Academic year 2013 – 2014

1. ISM seminar 57E99902 Three elective areas of specialisation in Master’s program: Business Analytics, Information Systems Science and Logistics and Service Management Academic year 2013 – 2014

2. Contents Introduction Schedule Thesis work Research plan Information search Research topics of the faculty

3. ISM seminar – basic information Thesissupervisor(s) • Youmaycontactdirectlysupervisor(s) whowork on yourtopicarea • Youneed to designateyourseminargroupand supervisor with the supervisor and thesisseminarteacher. Seppo Malleniushasdetails and a list for doingthis • In the case youneed help, pleasecontact Matti Rossi or Anu Bask

4. Schedule Three groups: • Wednesday group (Rossi: ISS) • Thursday group (Bask and Kuula: Logistics and Service Management) Common lectures to on all seminar participants • Wed 11.9 Introductory seminar • Wed 18.9 Quantitative methods • Wed 25.9 Qualitative methods

5. Schedule ISS Specialization • Matti Rossi (Wednesdays): • Research plan presentations during November • Fall 2013 - Spring 2014 • Write the thesis! • Final presentations during April – May • Seminar assistant SeppoMallenius (Seppo.Mallenius@aalto.fi) Logistics and Service Management Specialization • Anu Bask (Fall) and MarkkuKuula (Spring) (Thursdays): • Research plan and final presentations during Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 • Write the thesis! • Seminar assistant Marta Malik (marta.malik@aalto.fi) Business Analytics Specialization • To be announced

6. ISM Thesis seminar course conduct Mandatory for majorstudies Grading: Pass / Fail Compulsoryrequirements: • Introductory lecture "Guidelines and Instructions” • Methods lectures • Two presentations given by you (Research plan and own thesis) • Opposition of one plan and one thesis presentation Active participation in at least 15 presentations (e.g. if 3 thesis presentation in one seminar = 3 presentations)

7. Master’s Thesis (smallish) independent piece of academic work takes time and effort applying what has been learned earlier combining previous knowledge into larger entity Project, that will be completed within a given time, according to a plan!

8. Master’s Thesis Requirements Quantitativemeasures • usuallytakesbetween 4-8 months • lengthvaries; 70-120 pages Qualitativemeasures • researchtopicsuitablydefined • clearresearchproblem • challengingobjectives, and making sure the thesismeetsthem • goodreporting • logicalflow of text, technicalities and styles in order, easy to read and understand Mostimportantrequirement • researchshouldaim at a scientificcontributionsuch as a conceptualormathematicalmodeland/or a sound application of theory

9. Habits of successful researchers* Synthesizes the literature by ideas not report • Goes forward from article (Soc. Sci. Cit. Index) • Does not perpetually seek the golden article Understands that all research is flawed Designs thoughtfully Is methodologically strong Communicates well • “write so your grandmother can read it” Is resilient (thick skinned) * Source: R.T. Watson, University of Georgia and HiA

10. Ethical issues A thesis is not a collection of summaries, quotations, plagiary, or opinions. • You should not copy-paste any parts from scientific articles! Do not plagiarize • Use correct referencing instead Do not fabricate or falsify data, research procedures, or data analysis • Code of Research Conduct example • http://www.aisnet.org/ -> research -> AIS Code of research

11. Ethical issues Types of violations against Code of Academic Integrity1 • Misconduct in science or arts • Cheating • Uncredited use or plagiarism • quotations or word-for-word citing without clear indication • minor changes to the source text, for instance, changing a few words or the word order • inadequacies in citing • copy and paste • direct translation from the original without indicating the direct quotation • collusion • Autoplagiarism • Fabrication • Misrepresentation (falsification) • Misappropriation 1) Source: Aalto University Code of Academic Integrity and Handling Violations Thereof (into.aalto.fi)

12. Ethical issues: this kind of publicity?? 1) Source: Aalto University Code of Academic Integrity and Handling Violations Thereof (into.aalto.fi)

13. Ethical issues: Do not copy-paste!! Examples from article reviews written by students. Colored parts are copy and pasted. (detected by Turnitin-software). Unfortunately some of the students failed the course, because they did not refer to the literature source. OK Still OK, but depends Not good at all: FAIL Unforgivable: FAIL

