University of St.Gallen Institute of Management Dufourstrasse 40 A CH-9000 St.

Gallen Switzerland

Prof. Steven Floyd, PhD Director Phone +41 (0)71 224 2363 Facsimile +41 (0)71 224 2355 steven.floyd@unisg.ch

Guidelines for Masters theses

Level: Deadlines: In general, we supervise theses by students from one of our masters courses. It is exclusively the students responsibility to manage all relevant deadlines (including registration, submission, co-referee nomination, signatures etc.). We supervise theses whose topics fall into the domain of either the strategy process or the strategy as practice field. Students are urged to consult the respective Strategic Management Societys special interest group (SMS SIG) statements on page two of this document and to consider whether their potential thesis topic complies with either of these statements. A decision whether to supervise a thesis involves the following steps. Thesis proposal: We expect that any request for supervision is submitted as a one page thesis proposal that outlines all of the following key elements: SMS SIG compliance: Which SMS SIG domain statement does your planned topic comply with? How? Focal issue/question: What is the core issue theoretical and/or practical that you aim to investigate? Conceptual framework: Which conceptual framework is at the core of your work? Premises/Literature: Which premises/literature do you ground your argument in? Method: Which method of data gathering - if any - do you intend to use? Analytical Strategy: How do you intend to analyze the data as to address your initial question? Contributions: What contributions for theory and practice do you anticipate? Refinement of proposal: Please send this document with your request to Carola Wolf (carola.wolf@unisg.ch) who will assist you with refining the document. Decision: Based on this proposal, the Chair will decide whether to accept supervision of the outlined thesis. Timing: All of the above needs to happen prior to any formal registration with exams office. Signature: Once the proposal has been accepted and a co-referee has been identified, please approach Prof. Floyd for signing the respective form. Thesis planning and writing: Carola Wolf will be your main contact before and during thesis writing. She will assist you in planning scope, timeframe, milestones etc. of the thesis and guide you through the process of writing. Any changes in scope and timing need to be synchronized with her. Good luck! Prof. Steven Floyd, PhD October 1st, 2008

Content:

Process:

Universitt St.Gallen Hochschule fr Wirtschafts-, Rechtsund Sozialwissenschaften (HSG)

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Strategy Process Interest Group Domain Statement

Strategy process research focuses on the factors that govern the formation of strategies at the group, functional, business, corporate, and network levels of analysis. The area draws on diverse theories including intra-organizational evolution, bounded rationality, power/politics, organizational learning, socio-cognitive theory, organizational contingency theory, and others. Research streams encompass a broad range of phenomena, including 1) strategic planning, 2) strategic decision-making, 3) strategy implementation, 4) strategic change & renewal, 5) consensus, politics and power in strategy-making, 6) the role of organizational actors in strategy-making (e.g. CEOs, top management teams, boards of directors, middle-level and operational managers), and 7) the development of comprehensive models of strategy formation. Emerging research streams include: 1) the micro-practices of strategy making, 2) the development of strategic initiatives, 3) idea generation and creativity in strategy, 4) the role of chance events, 5) capability development and 6) the role of emotions in strategy. A major role of the strategy process research area is to act as an integrative mechanism in the wider strategic management domain for the dynamics of strategic elements over time.

The Practice of Strategy Interest Group Domain Statement

This interest group focuses on the strategy worker. These are individuals both within the firm as well as in management consulting firms and universities, who have a key role in shaping a firms strategy. Some of the questions of interest to this group include: How are strategy problems identified and conceptualised? How are potential solutions generated, evaluated, and decided on? Who are the individuals who influence these decisions? How do they work? What tools and methodologies do they employ? How effective is their work? How could their effectiveness and impact be improved? (For further information on this topic you might also consult www.strategy-as-practice.org)