Master Thesis Seminar 06.05.2020

6 MAY 2020
Master’s Thesis Meeting

Torben Tambo
Associate Professor
Master’s Thesis Seminar 6. MAY 2020
Torben Tambo
Agenda
1400 – 1500 Presentation on general guidelines and approaches for thesis
writing
/TT
1500 – 1600 Open agenda
- Supervisors presentations
- Students questions and presentations of ideas and obstacles
2
Torben Tambo
Intended audience
› Students approaching 90 ECTS – or going abroad
› Ready to start thesis within the next 1 - 9 months
3
Torben Tambo
Intended outcome Lab

our
› How to write your master thesis
atte mark
ntio et
› Formal requirements. Rules.
n
› ‘Best practices’
ND
› Ideas, inspiration, motivation A,
› Quality assurance considerations
IPR
› Emergency toolkits
› Project definitions and supervisor relations (preliminary / initial)
› What comes after and career focus

4
Report requirements, quantitative Master’s Thesis Seminar
Torben Tambo
6. MAY 2020
› Good quality, novelty, clarity, credibility

› Cf guidelines in Blackboard
One Student Two Students Variation
Wordcount 45.000 67.500 + / - 15 %
References, suggested 70 100 No upper limit
hereof scientific articles, 30 45 Minimum
minimum
Amount co-written N/A 20%
without individualisation
Exam time overall 1 hr 0 min 1 hr 20 min
allocated
› Try to hit 90 (135) pages from Introduction to Conclusion

› Meaning: Self-developed graphics, code and math replace words ”1:1”
5
Torben Tambo
A page is a page, especially when it presents

your own effort
=
6
Resources on Blackboard Master’s Thesis Seminar
Torben Tambo
6. MAY 2020
7
Graduates pr year
Torben Tambo
Year Number Duration MarksSeniority Unempl

Years Avrg
2009 12 2,07 7,58 10,61 0
2010 13 2,40 8,77 9,66 1
2011 13 2,40 9,23 8,90 1
2012 38 2,24 9,03 7,81 1
2013 37 2,44 9,30 6,90 0
2014 66 2,25 10,52 5,80 1
2015 67 2,37 10,03 4,76 1
2016 53 2,39 9,02 3,81 2
2017 61 2,03 10,07 2,93 1
2018 69 1,96 9,36 1,97 6
2019 84 1,84 9,29 1,00 7
2020 35 2,17 8,83 0,23 11
548 2,16 9,50 4,07 32
8
Torben Tambo
When to start – and timing

› 4. semester! (3. sem. for high-speed and transfers)
Autumn Spring
Soft start – problem area, supervisor 1. June 1. December
alloc.
Hard start 1. September 1. February
Submission (dates may vary from 10. January 10. June
planning reasons)
› 2. attempt +3 mo
› 3. attempt +3 mo
9
Torben Tambo
Workload
Ideally:
› 840 hours
› 45 – 50 - 55 hours per week
› Approx
› Formally you have 4 months and 10 (+/-) days

informally you start 2 months before
10
Torben Tambo
The contract
› http://analytics-eu.clickdimensions.com/erm-audk- 11
aeaop/pages/fgdizykeeipaqanoilt8g.html
Torben Tambo
General prerequisites
› A company relationship and/or a good
topic
› A scientific view, original
› A supervisor
› A filled out and approved contract
› A plan
› Advance preparations if possible and

highly recommendable: Interview person
appointments, purchase of equipment,
booking of physical resources, initiated
data collection
12
Torben Tambo
Don’t unlearn… (re-) using (bad) habits from BSc instead of TBBD
- Overlong company descriptions
- Tedious method sections using 1. sem BSc books
- Interview-by-interview empiricals
- No representational techniques
13
- BSc list of references organised per media / random
Definition from Master’s Thesis Seminar 6. MAY 2020
http://edglossary.org/capstone-project/ Torben Tambo
› Also called a capstone experience, culminating project, or senior exhibition, among many
other terms,
- a capstone project is a multifaceted assignment that serves as a culminating academic
and intellectual experience for students at the end of an academic program
- Capstone projects may take a wide variety of forms, but most are long-term
investigative projects that culminate in a final product, presentation, or performance
- conduct research on the subject, maintain a portfolio of findings or results, create a final
product demonstrating their learning acquisition
› Capstone projects are generally designed to encourage students
- to think critically,
- solve challenging problems,
› - In most cases, the projects are also interdisciplinary
- encourage students to connect their projects to integrate outside-of-school
14
Torben Tambo
Announced thesis projects

(links not fully updated)
› Many companies offer thesis projects. Look at their websites.

