TOPIC CATALOGUE 2016 BACHELOR PROJECT

Transkript

1 Academic Study Board of Business Administration, Odense Academic Study Board of Economics TOPIC CATALOGUE 2016 BACHELOR PROJECT This topic catalogue is produced for bachelor students in Economics and Business Administration (BSc.merc.) Economics (BSc.oecon.) General information in the catalogue will be presented in English only. Some topics will be presented in Danish and some in English. For all English topics, the project can be written in English, with English supervision and English oral examination. Please note: Some Danish topics may also be given an English speaking supervisor, which means that the project must be written in English and supervision and oral examination will be in English. In the table of contents on page 2 you can see, which topics are suited for Economics and Business Administration students and for Economics students. If you have a specific interest in a topic not listed for your study, you can register for a topic of your choice making sure that your project is still in accordance with the requirements stated in the bachelor project course description for your particular study. Page 1 of 47

2 Academic Study Board of Business Administration, Odense Academic Study Board of Economics Table of contents (subject area) (1). Finance... page 3 Economics and Business Administration students Economics students (2). Accounting... page 10 Economics and Business Administration students Economics students (3). Marketing... page 12 Economics and Business Administration students (4). Optimization and Logistics... page 19 Economics and Business Administration students (5). Organization and Management... page 25 Economics and Business Administration students (6). Econometrics... page 27 Economics students (7). Macroeconomics and International Economics... page 31 Economics students (8). Microeconomics... page 39 Economics students Page 2 of 47

3 (1). FINANCE Questions about the topics within the subject area of Finance should be directed to: Linda Sandris Larsen, Department of Business and Economics, Please note: It is recommended to write the project in groups of 2 students. All topics in this subject area can be written in English or Danish. 1.1 Topics in asset pricing What determine the prices of financial assets? An equilibrium view will give that the price of an asset is determined by supply and demand. Based on a specific problem statement a topic in asset pricing will clarify which factors affect the pricing of the financial assets. A wellknown example is the classical CAPM, which implies that the expected excess return on a given asset is determined by the asset s systematic risk relative to the market portfolio. Since the CAPM cannot explain all empirically observed phenomena this give rise to study other equilibrium models. 1.1a A discussion of CAPM Make a careful discussion about CAPM and its theoretical and empirical foundation and use this to make a critical discussion of the limitations of the model and its applications for various participants at the financial markets. The discussion could be based on modern literature about CAPM and its extensions related to the simple static version. Alternatively, the project could clarify (part of) the extensive literature on tests of the CAPM and discuss some of the methodology problems associated with these tests. Literature (suggestions): M. Brennan, Capital market equilibrium with divergent borrowing and lending rates, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 6, W. Ferson and C. Harvey, The variation of economic risk premiums, Journal of Political Economy 99, Prerequisites: Finance for Economics and Business Administration students. This topic cannot be chosen by students having followed the course Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi. 1.1b An analysis of the market s discount on conglomerates The activities in Mærsk are spanned over an abundance of completely independent industries such as container shipping, oil extraction, supermarkets, etc. The company is in other words a so-called conglomerate. It is argued that the company for this reason is traded with a market discount compared to the sum of comparable independent activities in the market a socalled diversification discount. The purpose of this project is to discuss the financial reasons for a diversification discount on conglomerates and also to assess the magnitude of this discount through analysis of comparable companies beta-values, industry-beta, price-earning values and potential adjustments for credit-ratings ect. Alternatively, other conglomerates than Mærsk could be considered. Literature (suggestions): B. Rosenberg and J. Guy, Beta and investment fundamentals, Financial Analysts Journal (May-June) S. Schaefer and I. Strebulaev, Risk in capital structure arbitrage, Stanford GSB working paper, Diverse regnskaber Prerequisites: Finance for Economics and Business Administration students. Page 3 of 47

4 1.1c The consumption based CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) When individuals and households invest in financial assets it is primarily to move consumption possibilities either between different points in time (e.g. for pension savings) or from some economic scenarios to others (e.g. by investing in assets, which give a high return when the households labor income is low). The demand for financial assets is thereby closely connected to the consumption pattern of households, providing a link between prices of financial assets and the consumption of households this is the so called consumption based CAPM. The student is asked to derive the consumption based CAPM (CCAPM), discuss its ability to describe the actual changes in the stock prices and aggregated consumption, as well as a comparison between the consumption based CAPM and the classical CAPM. Literature (suggestions): Cochrane, J. (2005). Asset Pricing. Princeton University Press. Dele af kapitel 1 og 21. Munk, C. (2005). Asset pricing modeller. Kapitel 2 i bogen Udviklingslinier i finansiering redigeret af M. Christensen, Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag. Munk, C. (2013). Financial Asset Pricing Theory. Oxford University Press. Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi". 1.1d Empirical test of the CAPM model The CAPM is one of the most important tools for pricing an individual security or a portfolio. The purpose of this project is to help you to understand how to use this model to describe the relationship between the risk and return. You will be asked to run the OLS regression and test the significance of the model parameters, i.e., the intercept (alpha) and the slope of the market premium (beta). The data can be any single stock price series that you are interested in. You can use any statistic packages for OLS regression (e.g., Excel, R/S, Eviews, Stata, SPSS, Matlab, etc.). Finally, you need to give some economic explanations of the model parameters. Literature (suggestions): Campbell, J. Y., Lo, A. W. and MacKinlay, A. C., 1997, The Econometrics of Financial Markets, Princeton University Press, Chapter 5. Sharpe, W., 1964, Capital Asset Prices: A Theory of Market Equilibrium under Conditions of Risk, Journal of Finance 19, Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi" and "Økonometri". 1.1e Empircal models in asset pricing The 3-factor model of Fama and French is probably the most influential empirical asset pricing model in the last 30 years. The purpose of this project is to help you to understand how to use this model to empirically describe asset returns. You will be asked to run an OLS regression and test the significance of the model parameters, i.e., the intercept (alpha) and the slope/ loadings on the market, size, and value premiums. The data can be any return series that you are interested in. You can use any statistic packages for OLS regressions (e.g., Excel, R/S, Eviews, Stata, SPSS, Matlab, etc.). Finally, you need to give some economic explanations for the parameters in the model. Alternatively, you may want to use the 4-factor Carhart model, especially explaining mutual funds performance. Literature (suggestions): Fama, E. and K. French (1996) Multifactor Explanations of Asset Pricing Anomalies, Journal of Finance, 51, Carhart, Mark M. "On persistence in mutual fund performance." The Journal of finance 52.1 (1997): Campbell, J. Y., Lo, A. W. and MacKinlay, A. C., 1997, The Econometrics of Financial Markets, Princeton University Press, Chapter 5. Sharpe, W., 1964, Capital Asset Prices: A Theory of Market Equilibrium under Conditions of Risk, Journal of Finance 19, Page 4 of 47

