MASTER THESIS

Course code GRAI011

Course title Master thesis
Type of course Compulsory
Stage of study Graduate
ECTS 30; 8 hours of seminars, 2 hours of statistics
consultations, 30 hours of consultations with
supervisors, 774 hours of self-study,
Coordinating lecturer Prof. dr. Vida Skudiene, e-mail: [email protected]
Study form Full time
Course prerequisites Undergraduate diploma
Language of instruction English

The aim of the thesis is to provide an opportunity for Master degree candidates to refine, in some cases
acquire, a range of skills at an appropriate level to do a quality research. A successful thesis is evidence
that the candidate has acquired the minimum level of research skills and can therefore be accredited a
Master degree. Upon the completion of the Master Thesis a student will have achieved the learning
outcomes presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Master thesis learning outcomes

Course learning outcomes (CLO) Study methods Assessment methods

CLO1. Knowledge and its application. Consultations, seminars, Written thesis proposal, thesis
Graduate is able to define the research workshps, individual study, proposal defense, final master
problem and the main goals of a Thesis in a master thesis proposal and final thesis defense, evaluation of an
concise way and integrate the theoretical thesis defense. advisor, evaluation of a
knowledge obtained in the master studies. reviewer and defense
committee.

CLO2. Researhc skills. Graduate is able to Consultations, seminars, Written thesis proposal, thesis
analyze critically, synthesize and assess workshps, individual study, proposal defense, final master
research data necessary for the thesis master thesis proposal and final thesis defense, evaluation of
development. He/she is also able to collect thesis defense. advisor, evaluation of reviewer
quantitative and/ or qualitative data and and defense committee.
perform appropriate empirical analysis to
solve the research problem.

CLO3. Special abilities. Graduate has the Consultations, seminars, Written thesis proposal, thesis
ability to develop a clear explanation and workshps, individual study, proposal defense, final master
justification of the selected methodological master thesis proposal and final thesis defense, evaluation of an
approach and refer to published research thesis defense. advisor, evaluation of a
on methodology to support the statement reviewer and defense
on its appropriateness, present a testable committee.
hypothesis, consistent with assumptions
derived from literature review, and conduct
(on an individual basis) an empirical

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 research.

CLO5. Social ability. Graduate has the Consultations, seminars, Written thesis proposal, thesis
ability to develop the elaborated discussion workshps, individual study, proposal defense, final master
to reveal the study findings in the light of master thesis proposal and final thesis defense, evaluation of an
prior research in the field, compare the thesis defense. advisor, evaluation of a
results with those reported by other reviewer and defense
investigators considering the questions that committee.
remain unanswered and suggest the
additional further research perspectives by
demonstrating proficiency in academic
writing, proper literature citation and
compilation of a reference list.

CLO6. Personal abilities. Graduate has Consultations, seminars, Written thesis proposal, thesis
the ability to plan the process of thesis workshps, individual study, proposal defense, final master
writing in an autonomous manner, choose defense of a thesis proposal and thesis defense, evaluation of an
the direction of improvement and study in final thesis. advisor, evaluation of a
an autonomous manner. Graduate has the reviewer and defense
ability to use scientific research data, has committee.
experience in research work, and skills of
systemic and strategic thinking necessary
for autonomous professional activity and
scientific research work.

Master Thesis could be prepared by one or two students. If the thesis is developed by two
students, they:
• must participate in thesis proposal and final thesis defences (if one of the students will not
participate, they will be denied the right for the defence of thesis proposal and final thesis);
• have to be able to explain and justify any choices of methods and information, defend any part of
the thesis, such as the literature review, data measurement scales, questionnaires, choice of
sampling, data collection process and data analysis results;
• are responsible for academic integrity (e.g. plagiarism, copying another person’s work);
• have to be competent to answer any questions the thesis defence committee members ask. Saying
things like „I don‘t know what this means because my teammate did this part“ or „this part is not
done because my teammate was supposed to do it“ will only get you penalty points;
• will be awarded the same grade for the thesis by supervisor, reviewer and the thesis defense
committee members.