› E.g. (links not necessarily updated)
› https://orsted.com/en/Careers/Students-and-graduates/Student-jobs-and-projects
› https://www.danskebank.com/en-uk/press/News/news-archives/Pages/Danske-thesis-
2010.aspx
› http://www.arla.com/job-and-career/students--graduates/thesis-and-general-internships/
› GRUNDFOS link
› https://da.systematic.com/join-us/students/final-projects/
› Aggregator websit https://www.matchmythesis.com/
› Many companies are not what you think. Arla works with milk, but also IT, logistics,
innovation, etc.
› This works as job applications. Deadlines must be kept. Only the best are chosen.
15
Torben Tambo
Choice of subject
› Novelty - Adherence to ‘a burning platform’ of the company
› Sufficiently technical, involving actual technology
› Relevance
› Independence and integrity
› Relevant to the study program: contains technology and business
› Flexible, resilient regarding outcome
› Accessibility to the case, e.g. resource persons, equipment, events
› Scientifically meaningful
› Sufficiently narrow: Don’t “save the world”, cut away any non-core
issue
› Remember that you are not (yet) a consultant – you’re a scholar
› (Making you ready for employment)

16
Torben Tambo
Decision matrix for topic selection – for kind

inspiration
Criteria Weight Topic 1 Topic 2
Relevance to the company 2 5 3
Novelty 2 2 4
Availability of key persons 3 5 4
Access to empirical material 3 2 4
Interesting theory, insight into - 2 5 2
Desire for future profile 2 3 5
Personal interest and drive 3 3 5
Jobmarket ”coolness” 5 5 3

Score 65 70
17
Torben Tambo
Job vs thesis
› It is a good idea to consider job opportunities when selected thesis topic
› A good company can also be a good starting point
› Some thesis processes can lead you closer to jobs and some can lead you away
› The thesis is a full process of

› Engagement
› Academic working processes, credible, reliable, targeted, systematic, convincing
› Self-governance, focus, discipline
› Rapid knowledge boosting
› Networking, social dimension
› Documentation and interaction
› The labour market loves good graduates
18
Historical graduation-to-job analysis Master’s Thesis Seminar 6. MAY 2020
Torben Tambo
Technology-based business development

0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
2010
Quarters 2011
0.25 Quarters 2012
2013
0.2 Gennemsnit for teknik, kandidat
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Quarters 19
Torben Tambo
Sense of job market – subjective

Don’t be a lemming, be serious
Hype areas Non-hype areas
With bad opportunities With good opportunities
Green Business/product development
Health Product management
Social Master data management
Water Supply chain management
Eco Sourcing
Bio Production engineering
Democratic Automation
Egality Enterprise information systems
Smart Business processes
Innovation Optimisation / improvement
Quality management (?)
20
Industry 4.0
Notable workplaces Master’s Thesis Seminar
Torben Tambo
6. MAY 2020
SGRE 43 Energinet 3
Ledig 26 Kamstrup 3
Vestas 20 Region Midt 3
Lego 15 Cornator 3
DIS 13 Bestseller 3
Velux 11 Terma 3
BTECH 11 Tetra Pak 2
MHI Vestas 10 Kyocera 2
Kaastrup & Andersen 9 Tvilum 2
Arla 9 IMPACT 2
Forsvaret 7 Accenture 2
Danske Bank 7 Trehøje Døre 2
Dovista 6 KK Wind 2
Grundfos 6 Selvstændig 2
Danfoss 6 Kanda 2
IBM 5 Beumer Group 2
SE - Stofa 4 Hvidevare Grossisten 2
Kvik Køkkener 4 Nissens Kølerfabrik 2
Sonne 4 malgodt.dk 2 21
Nobia 4 Orsted 2
Torben Tambo
Job search
› Allocate time during your thesis project to search for jobs
› At least 10 workdays
› Some companies have multi-days tests
› Deadlines for applying graduate programmes are

normally in March
› Be serious
22
Torben Tambo
Job checklist
› Impeccable LinkedIn profile: Telling your story, fully updated
› Not too funny stuff on your open social media profiles
› Use your supervisor, your company-mentor or me as reference
› Decide desired most-preferred companies, geographies, roles, but also consider second-
most preferred
› For some unemployed, I can’t help as I have no idea ”who they are”, what jobs they can
manage, maybe not even, what they want
23
Torben Tambo
Back to the thesis
24
Torben Tambo
It’s all about engineering science

