Final Thesis

The bachelor's thesis can be started after the bachelor's SPO after the practical semester. According to the study plan, it is planned for the seventh semester. According to the SPO, the processing time for the bachelor's thesis is generally four months and for the master's thesis is generally six months. The processing time can be extended by another two months at the student's request, which must be submitted in good time before the deadline expires. At many companies, the processing time for a practical topic - regardless of whether it is a bachelor's or master's thesis - is set at six months. However, please do not expect the processing time to be automatically extended if you want it. There must be a valid reason. This is NOT starting a new job, for example!

There has been a pre-recognition procedure for the master's thesis since the summer semester of 2021. You must first apply to the HUGS program director for me to be assigned to you as your supervisor. For more information, please contact Ms. Dänner.

My areas of content are human resources management, internationalization and business psychology.

I am often overwhelmed with requests for care. I therefore only accept theses if I know the students personally and I am also interested in the topic. You must therefore not take it personally if I unfortunately have to refuse your care in individual cases due to overload. Some topics could also be supervised by my colleagues. In this case, I can also act as a second proofreader. In my ILIAS folder for bachelor's and master's theses, you will always find current topic suggestions.

My personal evaluation criteria for seminar and final theses can be found summarized in the evaluation matrix/rubrics (see below for download).

No, that depends entirely on the project! The average length of work in recent years has been between 60 and 80 pages for bachelor's theses and between 60 and 100 pages for master's theses (excluding appendixes, bibliography, etc.). You decide your commitment. For the same reasons, there is no minimum number of quotations or sources.

First, write a project outline that contains, on a maximum of three A4 pages, the subject of the study (i.e. the topic), the goals of the work, the methods and instruments (research, literature work, questionnaires, interviews, etc.) that you want to use, and contains a rough schedule. The sketch should ideally represent a kind of “requirements specification” for your work. If necessary, coordinate this sketch first with your supervisor in the company and then with me. You only need to create a rough outline once you have started working. You can find an example of a project sketch in my ILIAS folder.

For the BU and MU degree programs, the standard work by Manuel René Theisen, Scientific work: Successful with bachelor's and master's theses, Vahlen-Verlag, in the current edition, is fundamental. You can also get the book as an e-book from LIV. There are also citation guidelines for the BU/MU degree programs, which you can find at Ilias. If you have any further questions, please contact me directly.

Since the introduction of CHATGPT in November 2022, I am currently refraining from theoretical theses. In order to regulate the usage of KI tools, the faculty formulated a new affidavit in winter semester 23/24. You can find the link to it in myILIAS folder.

Yes, every thesis is checked with the plagiarism scanner “Plagscan”. Therefore, pay attention to precise citations (e.g. “cf” leads to plagiarism detection). In individual cases, we also test with AI detection software.

Theory (currently not possible)

In a theory work, it is generally a little more difficult to achieve a really good grade because you have to put in a lot of personal effort and develop your own ideas. With the introduction of Chatgpt, I am also refraining from supervising theoretical work for the time being.

Practice

A practical thesis is therefore fundamentally easier and is therefore recommended by me. However, this only applies, in principle yes, if the general conditions are right:

Genuine interest in the topic

Clear and feasible targets from the supporting company

Continuous support (advice, information, support with mailings, etc.) from the supporting company

The representable time frame for the tasks to be completed

Adequate pay and/or opportunity for future employment

Empirical

Most students choose the quantitative version in an empirical work with a questionnaire evaluation, which is often followed by a qualitative interview study.

I accept every version. You can write anything with me.

In exceptional cases you can extend the processing time.

§26 paragraph 5 SPO AT:

The processing time for a bachelor's thesis can vary due to reasons that the Students who are not responsible are extended by a maximum of two months to six months. If the submission is not made after this processing period has expired, the work can be graded with 5.0.

Examples of unreasonable reasons:

Illness (-> certificate required as proof and extension only possible for the period of illness)

Caring for family members in need of care in the event of illness (e.g. child): proof required)

Delays in the company (e.g. data was available with a delay or similar; proof in the form of a confirmation letter from the company)

Extraordinary incidents for which the student is not responsible (proof required)

The following reasons are not eligible for an extension:

- stress

- moving the house

- secondary employment

- dissatisfaction with the quality

- vacation

- grandma was sick etc.

Simply applying is not a reason for an extension.

I generally have a digital consultation hour every Tuesday. Please book an appointment in ILIAS for this.

You can choose one of the topics we handed in to the GIU earlier this year or you can propose your own topic.

Just drop an email to Herbert.Streit@hs-heilbronn.de. We will answer your questions immediately