THESIS TOPIC

The topic of the thesis should be related to one of the following organizational innovativeness constructs:

• Product/Service innovativeness - the novelty and meaningfulness of new products and services
introduced in the market.
• Market innovativeness - the newness of approaches that companies adopt to enter and exploit
the targeted market.
• Process innovativeness - the introduction of new production methods, new management
approaches and new technology that can be used to improve production and management
processes.
• Behavioral innovativeness - behavioural innovativeness demonstrated through individuals,
teams and management to enable the formation of an innovative culture, organizational behavior,
human resource management, knowledge management, the overall internal receptivity to new
ideas and innovation.

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 • Strategic innovativeness - an organisation’s ability to manage ambitious organisational
objectives, and identify a mismatch of these ambitions and existing resources in order to stretch or
leverage limited resources creatively.

Examples of Master’s thesis topics:

• Impact of Industry 4.0 Technologies on Sustainability in Lithuanian Engineering Sector

• Assessing Artificial Intelligence Solution in Processes' Automatization in Banking
• Robotic Process Automation Effect on Employee Competencies in the Financial Sector
• The Role of Artificial Intelligence Tools in The Architecture, Engineering, & Construction Industry
• Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Operations: Impact on Value Creation
• Developing Innovation Capability in IT Company
• Exploring Consumer Perceptions of the Boundaries of Innovation
• Big Data Analytics’ Implementation Constrains in Agriculture Business
• Barriers for the Adoption of Artificial Intelligence Tools by Multinational Retail Organizations

THESIS STRUCTURE, VOLUME AND FORMATTING

The Master thesis structure and recommended volume of each part are the following:

• Title Page
• Abstract (200 words)
• Santrauka (200 words)
• Table of Contents (1-2 pages)
• List of Figures and/or List of Tables (1 page)
• List of the main concepts’ definitions (1 page)
• Introduction (1000 words)
• Literature Review (5000- 6000 words)
• Research Methodology (2000-3000 words)
• Empirical Research Results (2000-3000 words)
• Discussion (4000-6000 words)
• Conclusions (1000 words)
• References
• Appendices

Master thesis should be between 15000 - 20000 words long. Pages count excluding the Title page,
Abstract, References and Appendices.
Master thesis should be formatted according to the APA style requirements (provided on e-learning
platform), written in British English Times New Roman 12pt size with 1,5 space between the lines.
Figures and tables should be set within the text. All figures and tables should have their own number and
title. The style of citations should be consistent with APA 7th ed. style requirements. Before including figures
and tables, please do think about what each figure or table is adding to the reader’s understanding of the
text. The additional figures and tables should be provided in Appendices. You should discuss and provide
your conlusions on the information provided in figures and tables! Do not leave the information provided in
figures and tables to be analysed by the reader. It is your job!

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 ACADEMIC ETHICS & PLAGIARISM PREVENTION

Plagiarism is incompatible with academic ethics of ISM University of Management and Economics
community. The plagiarism prevention embraces the norms of respect for intellectual propriety and failure
to comply with this principle of academic honesty is considered to be a serious breach of academic ethics.
Plagiarism is an intentional or unintentional(due to ignorance) submission of published or unpublished work
or its parts of another person/s as your own without acknowledging its source appropriately. In order to
prevent plagiarism in master thesis, student is allowed to upload the interim version of the thesis paper to
the content matching system and access the content similarity report two weeks before the final master
thesis submission deadline.
The final thesis version uploaded to the final submission folder must be the same as uploaded to the
content matching system. However, after accessing the content similarity report, the student has an option
not to upload the final thesis to the final submission folder (and do that after improving thesis next semester).
Any thesis that is identified by the software as containing > 10% of similar material will be closely examined
for plagiarised material by the Programme Director. Note that a thesis containing < 10% of similar material
should not automatically be presumed to lack plagiarised material.

