MECH5900 Master thesis Course description

All answers are assessed by two examiners. An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.

• 15 credits overlap with the course ORTO3900 Bachelor Assignment.

After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The candidate

• can identify the main scholarly theories, models and methods related to the master’s project
• can explain the scholarly theories and methods of relevance to the topic of the project, and apply it to new areas within the academic field of mechanical engineering
• can determine how different solutions will affect the products life cycle, environmental impact, and sustainability.
• can explain the structure and content of scientific articles and dissertations
• can assess research ethical issues related to one’s own project

Skills

The candidate

• can define and limit an academic problem that is addressed through investigation
• can analyze and evaluate various sources of information and use them to structure and formulate the problem covered by the thesis
• can find relevant information in technical and scientific literature
• can analyze existing theories, methods, and research literature on practical and theoretical problems related to the thesis
• can use relevant methods for research and development work in an independent manner

General competence

The candidate:

• can evaluate research literature critically
• can evaluate issues related to research ethics in connection with the master’s project
• can communicate their own research results in both oral and written form
• can apply research-based knowledge and skills in the work on advanced tasks and projects
• can analyze technological issues and contribute to sustainable and innovative solutions
• can conduct independent research work under supervision in accordance with scientific method and applicable norms for research ethics
• can contribute to new thinking and innovation processes and reflect about the role and responsibility as an engineer in working towards sustainable development

The master’s thesis is an independent research project with supervision. The students will be offered a minimum of 30 hours of individual supervision. This supervision helps students to acquire the necessary knowledge and assures the quality of the collection and processing of data and their compliance with research ethics.

After having been an active student in this course and successfully completing it, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence.

Knowledge

The student has knowledge of:

• the principles of business finance and management accounting.
• how business finance and management accounting support decision-making and strategy in different types of businesses.
• different processes and methods of planning and control for strategic performance management embracing stakeholders’ expectations.
• emerging economic, ethical, social, and environmental issues in strategic performance management.

Skills

The student can:

• explain, contextualize, and apply the principles of business finance and management accounting.
• apply critical thinking, communication, and practice collaboration to strategic performance management problems.
• identify and evaluate the short-term versus long-term trade-offs in simultaneously responding to economic, governance, ethical, social, and environmental issues involved in business decision making.
• make informed decisions in strategic and ambiguous situations by acquiring, analyzing, and presenting information based on principles of business finance and management accounting.

General competence

The student:

• can rationalize and contextualize corporate decisions to enhance firm value by embracing stakeholders’ expectations.
• is aware of the development in corporate sustainability (ESG) drive.
• can exchange views on economic, ethical, social, and environmental implications of corporate decision making.

This course uses case study method to apply the concepts of business finance and management accounting to enhance corporate economic performance. For this purpose, this course uses group dynamics and Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) for lifelong learning wherein the students are required to work in a group of 3 (+/-1) to develop and use their social skills to enable them to work successfully and fairly in a team within the context of strategic performance management.

This course is delivered in five modules. Each module comprises of two components: 1. a lecture to present the course content; 2. a workshop for hands-on experience with strategic performance management by solving a case study using MS Excel to analyze for corporate decision making. While writing the case report, the students are encouraged to reflect upon governance, ethical, social, and environmental implications of their decisions for strategy planning and execution embracing stakeholders’ expectations to enhance corporate economic performance.

A selection of at least two case studies along with their suggested solutions will be provided for each module. In addition, at least one case study will be given for each workshop. The students are required to work in groups of 3 (+/-1) students to solve the given case study in the workshop.

No coursework requirements or compulsory activities

The exam in the course is a supervised exam of 4 hours.

The following aids are permitted:

• One notebook containing hand-written and/or printed notes.
• One dictionary Native language-English/English-native language or English/English

Please note that it is not allowed to bring any loose papers and post-it slips in the notebook.