5 1.1f Liquidity, hedging, and crashes On October 19 th 1987 the American Dow Jones index went down with $500 billion. What can explain such a crash? One explanation can be based on an equilibrium model, where rational agents have asymmetric information about the supply of financial assets. Literature (suggestions): Gennotte, G. og H. Leland (1990). Market Liquidity, Hedging, and Crashes. The American Economic Review, vol. 80, no. 5, s Christensen, P.O. og G.A. Feltham (2003). Economics of Accounting, Volume 1, Kluwer. kap. 11. Prerequisites: Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi. 1.2 Topics in corporate finance Corporate finance deals with the understanding of a firm s financial issues. For example, how to evaluate a real investment (e.g., a drug of biotech product), and when to initiate the investment. One can also consider how much debt a firm should have, what is the market value of the debt, how to signal the quality of a product or new investment to the financial market, and how to pay the executives in a firm. Some of these aspects have been touched upon in the standard undergraduate course Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi, for example, the conflict between shareholders and creditors, when a firm makes an investment decision, but there are plenty of other aspects which a project can focus on. 1.2a Real options analysis capital budgeting, capital structure, agency problems How does production flexibility impact the value and timing of a firm s investments? What is the impact on the value of a firm s debt, if the firm acts strategically to transfer value from the creditors to the equity holders? Real options analysis is an eminent method to address questions like these. Specifically, real options analysis is a fundamental method to handle optimal decision making under uncertainty for so-called irreversible decisions. A Bachelor s project should first consider how to handle real options analysis. Subsequently, the student can use this method to analyze various problems, e.g., valuation effects of production flexibility, how a firm s debt and equity values are affected by the equity holders incentive to exploit opportunities, and do these incentive effects also impact the firm s investment policy? Can debt covenants mitigate such agency problems? Literature (suggestions): Dixit, A.K. and R.S. Pindyck (1994). Investment under Uncertainty, Princeton University Press. Chapters 1, 2, 5, 6. Schwartz, E. S. and C. Zozaya-Gorostiza (2003, January). Investment Under Uncertanty in Information Technology: Asquisition and Development Projects. Management Science 49 (1), Carlson, M., A. Fisher, and R. Giammarino (2004). Corporate Investment and Asset Price Dynamics: Implications for the Cross-section of Returns. Journal of Finance LIX, no. 6, Myers, S. (1977). Determinants of Corporate Borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics 9, Gertner R. and D. Scharfstein (1991). A Theory of Workouts and the Effects of Reorganization Law, Journal of Finance 46, Kahl, M. (2002). Economic Distress, Financial Distress, and Dynamic Liquidation. The Journal of Finance LVII (1), Anderson, R. and S. Sundaresan. (1996). Design and Valuation of Debt Contracts, Review of Financial Studies 9(1), Mella-Barral, P. and W. Perraudin (1997). Strategic Debt Service, Journal of Finance 52, Leland, H. (1998). Agency Costs, Risk Management, and Capital Structure, Journal of Finance 53, Fan H. and S. M. Sundaresan (2000). Debt Valuation, Renegotiation, and Optimal Dividend Policy, Review of Financial Studies, 13, 4, Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi". Page 5 of 47

