marketing: a comparative study of the last ten years

Research Aim: This research aims to conduct a comparative study of traditional vs. digital marketing in the last ten years.

Topic 10: The impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty: an analysis of the Honda motor

Research Aim: This research aims to assess the impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty. An analysis of the Honda motor will be conducted as the base of the research.

Topic 11: The importance of search Engines in e-commerce

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the importance of search engines in e-commerce.

Topic 12: E-Commerce company's advertising strategy-critical analysis

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the importance of an E-Commerce company’s advertising strategy.

Topic 13: Importance of customer retention in E-commerce

Research Aim: This research aims to measure the importance of customer retention in E-commerce.

Topic 14: Importance of brand loyalty in internet marketing

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the importance of brand loyalty in internet marketing.

Business Dissertation Topics for 2022

Topic 1: assessing how the regional differences between countries influence the business strategies of multinational companies.

Research Aim: There regional differences and conflicts between countries have directly affected the trade activities. Therefore, this research will identify a highly sensitive issue by analysing how regional differences between countries impact the overall business strategies of multinational companies.

Topic 2: How corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects customer loyalty: A case study of the UK petroleum industry

Research Aim: Corporate social responsibility has become an important phenomenon as it directly impacts the brand image of the company. Therefore, the main purpose of the research is to analyse how CSR activities influence customer perception, which in return impacts customer loyalty. The focus of the research will be the UK petroleum industry.

Topic 3: Assessing the leadership styles of a non-profit organisation and how it impacts the overall business operations

Research Aim: Leadership has always been a significant aspect of any organisation as it has a drastic impact on the overall business processes. Many researchers have focused on identifying the best leadership style for MNC’s and SME’s; however, few have focused on non-profit organisations. Therefore, the main purpose of the research is to assess the most effective leadership styles that should be practised by non-profit organisations and how it affects the overall operations.

Topic 4: Examining the impact of global business negotiations on cross border mergers and acquisitions

Research Aim: The main aim of the research is to analyse the effect of international business negotiations on cross border mergers. Due to intense competition, many companies are going for mergers and acquisitions to enhance their market share. Therefore, this research will explore the aspect of global business negotiations in mergers and acquisitions between two different companies of two different countries.

Topic 5: Analysing the impact of forwarding and backward integration on business performance and sustainability

Research Aim: To gain a competitive advantage, firms have devised various supply chain strategies that help them improve their business performance. One such strategy is forward and backward integration. Therefore this research will be focusing on analysing the impact of both forward and backward integration on business performance and sustainability.

Topic C1: The economic suffering due to the plague of COVID-19

Research Aim: The research must assess the disruption that has been created by the spread of  COVID-19 in the world. This must include the global lockdown of the countries and the shutting of industries, resulting in soaring unemployment rates and a dramatic decline in economic statistics. The research aims to look at the economic consequences generated by the outbreak of COVID-19 in general.

Topic C2: The major sufferings in the economy as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak

Research Aim: The research must assess the reasons behind the rising suffering in the specific business sectors and industries, for instance, the supply chain is suffering because China has become the manufacturing hub, which has brought disruption in the supply chain of the whole industry due to complete lockdown in the country. The research aims to study majorly affected regions such as the entertainment sector, tourism industry, restaurant sector etc.

Topic C3: Expecting changes in the economic statistics by the outbreak of COVID-19

Research Aim: The recent expected changes by the professionals about the impact of  COVID-19 on the global economic statistics must be discussed in the research, such as the estimated growth rates of the world and China were predicted to be 0% and 1.6%, respectively, for the year 2020 by the Ethan Harris, head of global economic research in the Bank of America according to his recent interview. Similarly, articles from other professionals must be included in the research to focus on the effects of an outbreak on the economy.

Topic C4: The major regions and business industries affected by the spread of COVID-19

Research Aim: The research would assess the regions (cities and countries) which are being affected by the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 and the major impacted business industries such as the food industries like the restaurants are completely locked down after the outbreak of the virus and the people that were engaged in those industries are unemployed now. The research aims to focus on such industries and the impact of their lowered productivity on the economy.

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Business Strategy and Globalisation Dissertation Topics

Globalisation can be defined as the process that assists organisations and businesses in spreading their operations and influence on an international scale to increase their profit levels.

According to Financial Times Lexicon, it is  “a process by which national and regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through the global network of trade, communication, immigration and transportation.”

It will not be wrong to say that globalisation is the integration of policymaking, cultures, markets, industries, and economics around the globe.

In recent times, the concept of globalization has been expanded to include a broader range of activities and areas such as biological, political, social, cultural, technological, climate and media factors, even though initially it primarily focused on the economies, capital flows, foreign direct investment, and trade.

Some recent topics with respect to globalisation and business strategy are listed below:

Topic 6: Why organisations and businesses must change their business strategies in the era of globalisation

Research Aim: Any and every company that does strategies based on globalisation will lose out on huge business opportunities. Thus, this research will focus on reasons as to why companies should plan for globalisation related strategies.

Topic 7: Business management framework and globalisation – An empirical study

Research Aim: This research will talk about a successful business management framework for companies operating in the era of globalisation.

Topic 8: Global business strategy for MNCs and the role of corporate vision, conflicts, and empowerment

Research Aim: This research will talk about the various business strategies available for MNCs and the role their vision, conflict management, and empowerment play in building these strategies.

Topic 9: Exploring the drivers of Chinese business expansion strategy into Africa and other developing countries

Research Aim: This research will explore the various factors that drive Chinese business expansion into Africa and other developing countries.

Topic 10: An investigation into the process of offshore outsourcing of customer services to determine causes of poor customer satisfaction

Research Aim: This research will assess customer services’ offshoring process, which in turn impacts customer satisfaction.

Topic 11: Cross border management strategy – A research study focusing on foreign business organisations in Malaysia

Research Aim: This research will talk about cross border management strategies and specifically about foreign businesses operating in Malaysia.

Topic 12: An investigation into the impact of globalisation on UK businesses' operation on both a national and international scale.

Research Aim: This research will study the impact of globalisation on UK businesses. The impact on both national and international scales will be assessed.

Topic 13: How banks can implement business strategies in light of globalisation to improve connectivity with clients – A case of Barclays Plc

Research Aim: This research will focus on the globalisation of banks. Barclays PLC will be used as a case study for this research.

Topic 14: A study to examine the factors affecting the MNC’s choice of alliances and entry modes – The case of Sri Lanka

Research Aim: This study will discuss the various factors that impact the MNC’s choice of alliances and entry modes. Sri Lanka will be used as a case study for this research.

Topic 15: Performance, e-business strategies, and globalisation – Examining the factors affecting social media strategy of business organisations in the UK

Research Aim: This research will discuss the factors that impact the performance, e-business strategies, and globalisation of UK based businesses. The study will also focus on factors impacting the social media strategy of these organisations.

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Strategic Change Management Dissertation Topics

Change management can be defined as the management of “change and development” within a business organisation. Dealing with the impact of change is of critical importance. Strategic change management helps managers deal with change from the perspective of the individual and an organisation.

An important aspect of this concept is the organisational tools that can help achieve successful transitions to adopt change. Furthermore, business organisations can effectively and quickly implement change to meet changing market requirements as part of the strategic change management process.

Topic 16: An investigation into the implementation of strategic change management in the UK retail sector

Research Aim: This research will analyse and investigate how the UK retail sector changes its business processes to stay relevant in the market.

Topic 17: Examining the factors affecting organisational changes from the perspective of employees – The case of HSBC

Research Aim: This research will focus on organisational changes from the perspective of employees. HSBC will be studied as a case in this research.

Topic 18: Use of a proprietary change management system with respect to transformational change and stakeholder communication

Research Aim: This research will discuss a proprietary change management system that helps with transformational change and stakeholder communication.

Topic 19: The role of feedback in organisational culture change: A case study of any multinational company

Research Aim: This research will talk assess the role of feedback, be it from employees or customers, in bringing and managing organisational cultural change. This study will be based on a company of your choosing.

Topic 20: Strategic management of change in Asian countries – The case of Singapore

Research Aim: This study will talk about strategic change management in Asian countries. Singapore will be the chosen country for the purpose of this study.

Topic 21: To establish the importance of measuring stress levels of employees to successfully implement change

Research Aim: This research will talk about the importance of employee stress measurement in order to implement change successfully.

Topic 22: The role of senior management of business organisations in developing a framework that connects unexpected results and strategic plans

Research Aim: This study will talk about the role of senior management of businesses in developing a framework that will help the company bring together strategic plans and unexpected positive results.

Topic 23: Differences in working styles of Saudi project managers and foreign project managers

Research Aim: This research will help understand the different working styles of Saudi project managers and foreign project managers.

Topic 24: Intervention, project management, and change management – The banking sector in the UK

Research Aim: This research will talk about the change management and implementation barriers that companies are unable to implement change effectively.

International Human Resource Management Dissertation Topics

International Human Resource Management is a system that is designed to improve employee performance at national and international levels. The IHRM function primarily focuses on the policies developed to ensure efficient personnel management within organisations at an international level.

Various activities such as training and development, skills enhancement, employee recruitment, motivational programmes, bonuses and rewards systems, and performance appraisal are implemented to help businesses increase their work output.

Topic 25: Managing employees’ performance in non-profit organisations – A case study of any non-profit organisation

Research Aim: This research will help non-profit organisations understand how they can manage and monitor employee performance even when operating at an international level.

Topic 26: Developing an effective human resource management system in large multinational companies – The recommended practices and strategies

Research Aim: This research will help multinational companies develop an effective human resource management system.

Topic 27: Examining the impact of human resource professionals and human resource management in the new global economy

Research Aim: This study will help in understanding the impact of human resource professionals and will also shed light on human resource management in the new globalized economy.

