SCI Master's Thesis Guide 2023-
IEM
Completion requirements
1. Where can I find a supervisor for my thesis?
- As a default, the master’s thesis is written on a topic related to the student’s chosen major. The supervisor should be a professor or lecturer from the field of the chosen major. See the list of possible supervisors below.
- Contact details of professors and lecturers are usually firstname.lastname@aalto.fi and can be found here.
2. Who are the supervisors in IEM?
Supervisors at Strategy & Venturing / Strategy majors | Potential topic areas |
---|---|
Robin Gustafsson | Strategic Management, Strategy, Platform Business, Platform Economy, Innovation Policy |
Mikko Jääskeläinen | Corporate entrepreneurship & venturing, Venture capital, Entrepreneurship ecosystems, Innovation, Product management, Product development |
Kimmo Karhu | Digitalization, Platform Strategy, Digital Platforms, Open-Source, Innovation, Information Systems |
Jukka Luoma | Competitive Dynamics, Data-driven Decision Making, Analytics, Competitive Strategy |
Markku Maula | Venture Capital and Private Equity, Corporate Venturing, Mergers and Acquisitions |
Tero Ojanperä | Platform Strategy, Business Models, Strategy, Artificial Intelligence |
Henri Schildt | Digital Strategy, Digitalization, Strategic Change, Sensemaking, Industry Ecosystems, Social Organizations, Social Enterprises, Organizational Values |
Jens Schmidt | Strategy, Innovation, Business Models, Ecosystems, Platforms, Internationalization |
Timo Vuori | Strategy Formulation, Strategy Execution, Platform Strategy, AI in Strategy Process, Emotions, Cognitio |
Supervisors at Operations and Service management / Operations Management major | Potential topic areas |
Karlos Artto | Project Business, Project Operations, Project-Based Firms, Project Networks and Supply Chains, Buying Projects, Selling Projects, Innovation, Product/Service Development |
Jan Holmström | Operations Management, Design Science Research, Digitalization of Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Digital Twins and Virtual Counterparts, Industrial Services, Physical Asset Management, Building Information Management |
Jouko Karjalainen | Management Accounting and Cost Estimation |
Risto Rajala | Management of Service Systems, Development of Digital Services, Service Innovation and Business Models |
Lauri Saarinen | Data Analytics-based Operational Management |
Timo Seppälä | Digital Operations, Platform Governance, Industrial Ecosystems |
Kari Tanskanen | Purchasing and Supply Chain Management |
Pekka Töytäri | Customer Value, Institutional Change, Business Ecosystems and Platforms, Value Based Selling and Pricing, Sales Management, Service Innovations |
Siavash H Khajavi | Digital transformation of manufacturing and operations, utilization of additive manufacturing, digital twins and block chain technologies and impact on operations management, machine learning in operations and maintenance, digitalization of aftersales and spare parts operations. |
Supervisors at Organization Design and Leadership major | Potential topic areas |
Satu Rekonen | cross-functional / multidisciplinary teamwork, new venture teams, creative problem-solving, collective creativity, organisational renewal and development, design thinking, experimentation |
Lauri Järvilehto | Startup Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainable Entrepreneurship |
Nina Nurmi | Virtual / Hybrid Work, Leadership, Work Design, Organizational Design, Virtual Teams, Teamwork, Well-Being |
Natalia Vuori | Strategy Implementation, Change Management, Organizing for Innovation, Heuristics and Biases, Emotions and Cognition (identity, motivation, cognitive frames) in Organizational Processes |
Jari Ylitalo | Leadership, Leadership and leader development, Organizational development and transformation, Leadership in networks, Collaboration in networks and partnerships, Dialogue in organisations |
Satu Renkonen | Cross-functional / multidisciplinary teamwork, new venture teams, creative problem-solving, collective creativity, organisational renewal and development, design thinking, experimentation |
Frank Martela | Work engagement, meaningful work, employee motivation, decentralised organizations, self-management, minimalist leadership, servant leadership |
Supervisors at Product and Innovation Management major | Potential topic areas |