6 1.2b Signaling using financial decisions How can a firm s financial decisions (e.g., using debt instead of equity) reveal the management s information to the financial market? Demonstrate, for example, how an entrepreneur can signal the quality of his project to the financial market when choosing the funding of the project. Alternatively, students interested in game theory can try to connect some of the papers mentioned below to signaling models. Literature (suggestions): Leland, H.E. and D.H. Pyle. (1977). Informational asymmetries, Financial Structure, and Financial Intermediation, Journal of Finance 32, Myers S.C. and N.S. Majluf. (1984). Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions when Firms have Information that Investors do not have, Journal of Financial Economics 13, Christensen, P.O. and G.A. Feltham (2003). Economics of Accounting, Volume 1, Kluwer. kap. 13. Koracjzyk, R., D. Lucas and R. McDonald (1992). Equity issues with time-varying asymmetric information, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 1992, vol. 27, no. 3, DeAgenlo, H., DeAngelo, L. and Skinner, D. (2000). Special dividends and the evolution of dividend signalling. Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 57, Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi". 1.2c Mergers and acquisitions why and when? Why are some firms buyers, while other firms are sellers or targets for a takeover? Some firms consider acquisitions as an opportunity to grow, while other firms acquire a target firm to avoid being taken over in the future. Apparently, there is a relationship between general movements in the market and takeover activity. What causes this? Literature (suggestions): Gorton, G., Kahl, M. and Rosen, R.J. (2009). Eat or Be Eaten: A Theory of Mergers and Firm Size, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp Harford, J. (2005). What drives merger waves? Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 77, pp Lambrecht, B.M. (2004). The timing and terms of mergers motivated by economies of scale. Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 72, pp Rhodes-Kropf, M. and Viswanathan, S. (2004). Market Valuation and Merger Waves. The Journal of Finance, Vol. 59., No. 6, pp Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi". 1.2d Evaluating banks before, during, and after the financial crisis The aim of the bachelor thesis is to compare how financial organizations (banks) differ before, during and after the recent financial crisis. The starting point of this thesis is the paper by Andrea Beltratti and René Stulz "The credit crisis around the globe: Why did some banks perform better?" The student is first asked to independently review the related literature and briefly describe how the financial crisis affected different financial institutions. Moreover, the student is asked to choose a certain focus area and discuss this area in detail. Examples of such focus area might be: What is the role of excessive leverage in the financial sector and how it could be avoided in the future? What is the role of capital regulation, which regulation exists, why, and how has it changed? What is the role of stress-testing subsequently to the financial crisis, what is stress testing, how it is done, what are possible costs and benefits. Literature (suggestions): Beltratti, Andrea and René Stulz (2012). "The credit crisis around the globe: Why did some banks perform better? Journal of Financial Economics 105, Gropp, Reint and Heider, Florian (2010). The determinants of bank capital structure. Review of Finance 14, Admati, Anat R., Peter M. DeMarzo, Martin Hellwig, and Paul Pfleiderer (2013). Fallacies, Irrelevant Facts, and Myths in the Discussion of Capital Regulation: Why Bank Equity is Not Socially Expensive. Working Paper. Berger, Allen N., and Christa H. S. Bouwman (2013). How does capital affect bank performance during financial crises? Journal of Financial Economics 109, Page 6 of 47

7 1.2e Equity valuation The final result of this project will consist on an equity research type of document. You should value a company applying one or more valuation methods. You may obtain an intrinsic valuation, relating the value of the company to its intrinsic characteristics, its capacity to generate cash flows and the risk in the cash flow; relative valuation, estimating the value of the company by looking at the pricing of comparable companies relative to a common variable like earnings, cash flows, book value or sales; and/or contingent claim valuation, using option pricing models to measure the value of the company that share option characteristics. You should be comfortable retrieving information from financial statements, making sensible analysis assumptions, understanding the underlying business/environment that affects the value of the asset chosen. You should also be willing to deepen your understand about valuation based on one or more of the books/webcasts below, for example. Literature (suggestions): Damodaran, Aswath. Investment valuation: Tools and techniques for determining the value of any asset. John Wiley & Sons, Damodaran, Aswath. The dark side of valuation: Valuing young, distressed, and complex businesses. Ft Press, Damodaran, Aswath. Damodaran on valuation. John Wiley & Sons, Pinto, Jerald E., Elaine Henry, Thomas R. Robinson, and John D. Stowe. Equity asset valuation. Vol. 27. John Wiley & Sons, Online webcasts: Topics in derivatives Derivatives have become increasingly important in finance. Futures and options are actively traded on many exchanges throughout the world, and many different types of forward contracts, swaps, options, and other derivatives are entered in by financial institutions, fund managers, and corporate treasurers in the over-the-counter market. In particular, derivatives are widely used to control a company s financial risk. For example, an international company can hedge its earnings in a foreign country against an unfavorable change in the exchange rate by the use of derivatives. A Bachelor project about derivatives should have a focus on the theoretical valuation of such products under different conditions. 1.3a The link between the Binomial model and the Black-Scholes model Is there a theoretical link between the Binomical model and the Black-Scholes model? Whereas the Binomial model models the price of the underlying asset at a finite number of times, the Black-Scholes model models the price of the underlying asset at any point in time. That is, the Binomial model is a discrete-time model, whereas the Black-Scholes model is a continuous-time model. Is it possible by increasing the number of time-periods in the Binomial model to get the same results as in the Black-Scholes model? It could be interesting to compare different approximations of the Binomial model to analyze the speed of converges to the Black-Scholes model. Literature (suggestions): Cox, J.C., Ross, S.A. og Rubinstein, M. (1979). Option Pricing: A Simplified Approach. Journal of Financial Economics 7, Leisen, D. og Reimer, M (1996). Binomial Models for Option Valuation - Examining and Improving Convergence, Applied Mathematical Finance 3, Hull, J.C. (2009) Options, Futures, and other Derivatives, kapitlerne 11-13, 17. Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi". Page 7 of 47