Topic 28: Can human resource development and training help to remedy poor selection processes

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand whether resource development and training will lead to better selection processes or not.

Topic 29: The causes and forms of deviance in business and non-profit organisations

Research Aim: This research will help understand the causes and forms of deviance in business and non-profit organisations.

Topic 30: Investigating the effects of organisational transition on employees’ performance in large diversified companies.

Research Aim: This research will investigate the impact of organisational transition on the performance of employees in multinationals.

Topic 31: Configuration of human resource management system in multinational companies

Research Aim: This research will help understand how the human resource management system in multinationals is configured.

Topic 32: Learning from small businesses in the UK – How firm performance is associated with strategic human resource management.

Research Aim: This research will understand how firm performance in small businesses is linked with strategic human resource management and its benefits and limitations.

Topic 33: Human resource challenges for UK construction industry – Knowledge transfer and retention

Research Aim: This research will help understand human resource challenges for the UK construction industry, particularly knowledge transfer and employee retention.

Topic 34: The role of strategic human resource management in the public sector – The recommended practices and policies

Research Aim: This research will help understand the role of strategic human resource management in the public sector.

Information Technology Management Dissertation Topics

The process of managing all information technology resources of a business organisation is known as “information technology management”. It should be noted that the information technology resources of an organisation are usually managed in accordance with the priorities, policies, and requirements as set out by the business.

Physical investments, including the staff, data centre facilities, networks, data storage databases, software, and computer hardware, are examples of information technology resources required to be managed within a company.

This is done using simple management skills such as organizing and controlling, change management, and budgeting.

Topic 35: Developing a framework for the strategic management of information technology

Research Aim: This research will help companies build a sustainable framework for the strategic management of the information technology sector.

Topic 36: Role of information technology management in large diversified business organisations.

Research Aim: This research will help in understanding the role of information technology management in large businesses.

Topic 37: Analysing the issues associated with the implementation of Information technology in new technology-based firms.

Research Aim: This study will help in assessing issues associated with the implementation of information technology in technology firms.

Topic 38: Recommended practices to introduce and implement information systems in business organisations.

Research Aim: This study will help companies introduce and implement information systems in organisations.

Topic 39: How business organisations can gain a competitive advantage through social media branding in a fast-paced electronics industry?

Research Aim: This study is extremely relevant for this day and age as it focuses on gaining a competitive advantage through social media for the electronics industry.

Topic 40: The role of strategic alliances, acquisitions and mergers in building eCommerce business giants – A case study of any large scale and established virtual company.

Research Aim: This research will focus on understanding the role of strategic alliances, acquisitions, and mergers for e-commerce business giants. You can choose a large scale company of your choice for this study.

Topic 41: How e-HR system can help UK energy companies to improve their efficiency?

Research Aim: Electronic-human resource management systems are a thing of today. This research will focus on implementing e-HR in UK based energy companies.

Topic 42: Identifying the most influential factors affecting information technology management in the UK construction industry.

Research Aim: This research will identify factors that influence information technology management in the UK construction industry.

Topic 43: Investigating the Benefits and Limitations of Implementing Information Technology in the UK Fashion Industry.

Research Aim: This research will help explore the benefits and limitations of implementing information technology in the UK fashion sector.

Topic 44: To investigate the important elements of information technology management.

Research Aim: This research will focus on the essential factors of information technology management.

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Organisational Leadership Dissertation Topics

Business leaders are the management staff that provides operational oversights, inspiration and other administrative services. It is the duty of business leaders to help prioritise organisational objectives and corporate vision for other team members. Here are some interesting topics related to organizational leadership.

Topic 45: Examining the effects of leadership and clarity of vision on business organisations.

Research Aim: This research will understand the impact of leadership on businesses and how having a clear business vision helps organisations.

Topic 46: The impact of organisational culture and leadership behaviours on practices of knowledge management in small and medium-sized enterprises.

Research Aim: This research will examine the impact of organisational culture and leadership behaviours on knowledge management in SMEs.

Topic 47: Examining the impact of leadership on organisational performance of small enterprises in Saudi Arabia.

Research Aim: This research will study the impact of business leadership on the organisational performance of small businesses in Saudi Arabia.

Topic 48: Evaluating the impact of leadership on organisational performance – A case study of any large and diversified firm.

Research Aim: This research will help evaluate the impact of leadership on organisational performance. You can choose a company of your choice for this research.

Topic 49: Role of organisational leadership in developing countries – A case study of any home-grown company.

Research Aim: This study will evaluate the role of organisational leadership in developing countries.

Topic 50: Traits of prevention-oriented and charismatic leader for the successful operation of medium-sized enterprises.

Research Aim: This research will examine the various traits of leadership that are required for successful business operations.

Topic 51: Organisational leadership in multicultural environment of Saudi Arabia.

Research Aim: This research will focus on organisational leadership in a multicultural environment in Saudi Arabia.

Topic 52: Distinguishing leadership from management to achieve corporate strategies.

Research Aim: This research will analyse and compare leadership and management that companies achieve corporate strategies.

Topic 53: Investigating the differences between individual charismatic leadership and traditional organisational leadership.

Research Aim: This research will help to investigate the differences between charismatic leadership and traditional leadership.

Topic 54: How leadership decisions to implement new business strategies can be influenced by organisational culture – A case study of Nokia.

Research Aim: This research will assess how leadership decisions help in implementing new business strategies and how they are influenced by organisational culture. This study will be based on Nokia.

International Business Strategy Dissertation Topics

International business can be defined as the transactions that occur across country borders as a result of trade. For example,  a UK based company selling its products in another country is involved in international business.

Another definition of international business is the exchange/trade of goods or products among businesses and individuals in multiple countries.

However, it is worth noting that all commercial transactions, including transportations, logistics, investments, sales, governmental and private that occur as a result of trade between two different regions are the elements of International Business.

Here are some interesting topics based on international business strategy:

Topic 55: Investigating the patterns of foreign direct investment in new global economies

Research Aim: This research will help outline foreign direct investment patterns in new global economies.

Topic 56: The future of the bamboo industry in Europe – Opportunities and challenges

Research Aim: This research will understand the bamboo industry in Europe, its opportunities, and the challenges the industry has to face.

Topic 57: How Telenor internationalised in Asia – The case of Pakistan

Research Aim: This research will focus on Telenor expanding its operations in Asia. International business strategies undertaken by the company will be discussed.

Topic 58: Internationalisation opportunities for Chinese multinational companies – The link between international business development and “knowledge and learning”

Research Aim: This research will explore the internationalisation opportunities for Chinese multinational companies, i.e. the link between international business development and knowledge will be studied.

Topic 59: Exploring strategic alternatives in Research & Development through the exploitation of opportunities and capabilities

Research Aim: This research will talk about the various strategic alternatives in research and development by exploring various opportunities and capabilities.

Topic 60: The role of new theoretical models with respect to global politics and business

Research Aim: This research will understand the role of new theoretical models by considering global politics and businesses.

Topic 61: The impact of corporate governance on performance and internationalisation of business organisation

Research Aim: This research will focus on the impact of corporate governance on the performance and internationalisation of business organisations.

Topic 62: Examining the factors that could motivate large multinational corporations to adapt internationalisation strategy

Research Aim: This research will analyse the factors that motivate multinationals to adapt to internationalization strategies.

Topic 63: The growing importance of social media strategies in the global business environment – Internationalisation, e-business plans and performance of firms

Research Aim: This research will understand the importance of social media strategy in the global business environment, i.e. firm performance, e-business plans, etc.

Topic 64: Investigating “foreign direct investment” strategies of large and diversified companies in developing economies – The case of India

Research Aim: This research will examine foreign direct investment strategies of huge diversified businesses based in India.

Corporate Social Responsibility Dissertation Topics

The concept of corporate social responsibility has gained tremendous importance, thanks to growing social and environmental concerns that need to be integrated into business operations.

CSR allows business organisations to achieve a balance of social, environmental, and economic obligations and addresses stakeholders and shareholders’ needs.

Implementing CSR amongst small and medium-sized enterprises can prove to be an extremely daunting task primarily because it requires strategies to be designed in a manner where the respective capabilities and needs of these businesses are considered, but the profitability of the company is not adversely impacted.

Here are some relevant CSR dissertation topics for you to choose from:

Topic 65: Investigating the role of corporate social responsibilities in brand equity

Research Aim: This research will analyse how brand equity is built with the help of corporate social responsibility.

Topic 66: How values are associated with perceptions of corporate social responsibility

Research Aim: This research will talk about how values and perceptions are associated with corporate social responsibility and how businesses view it.

Topic 67: Effects of CSR on the performance of business organisations in transitional economies

Research Aim: This study will examine how CSR impacts businesses’ performance operating in transitional economies.

Topic 68: Investigating performance and strategic plans of UK firms with respect to corporate social responsibility

Research Aim: This research will investigate the performance and strategic plans of UK firms with regard to their respective corporate social responsibility.

Topic 69: To what extent do international certifiable management regulations influence business practices

This research will aim to understand the extent to which international certifiable management regulations impact business practices.

Topic 70: Corporate social responsibility in developing countries – The case of the Chinese construction industry

Research Aim: This research will talk about corporate social responsibility in developing countries and focus on the Chinese construction industry.

Topic 71: Corporate social responsibility and societal expectations – A case of any multinational corporation

Research Aim: This research will understand the expectations associated with corporate social responsibilities. A multinational will be chosen for this study.

Topic 72: How corporate social responsibility affect business practices of the UK energy sector

Research Aim: This research will help understand how corporate social responsibility impacts business practices in the UK energy sector.