CONTENT OF THE THESIS

TITLE PAGE. Title Page is the cover page of the whole thesis and it should include (please see
Appendix 4 for the example):
• The title should be written using all capital letters, centered within the left and right margins, and
spaced about 3 cm from the top of the page.
• Below the title, at the vertical and horizontal center of the margins, place the following five lines (all
centered):
­ Line 1: A Thesis
­ Line 2: Presented to the Faculty
­ Line 3: ISM University of Management and Economics
­ Line 4: in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
­ Line 5: Master of Management
Center the following three lines within the margins:
- Line 1: by
- Line 2: [name under which you are registered in the University Studies Office]
- Line 3: [month, day, and year the thesis is submitted;
The text on the Title Page should be Times New Roman, size 12, double space.

ABSTRACT. Abstract is the first substantive description of the paper read by an external reader. You
should view it as an opportunity to set accurate expectations. The Abstract is a summary of the whole thesis
as it presents all the major elements of your work in a highly condensed form. Also the Abstract often
functions, together with the thesis title, as a stand-alone text. This section is not merely an introduction in
the sense of a preface, preamble, or advance organizer that prepares the reader for the thesis. In addition
to that function, it must be capable of substituting for the whole thesis when there is insufficient time and
space for the full text.

The Abstract can not exceed one page and it usually is about 150-200 words. The structure of the Abstract
should mirror the structure of the whole thesis and should represent all its major elements. For example, if

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your thesis has six chapters (introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion),
there should be one or more sentences assigned to summarize each chapter.

The most common error in abstracts is failure to present results. The primary function of your thesis (and
by extension your Abstract) is not to tell readers what you did, it is to tell them what you discovered.
Other information, such as the account of your research methods, is needed mainly to back the claims you
make about your results. Approximately the last half of the Abstract should be dedicated to summarizing
and interpreting your results. The good practice to adopt: write it last!; identify the problem, aim and
objectives; outline the research methods; state the main findings; indicate the main recommendations;
include the key words; keep to one paragraph.

TABLE OF CONTENTS. Table of Contents should provide the reader with the exact structure of
the whole paper. The Table of Contents should list the chapter headings, appendices, references and the
pages on which they can be found. The headings should be specific - directly related to the research
problem and context.

INTRODUCTION. Introduction is the first major chapter of the thesis. It should set out the
background of the research study and address the following areas:

• Relevance of the Topic

­ What is the background and/or the context of research?
­ What is the main subject of research?
­ Why is this subject important in theoretical terms?
­ Why is this subject important in practical terms?
• Research Question, Aim and Objectives
­ What is the central research question that the thesis will address?
­ What is the central research aim that you will try to achieve in the paper?
­ How will the set research aim be reached? Through what specific objectives?
• Research Design
­ What research design is going to be used in the thesis?
• Sequence of the Thesis
­ What topics are going to be discussed in each of the chapters?
­ How do the chapters of your thesis relate to each other?
Research question, aim and objectives should be formulated to produce a congruence. The sequence of
objectives should conform to the sequence of the thesis sections.

LITERATURE REVIEW. Literature Review is a description of the literature relevant to a particular

field or topic. It gives an overview of what has been said, who the key writers are, what are the prevailing
theories and hypotheses, what questions are being asked, and what methods and methodologies are
appropriate and useful. As such, it is not in itself primary research, but rather it reports on other findings.
Generally, the purpose of a review is to analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge
through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and
theoretical articles. This part of the thesis, as well as all the other parts of the thesis, should be started by
introductory/opening paragraph in which the author presents the aim and an overview of the key structural
parts of the analysis.Generally, the Literature Review follows this structure:

• Opening paragraph where you present the aim and an overview of the key structural parts of the
analysis.
• Introduction where you:
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 ­ define or identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern, thus providing an appropriate
context for reviewing the literature;
­ point out overall trends in what has been published about the topic; or conflicts in theory,
methodology, evidence, and conclusions; or gaps in research and scholarship; or a single
problem or new perspective of immediate interest;
­ establish the writer's reason (point of view) for reviewing the literature; explain the criteria
to be used in analyzing and comparing literature and the organization of the review
(sequence); and, when necessary, state why certain literature is or is not included (scope).