8 1.3b Monte-Carlo-valuation of options The well-known Black-Scholes model builds on a number of simplifying assumptions. How do you value options under more realistic assumptions? Often it is not possible to find a nice close formed solution, and you have to turn to numerical solution techniques. One example of a numerical solution procedure is Monte-Carlo simulation, where the valuation builds on a number of simulations of the price of the underlying asset. This method can e.g. by used to value options with stochastic volatility, American options, and more exotic options. Literature (suggestions): Glasserman, P. (2004). Monte Carlo Methods in Financial Engineering. Springer. Hull, J. (2012). Options, Futures, and other Derivatives. 8. udgave, Pearson. Hull, J. og A. White (1987). The Pricing of Options on Assets with Stochastic Volatilities. The Journal of Finance, vol. 42, no. 2, s Longstaff, F.A. og E.S. Schwartz (2001). Valuing American options by simulation: a simple least-squares approach. The Review of Financial Studies, vol. 14, no. 1, s Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi". 1.4 Topics in asset allocation Probably one of the most important decisions many people face is the choice of a portfolio of financial assets for retirement savings. We have studied the mean-variance analysis by Markowitz in the undergraduate finance course Finansiering, Investering og Virksomhedsstrategi. The analysis is however based on some critical assumptions, which the interested student can take a closer look at. For example, the mean-variance analysis is a one-period model, which does not seem realistic. Investors live in a dynamic world, and hence take dynamic decisions. This is the topic in 1.4b. Another critic is that the results in the mean-variance analysis are based on the assumption that the investor knows the true model describing his investment opportunities as well as the true set of parameter estimates. In reality no one knows the either the true model or the true set of parameter estimates. What one knows is an approximation of the model and some parameters, which are estimated with estimation error. How can we deal with this type of uncertainty when modelling the investor s optimal investment strategy? This is the topic in 1.4c. 1.4a Efficient stock portfolios What is the theoretical foundation of Markowitz s portfolio choice model? The purpose of this project is to derive the efficient frontier together with a description of how investors with different types of utility functions choose their optimal portfolio of financial assets at the efficient frontier. Literature (suggestions): Huang, C. og R.H. Litzenberger. (1988). Foundations for Financial Economics, North-Holland, kapitel 3. Ingersoll, J.E. (1987). Theory of Financial Decision Making, Rowman & Littlefield. Kapitel 1-4. Prerequisites: Finance for Economics and Business Administration students as well as knowledge about linear algebra. This topic cannot be chosen by students having followed the course Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi. Page 8 of 47

9 1.4b Optimal portfolio choice What is the utility maximizing dynamic investment strategy of an individual investor? How is financial investments optimally allocated to different asset classes, e.g. stocks and bonds? How are financial investments optimally allocated to single securities within each asset class? And how does the answers to the former questions depend on e.g. risk aversion, time horizon, initial wealth, labor income, and asset price dynamics? In particular, it could be interesting to analyze if the recommendations of investment advisors are consistent with the theory of optimal investments. Literature (suggestions): Munk, C. og C. Sørensen (2001). Skal investorer med lang investeringshorisont have større aktieandel? Finans/invest 7, Munk, C. (2012). Dynamic Asset Allocation. Undervisningsnote. Kapitel 6. Grosen, A. og P.H. Nielsen (2006). Livsindkomsttankegangen vinder frem. Finans/invest 6, 2-3. Møller, M., C. Sørensen og J.P. Nielsen (2006). Er opsparing simplere end din investeringsrådgiver tror eller mere indviklet end lærebogen tilsiger? Finans/invest 8, 4-8. Grosen, A. og P.H. Nielsen (2007). Human kapital en overset post på den privatøkonomiske balance. Finans/invest 2, 2-3. Larsen, A.L. (2007). Lønindkomstens betydning for porteføljevalget Er du en aktie eller en obligation? Finans/invest 2, 4-9. Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi". 1.4c Optimal portfolio choice with parameter and model uncertainty. Classical theories about the optimal portfolio strategy of an individual investor assume that the true model as well as the true set of parameter estimates describing the investors investment opportunities are known. I reality none of these are known. What we know is an approximation of the model and some parameters which are estimated with an error. For example, the expected returns, variances, and covariances are the key inputs of every portfolio selection model. These parameters are not know a priori and are usually estimated with an error. The interested student could extend the classical mean-variance analysis to take these facts into account. In connection with this it could also be relevant to make a discussion about the Ellsberg paradox. Literature (suggestions): Garlappi, L., R. Uppal og T. Wang (2007). Portfolio Selection with Parameter and Model Uncertainty: A Multi- Prior Approach, The Review of Financial Studies, vol. 20, no. 1, Ellsberg, D. (1961). Risk, Ambiguity and the Savage Axioms, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 75, Flor, C.R. og L.S. Larsen (2014). Indledende Porteføljevalgsteori. Undervisningsnote, SDU. Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi". Page 9 of 47