Topic 73: The role of CSR on international corporate governance theories and practices

Research Aim: This research will examine the role of CSR in international corporate governance theories and practices.

Topic 74: Financial performance of selected European corporations in light of corporate social responsibility

Research Aim: This research will understand how the financial performance of European businesses is impacted by corporate social responsibility.

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Organisational Behaviour Dissertation Topics

Organisational behaviour can be defined as how individuals interact with larger groups to create more efficient businesses. The theories of organisational behaviour can help to achieve maximum output from individual members of a team. Here are some interesting topics to help you pick an appropriate dissertation topic on organisational behaviour.

Topic 75: Investigating the impact of values and beliefs on employees’ performance and commitment at the workplace

Research Aim: This research will investigate the impact of beliefs and values on employees’ performance and commitment at the workplace.

Topic 76: Studying the impact of culture on organisational behaviour – The case of the Indian telecommunication industry

Research Aim: This research will help study the impact of culture on organisational behaviour. The Indian telecommunication industry will be the focus of this research.

Topic 77: Examining decision-making process in multinational corporations in light of organisational behaviour and choice

Research Aim: This research will help examine the decision making process in multinationals with respect to organisational behaviour and choice.

Topic 78: Organisational citizenship behaviour and organisational commitment, psychological contract and conflict at Oxford University

Research Aim: This research will help understand organisational citizenship behaviour, organisational commitment, and conflict at Oxford University.

Topic 79: Exploring the relationship between a sense of belongingness and development of trust with managerial behaviour in large and diversified organisations

Research Aim: This research will help in understanding the relationship between trust and a sense of belongingness in huge, multicultural organisations.

Topic 80: Investigating causes of unethical actions of individuals in the workplace – Analysing organisational standards, practices, ethical behaviour

Research Aim: This study will explore causes that lead to unethical actions at workplaces. The research will analyse the organisational standards, practices, and ethical behaviour.

Topic 81: Developing organisational citizenship behaviour and organisational culture in the pre-inauguration stages – The case of the UK hotel industry

Research Aim: This research will help develop organisational citizenship behaviour and organisational culture in the early days of businesses. The UK hotel industry will be the main focus of this research.

Topic 82: Comparing employees’ attitudes and organisational cultural values in the Indian agricultural sector

Research Aim: This research will compare employee attitude and organisational cultural values in the Indian agricultural sector.

Topic 83: This study will explore the relationship between employee performance and corporate objectives.

Research Aim: The research will take into consideration the role of shared values and standards.

Topic 84: Introducing, Implementing, and Managing Change in a Multinational – Assessing the Conflicts associated with it

Research Aim: This research will study global change management as to how multinationals introduce, implement and manage change globally.

Important Notes:

As a student of business looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment on existing business theories – i.e., to add value and interest in your research topic.

The field of business is vast and interrelated to so many other academic disciplines like  civil engineering ,  construction ,  law , and even  healthcare . That is why creating a business dissertation topic that is articular, sound, and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field is imperative.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic; it is the basis of your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong; your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in  writing your dissertation , as you may end up in the cycle of rejection at the very initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

While developing a research topic, keeping our advice in mind will allow you to pick one of the best business dissertation topics that fulfil your requirement of writing a research paper and add to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalizing your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and be practically implemented. Take a look at some of our sample business dissertation topics to get an idea for your own dissertation.

How to Structure your Business Dissertation

A well-structured   dissertation can help students   to achieve a high overall academic grade.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Declaration
• Abstract: A summary of the research completed
• Table of Contents
• Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can  also be added to this chapter.
• Literature Review :  This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analysing published and unpublished literature available on the chosen research topic in light of research questions to be addressed. The purpose is to highlight and discuss the relative weaknesses and strengths of the selected research area while identifying any research gaps. Break down of the topic, and key terms can positively impact your dissertation and your tutor.
• Methodology: The  data collection  and  analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter, which usually includes  research design, research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and  data analysis strategy .
• Findings and Analysis: Findings of the research are analysed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include  graphs ,  charts, and  tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
• Discussion and  Conclusion: The researcher presents his interpretation of results in this chapter and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section is to establish the link between the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regards to implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
• References:  Make sure to complete this in accordance with your University’s requirements
• Bibliography
• Appendices: Any additional information, diagrams, and graphs used to complete the dissertation  but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

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Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Explore past dissertations from members of the Doctor of Business Administration program at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

2024 Dissertations

• Dissertation: What Are the Impacts of Leader Political Skill on Organizational Change?

2023 Dissertations

• Dissertation:  Do Emergency Physicians Treat Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Differently? A Mixed-Methods Integrative Paper
• Dissertation: Reliability and Resilience at U.S. Hospitals During the Global COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study on the Effect of Leader and Team Behavior on Crisis Response 
• Dissertation: The Experience of American Frontline Health Care Workers with Electronic Medical Records Technology During the Time of COVID-19: A Phenomenological Inquiry Following the Systems Approach
• Dissertation: The Impact of Business Unit (BU)-Information Technology (IT)-Relationships on Business Transformations: A Mixed Methods Study
• Dissertation: Cognitive Load, EHR Use, and Psychological Stressors Influence on Decision-Making Performance Within Healthcare
• Dissertation: Are Food Banks Impacting Food Retail? Examining the Relationship Between Hunger Relief Distributions and Retail Transactions in a Local Food Environment 

2022 Dissertations

• Dissertation:  Factors Influencing the Advancement Of African American Women In Banking: “Yet None Have Advanced Into The C-Suite Of The Top Four U.S. Banks”
• Dissertation:  Embodied Awareness, Embodied Practice: A Powerful Path to Practical Wisdom
• Dissertation:  The Dynamics and Impacts of Conference Change in Intercollegiate Athletics: A Strategy Group and Institutional Analysis  
• Dissertation:  Heuristics and Bias in New Venture Valuations
• Dissertation:  Mixed Methods Study Examining Organizational and Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Management of Pet Populations in Shelters
• Dissertation:  Factors Influencing Academic Engagement: A Social Support Perspective
• Dissertation:  Latino Entrepreneurship in the United States: A Fresh Perspective
• Dissertation:  The Effect of Supply Chain Strategies on Direct-to-Consumer Industry Evolution: A Mixed-Methods Study
• Dissertation:  Building Character and Leading Through The "Eyes of Others:" A Qualitative and Quantitative Study of Ethical Decision-Making  
• Dissertation:  Unveiling the Arab Mind: What are the Characteristics of Leaders Who Need to Capture Followers' Hearts and Minds?

2021 Dissertations

• Dissertation: System Influence Framework: IT Project Managers’ Influence to Form Critical Stakeholder Alignments and Promote Value Realization
• Dissertation: A Mixed-Method Study of Investigating the Effects of Organizational Preparedness of Supply Chain Management Performance in the Food and Manufacturing Industry
• Dissertation: Managing Successful Strategic Turnarounds: A Mixed Methods Study of Knowledge-Based Dynamic Capabilities
• Dissertation: Price Wars and Managerial Sensemaking: A Mixed-Methods Study
• Dissertation: Integrative Ecosystem Management: Designing Cities and Co-creating the Flourishing Ecosystem
• Dissertation: Effectiveness of Nonprofits on Factors That Influence the Social Aspects of Well-Being in Food Deserts
• Dissertation: Managing Scholar/Practitioner Tensions in Professional Programs: A Study of Library and Information Science Faculty
• Dissertation: Three Studies of Unexpected Organizational Decisions: Some Commonalities in Decisions to Report Workplace Violence and Decisions of Scope in Audit Testing for Complex IT Environments

2020 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Operational Excellence and Organic Revenue Growth
• Dissertation: Breakthrough Teams & Innovation in Orbit: Entrepreneurial Group Initiatives in Established Organizations
• Dissertation: The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A): An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Inquiry Into the Factors Influencing M&A Outcomes
• Dissertation: Coaching and Development as Part of a Manager-Subordinate Relationship: A Mixed-Methods Study of Tools, Dynamics and Outcomes
• Dissertation: Role of a CEO in the Era of Technology Disruption: Influence on Timing of Adoption
• Dissertation: Why Do People Bribe and Is It Worth It? A Mixed Methods Study of Bribing Antecedents and Outcomes in Former Soviet Countries
• Dissertation: Cross-Functional Team Performance: Inquiry, Identity and Shared Reality
• Dissertation: Managing Rational Divergence: Testing the Effects of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Technique on Collaborative Versus Competitive Behaviors in a Game Theoretic Setting
• Dissertation: Equity and Justice For All: The Absence of Subjective Well-Being for the African American Male
• Dissertation: How Do Professionals Find Life Meaning?
• Dissertation: Do You Have the "S" Factor for Service Innovation? How Stewardship Contributes to Service Innovation Capabilities in Service-Dominant Logic
• Dissertation: Coaching Millennials
• Dissertation: Antecedents Of Radicality And Commercial Success Outcomes In SBIR Projects
• Dissertation: Omni-Brand: The Paradox of Global Acceptance and Local Authenticity
• Dissertation: What drives individual decision-making of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Designing the Framework of Entrepreneurial Relationship Management (ERM) for Strategic Actions and Effective-Decision Making
• Dissertation: Building Big Data Analytics as a Strategic Capability in Industrial Firms: Firm Level Capabilities and Project Level Practices
• Dissertation: The Influence of Individual, Organizational and Contextual Factors on Saudi Women Career Commitment and Satisfaction in Nontraditional Occupations
• Dissertation: The Patient Perspective: Exploring the Influence of Social Interactions on Chronic Disease Outcomes
• Dissertation: Hyperconnectivity Giveth and Taketh Away: Reconciling Being an "Always-On" Empowered Consumer and Privacy in an Era of Pervasive Personal Data Exchanges
• Dissertation: Inspirational Professors, Their Emotional Intelligence and its role on Relational Climate
• Dissertation: Emergent Learning in Digital Product Teams
• Dissertation: Improving Job Satisfaction for Nurses in Acute Healthcare Facilities through Engagement and Teamwork
• Dissertation: Leadership and Practices for Strategic Adaptation in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
• Dissertation: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring How IRS Special Agents Choose Cases for Investigation