› You are going to be Master of Science in Engineering – don’t forget
› Thesis must be between business and technology, founded in both areas. Elements from
business and technology should always be present.
› Ideally, focus on your core competence:
Technology-based business development
› Progression!! – Being better, doing your best
25
Torben Tambo
How to stay between engineering and

business
A. What ”processual” elements are necessary for your technology?
B. What technology elements are necessary for your processes?
A. Examples
Redesign of wind tower cabling: Safety, quality, capacity, suppliers
IoT for pig stables: Business integration, operations management
B. Examples
Purchasing: Data, ERP, warehouses, packaging, shelf-life
Market feasibility: Interoperability, technical compliance, energy, waste
26
Torben Tambo
Inclusion of technology
› Make sure to include substantial articles from engineering and technology journals
(count number of used references)
› Be specific and explicit on technology – ”identify the technological artefacts”
› Present diagrams, figures, flowcharts, calculations, computer numeric models, pictures,

sourcecode, drawings, formulas, raw data, user interfaces, technical interfaces, statistics,
test-beds, etc
› Refer to standards
27
Torben Tambo
function heapSort(a, count) is

input: an unordered array a of length count
(first place a in max-heap order)

heapify(a, count)
end := count-1 //in languages with zero-based arrays the children

are 2*i+1 and 2*i+2
while end > 0 do
(swap the root(maximum value) of the heap with the last
element of the heap)
swap(a[end], a[0])
(decrease the size of the heap by one so that the previous max
value will
stay in its proper placement)
end := end - 1 28
(put the heap back in max-heap order)
siftDown(a, 0, end)
Torben Tambo
Process vs product focus M

os
ts
Product technologies Process technologies tu
de
Physical product design Quality management nt
Mechanical and chemical characteristics Business process management s
Computer models vs lab-models Innovation management
Knowledge management
Supply chain management
Operations management
IT management
Focus on
- Technical data sources
- Purpose/object of study
- Quantitative support
- Indirect measurements
- Information technology
29
Torben Tambo
The master thesis as unique

› Design and create research
› Develop your own agenda
› Chase problems, understand them, and maybe solve them
› Pushing limits
30
Torben Tambo
Are you sure?

› Get around the topic
› Consider boundary conditions
› Evaluate influencing factors
› Discuss uncertainty, limits to applicability
31
Torben Tambo
Surprise yourself and the world

› Be creative and innovative
› Think of synthesis rather than replication
› Come up with solutions thinking out of the box: crazyness,

wild, unconventional, controversial, redefining, original,
different
› ”If it isn’t broken, then break it”
32
Torben Tambo
Delays
› The thesis project is short and delays can be
devastating
› Design you project to be resistant to delays
› Develop ”Plan B’s”
› Store, save, backup, duplicate any text and data
› Make gross lists of experts, equipment, models,

facilities, data access – and take the best you can
get
33
Torben Tambo
Ethics
› Take care of proper ethics – the ethical limits are ever changing, but consider ”student
code of conduct”
› Be open and transparent on purpose, stakeholders and ”rationale”
› Don’t pretend you are from the university, if information are forwarded to a company
› Get help on anything involving users
› Consider interviewees emotional distress as a single factor of ethical violation
› Dont quote interviewees inappropriately
› Consider you are spending time of company representatives, experts, users,
stakeholders. Be responsible. Try to give something back.
› Dont overinterpret ethical respect: If you keep to industry guidelines, then I support you.
(Arms, coal, defence, surveillance, work health and safety.)
› GDPR
34
Torben Tambo
NDA
› Many companies require NDAs
› NDAs can open up to the ”secret chambers of the deepest knowledge” in companies
› NDAs to students, supervisors, university, … even examiners
› NDAs can be anything from soft and kind to harsh and tough
› Supervisors might decline NDA signing
› Dont enter projects with NDAs stronger than yourself and the supervisor can manage
› Never sign anything having monetary implications (compensations, penalties)
› Examiners can never sign
› Try never to have NDAs escalated (legal advisors, managers) as this can take up all of
your thesis writing time
› Companies asking for pre-submission reviews!
35
Recent projects I’ve supervised Master’s Thesis Seminar
Torben Tambo
6. MAY 2020
› Enterprise architecture in circular manufacturing