• Body of the Literature Review. The body of the literature review usually reflects the constructs
under investigation framework aiming to justify the proposed hypotheses. This is the thesis part
where you:
­ group research studies and other types of literature (reviews, theoretical articles, case
studies, etc.) according to common denominators such as qualitative versus quantitative
approaches, conclusions of authors, specific purpose or objective, chronology, etc.;
­ summarize individual studies or articles with as much or as little detail as each merits
according to its comparative importance in the literature, remembering that space (length)
denotes significance;
­ provide the reader with strong "umbrella" sentences at beginnings of paragraphs,
"signposts" throughout, and brief "SO WHAT?" summary sentences at intermediate
points in the review to aid in understanding comparisons and analyses;
­ discussing each concept under analysis, first provide the comparative examination of the
definitions and rationalize the chosen definition for the thesis, then provide the information
how the concept has been measured in privious studies, and finally outline how the
concept will be measured in this thesis;
­ conclude this part by providing the conceptual framework and hypotheses summary.

• Conclusion where you:

­ summarize major contributions of significant studies and articles to the body of knowledge
under review, maintaining the focus established in the Introduction;
­ clearly and concisely state the research problem and hypotheses (if required);
­ evaluate the current "state of the art" for the body of knowledge reviewed, pointing out
major methodological flaws or gaps in research, inconsistencies in theory and findings,
and areas or issues pertinent to future study. Please note that here you are making a
significant contribution to science by pointing what other scholars have failed to notice,
have not considered, or assessed inaccurately in their works;
­ organize the conclusive statements in a systemic way to match the proposed organization
logic of this part in the opening paragraph.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. This part of the Master Thesis shall offer a clear explanation
and justification of the selected methodological approach and refer to published research on methodology
to support the statement on its appropriateness. Research Methodology follows the following structure:
• Research aim and objectives
• Research theoretical model and hypotheses
• Reseach design
• Research instrument
• Research sample
• Data collection method
• Research process

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 • Data analysis methods
Research aim and objectives. The research aim usually coinsides with the objective of the thesis that
relates to an empirical research execution – what specific thesis objective does the empirical research aim
relate to? The research objectives indicate the steps the research aim will be achieved.
Research conceptual framework and hypotheses. The research conceptual framework and hypotheses
are to be presented based on the literature reviewed.
Research instrument. It is essential that the results of the research are reliable and valid. This is generally
achieved through construct validity, internal validity and external validity and reliability. Construct validity
defines the degree to which a scale actually measures what it is intended to measure. Content validity is
achieved by using measures from validated studies, that is only the scales that have been successfully
used in the past and are suggested to be good indicators have to be used in the study. Therefore the
research instrument framework should be provided referring to the valid sources of the valid scales.
Research design. The research design aims to answer the question: What is your overall research
strategy? Students are to describe the basis of research methodology by explaining and justifying:
o Survey - measurement method and justification of why measures are appropriate;
o Experimental Designs – stimuli and/or instructions – pretests of stimuli if available;
o Case Study – target company/situation determination analysis (show the method and criteria
you use to choose the companies/situations you are analyzing and justify how they are the
most appropriate to address your research question;
o Secondary Data – the identification of original source appropriateness for current research;
o Qualitative Research - the justification of the scope of content analysis, expert interviews or
focus groups;
o Other - as appropriate and approved by your supervisor.
Research sample. Students are to explain how they intend sampling the target population and why they
have chosen that sampling approach. Regardless of the research type it is unlikely to collect data from the
whole target population, in which case students will need to collect data from a sample of the target
population. There are a number of sampling technigues that could be used, including: random sampling,
simple random sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling, systematic sampling, quota sampling, and
convenience sampling.
Data collection method. Students are to explain the chosen data collection method appropriateness for
the research aim, identify, describe, and justify the chosen data collection technigues (interviews,
questionnaires, documents, observation, phone, mail, Internet, other).
Research process. Students are to discuss the process of gathering the research data in detail idicating
the research process issues (timing, length, etc.).
Data analysis methods. Students are to explain how they will analyse the collected data, outline the
limitations and potential problems, and explain why their work is valid and reliable.
Ethical Considerations. Students should provide respondents’ content to participate in the
research. GDPR documents (respondent content forms) are provided on e-learning platform.