2018 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Green Investment and Organizational Performance: Evidence from the Nigerian Pulp and Paper Industry
• Dissertation: Antecedents of Managerial Moral Stress: A Mixed Methods Study
• Dissertation: Purposing: How Purpose Develops Self-Organizing Capacities
• Dissertation: The Changing Landscape of Finance in Higher Education:  Bridging the Gap Through Data Analytics
• Dissertation: Barriers and Facilitators of Growth in Black Entrepreneurial Ventures: Thinking Outside the Black Box
• Dissertation: Honorable Mavericks: A Mixed-Method Study of what Influences Subsidiary Managers Compliance with Headquarters Instructions
• Dissertation: Fifteen Minutes of Shame: A Multilevel Approach of the Antecedents and Effects of Corporate Accounting Scandals
• Dissertation: What Really Matters to NFL Fans: The Effects of Team Performance and Self-confidence on Fan Commitment and Purchase Intention
• Dissertation: Crossing the Quality Chasm: A Mixed Methods Study of Physician Decision-Making when Treating Chronic Disease
• Dissertation: The Power of Relationships: Navigating the Dance of Change through Executive Coaching
• Dissertation: Learning Within and During IT/IS Projects: Its Process, Antecedents, and Outcomes
• Dissertation: The Complexity of Change: The Middle Managers’ Emergent Contributions
• Dissertation: STEM Entrepreneurs: Educating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Underrepresented Minorities (URM) and Non-Minorities for Job Satisfaction and Career Success
• Dissertation: Mixed Methods Study of Factors Influencing  Business to Business (b2b) Sales Performance: The Role of Design Attitude
• Dissertation: Making Heads and Tails of Distributional Patterns in Private-Equity-Owned Companies: A Value-Creation-Type and Industry-Based Analysis
• Dissertation: The Professional Development Mindset

2017 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Legislators as Leaders: Investigating and Elucidating the Influence of Gender, Religious Beliefs, and Mindfulness on Legislative Decision Making
• Dissertation: Purpose Matters to Leaders at a Personal and Company Level
• Dissertation: Forecast Revision as an Antecedent to Strategic Change
• Dissertation: An Examination of Followers' Upward Influence
• Dissertation: Empowering the 99%...One ESOP at a Time! A Mixed Method Study of Employee Owned Company Acquisitions
• Dissertation: Factors Contributing to Sustainable Brand Growth
• Dissertation: Looking Beyond Culture: Determining Success Factors for Transnational Multiparty Collaboration
• Dissertation: Bringing Social Innovation to Scale: Leveraging Relational Capital and Risk-Taking Behaviors of Actors in Complex Ecosystems
• Dissertation: Positive Impact: Factors That Drive Businesses Toward Shared Prosperity, Environmental Regeneration and Human Wellbeing
• Dissertation: The Role of an Ethos of Sustainability: The Hidden Value of Intangible Resources
• Dissertation: What is Retirement in the 21st Century?
• Dissertation: The Potency of Informal Learning in Paid and Non-Paid Work: A Mixed Study
• Dissertation: Strategy as Configuration: Recursive Organization of Strategy Implementation Factors and Their Effect on Strategy Execution Effectiveness
• Dissertation: Are we Having Fun Yet?: What is the Relationship Between Mentoring, Fun at Work and Job Satisfaction?
• Dissertation: Senior Information Technology (IT) Leader Credibility: Knowledge Scale, Mediating Knowledge Mechanisms, and Effectiveness

2016 Dissertations

• Dissertation: The Intersection of Auditor Independence, Objectivity, and Integrity in High Risk Audit Conditions
• Dissertation: Characteristics of Effective  Leadership of Community College Presidents - A Mixed Method Analysis
• Dissertation: Cultural Factors:  Entrepreneurial Orientation or Not – Innovation Drivers in Small to Medium Sized Enterprises
• Dissertation: Igniting the Fire: The Impact of Anticipatory Entrepreneurial Passion on Effort and Affect in Nascent Entrepreneurs
• Dissertation: Frontline Employee Role Passion and the Impact on Service Encounters
• Dissertation: An Original Microgrid Business Model Determines Conditions for a New Asset Market
• Dissertation: Sustainable Value And Eco-Communal Management: Systemic Measures For The Outcome Of Renewable Energy Businesses In Developing, Emerging, And Developed Economies
• Dissertation: A Theory of Micro-Level Dynamic Capabilities: How Technology Leaders Innovate with Human Connection
• Dissertation: When is Earnings Guidance a Treacherous Servant?
• Dissertation: Routines of New Venture Conceptualization: Evidence and Extension of an Entrepreneurial Dynamic Capability
• Dissertation: Remote and Onsite Knowledge Worker Productivity and Engagement: A Comparative Study of the Effect of Virtual Intensity and Work Location Preference
• Dissertation: Who We Are Matters: The Identity of the Information Technology Organization and Outsourcing Success
• Dissertation: A Theory of Steering Committee Capabilities for Implementing Large Scale Enterprise-Wide Information Systems
• Dissertation: Financial Stress in an Adaptive System: From Empirical Validity to Theoretical Foundations
• Dissertation: Experiential Workplace Design in Knowledge Work Organizations: A Worker-Centered Approach
• Dissertation: Understanding the Journey of Inner-City Communities to a Sense of Community and Well-Being
• Dissertation: Deliberate Disruption: How Corporate Leaders' Break the Liability of Expertise
• Dissertation: The Role of Mentorship in Developing Leadership Ready Gen X and Gen Y Females
• Dissertation: Antecedents and Outcomes of Perceived Creepiness in Online Personalized Communications
• Dissertation: The Effects of Visual Analytic Strategies on Organizational Decision Making

2015 Dissertations

• Dissertation: What Influences the Economic Model In the Private and Public Sectors In the Two Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai? A Comparative Study 
• Dissertation: Design Attitude and Social Innovation: Empirical Studies of the Return on Design
• Dissertation: Attentional Change Decisions: Exploring the Role of Attention in Shaping Change Decisions: A Mixed Methods Approach
• Dissertation: Interprofessional Teams in Healthcare: A Mixed-Methods Study
• Dissertation: Helping Top Talent To Thrive: The Significance of Relational Capacity, Teamwork and Organizational Support
• Dissertation: Narrative Shock: Helping North Korean Defectors Narrate Their Lives Fully in South Korea
• Dissertation: Team Adaptation and Mindful Boundary Management: The Dynamics of Internal and External Balancing
• Dissertation: The Collaboration Blueprint: Designing and Building Effective Strategies for Innovation and Rejuvenative Collaboration
• Dissertation: Developing the Next-Generation Leadership Talent in Family Business: The Family Effect
• Dissertation: Creating Customer Love: How Organizations Can Engender Positive Affect in Online Product-Centered Communities
• Dissertation: Playing to Win: Dynamics of Teams That Innovate
• Dissertation: Organizational Commitment - A Requisite for Quality of Life in Assisted Living.
• Dissertation: Promethean Framework and Measurement Instrument: Career Development, Maintenance and Transitions in Convulsive Economic Cycles
• Dissertation: Cohesion, Flexibility, and the Mediating Effects of Shared Vision and Comparison on Engagement in Army Acquisition Teams
• Dissertation: Title How Hackers Think: A Mixed Method Study of Mental Models and Cognitive Patterns of High-Tech Wizards
• Dissertation: Procedural Rationality as a Means for Evidence-Based Management in Conflicted Decision-Making:  A Mixed-Methods Study
• Dissertation: Disempowering the "Robin Hood" Fraudster: Empathetic Pathways Weaken Regulators and Enable Fraudulent Behavior – A Framework For Redesigining Controls
• Dissertation: Organizational Adoption of Social Media Technologies: A Mixed-Methods, Multi-Level Study of Effects on Productivity and Work-Home Life Balance
• Dissertation: Trust by Design: The Affective and Cognitive Antecedents Among African Americans, Building Long-Term Business Relationships
• Dissertation: Thriving in Transition: Cognitive, Social & Behavioral Resources For Times of Change

2014 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Towards Flourishing: How Sellers Can Forge Stronger B2B Relations and Increase Buyer Loyalty
• Dissertation: Improving the Capacity for Strategic Anticipation: How Upstream, Downstream and Lateral Immersion Contribute to the Capacity to Anticipate Strategic Moves
• Dissertation: Does Upper Echelons Team Dynamic Matter? The Criticality of Executive Team Behavior in Economic Value Creation
• Dissertation: Facilitating Radical Innovation in Consumer Electronics and Information Technology Industries
• Dissertation: Staying Alive: The Experience of In Extremis Leadership
• Dissertation: The Significance of Influence in Our Current Work Environment: Understanding and Exploring the Shift and Emergent Domains
• Dissertation: Understanding Managerial Influences:  A Mixed Methods Study of employee engagement, well-being, and performance
• Dissertation: Factors That Influence Firms' Environmental Performance: An Examination of Large Companies
• Dissertation: Title A Theoretical, Empirical and Practical Approach to Academic Knowledge Production and Job Satisfaction: The Role of Academic Alignment
• Dissertation: Equine-Assisted Experiential Learning: Implications for Management Development and Education
• Dissertation: Bridging the Medical Knowledge and Practice Gap: Antecedents of Successful Scientist Physician Collaboration
• Dissertation: Supply Chain Management Performance: Factors Contributing to Successful Risk Mitigation & Resiliency
• Dissertation: A Theory of Overload and Equivocality Effects on Learning during Knowledge Transfer within Policy Making Dyads