10 (2). ACCOUNTING Questions about the topics within the subject area of Accounting should be directed to: Mogens Nielsen, Department of Business and Economics, All topics in this subject area can be written in English or Danish. 2.1 Strategy and management accounting How does a company use its financial management system to facilitate the company's overall strategic decisions and how can financial system subsequently support to achieve these strategic goals? Relevant topics in this area could be: a. Building and using the Balanced Scorecard as a financial basis. b. Target pricing and target costing. c. Performance evaluation and compensation of top management. 2.2 Activity Based Costing A number of business operation decisions rely on the quality of cost accounting information, since the cost accounting information are mainly related to the cost of products, branches and customers. The quality of the cost information depends on the accounting system's ability to provide such relevant information. ABC is one of the most widely used modern accounting systems, and is designed to provide decision-relevant information. Possible topics in this area could be: a. Design and implementation of an ABC accounting system b. The use of ABC in pricing decisions c. Time-Driven ABC d. Use of the ABC and/or TD-ABC within a given industry (eg. service companies, hospitals and other public companies) 2.3 Valuation of assets in the financial statements What criteria should the value measurements of financial statement use and how should company value different type of assets in their financial statements. Possible topics in this area could be: a. Valuation and recognition of research and development b. Valuation and recognition of lease assets c. Valuation and recognition of investment properties d. Valuation and recognition of subsidiaries e. Valuation and recognition of contractual rights (eg. for football player) 2.4 Determination of a company's profits The recognition of income and expenses is central to determine a company's profits. There are a number of potential issues related to how a company may recognize its income. Possible topics in this area could be: a. Construction Contracts b. Sales of software with continuous upgrades (eg. anti-virus programs) Page 10 of 47

11 2.5 Company Analysis The company's ability to create value for shareholders is a key issue for external investors. So measurement of a company's value and growth is important in many contexts. Considers possible within this range could be: a. Analysis and valuation of a selected company. b. Alternative models for valuing a company c. The valuations related to M&A (merger and acquisitions). 2.6 Regulation of financial reporting Since companies are responsible to provide necessary financial information to external users, such as investors, it is impossible to ensure the quality of these information, without certain accounting regulation or watchdog such as auditors. Because there is an information asymmetry between managers and outside investors, legislation and other regulations (accounting standards) are used to mitigate such issue. Auditors also have a significant role in this process. But the question is whether these measures are appropriate and / or sufficient. Considers possible within this range could be: a. Why should financial reporting be regulated, and what ways can and should this be done? b. What are the objectives of the audit of company accounts, and what are the methods to be used to verify the accuracy of financial statements? c. Considering the ongoing discussion on audit market reform, what role of auditor/audit firms should be considered to strengthen the quality of auditing? Page 11 of 47

12 (3). MARKETING 3.1 Topics in Internationalization Questions about the topics within the subject area of Internationalization should be directed to: Martin Hannibal Knudsen, Department of Marketing and Management, All topics in this subject area can be written in English or Danish. 3.1a Digital internationalization As more and more industries become digitalized in sale, marketing, co-operation, procurement etc. the companies will have new tasks in a world still more agile and online. How can firms solve these problems and how is it possible to find the right employees? The assignment can focus on one firm, a group of firms or an industry or be theoretical. 3.1b Foundation of a new, global firm More and more companies in Denmark and abroad start with sale, marketing, procurement etc. on a global scale from the foundation. How is this possible for a newly founded firm and what are the challenges the firms face? What type of employees do the firms need and how do they find them? The assignment can focus on one firm, a group of firms or an industry or be theoretical. 3.1c Business-to-business and the social media A lot of firms that are active on the business-to-business markets have become very active on the social media as Facebook and LinkedIn. What is the purpose of these activities and what are the challenges the firms are facing? The assignment can focus on one firm, a group of firms or an industry or be theoretical. 3.1d New technology New technology and innovations like e.g. 3.D printers, online data and programs, digitalization of service is changing the way in which many industries are working and the firms are becoming still more virtual, global and agile. This typically takes place in a global context of highly complex patterns of relations. What are the consequences for the firms both seen from the perspective of established (small or large) firms and for newly established firms? The assignment can focus on one firm, a group of firms or an industry or be theoretical. Page 12 of 47

13 3.2 Markedsføring på Business-to-Business markedet Questions about the topics within the subject area of Markedsføring på Business-to-Business markedet should be directed to: Martin Hannibal Knudsen, Department of Marketing and Management, All topics in this subject area can be written in Danish. 3.2a Relationsmarkedsføring En meget stor del af de danske virksomheder arbejder primært med at sælge produkter og services til andre virksomheder. Her kan man arbejde med f.eks., hvordan markedsføringen af denne type af kunder kan tilrettelægges. Eller man kan arbejde med segmentering af kunder på det industrielle marked. Ofte vil man på dette marked bruge mange ressourcer på opbygning af relationer og netværk til kunder og leverandører en opgave vil kunne være at se på, hvordan virksomhederne arbejder med disse relationer og netværk (f.eks. også i forhold til Customer Relationship Management ). Det vil også være en mulighed at arbejde med branding på det industrielle marked. Opgaven kan afgrænses til en bestemt type af virksomhed/kunder eller til evt. kun én virksomhed. 3.2b Outsourcing og valg af organisationsform For mange virksomheder er beslutningen om make or buy helt afgørende. Det vil sige beslutningerne om, hvorvidt man selv skal producere eller outsource til andre. Samtidig skal man også træffe beslutning om, hvordan en evt. outsourcing skal organiseres. Opgaven kan både besvares teoretisk ifht. disse overvejelser eller praktisk ifht. en konkret virksomhed. 3.2c Alliancer og tætte samarbejder Udviklingen på mange markeder betyder at virksomhederne i stadigt større omfang etablerer tæt samarbejde eller alliancer med andre virksomheder. Men hvad er egentlig fordelene ved strategiske samarbejder, hvad er omkostningerne, hvordan udvælger man de rigtige partnere og hvad er de strategiske beslutninger? Er der yderligere begrænsninger i forhold til danske virksomheder? Page 13 of 47

