MBA Thesis Topics

This post intends to provide you with a list of quality MBA thesis topics and how to structure your own MBA thesis. Move universities differ when it comes to writing a thesis, this includes referencing style and word count. The MBA thesis structure below will provide useful when structuring your MBA thesis, I have used the below structure on a couple of occasions and benefited from it.

MBA Thesis Structure – Essential Components

Introduction

Writing a dissertation introduction is perceived as a relatively straightforward aspect of the dissertation writing process. The reason for this may be that we often find typical components in an introduction that we can use, regardless of the study we are writing. One of the challenges of writing a good introduction, however, is to be brief, and to stay focused – This will help you with to write the best MBA thesis topics.

An incoherent or unfocused introduction, or one that is over-lengthy, may detract from the overall grade of the dissertation and will not create a good impression on the reader(s). Be mindful that you should avoid being anecdotal in your introduction (i.e. writing as if you are telling a story) and you will also need to avoid wasting words by stating the obvious and writing a series of over-generalized statements.

• a clear statement of your MBA thesis aims and objectives;
• the problems to be solved to reach your objectives, and initial ideas on how to solve them;
• you may also indicate a gap in knowledge, if applicable
• research questions – if a research project

Literature Review

Unearthing new theories don’t materialise easily out of nowhere; they build upon the findings of previous academic research and explorations. A literature review illustrates how the academic investigation you are conducting fits with what has been written before and puts it into perspective. A literature review demonstrates to your reader that you are able to:

• Understand and critically analyse the background research
• Select and source the information that is necessary to develop a context for your research
• Shows how your investigation relates to previous research
• Reveals the contribution that your investigation makes to this field
• Provides evidence that may help explain your findings later

If you are doing a dissertation, or significant assignment it is likely that you will need to include a literature review. If you are doing a lab write-up or a shorter report, some background reading may be required to give context to your work, but this is usually included as an analysis in the introduction and discussion sections.

What is a literature review?A literature review is an analysis of existing research which is relevant to your research topic, demonstrating how it relates to your investigation. It explains and justifies how your investigation may help answer some of the questions or gaps in this area of research.

A literature review is not a straightforward summary of everything you have read on the topic and it is not a chronological description of what was discovered in your field. A longer literature review may have headings to help group the relevant research into themes or topics. This gives a focus to your analysis, as you can group similar studies together and compare and contrast their approaches, any weaknesses or strengths in their methods, and their findings.

One common way to approach a literature review is to start out broad and then become more specific. Think of it as an inverted triangle. (1) First briefly explain the broad issues related to your investigation; you don’t need to write much about this, just demonstrate that you are aware of the breadth of your subject (2) Then narrow your focus to deal with the studies that overlap with your research. (3) Finally, hone in on any research which is directly related to your specific investigation.

Proportionally you spend most time discussing those studies which have most direct relevance to your research. How do I get started? Start by identifying what you will need to know to inform your research:

What research has already been done on this topic?What are the sub-areas of the topic you need to explore?

What other research (perhaps not directly on the topic) might be relevant to your investigation?

How do these sub-topics and other research overlap with your investigation?

A discussion of the technical literature you have read, explaining why it is relevant for your project critical analysis, e.g. strength, applicability and weakness

Identify any knowledge/research gap and how you may address this gap, if applicable

Note down all your initial thoughts on the topic. You can use a list to help you identify the areas you want to investigate further. It is important to do this before you start reading so that you don’t waste time on unfocused and irrelevant reading.

Searching for sources It’s easy to think that the best way to search for texts is to use the Internet – to ‘Google it’. There are useful online tools that you may use, like Google Scholar. However, for most literature reviews you will need to focus on academically authoritative texts like academic books, journals, research reports, government publications. Searching Google will give you thousands of hits, few of them authoritative, and you will waste time sorting through them. A better idea is to use databases. These are available through the Library in paper and electronic (usually online) forms.

Requirements – MBA Thesis Topics

• User requirements for the target system, if applicable; or
• Requirements to achieve the success of your project

Evaluation Framework

• Evaluation of your proposed system (if building a software system); or
• evaluation of your research project, including e.g.
  • quality of data used: e.g. reliability, coverage/completeness
  • quality of data collection method, e.g. limitations of sampling methods
  • quality of analytical methods used, e.g., any limitations? Any bias?
  • quality of conclusions drawn, e.g. are they affected by potential bias of input data due to methods used, incompleteness of data, etc.
  • quality of presentations, e.g. which visualisations used to view complex data – what diagrams have been used, are they suitable?
  • quality of tools used, e.g. are they appropriate? Have you encountered any problems, if so, how did you overcame them?

Methodology

• initial design of software or design of experiments, if applicable; or
• methodology for carrying out your research project, inc. where/how you plan to source your data, how you plan to group them, what methods you plan to deploy for analysis,
• you can draw a methodology diagram for this.
• Questionnaire, if any.

Project Plan

• PLES issues
• Timetable and work plan for the whole year, agreed with your supervisor, and specifying activities, deliverable and deadlines. See an example timetable here: project management information:
• Make sure that you have clearly labelled your time allocation on evaluation and how you will meet the deadlines, etc.
• Risk analysis and remedies/management

References

Appendix (as needed)

An appendix (plural is “appendices”) is a section added to the end of your dissertation. It includes material that expands and explains the subject matter you have discussed in earlier sections. Each appendix should cover a distinct aspect of your subject. Follow the steps below and you will learn how to write an appendix and its importance to your writing. This is essential for MBA thesis topics.

• Blank consensus form (if interview/survey are to be conducted)
• Blank questionnaire (if interview/survey are to be conducted)
• Data tables or diagrams (if appropriate)
• Copy of questionnaire or survey
• Copies of personal correspondence
• Interview questions
• Transcripts of interviews
• Large graphs
• Maps
• Illustrations or photographs
• Explanation of technical information or formulas
• Diagrams
• Raw data

And that’s it, everything you need to include. As with everything, it’s a good idea to check with your dissertation supervisor before handing in as they’re the authority on how your University wants your dissertation. Remember, it’s the starting that’s the hard part, once you’ve sat down and committed the time, it should come quite easily.

MBA Thesis Topics Notes

1. Always check the marking sheet/rubric and make sure that you have meet all of the required work. Also make sure that you observe the percentage allocation for each of the categories and that you have provided sufficient to meet the percentage.
2. The above is the minimum set of requirements. If you have done more than what is suggested here, for instance a preliminary implementation or tests of existing software tools, by all means report it.
3. Make sure you do not exceed the maximum pages allowed. If you have useful graphs and data, you can include them in appendix.
4. Make sure you run spell checker to make sure there is no spelling errors.
5. Make sure you have a clear format
6. Make sure you use formal language

Any special format? The cover sheet must include:

• your full name
• your supervisor’s name
• title of your project
• the captions “Deliverable One”

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