› Feral systems risks management
› Industrial scalability of innovative products
› Youtube recommender systems against climate change fake news
› Optimisation of military products manufacturing (MOJ)
› Agile software development models in entrepreneurship (MVA)
› Visual business process modelling (TBB)
› Configuration modelling / management of industrial products (KNN)
› Global operating model implementation in insurance (ASB, CS)
› Home health technologies reception and implementation 2.0 (CSK)
› Compliance management programs for furniture industries (CAJ)
› Systematic improvements of industrial purchasing (RDJ)
› Applied SCRUM and supporting technologies (RKP)
› Weight down of controllable trawl doors (AL)
› Engineering services and business development capabilities (WJ)
› Transnational IT service quality improvement (MMS)
› Impact of project management models on development performance (KD)
› IT services portfolio consolidation and architecture (RP)
› Rigoristic quality managemen systems in engineering consultancy (BAB)
› Enterprise architecture and application portfolio management (RP)
› Enterprise architecture versus continuous improvement (NDC) 36
› Enterprise architecture, process management in graphics workflows (SLK)

Torben Tambo
B2B enabling of the Magento e-business

platform
› Literature review
› Focal company indepth investigation
› As-is and to-be models
› Software infrastructure development
› Software set-up
› Version migration
› Evaluation of feasibility
› Critical evaluation of ‘modest sized companies” technical capabilites
› Software setup, system mapping, process diagram, implementation guidelines, work

process studies
37
Open calls from me Master’s Thesis Seminar 6. MAY 2020
Torben Tambo
› Virtual Factory Acceptance Test (VFAT) software and implemention
for continuous improvement
› Reinventing quality management thinking e.g. FMEA, APQP, TS16949

and digital processes
› TOGAF studies -> new version 9.2
› Product Life Cycle / Product Data Management (PLC / PDM)

integration to ERP
› Late-life technology management
› Printed electronics
› Microservices in ERP
› Angular vs React on UX, managability, cross-platform, business logic

layers
› Project Management Information Systems 38

Torben Tambo
Recapping reference validity

Scientific references Professional references No go’s
”Academic-to-academic” ”Professional-to- Wiki’s, howstuffworks,
professional” answers.com
Peer-reviewed journals Whitepapers Non-evidential science
Conference papers Reports Polemic communication
Scientific anthologies Magazine articles Funny stuff
”Respected” publishers Company communications
Thesis, dissertations General internet materiels
Standards
39
Torben Tambo
Scientific articles
# 1. Use as broad background
”According to Olsen (2015), Patil (2012) and Stern & Käse (2010) the world is not flat.”
# 2. Distinct, in-depth use
”With the use of the framework suggested by Meriweather & Joy (2009) the meta-model
type 4 is proposing a distinct research trait in the current situation, where they moreover
suggest integrative countermeasures as enablements to implementation shortcomings.”
40
Torben Tambo
Report checklist
› Frontpage with basic info incl a good title
› Table of content
› Attractive Word template, page numbers, section numbering: Don’t over-do the design
› Introduction and background leading to a logic motivation
› Problem statement
› Method
› Theory
› Empirical material
› Analysis, discussion, recommendations
› Conclusion
› List of references
› Appendix
41
Torben Tambo
Appendix – what could it be?

› Supportive information. Material not published in publicly available sources.
› Non-publicly published background of the report
› Questionnaires
› Interviews in summary form (one page per interview)
› Raw data
› Photo documentation
› Data sheets
› Language: English – non-english in rare case, but doesn’t give a lot of meaning
42
Torben Tambo
Working process
› Consequtive working process
› Plan, plan, plan, modify, and plan
› Collect base-material of theory early
› Physical interaction (lab-work, interview, purchases) will always be delayed
› Writing everything the last month is irresponsible and leave the supervisor without
influence
› Use impartial reviewer and english proof-reader
› ”Linear” (waterfall) working processes strongly disrecommended

43
› Almost always abduction
Torben Tambo
Quality
› Contribution to the company, to science, to engineering, to
the university – to you?
› Adherency
› Coherency
› Argumentation
› Integrity
› Answering the research question? No matter yes or no, just

answering.
44
Torben Tambo
Quality II
Typical remarks from external examiners:
› ”Have you told the company something that they did not already
know?” (Novelty)
› ”How much of the theory is explicitly used in the discussion?””