14 3.3 Internationalionaliseringsprocesser Questions about the topics within the subject area of Internationaliseringsprocesser should be directed to: Martin Hannibal Knudsen, Department of Marketing and Management, All topics in this subject area can be written in Danish. 3.3a Internationaliseringsprocesser i danske medicinalvirksomheder Den danske medicinalindustri har en række markante farmaceutiske virksomheder, der alle blev internationaliseret tidligt: Novo Nordisk, LEO Pharma, Lundbeck, ALK-Abello m.fl. Hvilke internationaliseringsvalg har danske medicinalvirksomheder gjort over tiden i forhold til valg af afsætningsmarkeder (lande, kundesegmenter?) og forsyningskanaler (råvarer, arbejdskraft etc.?), entry-modes (eksport-, licens- og investeringsformer?) etc., samt hvorledes har virksomhederne investeret i bearbejdningen af de udenlandske markeder? Er det muligt at udlede bestemte internationaliseringsmønstre, som nogle teorier mener at påvise? Hvilke dele af medicinalvirksomhedernes værdikæde er blevet inddraget i denne internationaliseringsproces hvorfor og hvordan - samt hvilke økonomiske konsekvenser har disse valg medført? Hvilken betydning har omgivelsesforholdene (sundhedspolitiske, økonomiske, legale etc.) haft for internationaliseringsvalgene? Dette er blot nogle af de spørgsmål et BA-projekt om medicinalvirksomhedernes internationalisering kan kaste sig ud i. 3.3b Styring og ledelse af udenlandske datterselskaber Centers of Excellence Traditionelt har udenlandske datterselskaber haft en udførende ( implementator -) rolle i internationale koncerndannelser (MNC s), hvor hovedparten af aktiviteterne inden for FoU, produktudvikling, konceptudvikling inden for markedsføring etc. almindeligvis har ligget i moderselskabet. I det seneste årti har flere og flere multinationale selskaber henlagt særlige udviklingsbærende aktiviteter i Center of Excellences, hvor bestemte udenlandske datterselskaber har fået en særlig rolle eller funktion i den internationale koncerndannelse i et tæt, horisontalt samspil med andre udenlandske enheder eller alliancepartnere. Litteraturen inden for området er i en rivende udvikling og der findes en lang række casestudier om emner. Page 14 of 47

15 3.4 Service management Questions about the topics within the subject area of Service management should be directed to: Martin Hannibal Knudsen, Department of Marketing and Management, All topics in this subject area can be written in Danish. 3.4a Værdiskabelse Ud fra moderne service tankegang kan man argumentere for, at alle virksomheder er servicevirksomheder. Serviceledelse kræver fokus på brugeren, på processen og på evnen til at skabe værdi for og med kunden. En opgave kan være at undersøge udfordringer og muligheder i at involvere kunden i værdiskabelsesprocessen. En anden mulighed er at fokusere på virksomhedens service system og betydningen af dette i forhold til, hvordan kunderne oplever kvalitet og/ eller i forhold til virksomhedens indtjening. 3.4b Omstilling fra produktions- til servicevirksomhed For en række produktionsvirksomheder ligger der et indtjeningspotentiale i at tilbyde serviceydelser i tilknytning til eller som en integreret del af en vareleverance. Forudsætningen for, at det giver et positivt afkast, er, at virksomheden formår at kombinere produktionslogik og servicelogik i et attraktivt og profitabelt tilbud til kunderne. En opgave kan være at analysere, hvordan forskellige virksomheder har løst denne opgave. En anden mulighed er at undersøge en enkelt virksomheds kombinerede service- og produktydelser (hybrid offerings) og se på, hvad der skal til for at få succes på markedet. 3.4c Internationalisering af servicevirksomheden Serviceydelser produceres og leveres oftest tæt på og/eller i samarbejde med kunden. Derfor står virksomheder, som sælger serviceydelser overfor en række særlige udfordringer i forbindelse med internationalisering. Opgaven kan belyse en konkret virksomheds eller en branches udfordringer i forhold til internationalisering. Eller opgaven kan løses teoretisk. Page 15 of 47

16 3.5 Sundhed og forbrug Questions about the topics within the subject area of Sundhed og forbrug should be directed to: Dorthe Brogård Kristensen, Department of Marketing and Management, All topics in this subject area can be written in English or Danish. Inden for dette emne kan du skrive om forholdet mellem sundhed og forbrugeradfærd. Opgaver inden for emnet undersøger forbrugeradfærd ud fra et identitetsmæssigt, kommunikativt og/eller praksisorienteret perspektiv. Ved opgaver der arbejder empirisk forventes det, at der lægges vægt på kvalitative metoder. Ideer til emner der kunne skrives om: 3.5a Sundhed og forbrugeradfærd Hvordan agerer moderne borgere og forbrugere i forhold til sundhed? Hvilke tiltag, produkter og services finder vi i samfundslivet, som knytter sig til forbrugernes sundhedsrelaterede forbrugeradfærd, og hvordan tilskyndes forbrugeren ifl. disse til at handle på sundhed på en særlig måde? Her kan man eksempelvis kigge på forbrugernes holdning og praksis i forhold til private sundhedsforsikringer, mærkningsordninger (eks. nøglehul & økologimærket) og sundhedskampagner. En anden mulighed er at kigge på sociale medier og teknologier til at monitorere og optimere sundhedstilstanden, eller udvalgte produkter, services og sundhedsbrand. Et centralt fokus er her de processer, der er i spil, når forbrugernes træffer et valg, afkoder sundhedsbudskaber og omsætter det til praksis. Derved kan man afdække hvorledes forbrugerne forstår og håndterer udfordringen om at skulle leve og tage ansvar for et sundt liv. Litteratur: Cederström, C. (2009). Fit for everything: Health and the ideology of authenticity. Ephemera. Theory & Politics in Organization, 11(1): Crawford, R. (1980). Healthism and the medicalization of everyday life. International Journal of Health Services 10(3): Lupton, D. (2013). The digitally engaged patient: Self-monitoring and self-care in the digital health era. Social Theory & Health 11(3): Forudsætning: Faget Forbrugeradfærd. Page 16 of 47

