Theses
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Overview
Types of theses
The PMDT Department supervises two types of theses:
Empirical Thesis
- Common for bachelor’s theses, always for master’s theses
- In-depth examination of the current state of research based on relevant academic literature, supplemented by the conduct of an independent empirical study
- Qualitative (e.g., case studies, expert interviews, participant observation, document analysis), quantitative (e.g., written surveys with bivariate/multivariate analyses, secondary data analyses of existing datasets), or mixed-methods (e.g., topic modeling analyses)
- The data may be derived from a corporate context (e.g., internship, student employment, dual study program)—even in such cases, the following applies: in addition to practical application, the thesis must always serve a theoretical purpose, and the primary audience for the thesis is the university
Literature-Based Conceptual Thesis
- An exception; only considered for bachelor’s theses
- Systematic literature review and overview as the basis for the further development of a theory, a concept, or a methodology
- Also follows the academic structure: an explicit research question and the student’s own theoretical and conceptual contribution
- The original contribution lies in the argumentative synthesis: different lines of research are related to one another, tensions and gaps in the current state of research are identified, and the sources are synthesized into the author’s own position, tailored to the research question. What is decisive here is the well-reasoned selection and weighting of relevant material, as well as the critical evaluation of the sources—not the number of articles reviewed
Topics for future theses
On the one hand, our department offers the opportunity to submit your own topic suggestions or to agree on a topic together as part of personal supervision. On the other hand, we have a list of open topics that are currently available from our ongoing research activities. These topics are supervised by:
As head of the department, Professor Braun is involved in all supervision and assessment processes, whereby the ongoing supervision of theses is usually carried out by research assistants. In addition, Prof. Braun also supervises some theses completely on his own and is in close contact with the students. Current topics are
Title | Type |
Reception of the Citizenship Behavior construct in project research | Bachelor's/Master's thesis |
Human-AI interaction: Forms of cognitive-emotional attachment | Bachelor's/Master's thesis |
Social media strategy and implementation in the context of plural project and organizational goals | Bachelor/Master thesis |
Politics-as-Projects: Characteristics and characteristics of projects as an organizational form in politics | Master's thesis |
| Potential analysis of support associations and process model for implementation using the example of project management | Bachelor's/Master's thesis |
I am open to topics that combine innovation, strategy management, text analytics, and project management. Generally, I supervise quantitative analyses in which we examine patent, financial, and strategic datasets.
General topics:
- Radical innovation in S&P 500 companies
- An attention-based approach to project management
- Text spaces and metrics in project documents
| Title | Type |
| Radical innovation and focus on specific strategic issues (sustainability, digitalization, international events, etc.) | Empirical |
| Attention-based approach in project management | Literature Review |
| Knowledge-based view in project management | Literature Review |
| Patent Innovation in Mid-Sized Companies in Germany | Empirical |
| Organizational Innovation in European Companies and Its Effects on Projects | Empirical |
Open to topics on psychological aspects of project management, e.g. on the following topics
- Leadership in projects
- Team processes in projects (decisions, team development, trust, shared mental models, cohesion, conflicts, ....)
- The individual in the project (motivation, commitment, stress perception, ...)
- Resistance & change management in projects
Title | Type |
Howtounfreeze: Sensitization during change processes | Empirical work / literature review |
Citizenship Behavior in project research / in the context of sustainability | Empirical work |
Green mindset as a driver of sustainable action: How individual convictions promote environmentally conscious behavior in projects | Empirical work / literature review |
SocialIntrapreneurs: Innovative power from within - How companies shape sustainable change through internal pioneers | Literature work |
Human-AI interaction (e.g. fears, trust, acceptance, commitment) | Empirical work / literature review |
AI in social projects | Empirical work / literature review |
I supervise theses on sustainability, stakeholder acceptance, and philosophy in project management, such as the following topics:
- Acceptance of sustainable innovations
- Narratives in sustainability projects
- Acceptance as a practice/process
- Stakeholder integration in sustainability projects
| Title | Type |
| Visions of the future held by various stakeholder groups for sustainable innovations (e.g., vertical PV systems) | Empirical Study |
| Practice Theory in Project Management: Potential for Sustainable Project Management | Literature-based conceptual thesis |
| How is stakeholder acceptance viewed in project research? | Literature-Based Theoretical Paper |
| From Attitude to Practice: How Does Acceptance Emerge in Everyday Project Work? | Empirical Study |
| Development of Narratives on Sustainability in Group Discussions | Empirical study |
Support for business psychology topics related to leadership, employees, and teams in projects. Specifically, the following topics:
- Leadership in projects (especially shared leadership)
- Stress and well-being in projects
- Team processes and emergent states in projects (conflicts, decision-making, etc.)