(Coherence)
› ”An excellent solution to an absolutely non-existing problem”

(Motivation)
Can you justify a distance to you mentor company? Are you impartial,
critical obserser? Or just a spokesperson from everydays life at the
company? (Don’t say ”we” and ”us” but ”them” and ”they”.)
45
Torben Tambo
Examination
› External examiner is normally first booked when reports are handed in
› 25 minutes of presentation
› Potentially experiments, prototype presentation. Extra time can be granted on request
› 25 minutes of discussion
› (10 minutes of evaluation)
› Examiners are approved examiners of Danish School of Engineering Examiners Network.

Mostly working in the industry.
› Plan the exam together with your supervisor: How to spend time? What to emphasize?
How close to the report, and how much added issues to include?
› Recent examples of mess and ”everything included” presentations
46
Torben Tambo
References
› One consequtive list of references using e.g APA referencing format
› Include articles, books, professional references, websites
› Relevant study programme course material
› Do not include interviews and other self-driven data collection
› Balance between articles, books and professional references.
› Idea: 30 scientific articles, 10 books, 15 websources, 5 standards, 5 professional sources,

5 analyst reports, 5 course materials
› Regard scientific articles as the driving force in your referencing. Most should be newer, a
few classical should also be included
47
Torben Tambo
Library resources
› It seem like a very few of you have tried to book a librarian or request library assistance.
The ability to screen and use scientific literature is an important part of making a high-
quality thesis. Use of Google (Scholar) and the course literature only will not bring
sufficient quality.
› kb.dk is the main resource – using your student login
› The Library have collected a number of e-services on this site:

› http://samfundsvidenskab.au.dk/en/services/library-of-social-sciences/training-
courses/e-resources-for-writing-assignments/
› I suggest you reflect on the use of scientific literature in your critical discussions in your
thesis. If obtaining literature is difficult, you can normally also book time with a librarian.
If you feel this does not bring you any further please consult your supervisor and
potentially request my assistance. 48
Use the help you can get!! Master’s Thesis Seminar
Torben Tambo
6. MAY 2020
49
Torben Tambo
Supervisor selection and allocation

› 1. Submit thesis proposal to me or your supervisor of choice
› 2A. I will either ask potential supervisors if they can assist or

› 2B. I will ask you to initiate a dialogue with a potential supervisor
› 3. You make an initial meeting with the supervisor and report to me if ”vision of
collaboration” is feasible
› 4. If collaboration is feasible: Fill out and sign the master thesis contract. Inform me.
› Feel free to propose a supervisor, but competencies are scarce and a good planning is
necessary.
50
Torben Tambo
Supervisor roles
› Dedicated
› Generic
› Methodological
› And once again. Use your supervisor right.
› Make a meeting plan from the start of the project
› I insist that you include the supervisor in the report development and not only discuss
high level questions
51
Torben Tambo
Supervisor interaction
› You organise meetings
› Never be absent to meetings
› You make the agenda, send out material in advance, and make minutes of meeting
› You can test ideas with the supervisor, but be very precise on what kind of answer you
want: yes, no, maybe, maybe not….
› The supervisor has decided to share destiny with you, but

› Will not chase you
› Will not fight with you
› Is not responsible for bad results … dont blame the supervisor
52
Torben Tambo
Supervisors
› Martin Olsen › Mirko Presser
› Allan Gross › Robert Alphinas
› Torben Tambo › Steen Bilde
› Konstantinos Koumaditis › Ismail Gölgeci
› Francesco Chinello › Michail Beliatis
› Kim Bohn › Agnieszka Radziwon
› Christine Røntved › Sudipa Sarker
› Carsten Pedersen › Gerardo
› Lars Bækgaard › Mikkel Nüssler
› Maja Kadenic › Nik Gewy
› Albena Mihovska › Kristian Danielsen
› Marco Santos › Henning de Haas
› Peter Enevoldsen › Peter Lindgren and team
› George Xydis › PhD students (Justina, Kristoffer, Unni,
Eldina, Dimitrios, Dafni…) 53
Torben Tambo
Positive crisis
› The master thesis is your biggest academic and
professional project so far
› There will for sure be crisis during the project
› Be aware of crisis as a normal phenomenon – realise

crisis but do not let it scare you
› Use crisis’ to open the eyes of yourself, the mentor

company, and the supervisor
› In the probable event of crisis – manage it:

› Redefine you project
› Adjust ambitions – narrow your topic
› One way out: thought and work
54
Torben Tambo
Methods #1
› Avoid a extremely long methods sections irrelevant to your research.