2013 Dissertations

• Dissertation: A Theory of Viral Growth of Social Networking Sites
• Dissertation: Socio-Cognitive Foundations of Entrepreneurial Venturing
• Dissertation: The Belief System and Behavior of Financial Advisors After a Market Disruption
• Dissertation: Relationships Matter, Even for CPAs
• Dissertation: Designing Successful Social Ventures: Hands-On Feedback-Seeking Engagement with Stakeholders to Unravel What to Do Next
• Dissertation: Pricing Capabilities and Firm Performance: A Socio-Technical Framework for the Adoption of Pricing as a Transformational Innovation
• Dissertation: Coming Out and Being Out in the C-Suite: The Experiences of Openly Gay and Lesbian Executives
• Dissertation: The Impact of Social Competencies and Role Factors on the Relational Construction of Identity and Participation of Physician Leaders
• Dissertation: Credibility: A Foundation for All Leaders
• Dissertation: Why We Care: The Mediating Effect of Positive and Negative Emotional Attractors on Social Responsibility
• Dissertation: Systemic Corruption: A Multi-Theoretic, Multi-Level and Mixed Methods Analysis of the Interplay among Institutional Logics, Strategic Agency and Reward Expectancy

2012 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Tenure, Charisma and Conflict in Venture Backed Teams
• Dissertation: Decision Making in the Corporate Boardroom: Designing the Conditions for Effectiveness
• Dissertation: How and To What Extent Does Collaboration Affect Employee and Cross-Functional Team Performance?
• Dissertation: Women Persisting in the Engineering Profession: A Paradoxical Explanation Adapting Intentional Change Theory
• Dissertation: Organizational Agility and Complex Enterprise System Innovations: A Mixed Methods Study of the Effects of Enterprise Systems on Organizational Agility
• Dissertation: How a Learning Orientation, Modern Portfolio Theory and Absorptive Capacity Contribute to University Endowment Performance
• Dissertation: A Multi-Level Investigation into the Antecedents of Enterprise Architecture (EA) Assimilation in the U.S. Federal Government: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Research Study
• Dissertation: The Impact IT Professionals Have On Performance: What Differentiates Superior from Average Performers and Understanding How to Keep Them Engaged

2011 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Pluralistic Diversity in Voluntary Associations on College Campuses: A Multi-Method study
• Dissertation: Managing the Unexpected: Detecting, Preventing and Mitigating Surprises in the Banking Industry
• Dissertation: The Strategic Decision-Making Process of the Board and Its Impact on Decision Outcomes
• Dissertation: Worlds Connected and Worlds Apart: Postures and Dependencies Influencing Government - Agency Relations
• Dissertation: A Multi-Method Exploration of the Role of Legitimacy in Cross-Sector Partnerships for the Natural Environment
• Dissertation: Knowledge Sharing in Bioscience Clusters: Nature, Utilization and Effects
• Dissertation: Impact of School Leadership on Academic Achievement in Kenyan Secondary Schools
• Dissertation: Non-Financial Perspectives on Family Firm Performance
• Dissertation: The Great Recession and Nonprofit Endurance: Framing the Mission-Defensive Paradox
• Dissertation: The Global Financial Crisis: Bankers Shaken, But Some Awaken

2010 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Causal Ambiguity and Its Impacts on Firm Performance
• Dissertation: Exploring Sustained Collaborations: Activities and Behaviors That Make a Difference
• Dissertation: Adoption of High Trust-High Risk Technologies: The Case of of Computer Assisted Surgery
• Dissertation: Bridging Structure-Agency Divide: A Structurational Approach to Institutional Adaptation and Innovation
• Dissertation: The Effect of Social Factors on Project Success Within Enterprise-Class System Development
• Dissertation: Nonprofit Leaders and Their Organizations: Routes to and Repertoires for Effectiveness
• Dissertation: Drivers of Employee Engagement and Teamwork Performance
• Dissertation: Payoffs of Championing "Tough Issues": Why Corporations Need to Nurture Quixotic Champions at the Board and Within Senior Management Teams
• Dissertation: Improving the Effectiveness of Microfinance in Reducing Household Poverty
• Dissertation: How Many Hands Does a Team Have? Developing Ambidextrous Teams in Academic Medical Centers
• Dissertation: The Delicate Balance of Organizational Leadership: Encouraging Learning and Driving Successful Innovation
• Dissertation: Dare to Restore Trust and Drive Loyalty in Distrust-Dominated Environments: A Stakeholder Perspective
• Dissertation: The Impact of Charisma on Employee Volunteer Programs

2009 Dissertations

• Dissertation: A Study of the Impact of Informational Complexity, Transparency and Stewardship on Decision Usefulness: The Users' Perspective
• Dissertation: Generative Characteristics as Antecedents to Engagement
• Dissertation: Managing Commitment as Antecedents to Engagement in Faith-based Organizations: Chinese Protestant Churches in the United States
• Dissertation: When Practice and Theory Conflict: Do Performance Incentives Drive Management Behaviors in Mergers and Acquisitions?
• Dissertation: Ethical Ideologies and Decision Making Among College Student Athletes
• Dissertation: The Role of Human Capital in Predicting Business Outcomes
• Dissertation: Inside the Outsourcing of Innovation
• Dissertation: The Role of Organizational Learning in Renewing Competitive Advantage
• Dissertation: The Private Sector and Anti-Terrorism Spending for Physical Security
• Dissertation: Unraveling Adaptive Selling: An Empirical Analysis of Underlying Relational Behavior
• Dissertation: Design and Discovery: The Structure and Function of a Research Network
• Dissertation: Into the Family and Business Nexus: Succession and Daughters in Family Owned Businesses
• Dissertation: Executive Leader Development: Mentoring in U.S. Government and Commercial Organizations
• Dissertation: An Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Accreditation in the Nonprofit Sector
• Dissertation: Beyond Financial Transparency and Institutional Structure: Emergent Forms of Accountability in the New Era of Responsibility

2008 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Developing a Regional High Tech Environment: What Factors Matter
• Dissertation: The Impact of the Internet on Airline Fares
• Dissertation: Managing Multiple and Interacting Congregations Within the Same Church: The Case of Chinese Protestant Immigrant Churches in North America
• Dissertation: Heaven, Hell and Everything In Between: How Do Authentic Leaders' Values Contribute to Organizations in Which Followers Flourish?
• Dissertation: They're Making All the Wrong Decisions: Managing Cognitive and Emotive Balance
• Dissertation: The Pathfinder Leader and Complex Decision Making: The Role in Collective Action Governance
• Dissertation: College Environments as Enablers and Barriers to Youth Entrepreneurship
• Dissertation: The Role of Learning and Care Giving Style in Practitioner-Patient Co-Production of Therapeutic Outcomes
• Dissertation: Effective Leadership of Financial Service Firms: A Study in Resonance and Emotional Intelligence
• Dissertation: Selling Money: Success Factors for Financial Advisors
• Dissertation: Role Engagement in Co-operative Organizations: A Relational Framework for Understanding Board Commitment
• Dissertation: Virtual Teams: Can They Be More Effective
• Dissertation: Commitment to Change as Dynamic Push-Pull Alignment of Messages
• Dissertation: The Impact of Organizational Destruction in Social Capital
• Dissertation: The Duplicity Effect: Professional Investment Decisions for Others Versus Self
• Dissertation: You Can Change Strategies in a Conversation: Decision Making in Innovation in the Durable Goods Industry

2007 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Disconnected: A Consumer Study of Mobile Telephone Technology Rejection in the United States
• Dissertation: The Social-Technical Project Manager Practices That Motivate Knowledge Sharing and Learning in Information Technology Project Team Environments
• Dissertation: Social Change – Making the Improbable Possible through Collaboration: A Series of Studies on NGO Collaboration in South Africa
• Dissertation: Employee Reactions to Mergers and Acquisitions - The ‘ME-I Syndrome’; Avoiding ‘Merger-Enabled-Individualism’
• Dissertation: Service Feature Considerations for Developing Consumer Satisfaction in Online Environments
• Dissertation: Studies in Workplace Behaviors and Organizations
• Dissertation: Transitioning from Staff Nurse to Nurse Manager-A Change in Identity
• Dissertation: Resilience in Action: Exploring Constructive Transitions Among Mid-Career Leaders
• Dissertation: Change Leader Retention and Career Development: The Role of Social Capital and Balancing Commitments
• Dissertation: Venture “TERROIR” Can We Define It ? VC Decision Processes for Investing in Genesis/ Pre-seed ICT Entrepreneurial Teams
• Dissertation: The Effects of Ownership, Control Rights and Experience on Joint Venture Success
• Dissertation: Social Entrepreneurship: Creating Impact in the Social Sector
• Dissertation: An Investigation of Electronic Medical Record Technology Adoption by Family Practice Physicians

2006 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Three Aspects of Social Change Management: Project Ownership, Ethical Project Transfer and Economic Correlate
• Dissertation: Corporate Governance in the Era of Sarbanes-Oxley
• Dissertation: The Practice of Medical Error Reporting
• Dissertation: The Social Construction of the Interactive Practices of Multicultural Professionals
• Dissertation: Practicing Pragmatic Collaboration: The Challenge of Recognizing and Managing Rational Divergence
• Dissertation: Focusing on the End User: Promoting the Successful Deployment of Workplace Programs and Initiatives
• Dissertation: Exploration of Social Capital in the Context of Elected Public School Officials
• Dissertation: A Journey with the End in Mind: An Examination of How Advance Planning May Influence End-of-Life Decisions
• Dissertation: Innovative or Expendable Human Capital: The Effect of Labor Market Choices, Career System Practices and Self-Directed Career Orientation on Organization Outcomes
• Dissertation: Immigrants Transnational Activities for Home Community Development: The Nigerian Immigrants in the United States
• Dissertation: Factors that Facilitate Entrepreneurship Among Students and Nascent Entrepreneurs
• Dissertation: An investigation of Customer Perceived Value, Exchange Partner Trustworthiness and Service Perceptions in e-Commerce
• Dissertation: Impact of Knowledge on Electricity Markets