14. Ethical issues: Be proactive, check your work! Turnitin software (http://www.turnitin.com) used at Aalto University detects plagiarism. • It compares student materials with over 20 billion web pages, over 220 million submitted student papers and over 100 million scientific articles and books You can use Turnitin yourself to check that you have remembered to cite everything correctly. Check: http://www.turnitin.com

15. Phases in (empirical) research Research problem and research questions Earlier literature More detailed research problem Research design Data collection and analyses Conclusions

16. Reseach plan It is Important to make a research plan on the research topic already in early phase of the process; a plan written in paper makes communication between the supervisor and the student much easier Preliminary research plan should include : • Motivation • Research problem • Earlier research • Aims of the study • Research methodology • Structure of the thesis

17. Different parts of a research plan: Motivation • Why this research is worth doing? Who is going to benefit from it? Why it is interesting? Research problem • What is the research problem of this research (preferably in one sentence) Earlier research • How this research problem has been approached in earlier research found in literature? What kinds of viewpoints have been used by these other researchers? Aims of the study • What are the concrete aims of this study? (it often makes sense to have separate – although related, of course – aims for the theoretical and empirical parts of the study)

18. Different parts (cont): Research methodology • What are the research methods used in the study? • It is recommended (although not compulsory) to have empirical part in the master’s thesis • Lecture 2 is devoted to methodologies Structure of the thesis • How is the research report structured= What is the purpose and meaning of each part?

19. Phase 1: Identify the topic and research problem

20. How to choose a topic? Where to find topics? E.g. • Courses and literature • Working place • Media Does the topic interest you? Do you have experience on the topic? Why is it worth studying the topic? • Does the topic have theoretical relevance? • Does the topic contribute in the practice?

21. How to choose a topic? Is it possible to study the topic? • Focused enough (to avoid a too light or narrow-minded approach) • Availability of source material? Is the topic current or new? Is there a potential conflict e.g. with the confidentiality? Can you solve it?

22. Define and specify your topic A reasoned, specified area that you are able to manage Specify objectives • You should be able to resolve it in the required time frame and effort • Be realistic! • Think how to measure the accomplishment of your objectives!

23. Searching for the thesis topic Literature • course material, recent articles and books • media Research reports • master’s theses, licensiate theses, doctoral dissertations Bachelor’s thesis • own thesis, other students’ topics (Summer)job Company thesis assignments, Currently e.g. Cruise & Ferry business jointly with Ship building laboratory, paid thesis! Own interest!

24. Factors Affecting the Selection of Topic General criteria Own capabilities • Focusing the topic • avoidingsuperficial and narrowdiscussion • opportunity for versatileanalysis and evaluation of causalities • Doing the work • data and materialavailable • applicability of researchmethods • Significance • applicability and potentialusage in business • theoreticalcontribution • Skills and knowledge etc. • industryknowledge • knowledge of the topic • modelingskills and willingness • Motivationallevel • goals • projectduration • Managing ”conflicts of interest“ • negotationskills • separatecompanyreportmightbeneeded

25. Finding information

26. Library services Electronic journal services • http://web.lib.aalto.fi/en/journals/ • ProQuest • EBSCO • ISI -> http://isiknowledge.com/ Library: http://lib.aalto.fi/en/ Library e-resource tutorial: http://web.lib.aalto.fi/en/ecourse// Obs: These work from school LAN, or by using library proxy! Always useful: scholar.google.com

27. How do we proceed? Identify your topic area Think about a research question in that area Start writing a research plan

28. Contact information Matti Rossi • E-mail matti.rossi@aalto.fi • Tel. 431 38996 • Gsm 050-3835503 • Office Chy G5.18 • Receptionhour Tue 12-13, alsoothertimesarepossible for discussions Anu Bask • E-mail anu.bask@aalto.fi • Gsm 050-3120919 • Office Chy 5th floor • Receptionbyappointment

29. Frågor? ¿Preguntas? Kysymyksiä? Vragen? Questions?