If Internet surveys are used for data collection, the rule of one questionnaire filled in from one IP address
should apply. Under request, the advisor or anyone formally assessing the thesis should be granted access
to the data management webpage in order to check the authenticity of the source and numbers of submitted
questionnairies. Accessed data can be used only for preventing plagiarism and cheating. If anonimity of
sources is required, the accessing person is obliged to maintain it. The same is applied to qualitative data.
Students, upon the request, should be ready to provide the original records of data.

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH RESULTS. In the Empirical Research Results chapter you should
report the empirical research findings, based on collection and analysis of primary and secondary data
sources. This part of the thesis should be started by introductory/opening paragraph in which the author
presents the aim and an overview of the key structural parts of the analysis. Typically it is suggested to

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organize this chapter around answering the main research question and/or testing the hypotheses. Make
sure you follow some key guidelines and/or a clear pattern when presenting your research results. Some
results will need to be presented in a narrative form while others in tables, graphs and figures. You only
need to summarize and emphasize the most significant findings of your research. Irrelevant details or any
discussion of the theory should not be inlcluded in this chapter.

If you have collected quantitiave data, you are required to submit the CD with SPSS or Excel files of initial
data. Printed version of initial data is not required and you do not need to include it in the thesis. If you see
the need to include some raw results in your thesis, please do that in the Appendices. Still it is advised to
include only processed and summarized data in the Appendices.
If you have collected qualitative data, you should provide scripts of interviews and focus groups in a
summarized way (for example, data matrix or structured descriptions) in Appendices. All transcripts should
be in English. If data is confidential, you should find ways to anonimyze the source and not the data.

DISCUSSION. Discussion serves to bring the research to an end, one that follows logically
from the central theme of the thesis and the topical paragraphs. This part of the thesis should be started by
introductory/opening paragraph in which the author presents the aim and an overview of the key structural
parts of the analysis. The discussion section should be designed to mirror the thesis objectives what makes
the discussion a cohesive narrative. The discussion should be elaborated to reveal the study findings in the
light of prior research in the field. The results should be compared with those reported by other investigators
considering the questions that remain unanswered and suggesting the additional further research
perspectives. Usually this chapter:

­ synthesize the literature review ad empirical research findings in a meaningful way;

­ overview the significant findings of your empirical research;
­ consider your findings in the light of existing research studies (as reviewed in the Literature
Review chapter);
­ state what are the implications of your study for current theory;
­ state what are the managerial implications of your study;
­ examine research findings that fail to support or only partially support your hypotheses;
­ name the limitations of the study that may affect the validity or the generalizability of the
results;
­ provide future research recommendations.

CONCLUSION. A conclusion reinforces the findings of the literature review and empirical research
and generally enhances the validity of the arguments and positions taken by the writer. Conclusion of all
the thesis should be presented in a systemized way by summarizing the main points in three parts: literature
review, empirical research, and discussion. Generally the author in the conclusion:

­ does not introduce new facts or ideas that belong in the chapters discussing the findings;
­ does not reword the Introduction and present it as the conclusion.

REFERENCES. References is a list of sources that you used in your thesis. Make sure that all the
sources listed in the thesis are included in the References and vice versa. References list should be
prepared according to the APA guidelines.

References should include 30-50 academic (peer-reviewed) sources.