- Multi-project environments / boundary management / portfolio management
- Diversity research in projects
| Title | Type |
| Shared Leadership as a Burden? Individual Assessment of Taking on Leadership Roles in Project Teams | Bachelor’s/Master’s Thesis |
| Diffusion of Responsibility in Distributed Leadership in Project Teams | Bachelor’s/Master’s Thesis |
| Who Takes on Care Work? Gender Differences in Shared Leadership in Project Teams | Bachelor’s/Master’s Thesis |
| Leadership in Multi-Project Environments | Bachelor’s/Master’s Thesis |
| Temporal Tensions in Multi-Project Environments: How Actors Bridge Divergent Time Logics | Bachelor’s/Master’s Thesis |
| Cross-Organizational Multiple Membership: Characteristics, Benefits, and Risks | Bachelor’s/Master’s Thesis |
Successfully completed theses
| Job Insecurity in AI-Based Change Projects | Bachelor’s Thesis | Jancke, Jasmin |
| The Influence of Leadership on Organizational Transformation Processes—An Analysis Based on Change Process Models and Servant Leadership | Bachelor’s Thesis | Blondeel, Janina |
| Development of a Simulation Game to Better Understand Risk Management as a Dynamic Process in Projects, Using an Infrastructure Project as an Example | Master's Thesis | Herfert, Michael |
| Effects of Project-Based Work on Perceived Stress—A JDR Typology | Bachelor's Thesis | Jung, Johannes |
| Design and Evaluation of Deployment Scenarios for a Digital Twin Demonstrator in the Context of Smart Kitchens | Bachelor’s Thesis | Kühl, Heinrich |
| Swift Trust in Human-AI Interaction: Definition, Formation, and Calibration | Bachelor’s Thesis | Jebari, Alaa |
| Sustainability in Project Management—A Qualitative Study of Informal Audio Formats | Bachelor’s Thesis | Böttger, Maurice |
| Artificial Intelligence in Vocational Training—A First Look at the Workplace as a Learning Environment | Bachelor’s Thesis | Rudolph, Max |
| Nudges and AI in Project Management—The Influence of AI-Based Nudges on the Behavior of Project Participants | Bachelor’s Thesis | Kruppa, Corina |
| Using Nudges to Enhance Project Performance Management Across Different Industries in Germany | Master’s Thesis | Mohammed, Ahmed |
| Development of an Efficient and Standardizable Process for Processing Customer Inquiries Outside the Standard Portfolio | Master’s Thesis | Biedermann, Philipp Christian |
| Sustainability as a Strategic Competitive Advantage – How Can Sustainability Be Implemented as a Strategic Competitive Advantage Through Project-Oriented Action? | Bachelor’s Thesis | Grigorova, Liana |
| Optimizing Project-Related Information Management Through the Use of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Systems | Bachelor's Thesis | Göddeke, Lukas |
| From White Elephant to Project Success—Cognitive Biases in Large-Scale Projects: Causes, Effects, and Debiasing Strategies in Germany | Master’s Thesis | Morsy, Mohamed |
| Social Intrapreneurship in a Project Context: Systematic Transfer of Organization-Related Motivators, Barriers, and Areas of Tension to Explain the Drive for Action | Bachelor’s Thesis | Mosaner, Nils |
| The Green Mindset as a Driver of Sustainable Action – How Individual Beliefs Promote Environmentally Conscious Behavior in Projects | Bachelor’s Thesis | Schindewolf, Michael Richard Friedrich |
| Digitization of the Project Management Process – An Empirical Study on the Efficiency of Information and Communication Flows in Multiproject Management | Master’s Thesis | Behrens, Ronja Lia |
| Development of a Hybrid Project Management Framework for Implementing a SaaS Solution in the Production Sector | Master’s Thesis | Tilgner, Michael |
| Integration of Skilled Immigrants into Project Work: Obstacles and Solutions in Germany | Bachelor’s Thesis | Friedl, Maximilian |
| Resilience in Project Management – A Systematic Literature Review on Leadership Styles and Their Influence on Resilience | Bachelor’s Thesis | Kasper, Daniel |
| Implementation of AI in Agile Project Management Using Risk Management as an Example | Bachelor’s Thesis | Schabacker, Florian |
| Challenges of Agile Project Management in the Rail Industry: The Case of SMART Railway Technology GmbH | Bachelor’s Thesis | Wollrath, Sina |
| Knowledge Transfer Across Project Boundaries – What Role Can Internal Corporate Social Media Play? | Master’s Thesis | Heppe, Christian |
| A Systematic Development of a General Machine Learning Approach for Project Management | Bachelor’s Thesis | Gharbi, Farah |
| Voluntary Environmentally Oriented Behavior in Projects: Influences on Perceived Behavioral Control Among People in Project Contexts | Bachelor’s Thesis | Jürgens, Lennard |
| The Influence of External Stakeholders on Sustainability Integration in Projects: Areas of Tension and Conflict Resolution Strategies | Bachelor’s Thesis | Schröder, David |
| Controlling and Trust: Successful Project Controlling Requires Control and Trust—A Contradiction? | Bachelor’s Thesis | Larionova, Anna |