17 3.6 Globalisering Questions about the topics within the subject area of Globalisering should be directed to: Thomas Gulløv Longhi, Department of Marketing and Management, All topics in this subject area can be written in Danish. 3.6a Think global, act local Virksomheder har et stadigt stigende krav om at være globalt efficiente og lokalt effektive. Hvor stammer disse krav fra, og hvad kan virksomhederne gøre for at imødekomme disse udfordringer? Hollesen, S. (2014) Global Marketing 6th edt. Pearson: London Segal-Horn, S. (2002) Global firms: heroes or villains? How and why companies globalize, European Business Journal, 14(1), pp Seth, J.N and Parvatiyar, A. (2001) The antecedents and consequences of integrated global marketing, International Marketing Review, 18(1), pp b Global konkurrenceevne En klassisk måde at analysere global konkurrenceevne på, er ved at foretage en outside-in analyse, hvor virksomheden analyserer makro, meso og mikro niveau. Emnet tager udgangspunkt i en kritisk/konstruktiv analyse af outside-in perspektivet. Litteratur: Hollesen, S. (2014) Global Marketing 6th edt. Pearson: London Porter, M.E. (1980) Competitive Strategy. The Free Press: New York Porter, M.E. (1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. The Free Press: New York Porter, M.E. (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations. The Free Press: New York 3.6c Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Ifølge Porter og Kramer (2006), skal CSR aktiviteter bidrage til at forbedre virksomhedens konkurrenceevne. Ved at koble CRS til virksomhedens værdikæde, skal CSR enten bidrage til virksomhedens primære aktiviteter og/eller supplerende aktiviteter. Med udgangspunkt i en analyse af CSR og virksomhedens værdikæde, behandler emnet mulige tilgange til en global CSR strategi. Litteratur: Hollesen, S. (2014) Global Marketing 6th edt. Pearson: London Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R. (2006) Strategy and society:the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibillity, Harvard Business Review, 84(12), pp Weber, M. (2008) The business case for corporate social responsibillity: a company-level measurement approach for CSR, European Management Journal, 26, pp d Kultur og globalisering Betydningen af kultur er vigtig for den globale virksomhed. Med udgangspunkt i begrebet national kultur, behandler dette emne tilgange til at analysere kultur samt søger at belyse, hvordan virksomheden bør håndtere kulturel diversitet. Litteratur: Hall, E. T. (1960) The Silent Language. Garden City, New York Hoefstede, G. (1980) Culture s Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values, Sage: London Hollesen, S. (2014) Global Marketing 6th edt. Pearson: London Schein, E. H. (2010) Organizational Culture and Leadership, 4th edt. Wiley & Sons: San Fransisco. Page 17 of 47

18 3.6e Globalisering og virksomhedsstørrelse I globaliserings og internationaliserings strategi skelner man mellem SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) og LSE (large-scale enterprises). Dette emne tager udgangspunkt i størrelsens betydning for globaliseringsstrategien. Hvad er fordelene/ulemperne ved henholdsvis SME og LSE, og hvordan bør de gribe globalisering an? Litteratur: Andersen, O. And Buvik, A. (2002) Firms internationalization and alternative approaches to the international customer/market selection. International Business Review, 11, pp Andersen, P.H. and Strandskov, J. (1998) International market selection. Journal of Global Marketing, 11(3), pp Brewer, P. (2001) International market selection: developing a model from Australian case studies. International Business Review, 10, pp Hollesen, S. (2014) Global Marketing 6th edt. Pearson: London Johanson, J. And Vahlne, J.E. (1977) The internationalization process of the firm: a model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitment. Journal of International Business Studies, 8(1), pp Sylvest, J. And Lindholm, C. (1997) Små globale virksomheder. Ledelse og Erhvervsøkonomi, 61 (april), pp f Entry Mode Hollesen (2014) beskriver 3 tilgange til internationalisering (hierarchical mode, intermediate mode og export mode). Med udgangspunkt i faktorer der påvirker graden af internationalisering, vil dette emne belyse fordele og ulemper ved forskellige entry modes. Litteratur: Hollesen, S. (2014) Global Marketing 6th edt. Pearson: London 3.6g Acquisition versus Greenfield investering Globalisering hvor virksomheden ejer og kontrollerer selskabet i det nye land, kaldes også for hirarchical mode. I forbindelse med at bygge et nyt selskab op fra bunden versus at købe et eksisterende selskab, er der forskellige faktorer der bør indgå i analysen og valget. Eksempelvis kan det være hensigtsmæssigt at gennemføre en Due Diligence i forbindelse med et opkøb. Dette emne tager udgangspunkt i en analyse af de forskellige faktorer en virksomhed skal være opmærksom på i forbindelse med at købe (aquisition) et selskab i udlandet versus at starte et nyt selskab op fra bunden af (greenfield investment). Litteratur: Harvey, M. G. And Lusch, R.F (1995) Expanding the Nature and Scope of Due Diligence. Journal of Business Venturing, 10, pp Hollesen, S. (2014) Global Marketing 6th edt. Pearson: London Marks, M.L, Mivis, P.H. and Brajkovich, L.F. (2001) Making Mergers and Acquisitions Work: Strategic and Psychological Preparation. The Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 15, No.2, pp Page 18 of 47