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APPENDICES. Appendices may include figures and tables or any additional information that would
have interrupted the flow of the main body of the thesis. Make sure that you refer to each appendix and
explain what it contains in the main text of the thesis.

ROLE OF THE THESIS ADVISOR

The task of the thesis advisor is to guide you through the thesis writing process. Active guidance is
understood as sharing experience; providing examples (best practices) and support in research design,
analysis of research data, and general issues.

In general, the advisor is expected:

• meet with you after each important chapter submission;
• consult you on the thesis requirements and draw up a general thesis writing plan;
• advise you on finding/formulating the research topic, goal and hypotheses;
• advise you on writing each part of the thesis;
• provide feedback and comments about the quality of each thesis chapter.
In general, the advisor is NOT permitted to:
• provide you with (a list of) sources/ literature;
• correct or edit the grammar/ writing style;
• formulate entire sentences or parts of the thesis;
• teach methods of statistical data analysis;
• suggest precise formulations of text (problem, aims, objectives, hypotheses, etc.).
A relationship between you and the advisor:
• any initiative has to come from the student and NOT from the advisor;
• the advisor should challenge you to strive for a higher quality level and recommend to you what
can be improved – but the advisor shall NOT do anything what would be considered as an attempt
to co-author the thesis;
• as the advisor will be asked to grade the quality of the thesis as well as the level of cooperation –
any active role in the thesis writing process would be considered as a violation of academic
integrity/ conflict of interest;
• the advisor should provide feedback on the submitted parts of the thesis within 5 working days (if
not agreed otherwise).
Coordination between the advisor and the administration/program director:
• the advisor has to report to the program director if you do not fullfill the requirements on time/ violate
the regulations on thesis writing. In case of disregard, the advisor will be made personally
responsible for any problems which occur;
• the advisor is NOT responsible for the incorrect usage of sources, incorrect reporting of data, and
copyright infringements made by you.

IMPORTANT. The advisor may refuse to evaluate the work if the work was prepared without the
advisor’s participation.

ASSESSMENT OF THE THESIS

The final grade of the Master Thesis includes the advisor, reviewer, and thesis defence committee grades.

Advisor 20%
Reviewer 20%

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 Thesis Defence Committee 60%

The advisor evaluates the content of the Master Thesis and may provide information of the writing process
of the Master Thesis. The reviewer evaluates the content of the thesis.

Each thesis defence committee member evaluates the defence according to the following criteria:

Content of the Master Thesis

Defence presentation of the Master Thesis
Answers to the defence committee members questions

The Commission of Studies may decide to deny the right for the defence of the final thesis if at least
one of the following points can be applied to the thesis or its preparation process:
• thesis topic or research proposal was not approved by the programme director;
• the submitted thesis is not based on the theme that has been defended and approved;
• the student did not meet the deadlines for work preparation;
• the student fails to submit the thesis in due time (the student loses the right to defend it in the
current year);
• the thesis is negatively evaluated by the supervisor and / or reviewer (s);
• violations of academic ethics (plagiarism, etc.) have been identified by the Committee of Ethics;
• the thesis does not comply with the formal requirements (structure, scope of the thesis or its parts,
data of the empirical research are not included in the appendices, etc.).