| Context Dependency of Open Innovation Projects—A Systematic Comparison of Western and Chinese Project Management Methods | Bachelor’s Thesis | Robrecht, Niklas |
| Sustainable Project Management with Agile Approaches: An Investigation into the Applicability of Agile Approaches for Promoting Sustainability and Overcoming Implementation Challenges | Master’s Thesis | Khorshidipachi, Maryam |
| Enabling Digital Transformation within the Context of Hardware-Driven Projects through a Shift from Traditional to Agile Project Management Practices – A Case Study in the Solar Energy Industry | Master’s Thesis | Mohammed, Yusri Majeed Mohammed |
| Development of a Change Management Concept for the Successful Implementation of a New Document Management System | Bachelor's Thesis | Quitter, Marvin |
| Intuitive Decision-Making in the Front-End Phase of Large-Scale Projects – An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Nudge Objects on Project Success | Bachelor’s Thesis | Sengül, Bugra |
| Modeling Relationships in Stakeholder Management from a Systems Theory Perspective | Bachelor’s Thesis | Rizzo, Raffaele |
| Training for Project Managers on Burnout Prevention – Development of an Interactive Training Concept to Raise Project Managers’ Awareness of Burnout Prevention and Early Detection in the Project Team | Master’s Thesis | Ayub, Bludan Nabil |
| Implementation of a Process Model in an Ongoing Project in the Automotive Industry | Bachelor's Thesis | Laumer, Jonas Michel |
| Successful Change Management in Projects – Raising Awareness Among Project Teams to Identify and Manage Changes | Bachelor's Thesis | Balaban, Mesut |
| Stakeholder Management in Wind Power Projects | Bachelor’s Thesis | Müller, Felix |
| Management Support and Project Citizenship Behavior for the Environment | Bachelor’s Thesis | Schröder, Felix |
| Development of a Criteria Catalog for the Transformation from Traditional to Agile Project Management Using the SAFe® Framework and Concepts for Raising Employee Awareness | Master’s Thesis | Asgarihatamabadi, Aida |
| Development of a Selection Scheme for Low-Code Platforms: A Data-Driven Method for Selecting the Optimal Platform for the Digitization of Processes in the Public Sector | Master’s Thesis | Eryörük, Nurgül |
| Scheduling in Theory and Practice – Coordination and Transparency Between Construction Companies and Construction Supervisors | Bachelor’s Thesis | Koneswarathasan, Kirushani |
| Literature Review on Improving Decision-Making While Accounting for Biases | Bachelor’s Thesis | Thrun, Jannik |
| Reception of the Citizenship Behavior Construct in Project Research—A Systematic Literature Review | Bachelor’s Thesis | Wascher, Kristina |
| Stress in Project Management? A Systematic Literature Review | Bachelor’s Thesis | Ecevit-Peyker, Aylin |
| Investigation of the Potential Applications of AI Applications and Algorithms in Project Controlling | Bachelor’s Thesis | Yag, Berkkan |
| Sustainable Goals in Project Management: Areas of Conflict and Recommendations for Stakeholders | Bachelor’s Thesis | Lücking, Timo |
| Identification and Commitment—A Qualitative Study Based on Project Team Members at SMA Solar Technology AG | Master’s Thesis | Hoferichter, Jonas |
| Literature Review on Human Capital Investment and Its Impact on Project Success in Today’s World | Bachelor’s Thesis | Ness, Niklas |
| Communication in Project Teams: A Look at the Affordances of Social Media | Bachelor’s Thesis | Heppe, Christian |
| Intelligent Knowledge Management for Optimizing Project Planning—Designing an AI-Based Resource Planning Approach to Efficiently Utilize Knowledge from Past Projects | Master’s Thesis | Raz, Eduard |
| Determining the Maturity Level of a Manufacturing Execution System Implementation and Resulting Opportunities for Improvement | Bachelor’s Thesis | Mehrländer, Jonas Sebastian Andreas Lilong |
| Literature Review on Approaches to Assessing the Sustainability of Projects and Project Management Processes | Bachelor’s Thesis | Bode, Marius |
| Upscaling Projects and Risk Management—In the Industrial Plant Engineering Sector: Progress Report | Bachelor’s Thesis | Thole, Julian |
| Optimizing Effort and Time in Traditional Construction Scheduling Using the Theory of Constraints | Bachelor’s Thesis | Reinhardt, Lasse |
| Investigation of the Potential Applications of AI Applications and Algorithms in Project Risk Management | Term Paper | Zeromska, Oktawia |
| Project Management Software at the Intersection of Organizational Flexibility and Standardization—The Example of Solar Park Design and Construction | Bachelor's Thesis | Lichtschlag, Max |
| Acceptance of Cloud-Based Project Management Software: A Study of User Acceptance in a Medium-Sized Industrial Company | Bachelor’s Thesis | Springer, Maximilian |
| Changing Narratives in the Public Discourse on Renewable Energy and the Role of Projects—A Topic Modeling Analysis | Master’s Thesis | Arroyo Portillo, José |
| Professionalization of Project Management in Event Technology | Master’s Thesis | Sehner, Florian |