Topics for theses

Current calls for proposal by topic

General information

Please find here our current calls for applications for theses by topic, as well as the name of the respective supervisor.

Please apply exclusively via the contact form linked here.

Thesis applications - only here!

Digital transformation of companies

Participation in the digital transformation process: Citizen Development Digital transformation initiatives often face major obstacles or even fail. While digital technologies are an integral element of digital transformation, current research increasingly emphasizes the importance of the human element. User participation, participatory design, and end-user development have always been considered important in information systems research. Participation is expected to lead to greater employee engagement and improved acceptance of change. This is why companies are introducing Citizen Development, which enables non-IT employees to create business applications using low-code/no-code platforms.
It remains to be understood what role citizen development and low-code/no-code platforms play in the digital transformation process of companies. Possible starting points are: Where does participation take place as part of the digital transformation in the organization? How can participation take place in the digital innovation process? How can managers and employees be effectively involved? What role do digital tools play? Possible methods for dealing with this topic include literature reviews and empirical research methods (empirical studies are recommended) with a focus on citizen development and low-code/no-code platforms. Cooperations with companies are possible.
If you are interested in this topic, please contact Julia Kraus via the contact form (link at the top of this page). Theses in English are preferred.

Digital media companies

Generative Artificial Intelligence in (media) companies: GenAI is transforming how organizations create, curate, and distribute content. Media companies, in particular, offer a rich and complex environment for studying this transformation due to their societal role, their creative roots, and their consumer-facing nature. They are both producers and mediators of information, facing new challenges related to editorial authority, creativity, and algorithmic influence. Potential thesis topics explore how GenAI reshapes organizational processes, journalistic work, identity, governance, and value creation in media firms and other creative industries.

How do media companies adapt their business models as GenAI becomes embedded across the media value chain?
How do media companies maintain brand identity in environments increasingly shaped by standardized GenAI infrastructures?
How does the relevance and legitimacy of GenAI-based content evolve over time as it becomes more widely diffused?
How does sustained GenAI use reshape field-level understandings of what constitutes “media,” “media work,” and “media expertise”?

If you are interested in this topic, please contact Nina Zwingmann using the contact form (link at the top of this page).

Management of audiovisual AI-generated media content on digital platforms The current media landscape is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, driven by the exponential development of digital technologies and the enormous amount of data available. In this era of digital revolution, the application of (generative) AI takes center stage. Audiovisual AI-generated media content (images, videos and audios) such as deepfakes, as synthetic media content, have the potential not only to shake our understanding of reality and authenticity, but also to influence the credibility of media organizations and the dissemination of information. They are therefore a reflection of our times and represent one of the most recent and important developments in media technology. As an integral part of digital misinformation and disinformation, deepfakes raise urgent questions and require in-depth analysis. In the wake of these developments, there is an acute need to research and understand the diverse aspects of deepfakes in the context of digital disinformation and misinformation and potential value creation opportunities. Accordingly, a thesis could examine various aspects of the topic:

Company perspective: Conduct an empirical case study to investigate how media companies (especially platforms such as Meta and Bytedance) deal with audiovisual AI-generated media content such as deepfakes in practice and develop strategies to overcome this challenge. For example, one approach would be to investigate how traditional media companies differ from digital platforms when dealing with audiovisual AI-generated media content (Master's thesis).
Generators: Examine the business motives behind the creation of audiovisual AI-generated media content (or in detail: deepfakes) and analyze different dimensions of these activities (Bachelor thesis)
Detection: Investigate the opportunities and challenges in detecting and combating audiovisual AI-generated media content such as deepfakes (Bachelor thesis).
Faked people: Analyze the impact of deepfakes on those who fall victim to fake content and examine potential business consequences (Bachelor thesis).

If you are interested in this topic, please contact Joseph Nserat using the contact form (link at the top of this page).