Mikko Jääskeläinen | Corporate entrepreneurship & venturing, Venture capital, Entrepreneurship ecosystems, Innovation, Product management, Product development |
Satu Renkonen | Cross-functional / multidisciplinary teamwork, new venture teams, creative problem-solving, collective creativity, organisational renewal and development, design thinking, experimentation |
Kimmo Karhu | Digitalization, Platform Strategy, Digital Platforms, Open-Source, Innovation, Information Systems |
Jens Schmidt | Strategy, Innovation, Business Models, Ecosystems, Platforms, Internationalization |
Jan Holmström | Operations Management, Design Science Research, Digitalization of Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Digital Twins and Virtual Counterparts, Industrial Services, Physical Asset Management, Building Information Management |
Risto Rajala | Management of Service Systems, Development of Digital Services, Service Innovation and Business Models |
3. Exceptions for topic & supervisor
- A) A supervisor from another field acting as supervisor for the thesis in the field of the student's chosen major. In exceptional cases, professor from another field may act as supervisor for a thesis in the field of the student’s chosen major. In such a case, the professor responsible for the student’s chosen major needs to approve the supervisor and confirm that the topic is in the field of the student’s chosen major (as part of topic approval). If the suggested supervisor is other than IEM professor or lecturer, the professor responsible for the chosen major and supervisor will also discuss the evaluation criteria since the professor responsible for the chosen major will sign the evaluation statement.
- Send a short summary of the thesis topic by e-mail to the professor in charge for the chosen major and add as CC the proposed supervisor and study coordinator.
- Professors in charge (Head of Major)
- Operations Management: Lauri Saarinen, lauri.3.saarinen@aalto.fi
- Organization Design and Leadership: Jari Ylitalo, jari.ylitalo@aalto.fi
- Product and Innovation Management: Mikko Jääskeläinen, mikko.jaaskelainen@aalto.fi
- Strategy: Kimmo Karhu, kimmo.karhu@aalto.fi
- Study Coordinator: Jasmin Seppälä, jasmin.seppala@aalto.fi
- Professors in charge (Head of Major)
- Send a short summary of the thesis topic by e-mail to the professor in charge for the chosen major and add as CC the proposed supervisor and study coordinator.
- B) If supervision would benefit from the specific expertise of a professor or lecturer who is not from the field of the chosen major, instead of acting as a supervisor, this person may also act as an advisor. In this case the supervisor is a professor or lecturer in the field of the chosen major. He or she and the advisor agree on the actual supervision and evaluation, but the supervisor is ultimately responsible for the evaluation.
- C) Writing the thesis on a topic related to your chosen minor. You can also write the master’s thesis on a topic that is related to your chosen minor. This must be marked in the topic approval form on eAge. In these cases, the supervisor must be a professor who is an expert in the field of the respective minor. In such a case, the program director needs to approve the supervisor. The program director will also discuss the evaluation criteria with the supervisor.
- Send an email to the program director and add as CC the proposed supervisor and study coordinator.
- Program Director: Jens Schmidt, jens.schmidt@aalto.fi
- Study Coordinator: Jasmin Seppälä, jasmin.seppala@aalto.fi
- NB! Even if you are writing your thesis on a topic related to your chosen minor, you must complete a maturity test according to these instructions.
4. Evaluation
- All master’s theses must be evaluated according to the SCI guidelines for master’s thesis evaluation.
- For all master’s theses written on a topic related to the student’s chosen major where the supervising professor is not a professor at the IEM department, the professor responsible for the major will need to approve and sign the evaluation form in addition to the supervising professor.
- For all master’s theses written on a topic related to the student’s chosen minor, the program director will need to approve and sign the evaluation form in addition to the supervising professor.
5. DIEM Master's Thesis Info
- IEM Masters Thesis Event 2023 PP-slides
- IEM Masters Thesis Event video from 14.11.2022
Last modified: Thursday, 13 June 2024, 4:52 PM