19 (4). OPTIMIZATION AND LOGISTICS Questions about the topics within the subject area of Optimization and Logistics should be directed to Ole B. Olesen, Department of Business and Economics, All topics in this subject area can be written in English or Danish. 4.1 Supply Chain Management 4.1a Aggregated Planning When a company sets up an aggregated plan, it, among other things, tries to get an overall picture of its future need for labor over the next 4-12 months based on forecasts of the total demand for its products. The plan furthermore specifies the link between the necessary inventory throughout the period and the extent of any subcontracting that may have been planned. Different strategies can be pursued in the forming of an optimal plan. Furthermore, special problems are linked with the choice of how to implement an aggregated plan in a specification of actual production plans (when what is produced and in which sequences). C. C. Bozarth and R. B. Handfield: "Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management", (2005), chapter 12. Chopra and Meindl: Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation, chapters 8-9. Prerequisite: "Ressourcestyring og Supply Chain Management". 4.1b Aggregated Planning for a small manufacturing company Students are asked to draw up various suggestions for an aggregated plan for the next 12 months based on historic data about demand and technical issues linked to the production. Disaggregated data are available for 27 item numbers, which are to be aggregated to a standard product (top-down analysis). The average consumption of labor for each item number will be provided. The company s products are characterized by being perishable, and therefore the storage costs have to be modelled in a somewhat untraditional way. Furthermore, the company is located in an area where it is difficult to attract qualified labor, but at the moment the company has a well-educated labor force. C. C. Bozarth and R. B. Handfield: "Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management", (2005), chapter 12. Chopra and Meindl: Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation, chapters 8-9. Prerequisite: "Ressourcestyring og Supply Chain Management". 4.1c Optimal Invetory planning This topic is relatively broad, and models and methods from production and inventory planning can be used. One possibility is to work with dynamic, deterministic stock management problems. Another possibility is to look at stochastic, static inventory problems. A third possibility is to look at variations of the EOQ formula. Finally, it is also a possibility to look at what optimal stock management means for the entire or parts of the supply chain which the company/organization is part of. It is also possible to use software for these analyses, for example Excel/VBA, Arena or other software. C. C. Bozarth and R. B. Handfield: "Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management", (2005), chapter 13. Chopra and Meindl: Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation, chapter 10. Prerequisite: "Ressourcestyring og Supply Chain Management". Page 19 of 47

20 4.1d Material Requirement Planning MRP deals with the tools which a company can use for production planning when the manufacturing process is dependent on deliveries from supply chain partners. These deliveries must be ordered, so that they are delivered at exactly the time when the part is needed in the manufacturing process. C. C. Bozarth and R. B. Handfield: "Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management", (2005), chapter 14. Prerequisite: "Ressourcestyring og Supply Chain Management". 4.1e Forecasting Every single day, businesses make decisions about future undertakings, without knowing exactly what the future brings. For example, businesses have to order supplies for their inventories without precise knowledge of future demand. Likewise, investments are made by the businesses without exact knowledge about how large the resulting profits will potentially be. There are many ways of forecasting the future. Some businesses use subjective processes, such as experience and intuition, while the approach of others is based on quantitative forecasting. Some of the more quantitative methods are moving average models, trend projections and regression, to mention but a few. It is of course possible to use IT for these estimations. C. C. Bozarth and R. B. Handfield: "Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management", (2005), chapter 9. Chopra and Meindl: Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation, chapter 7. John E. Hanke and D. W. Wichern Business Forecasting (2005). Prerequisite: "Ressourcestyring og Supply Chain Management". 4.1f Forecast of the demand for product from a small manufacturing company Day-to-day demand data for three years disaggregated on 27 item numbers will be provided. Students are asked to make a forecast analysis based on the first two years and validated on data from the third year. The demand is influenced by seasonal variations and campaign offers. Students are asked to make both a forecast analysis based on the individual item numbers but also based on aggregated products. Information about which item numbers refer to products with high substitutability will be provided. The data were originally part of a master s thesis in Economics & Business Administration, so the performance of the best forecasting model can potentially be compared to the forecasting model that was used in the master s thesis. Data will be provided in Excel sheets, so it is possible to use IT for these estimations. C. C. Bozarth and R. B. Handfield: "Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management", (2005), chapter 9. Chopra and Meindl: Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation, chapter 7. John E. Hanke and D. W. Wichern Business Forecasting (2005). Prerequisite: "Ressourcestyring og Supply Chain Management". Page 20 of 47