Governance of digital Platforms (with a focus on the common-good) The digital transformation has fundamentally changed the media landscape. Digital platforms dominate access to information and news and are increasingly taking over the gatekeeper function of traditional media companies. Control and personalization mechanisms are shaping user behavior and users' autonomy over their information. This jeopardizes the democratic formation of opinion and promotes problematic phenomena such as filter bubbles, disinformation, and the marginalization of pluralistic perspectives. Against this backdrop, the governance of digital platforms is of central importance. Platform governance describes the regulation of relationships between platform companies, users, advertisers, governments, and other stakeholders. In particular, common-good-oriented approaches are required to focus on transparency, data protection, and the promotion of pluralistic publics. Possible thesis topics are:

Governance of Non-Profit Organizations in the Context of Media Companies (Bachelor’s Thesis): How is the governance of public broadcasters changing in the course of digital transformation, and what models can be developed to address the challenges of platformization?
Typology of Platform Objectives (Bachelor’s Thesis): What specific objectives do digital platforms pursue beyond maximizing user engagement, and how can these be classified?
Data Governance in the Context of Digital Platforms (Bachelor’s Thesis): What approaches and models of data governance are discussed in the literature concerning digital platforms, and how can they contribute to safeguarding privacy and promoting public-interest orientation?

If you are interested in this topic, please contact Eva Hoffmeister via the contact form (link at the top of this page). Theses written in English are preferred.

Innovative value creation and pricing models for digital intermediaries
Digital intermediaries such as news aggregators, platforms, and curation applications are playing an increasingly central role in the digital media ecosystem. They bundle, filter, and prioritize content, thereby significantly influencing how information is perceived and used. At the same time, they face the challenge of developing viable business and revenue models that combine economic sustainability with social requirements such as data protection, transparency, fairness, and public welfare.

Dominant monetization models, especially advertising- and data-based approaches, are increasingly coming into conflict with growing expectations for digital sovereignty and responsible platform design. Against this backdrop, alternative value creation and pricing logics are gaining in importance, such as user-financed models, voluntary payment approaches, or hybrid forms of financing. At the same time, the question arises as to how users perceive the value of such offers and under what conditions they are willing to pay.

Theses in this field can address both theoretical and empirical questions and combine qualitative and quantitative methods.

Willingness to pay: Investigate the conditions under which users are willing to pay for privacy-friendly and public-interest-oriented digital news services (bachelor's thesis).
Usage patterns: Analyze how different forms of news source usage (e.g., social media, aggregators, direct subscriptions) correlate with attitudes toward payment models. (bachelor's thesis)
Trust: Investigate the relationship between trust in the media and the evaluation of and willingness to pay for digital intermediaries (bachelor's thesis)

If you are interested in this topic, please contact Mario Bacher using the contact form (link at the top of this page). Work in English is preferred.

Data-based business concepts

Governance in digital ecosystems
The increasing interconnectedness of devices, individuals, and organizations through digital technologies opens exciting new opportunities for collaborative value creation in digital ecosystems. Managing these ecosystems, particularly data ecosystems, poses significant challenges for companies, as effective collaboration and trust are essential. Unlike traditional companies, digital ecosystems often lack clear central leadership, necessitating innovative management practices.
Given the growing importance of digital ecosystems, numerous topics for theses are available. The focus lies on governance and management practices within these networks. Potential research questions include managing tensions among partners in decentralized ecosystems, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of decentralized versus centralized management approaches, and exploring how trust can be established and maintained in sensitive data ecosystems. Additionally, research could examine how the structure of digital ecosystems impacts strategic decisions of participating companies.
If you are interested in this topic, please contact Pauline Liebert via the contact form (link at the top of this page). Submissions in English are preferred.

Business models in data-driven ecosystems
With the ongoing digital transformation, companies are increasingly interconnected within ecosystems where they collaborate to generate mutual value. Additionally, the rising datafication enables the realization of new data-driven business models. Data are increasingly regarded as a strategic resource, gaining significance for companies ("data are the new oil"). Harnessing data impacts value creation, value proposition, and value realization within ecosystems, thereby influencing the competitive advantage of companies.
In practice, decentralized ecosystems are emerging as alternatives to private platforms. While a focal company controls private digital platforms, decentralized ecosystems aim to ensure data sovereignty for participants, fostering a trustworthy collaboration. This new setting impacts the business models pursued by the ecosystem participants.
From that, questions arise such as: How can ecosystem participants co-create value through this decentralized infrastructure by leveraging data? What factors influence value creation in decentralized data ecosystems? How can value be fairly distributed within the ecosystem? Can decentralized ecosystems contribute to achieving societal goals, such as sustainability objectives? What data-driven products and services emerge in decentralized ecosystems?
If you are interested in this topic, please contact Jana Ammann via the contact form (link at the top of this page). Submissions in English are preferred.

