Master Thesis

Approach of the IMG

We welcome master students who wish to write a thesis in English, can work well independently and have an interest in one of the topics in the research and teaching area of the IMG.

Requirements:

  • You must have submitted an exposé (2 pages excl. references).
  • The thesis should be written in English.
  • The completion time is 15 weeks.

There is no accompanying seminar for master students, but you will be supervised through individual appointments.

For a comprehensive overview of our requirements and the writing process, please read our Thesis Guidelines. Further information on the application process can be found in the following documents.

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Classic Topics of the IMG

We would like to encourage you to find a topic for your thesis yourself. To support you, you will find a list of possible topics that are of particular interest to us. The topic of the thesis should consist of a combination of the topics of Research Objects and Sectors or Research Objects and Geography listed here.

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      Current Research Questions

      However, you are also welcome to choose one of the topics listed here and work on it in your thesis. These are topics that we currently consider to be particularly interesting and relevant.

          • Large MNEs
          • Medium-sized MNEs
          • FDI
          • Governance and policies in relation to FDI and MNEs
          • Manufacturing
          • Services
          • Emerging markets (especially China)
          • EU (especially Germany)
          • USA
          • The role of MNEs to reach zero net economy
          • Acquisitions by emerging market MNEs in developed countries, post-merger integration and capability upgrading
          • Internationalization of emerging market MNEs and the impact of home country institutions
          • What does "mutual benefit" and "win-win" stand for in the Chinese outward FDI context?
          • Co-evolution between the internationalization of (emerging market) MNEs and institutions
          • Impact of volatility and change of (home/host country) institutions/policies on FDI (e.g. how does the change of the outward FDI approval process effect the internationalization of Chinese firms?) 
          • FDI and host country impact
          • Intellectual property rights and MNEs
          • State-owned enterprises’ internationalization
          • Impact of (state-owned) MNEs on institutions/policies
          • Comparative perspectives on international business theory
          • Exploring and comparing alternative measures of MNE activity