The written comment of the reviewer will be available to students by e-mail not later than two days before
the scheduled defence of the thesis. The reviewer's comment is provided solely for the student and his /
her self-preparation for the thesis defence; the reviewer's comment may not be discussed with the
supervisor, ISM academic staff, or other members of the evaluation commission. The questions provided
in the review and the identity of the reviewer are only revealed during the defence of the thesis.
During the defence of the thesis the author presents the work briefly, specifying the research problem, aims,
objectives, analysis of the situation and / or literature review, research methodology, obtained results,
reliability of the applied methods, introduces and justifies the conclusions, makes recommendations. After
the summary of the reviewer and / or the supervisor comments, the student answers the reviewer’s
questions, questions of the members of the final theses evaluation commission and other persons
participating in the defence and fulfils other requirements for the defence of the final thesis. If the reviewer
and / or supervisor of the thesis does not attend the defence meeting, their feedback is read by one of the
members of the thesis evaluation commission.
The members of the final thesis evaluation commission will follow the same criteria as in the final thesis
review when assessing thesis and its defence. In addition, the completeness and validity of the answers to
the questions, demonstration of the knowledge of the topic, methods, results, practical applicability,
limitations, fluency and clarity of the language are assessed in the defence. A member of the evaluation
commission will provide a single grade summarizing the evaluation of both the thesis and the defence.
After the public defence of the final theses, the final theses evaluation commission will evaluate the final
theses in a closed meeting. Only the members of the final theses’ evaluation commission participate in the
closed meeting. In exceptional cases, persons invited by the chairman of the evaluation commission (e.g.
a representative of the Ethics Committee) may attend. Only members of the theses’ evaluation commission
(including the chairman) have the right to evaluate the thesis.

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On the decision of the programme director, the final theses defence results are announced at the end of
one-day defence or at the end of all study programme semester defence. The results of the final thesis are
announced to the students individually on my.ism.lt system and / or personally. The decision of the final
thesis evaluation commission is collegial, final and not subject for appeal.

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 DATE WHAT TO DO? HOW TO DO IT? HOW TO SUBMIT WHERE TO SUBMIT IT?
IT?
Mach 7 Submission of a Submit a Master Thesis Registration Form (Appendix 1)1 where you specify your Electronic copy2 http://elearning.ism.lt/
(by 18:00) Preliminary Thesis preliminary thesis topic. E-learning platform RPITM
Topic course site

Mach 14 Appointment of Master The information about your thesis advisor and his/her contact details will be
Thesis Advisors announced.
Arrange a meeting time with the thesis advisor to agree on the thesis topic
and development of thesis proposal!

April 25 Submission of a Master Thesis Proposal will be assessed by the thesis advisor and RPITM Electronic copy Thesis Advisor and
(by 18:00) Master Thesis course lecturer. The suggested volume of the Master Thesis Proposal is about e-learning platform RPITM
Proposal Paper 3000-4000 words. course site
Arrange a meeting time with the thesis advisor to prepare for the thesis
proposal defense!

May 6 & May 7 Defense of a Thesis Present the Thesis Proposal in 5 minutes PPT presentation and answer defence Thesis Research Proposal
Research Proposal committee questions. The participation in the Thesis Proposal defense is slides submit to e-learning
mandatory. The thesis proposal defense structure: platform RPITM course site
• Thesis topic
• Thesis problem definition (one day before the defense:
• Thesis originality & value May 6 & May 7, 23:59)
• Thesis aim and objectives
• Research design
• Methods of data collection and analysis
• Bibliography
IMPORTANT. In case the thesis topic will not be successfully defended you
may be denied the opportunity to prepare and defend the Master Thesis!

May 30 Submission of a Final Submit the Master Thesis Topic Form (Appendix 2) where you specify your final Electronic copy Thesis Advisor and
(by 18:00) Master Thesis Topic thesis topic. Please make sure that the final topic is approved by your thesis http://elearning.ism.lt/
advisor.
Note that you can make only minor changes in your thesis topic after this date. E-learning platform RPITM
course site

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 DATE WHAT TO DO? HOW TO DO IT? HOW TO SUBMIT WHERE TO SUBMIT IT?
IT?
September 12 Submission of Submit fully written Introduction and Literature Review chapters. Please note that Electronic copy
(by 18:00) Introduction and your Thesis Proposal will serve as the basis for the Introduction chapter so take into Thesis Advisor and
Literature Review account your advisor and defence committee comments and revise the Introduction http://elearning.ism.lt/
Chapters accordingly.
Arrange a feedback meeting time with the thesis advisor! ITM Master Thesis site