2005 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Corporate Responses to Accounting Regulation
• Dissertation: Information Technology Adoption by Middle Managers: The Case of Trial Court Judges
• Dissertation: Strangers in the Commons: Understanding and Measuring Successful Aging for Low-Income Seniors in Affordable Housing
• Dissertation: Adolescent Leadership Development: The Role of Authoritative Parenting and the Mediating Effect of Psychological Autonomy and Mastery Orientation
• Dissertation: Trust, Education and Development in Jamaica, 1950-2000
• Dissertation: The Link Between Governance Responsibilities and Performance in Healthcare Organizations: A Trustees Perspective
• Dissertation: Nonprofit Intrapreneurship: How Nonprofit Managers Facilitate and Balance Entrepreneurial Activity
• Dissertation: All Cake and No Icing: An Exploration of Female Executive Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector
• Dissertation: A Framework for Maximizing Board Member Outcomes in Nonprofit Organizations
• Dissertation: The Impact of Electronic Medical Records on the Doctor-Patient Relationship in Hospitals in Japan, Korea and the United States: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

2004 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Sparks of Innovation: Observing the Elements that Lead to Creative and Innovative Success
• Dissertation: Pastoral Leadership and Parish Vibrancy
• Dissertation: A Tale of Two Colleges: The Fiscal Crisis of the 1990's Strategies for Managing in Uncertainty
• Dissertation: Converting Highly Legitimized Structural Barriers into Vehicles of Change: A Case for Transformational Leadership in Liberal Arts Colleges
• Dissertation: The Social Capital of Nonprofit Leaders
• Dissertation: Synthesizing Managerial Agency and Institutionalism in Manufacturing Facilities
• Dissertation: The Evolving Nonprofit Board: Relational Practices and Effective Governance
• Dissertation: Entrepreneurial Emergence: The Challenge of Growth in Urban Contexts
• Dissertation: Change On the Frontlines: A Perspective from the Trenches
• Dissertation: Perspectives on Life Insurance Selling, Retirement Savings among African Americans and Precautionary Saving of Blacks compared to Whites
• Dissertation: Managers, Micro-entrepreneurs and Performance Outcomes: Lessons from Two Worlds
• Dissertation: Trust in Project Management Relationships
• Dissertation: Free at Last? Culturally Rooted Differences in the Workplace Experience
• Dissertation: Organization and Empowerment: Policy, Practice and Outcome - The Study of Development Organizations in St. Lucia, West Indies

2003 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Individual Behavioral Competencies & Organizational Constraints: Some Insights From Health Care
• Dissertation: From Sitting on Top of the World to Crunched in the Back of the Bus: The Transformation of the U.S. Domestic Airline Industry From 2000 Through 2003
• Dissertation: Stakeholders and Organizations: A Three Part Approach to Better Understandings of Who and What Counts
• Dissertation: Research Reports: Strength of Strong Ties: Two Studies on EVA in Cyclic Markets
• Dissertation: Beyond the Requirements: Using Technology and Implementing Service Learning
• Dissertation: What Tangled Webs We Weave: A Comparative Study of Cooperation, Coping, and Networking Strategies of Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs
• Dissertation: Customer Service Satisfaction in Inter-Cultural Service Encounters
• Dissertation: Research Into the Effectiveness of an Alternatives to Violence Program in a Prison System
• Dissertation: A Qualitative Analysis of the Historical and Social Significance of the African American Male Oral Tradition: A Study in Linguistic Anthropology
• Dissertation: Leadership Pathways: How Leaders Communicate, Network, and Find Success in Diverse Environments
• Dissertation: Reciprocal Learning in Teams: Relational Practices for Securing the Best From Leadership Volunteers in Nonprofit Organizations

2002 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Workforce Development in a Small Manufacturing Organization
• Dissertation: Forces Shaping the Extent of Markets: An Exploration of Wholesale Distributors in Latin America
• Dissertation: The Meaning of Decision and Choice to a Leader in a Nonprofit Organization
• Dissertation: Another Thrice-Told Tale: Strategy Formation, Accountability, and Competent Governance in a Nonprofit Organization
• Dissertation: Study of Direct Internet Selling by Airlines in the U.S. Air Travel Distribution Industry
• Dissertation: The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Work Team Cohesiveness and Performance
• Dissertation: Political Economy and Price Ratio Changes: Electric Industry Under Transition
• Dissertation: Understanding the Characteristics of an Effective Physician-Hospital Contractual Arrangement from a Dyadic Perspective
• Dissertation: The Connected Celebrity and Nonprofit Advertising

2001 Dissertations

• Dissertation: A Study of the Impact of Ohio’s Instructional Support Funding Process On Institutional Behavior At Two-Year Colleges
• Dissertation: The Contributions and Status of Women Inside Directors in Fortune 1000 Companies
• Dissertation: The Influence of Self-Development, Experimental Learning and Networking on the Career Satisfaction of EMBA Graduates
• Dissertation: Toward A Theory of Technical Change
• Dissertation: More Than Directing Money: Theories in Use for Helping Distressed Communities as Practiced by Independent Foundations

2000 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Money and Theology - It's Not an Oxymoron!!
• Dissertation: Parental Choice of Elementary Schools Within the Cleveland Catholic Diocese and Its Implications for the Financial Policies of Diocesan Schools
• Dissertation: Business Is War: An Investigation Into Metaphor Use in Internet and Non-Internet IPOs
• Dissertation: Theoretical Aspects of the Japanese Institutional Relations Model and Its Effectiveness for Corporate Governance in the Context of Globalization
• Dissertation: Sensemaking in a Hospital Strategic Planning Process
• Dissertation: Strategic Alliance Decisions: The Interpersonal Experience of Alliance Building

1999 Dissertations

• Dissertation: Environomics: Managing Environmental Change from Rio de Janiero to Buenos Aires (Via Berlin and Kyoto
• Dissertation: Habitus Wars and Field(s) of Dreams: Using Bourdieu to Reframe the Sense of a Crisis
• Dissertation: Managers in the Middle: A Study of Long Term Care Regional Managers Dealing With Organizational Stress
• Dissertation: The Relationship of Error-Based Experimental Learning to Organizational Change: How and Why What We Learn May or May Not Change How We Behave
• Dissertation: Back to the Future: A Search for Economic Progress or Roots? A Comparison of Experiences Between African American Entrepreneurs in the United States
• Dissertation: The Quest for Sustainable Leadership: The Importance of Connecting Leadership Principles to Concepts Of Organizational Sustainability
• Dissertation: Achieving Potential in Hospital Mergers
• Dissertation: Mill Creek: A Case Study Applying Actor Network and Transformational Leadership Theories to Urban Housing Development

1998 Dissertations

• Dissertation: America in the 21st Century: Finding Harmony Between Economic and Social Goals
• Dissertation: The Social Construction of Workforce Development Organizations in Singapore and Penang, Malaysia
• Dissertation: The Marketplace of Management Ideas
• Dissertation: The Changing Face Of Money: Will Electronic Money Be Adopted in the United States?
• Dissertation: Ordinary Canadians: Identity of Time and Place
• Dissertation: Straight to the Heart: Cleveland Leaders Shaping the Next Millennium
• Dissertation: Capacity Building: An Appreciative Approach
• Dissertation: The Structure of Management Practices and the Formation of Coping Habitus

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Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Theses and dissertations published by graduate students in the Business Administration program, College of Business, Old Dominion University, since Fall 2016 are available in this collection. Backfiles of all dissertations (and some theses) have also been added.

In late Fall 2023 or Spring 2024, all theses will be digitized and available here. In the meantime, consult the Library Catalog to find older items in print.

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Dissertation: Two Essays on Industry Tournament Incentives , Sarah Almisher

Dissertation: Two Essays on Investor Sentiment , Amin Amoulashkarian

Dissertation: Two Essays on Retail Trading , Qiqi Liang

Dissertation: Two Essays in Real Estate Dynamics , Navid Safari

Dissertation: Firm Capabilities, Great Power Competition, and the Structural Reshaping of Globalization , Samuel Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Dissertation: Three Essays on Stock Price Informativeness, Stock Price Momentum, and Firm Investment Efficiency , Chen Chen

Dissertation: Exploring Blockchain-Based Digital Transformation In Organizations , Weiru Chen

Dissertation: Two Essays on Antecedents and Effects of Award-Winning CEOS , Veronika Ciarleglio

Dissertation: Two’s a Crowd? Implications of Economic Geography for Corporate Governance , Matthew Farrell

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Effects of CEO Social Activism , Habib Islam

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Role of Empathy in Consumer Response to User-Generated Content , Mohammadali Koorank Beheshti

Dissertation: Three Essays on the Effects of Other Customer Brand Tie and Employee Behavior on Consumer Behavior , Saeed Zal

Dissertation: Three Essays on CEO Traits, Corporate Investment Decisions, and Firm Value , Rongyao Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Dissertation: Two Essays on Antecedents and Effects of Board Female Representation Non-Conformity , Fatemeh Askarzadeh

Dissertation: Application of Optimization Techniques in Corporate Cash Management , Venkateswara Reddy Dondeti