Process and Algorithmic Management

Development and Use of Generative AI Applications in Organizations (Master Thesis)
The term generative AI refers to systems that continuously learn and adapt. In comparison to traditional software development and use, this implies that system outputs from generative AI, such as recommendations, can change from one day to another. How software developers and users deal with this is currently not well-understood. In this thesis, you will address this research gap and explore how organizations account for the generative nature of AI systems. If you are interested in this topic, please use the contact form (link on top of the page) to get in touch with Dr. Bastian Wurm.
Process Mining Failure (Master Thesis)
Process mining is receiving tremendous attention from academia and industry. The market for process mining software is expected to grow at about 30% per year for the next years and process mining vendors report record market capitalizations. While there are studies that examine the use of process mining in organizations and how organizations use process mining to create business value, there is a scarcity of research on factors that lead to the failure of process mining. In this thesis, you will explore why process mining initiatives fail. If you are interested in this topic, please use the contact form (link on top of the page) to get in touch with Dr. Bastian Wurm.
Industrial Metaverse (Master Thesis)
Many large manufacturing companies are currently investing in the Industrial Metaverse. This comprises various technologies that allow machine data to be bundled, visualized, and analyzed. As the Industrial Metaverse is still under development, it is not clear how companies use it. In this thesis, you will address this research gap and explore how organizations set-up and use the industrial metaverse. If you are interested in this topic, please use the contact form (link on top of the page) to get in touch with Dr. Bastian Wurm.
Algorithmic Management Outside the Gig Economy (Master Thesis)
Increasingly algorithms take over managerial functions, i.e. they coordinate and delegate work to humans. Research approaches this phenomenon under the umbrella term "algorithmic management". The existing body of work on algorithmic management focuses on the gig/ platform economy where data and technological infrastructure for algorithms to operate is a given. For example, Uber drivers are managed by an algorithm that pre-selects drivers and determines the route they should follow. However, it is not clear how algorithmic management takes shape in industries outside of the gig/platform economy. In this master thesis, you should address this research gap and empirically investigate under what circumstances and how established organizations use algorithmic management. If you are interested in this topic, please use the contact form (link on top of the page) to get in touch with Dr. Bastian Wurm.
A Review on Algorithmic Management (Bachelor or Master Thesis)
There is an increasing number of articles that discusses different aspects of algorithmic management, i.e. when algorithms coordinate and assign work to humans. While research on this topic is rapidly growing, an overview over this research area is currently missing. In this thesis, you should review and integrate the literature on algorithmic management by means of a structured literature review. Depending on the scope and focus of the review this topic can be addressed in a bachelor or master thesis. If you are interested in this topic, please use the contact form (link on top of the page) to get in touch with Dr. Bastian Wurm.
A Review on Failure in Information Systems (Master Thesis)
“Fail fast, fail often”. This statement has become a mantra in the business world to highlight that individuals and organizations can learn tremendously even (or especially?) when they encounter failure. Despite the valuable learnings associated with failure, research on failure in information systems is scarce.
While there are some notable exceptions, we miss a coherent overview over how failure in information systems is treated and what we can learn from it. In this thesis, you address this gap by conducting a literature review on failure in information systems. If you are interested in this topic, please use the contact form (link on top of the page) to get in touch with Dr. Bastian Wurm.
Predictive Process Mining and its Application in Practice (Master Thesis)
Process mining is concerned with the analysis of business processes. One specific application domain of process mining is predictive process mining (also called predictive process monitoring) that allows organizations to predict the outcome of a certain process or its remaining execution time. There are many studies on predictive process mining that focus on technical aspects. That is, how to make algorithms more computationally efficient or how to increase prediction accuracy.
However, how organizations use predictive process mentoring and how this may impact the way they work has not yet received systematic attention. In this thesis, you will explore the application of predictive process monitoring in
practice. If you are interested in this topic, please use the contact form (link on top of the page) to get in touch with Dr. Bastian Wurm.
Digital Transformation Strategies (Master Thesis)
Digital Transformation Strategies specify how organizations approach their digital transformation endeavors. While previous research has considered the different components that are important when developing such strategies, the literature does not explain how and why digital transformation strategies change over time. In this thesis, you should conduct a multiple case study to address this gap. Specifically, based on interviews with key stakeholders, you should develop a longitudinal perspective on the digital transformation strategy formation and enactment process. If you are interested in this topic, please use the contact form (link on top of the page) to get in touch with Dr. Bastian Wurm.