September 19 Submission of a Final Submit the Master Thesis Topic Form (Appendix 2) where you specify your final Electronic copy Thesis Advisor and
(by 18:00) Master Thesis Topic thesis topic. http://elearning.ism.lt/
Please make sure that the final topic is approved by your thesis advisor.
E-learning platform RPITM
course site
September 17 Empirical Research The aim of the seminar with empirical research expert is to review the empirical
Methodology Seminar. research methodology and provide recommendations regarding the data collection
Qualitative research methods.
September 23 Empirical Research The aim of the seminar with empirical research expert is to review the empirical
Methodology Seminar. research methodology and provide recommendations regarding the data collection
Quantitative research methods.
September 26 Submission of Submit the Research Methodology chapter and revised Introduction and Literature Electronic copy Thesis Advisor and
(by 18:00) Research Methodology Review chapters. http://elearning.ism.lt/
Chapter Arrange a feedback meeting time with the thesis advisor!
ITM Master Thesis site
October 1-9 Consultation 1 The aim of the first meeting with research expert is to receive advice on the research
(date T.B.C.) with the Empirical design, data collection and analysis methods. Students must bring to the
Research Expert consultation the prepared interview or questionnaire and conceptual research
model!

October 28 Quantitative data The workshop for the students who are conducting quantitative and
analysis workshop experimental research. Students must bring to the workshop their research
data!
October 29 Qualitative data The workshop for the students who are conducting qualitative research.
analysis workshop Students must bring to the workshop their research data!
November 7- Consultation 2 The aim of the second meeting with empirical research expert is to receive advice
10 with the Empirical on the research results’ analysis and presentation.
(date T.B.C.) Research Expert

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 November 14 Submission of Submit the Empirical Research Results chapter and revised Introduction, Literature Electronic copy Thesis Advisor and
(by 18:00) Empirical Research Review and Research Methodology chapters. http://elearning.ism.lt/
Results Chapter Arrange a feedback meeting time with the thesis advisor! ITM Master Thesis site

December 19 Submission of the Submit the complete thesis to the advisor for the feedback. Electronic copy Thesis Advisor and
Thesis to the Advisor Arrange a feedback meeting time with the thesis advisor. http://elearning.ism.lt/
(by 18:00) You will be able to check your thesis for plagiarism! ITM Master Thesis site

January 3, Submission of the Paper and Studies Office and

2023 Final Master Thesis Submit the electronic copy of the Master Thesis on e-learning platform. electronic copy http://elearning.ism.lt/
(by 18:00)
ITM Master Thesis site
January 9, Preparation for the Attend the Preparation for the Thesis Defence Seminar where you will be
2023 Thesis Defence introduced to content and format requirements of the defence.
Seminar
January 13, Confirmation of
2023 Eligibility for the Public The Study committee announces the eligibility to defend the Master Thesis.
Master Thesis Defence
January 18– 19 Master Thesis Public The public Master Thesis defence.
- 20, 2023 Defence

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 Appendix 1
MASTER THESIS REGISTRATION FORM

Surname and Name:

Master Program: Innovation and Technology Management

Suggested Area
□ □ □ □ □
Behavioral Product Market Process Strategic
innovativeness innovativeness innovativeness innovativeness innovativeness
Preliminary Thesis Topic (working title):

Research Problem and Intended Research Design (please specify in 8-10 sentences):

Thesis Advisor I would like to work with*:

____________________________________________________________________________
(Surname, name)

*Please note the university is not obligated and does not guarantee that your indicated advisor will be
assigned to you. However, the administrators of the process will try to respect your wishes.

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 Appendix 2

MASTER THESIS TOPIC FORM

(the form should be typewritten)

Surname and Name:

Master Program: Innovation and Technology Management

Final Thesis Topic:

Date: Signature:

Advisor’s Name and Signature:

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 Appendix 3

ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS’ EFFECT ON COMPANY INNOVATIVENESS

A Thesis

Presented to the Faculty

of ISM University of Management and Economics

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Management

by

Vytautas Vauta

January 3, 2023

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