Dissertation: Two Essays on Corruption, FDI, and Digitalization , Mahdi Forghani Bajestani

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Information Embedded in Flow of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) , Hamed Yousefi

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Dissertation: The Influence of Mating Motives on Reliance on Form Versus Function in Product Choice , Seyed Hamid Abbassi Hosseini

Dissertation: Three Essays on CEO Characteristics and Corporate Bankruptcy , Rajib Chowdhury

Dissertation: The Effects of CEO Dismissal Risk and Skills on Risky Corporate Decisions and CEO Compensation , Son T. Dang

Dissertation: Essay 1: How We Feel: The Role of Macro-Economic Sentiment in Advertising Spending-Sales Relationship; Essay 2: It Was the Best of Times; It Was the Worst of Times: The Effect of Emotional Uncertainty and Arousal on Healthy Food Choices , Leila Khoshghadam

Dissertation: The Accumulation of IT Capability And Its Long-Term Effect on Financial Performance , Jin Ho Kim

Dissertation: Three Essays on the Roles of Review Valence and Conflict in Online Relationships , Ran Liu

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Microstructure of the Housing Market: Agents' Diffused Effort and Sellers' Behavior Bias , Zhaohui Li

Dissertation: Two Essays on CEO Overconfidence in Relation to Speed of Adjustment of Firm Financial Policy and CEO Inside Debt , Xiang Long

Dissertation: Pricing the Cloud: An Auction Approach , Yang Lu

Dissertation: Two Essays on Consumer Envy , Murong Miao

Dissertation: Two Essays on Negotiations Between Entrepreneurs and Angel Investors , Aydin Selim Oksoy

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Dissertation: Two Essays on Bitcoin Price and Volume , Mohammad Bayani Khaknejad

Dissertation: Two Essays on Investor Attention, Investor Sentiment, and Earnings Pricing , Qiuye Cai

Dissertation: Success Factors Impacting Artificial Intelligence Adoption --- Perspective From the Telecom Industry in China , Hong Chen

Dissertation: Early Information Access to Alleviate Emergency Department Congestion , Anjee Gorkhali

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Consumer Acculturation Process – A Need for and Development of a Consumer Acculturation Measure , Kristina Marie Harrison

Dissertation: Three Essays on CEO Characteristics and Corporate Decisions , Trung Nguyen

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Effects of Organization Capital on Firm Behavior , Andrew Root

Dissertation: Underlying Factors Behind Generation of Different Types of User-Generated Content - Impact of Individual and Brand/Product Level Factors in Generation of Brand-Oriented Content and Community-Oriented Content , Kemal Cem Soylemez

Dissertation: Customers’ Goal-Related Behavior in Loyalty Programs , Junzhou Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Dissertation: Security Risk Tolerance in Mobile Payment: A Trade-off Framework , Yong Chen

Dissertation: Numerical Framing and Emotional Arousal as Moderators of Review Valence and Consumer Choices , Anh Dang

Dissertation: Three Essays on CEO Risk Preferences, and Ability, Corporate Hedging Decisions, and Investor Sentiment , Sonik Mandal

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Creation and Success of New Ventures , Amirmahmood Amini Sedeh

Dissertation: Effectiveness of Social Media Analytics on Detecting Service Quality Metrics in the U.S. Airline Industry , Xin Tian

Dissertation: Two Essays on Value Co-Creation , Hangjun Xu

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Dissertation: Two Essays on Forced CEO Turnover During Envy Merger Waves, and Dividends , Bader Almuhtadi

Dissertation: The Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism on the Effects of Domestic vs Foreign Product Failure on Post Consumption Emotions and Complaint Behaviors , Kittinand Bandhumasuta

Dissertation: The Impact of Help-Self and Help-Others Appeals Upon Participation in Clinical Research Trials , Susan Lewis Casey

Dissertation: Is Every Tweet Created Equal? A Framework to Identify Relevant Tweets for Business Research , Thad Chee

Dissertation: Three Essays on Mutual Funds, Fund Management Skills, and Investor Sentiment , Feng Dong

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Impact of Institutional Structures on Entrepreneurship: Country Level Analysis , Mehdi Sharifi Khobdeh

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Antecedents and Effects of Internationalizing Out of Emerging and Developed Economies , Mark Robert Mallon

Dissertation: From Placebo to Panacea: Exploring the Influence of Price, Suspicion, and Persuasion Knowledge on Consumers’ Perception of Quality , Vahid Rahmani

Dissertation: Essays on the El Niño Anomaly and Stock Return Predictability , Zhijun Yang

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Dissertation: The Effect of XBRL and Social Media on Information Asymmetry: Evidence from Bank Loan Contracts , Dazhi Chong

Dissertation: Two Essays on CEO Inside Debt Holding in Relation to Firm Payout Policy and Financial Reporting , Asligul Erkan

Dissertation: Two Essays on The Internationalization Speed of New Ventures , Orhun Guldiken

Dissertation: Two Essays on Shareholder Base, Firm Behavior, and Firm Value , Yi Jian

Dissertation: Valence or Volume? Maximizing Online Review Influence Across Consumers, Products, and Marketing , Elika Kordrostami

Dissertation: Essays on the Equity Risk Premium , Mohamed Mehdi Rahoui

Dissertation: A Study of the Impact of Information Blackouts on the Bullwhip Effect of a Supply Chain Using Discrete-Event Simulations , Elizabeth Rasnick

Dissertation: Two Essays on Investor Emotions and Their Effects in Financial Markets , Jiancheng Shen

Dissertation: Two Studies on The Use of Information Technology in Collaborative Planning, Forecasting & Replenishment (CPFR) , David McCaw Simmonds

Dissertation: Founder CEOs and Initial Public Offerings: The Role of Narratives, Institutions and Cultural Context , Christina Helen Tupper

Dissertation: Ambidexterity: The Interplay of Supply Chain Management Competencies and Enterprise Resource Planning Systems on Organizational Performance , Serdar Turedi

Dissertation: Two Essays on Short Selling , Zhaobo Zhu

Dissertation: Buying Love Through Social Media: How Different Types Of Incentives Impact Consumers’ Online Sharing Behavior , Yueming Zou

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Dissertation: Three Essays on Dividend Policy , Mehmet Deren Caliskan

Dissertation: "The Magic Formula: Scent and Brand"- The Influence of Olfactory Sensory Co-Branding on Consumer Evaluations and Experiences , Ceren Ekebas

Dissertation: The Value of Integrated Information Systems for U.S. General Hospitals , Liuliu Fu

Dissertation: Two Essays on Managerial Horizon, Cash Holdings and Earnings Management , Sanjib Guha

Dissertation: Three Essays on Opportunistic Claiming Behavior in a Services Setting: Customers and Front Line Employees Perspectives , Denis Khantimirov

Dissertation: Spillover Effects of Brand Alliance and Service Experience on Host Brands in Loyalty Program Partnerships , Gulfem Cigdem Kutlu

Dissertation: Measuring Consumer Expectations of Salesperson Unethicality: A Scale Development , Amiee Mellon

Dissertation: Essays on International Risk-Return Trade-Off Relations , Liang Meng

Dissertation: Two Essays on Investor Attention and Asset Pricing , Nadia Asmaa Nafar

Dissertation: International Venture Capital Firms Syndication and Performance: A Social Network Perspective , Amir Pezeshkan

Dissertation: Three Essays on Institutions, Entrepreneurship, and Development , Adam Smith

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Dissertation: An Empirical Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Earnings Management in Emerging Markets , Shuji Rosey Bao

Dissertation: Dynamic Capabilities and Resilient Organizations Amid Environmental Jolts , Stav Fainshmidt

Dissertation: An Empirical Examination of the Moderators of Direct Versus Indirect Comparative Advertising , Chun-Kai Hsu

Dissertation: Two Essays on Attracting Foreign Direct Investment: From Both a National and Firm Level Perspective , Ryan Lawrence Mason

Dissertation: The Effect of Online Reviews on Attitude and Purchase Intention: How Consumers Respond to Mixed Reviews , Chatdanai Pongpatipat

Dissertation: Three Essays on the Enterprise Strategy for Multinational Firms , Veselina Plamenova Vracheva

Dissertation: The Antecedents and Effects of Strategic Caring: A Cross-National Empirical Study , Thomas Weber

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Dissertation: International Banking sector Linkages: Did the Global Financial Crisis Strengthen or Weaken the Linkages? , James Edward Benton

Dissertation: Three Essays on Corporate Liquidity, Financial Crisis, and Real Estate , Kimberly Fowler Luchtenberg

Dissertation: Three Essays on Immigrant Entrepreneurship , Kaveh Moghaddam

Dissertation: The Response of Commercial Banks to Credit Stimuli , Denise Williams Streeter

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Dissertation: An Examination of Middle Manager Innovation Behaviors and Institutional Factors Impact on Organizational Innovation in the USA and Mexico , J. Lee Brown III

Dissertation: Essays on Foreign Reverse Mergers and Bond ETF Mispricing , Charles William Duval

Dissertation: Three Essays on Strategic Risk Taking , Krista Burrill Lewellyn

Dissertation: Two Essays on Executive Pay and Firm Performance , Thuong Quang Nguyen

Dissertation: A Study of Risk-Taking Behavior in Investment Banking , Elzotbek Rustambekov

Dissertation: A Study of Failures in the US Banking Industry , Joseph Trendowski

Dissertation: Two Essays on Behavioral Finance , Quang Viet Vu

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Dissertation: Three Essays on Individual Currency Traders , Boris Sebastian Abbey

Dissertation: Cross-listing Premium or Market Timing , Moustafa M. Abu El Fadl

Dissertation: Warranty and Price as Quality Signals: The effect of Signal Consistency and Unexpectedness on Product Perception , Sultan Alaswad Alenazi

Dissertation: The Behavior and Choices of Serial Bidders in M&A Transactions: A Prospect Theory Approach , Ahmed Essam El-Din El-Bakry

Dissertation: Two Essays on the Effect of Macroeconomic News on the Stock Market , Ajay Kongera

Dissertation: Intercultural Accommodation of Ethnic Minority Consumers: An Empirical Examination of the Moderating Effects in Service Encounters , Sarah Mady

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How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 straightforward steps to craft an a-grade dissertation.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

Writing a dissertation or thesis is not a simple task. It takes time, energy and a lot of will power to get you across the finish line. It’s not easy – but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a painful process. If you understand the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis, your research journey will be a lot smoother.  

In this post, I’m going to outline the big-picture process of how to write a high-quality dissertation or thesis, without losing your mind along the way. If you’re just starting your research, this post is perfect for you. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your proposal, this article which covers how to structure a dissertation might be more helpful.

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

How do I write the introduction chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this post .

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

For more information about the results chapter , check out this post for qualitative studies and this post for quantitative studies .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.  

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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20 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

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The dissertation is the final requirement for the PhD degree.

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MBA dissertation help: How to choose a topic, plan, and write your dissertation

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MBA dissertations and consultancy projects are the final modules on most MBA programmes . Our participants can opt for either a traditional dissertation (with a theoretical focus) or a hands-on project, which will see you consulting for a real organisation alongside a team of peers.  

Whether you choose a dissertation or consultancy project, you will still be required to submit a written exploration of a research question that is relevant to the world of business as part of the module. This guide offers MBA dissertation help that remains applicable whichever route you take on your Full-time MBA.

Read on to learn about the early stages of the process, choosing a topic, planning out your workload, and how to write an MBA dissertation or individual consulting report. Written by the MBA team here at Warwick Business School (WBS), this article also features some helpful first-hand advice from one of our MBA graduates, Kristen Rossi who studied our Full-time MBA.

An introduction to MBA dissertations and consultancy projects

Completing either an MBA dissertation or consultancy project is a requirement on Full-time MBA courses ; alternatively, participants at WBS can opt for an internship to satisfy the Capstone module .

Although this work will be completed towards the end of your programme, it’s worth getting ahead of the game. Given that your dissertation or project will contribute significantly towards your final result, we recommend learning about the requirements and how the process works even before you apply for an MBA.

As Full-time Warwick MBA graduate, Kristen Rossi, puts it: 

From the second the MBA started, there was talk of “The Project & Dissertation” – the part of the MBA that is worth the most credit, which will probably involve an outside company, and (gasp) that you will do alone!

Unless you take part in an internship in place of the module, your first port of call is to choose between an MBA dissertation or a consultancy project. Seem like a daunting decision to make? We’ve outlined the key points of difference to help you get off on the right track.

What is an MBA dissertation?

An MBA dissertation is an independent, yet supervised, research project. It is designed to demonstrate that you have assimilated your learning throughout the MBA course and that you can explore a business issue thoroughly, considering multiple perspectives on the subject.

The output from an MBA dissertation is a piece of written work that explores a research question relevant to the world of business. You could explore any one of a wide range of different topics as part of the dissertation, but your writing should have an academic focus with a strong grounding in theory and your own independent research.

At WBS, you may also choose to focus on Entrepreneurship as part of your MBA dissertation, which is a requirement if you choose the Entrepreneurship Specialism. This allows you to take a deep dive into a new business idea, tackle an existing issue, or use the opportunity to help launch your own venture.

What is a strategic consultancy project?

A strategic consultancy project provides you with hands-on experience of consulting on behalf of a real organisation and investigating a specific business challenge that it faces. Taking place for 10 to 12 weeks over the summer period, you’ll work alongside a group of your peers at the same organisation.

WBS participants can choose their own groups and, as Kristen comments, are given support in sourcing a project: 

The consultancy project and dissertation is usually supported by a client who has a topic or question that they would like to know more about. WBS provides specific, mandatory careers sessions dedicated to the consultancy project and dissertation.

The Business School has partnered with many global industry leaders as part of the consultancy projects, from Barclays to Sony and Microsoft. 

Once you’ve chosen a group and organisation, each participant selects their own distinct research question. The deliverable is then an individual consulting report addressing this question.

You can find out more about consultancy projects from Antonia in the film below:

The differences between an MBA dissertation and consultancy project

A consultancy project still requires you to produce an extended piece of written work in the form of your individual consulting report, but it differs from an MBA dissertation in a number of ways:

• A strategic consultancy project is hands-on, requiring you to engage with a business issue faced by a real organisation, whereas an MBA dissertation is more theoretical.
• The scope of the issue you explore as part of a project will typically be much narrower and more focused than a dissertation, which can investigate a much broader topic area.
• An MBA dissertation should aim to further the academic community’s understanding of a particular area of business; a consultancy project is geared towards solving a real-world business problem for a specific organisation or group of organisations.

How will a dissertation or project benefit you?

This final phase of your MBA course gives you the opportunity to explore a particular topic in great depth, enhancing your academic or practical understanding of an area of business. 

For many participants the dissertation or project is a formative experience that has a tangible impact on their future career paths, supporting their professional ambitions.

But don’t just take it from us. What does Kristen have to say?

“I can only speak for myself, but with the project and dissertation, I gained three things. Firstly, slightly superficial, I now have a fabulous new brand on my CV, Aston Martin Lagonda. 

“Secondly, through the interviews I conducted for my primary research I had the privilege to learn a lot about the luxury automotive sector, which I would otherwise have not had the opportunity to learn as much about. Writing to and setting up a conversation with the CMO of a major firm is made easier when you have WBS and the justification of a dissertation, and the information they share is priceless. 

“Thirdly, although tedious, I had the opportunity to deep-dive into a particular topic – marketing ROI best practices. This really helped me to understand the challenges and remedies of this topic in depth and will certainly help me as I make my career jump in the coming months.”

Choosing an MBA dissertation topic

Like many participants, you may feel nervous about the thought of choosing a suitable MBA dissertation topic. In reality, however, this is nothing to worry about.

As you progress through the early stages of your MBA programme, you’ll undoubtedly find yourself drawn to a particular area of study or type of business problem. The direction you take is also likely to be influenced by your pre-existing career goals and professional experience. 

On this point, Kristen recommends that you make the project work for you:

When choosing your client project and dissertation, try to focus on an industry and topic that you hope to transition into. If you are looking to move into finance, work on a project that will provide you with the knowledge to help you land the job!

It’s also worth noting that you’ll be given extensive support when it comes to picking a research question or sourcing a project. You’ll attend sessions dedicated to selecting the right topic in the run-up to the start of the dissertation or project module — and there is always additional help available at WBS.

How to write an MBA dissertation

Once you’ve chosen a topic for your MBA dissertation or project, your work on the module can begin in earnest.

As a Warwick Business School participant, you’ll be guided through the process from the outset. But if you’re still at the stage of wondering whether this is something you’d want to pursue in the first place, here’s a brief overview packed with MBA dissertation advice from one of our graduates.

Making contact with your supervisor

Kristen’s top tip for writing an MBA dissertation is not to wait to be assigned a supervisor:

“Once your project applications have been whittled down to interviews (early May for the Full-time MBA), look at the topics and seek out an academic in the school whose knowledge (and personality) you think would match the project and you. The sooner you do this the better.

“I had finalised my supervisor by the beginning of June and this head start was extremely beneficial. It allowed me to better project manage the different chapters of the dissertation and be more in control of the process.”

The planning phase

Delivering a successful MBA dissertation or consulting report is an exercise in sound project management; just one of the many ways in which it sets you up well for later working life. And it’s universally acknowledged that the best approach to take with any large-scale project is to break it down into bite-size chunks.

Kristen suggests seeking support to divide up the dissertation into smaller components, from the draft of your first chapter through to the final submission:

With the help of your supervisor, work backwards and set up a timeline to tackle each section of the dissertation. Include milestones where you will check-in with your supervisor (face-to-face is recommended) as well.

Preparing your literature review

The literature review is the all-important foundation of any dissertation – MBA-level or otherwise. 

Kristen’s experience speaks to the value of starting your research early and keeping a record of all the papers and publications you encounter along the way:

“Once you roughly know the topic of your project and dissertation, start researching. Do not wait until you have a supervisor or until your elective modules are finished. Start immediately! I recommend this for three reasons.

“Firstly, the initial articles you find will most likely not be the gems you hope them to be and it will take a lot of speed-reading and trial and error before you uncover the wisdom that will actually inform your research. 

“Secondly, once you find relevant research, it will take time to read it and most academic literature is not a page-turning detective novel (I can attest to falling asleep mid-read on several occasions). 

“Finally, I am a believer that to truly understand and process new material, you need time. Give yourself the time to read, step away and think, and come back to it. In the end, you will be grateful that you did.

Further to this point, when reading journal publications look at the references the author cites. Seek out these additional authors and their publications.”

Communicating with your client contact on a consulting project

Should you opt for a strategic consulting project, the way you manage the relationship with your client organisation is just as important as the write-up of the final report. Kristen offers this final piece of advice:

“If you are not going to their office, then from the beginning of your relationship set in place weekly 30-minute Skype sessions to keep the client up-to-date with what you are doing. This will allow you to build a relationship with them and will help you to address any hiccups along the way. 

“Sometimes after starting your research, you may find that the client’s initial request is too broad. This is okay, but you will need to bring it up and negotiate a more realistic deliverable. The weekly updates are also beneficial. As you research, you may find yourself going off in the wrong direction. Checking in with your client on a weekly basis will help you stay on track.”

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