› Use study materials from your methods training
› Be frank and sincere in your methods: Write want you wanted to do and write
what you actually did!
› Use more engineering method and research planning, and less theory of
science/social science
› Consider that in probably any area of engineering and technology you can find
methodological sources
55
Torben Tambo
Methods #2
› Document all interviews on one A4 page stating purpose, motivation and outcome
› You can’t make a thesis on interviews as only data source
› Presence of both quantitative and qualitative data sources is a trademark
› If quantitative sources are not directly identified, look for indirect sources… eg no materials
flow registered in the production but goods delivery is registered
› Consider research protocols describing step-by-step approaches for experiments
› Consider observations as a part of a method
› Consider informal conversations, presence in companies, and personal experience as a part
of a method
56
Torben Tambo
Impact in report quality

› Less than 90 standardized pages
› Less than 30 scientific articles elaborately dealt with
› Superficial and uncritical empirical data collection
› Lack of novelty
› Lack of connection between background, problem statement, method, theory, empirical material,
discussion and conclusion
› Poor English, bad/strange/overdecorated report design
› Overlooking the important, e.g. business statistics, competitors, inadequate use of search databases
› Not using neutral, 3. person language. Search ”Neutral point of view”

57
Torben Tambo
Plagiarism
› Your thesis is electronically controlled
› The plagiarism checking system is getting better and better
› Quote everything you take for all other sources including your own work
Avoid :
› AUTOPLAGIARISM… you must treat own materials (TS1, TS2, …) as references
› ”over-quoting” - long quotes. Max 100 words per source
› copy-paste of bullet lists
› over-inspiration,
› general lack of personal, scientific and professional integrity
› ”hanging references” – start or end 10 – 20 lines with a single reference and actual
quoting
58
Torben Tambo
Turn bad into good

› ”I have been going to school for so many years, that I cant take any more” -> ”Yes, and
you are ready for the ”real” life in a very few months”
› ”My mentor company is pouring to many other assignments over my head” -> ”Yes, your
mentor company value you and spend a lot of their costly time in supporting you”
› ”I need also to pay attention to my family and spend time with my girl/boyfriend” –>
”Yes, your family’s main role is to support you, and by not working on your project you
disappoint your family”
› ”I cant make it in time” -> ”So, you deadline came up as a surprise? Ask your future
employers and customers what they think of delays”
› Dont make up excuses – work instead
› The carreer as engineer will never be as protected and simple as your student life. Better
prepare.
59
Torben Tambo
Post-graduation
› You are encouraged to publish (scientific conference … or even .. a journal) the findings
of your master thesis together with your supervisor
› The head of studies would like to follow your career, please keep me posted.
› LinkedIn group
› Also ”uncareer” is important knowledge:
› Why didnt you get a job?
› Do employers express concerns about your education?
› Is your job role in any sense matching your education?
› Graduation celebration each year in february and june. Prize. Speech.

› PhD?
60
Theses as conference papers Master’s Thesis Seminar
Torben Tambo
6. MAY 2020
› Tambo, T & Filtenborg, J 2019, 'Digital services governance: IT4IT™ for management of
technology' Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management.
› Fashion Retail Master Data Model and Business Development. Harald Hovmøller (4300+
reads)
› Managing cosmetics technologies in dynamic environments. Rikke Hundal Larsen (1700+
reads)
› Gamification in Digital Services Innovation Management. Kristian Emil Andreasen. Ask
Ullerup.
› Tambo, T., & Clausen, N. D. (2018). Business Process Management, continuous improvement
and enterprise architecture: In the jungle of governance. In Nordic Contributions in IS
Research - 9th Scandinavian Conference on Information Systems, SCIS 2018, Proceedings (pp.
41-54). Springer Verlag. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, Vol..
326 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96367-9_4
› Tambo, T., Bargholz, J. M., & Yde, L. (2016). Evaluation of TOGAF as a Management of
Technology Framework. In Proceedings of the 25th International Association for Management
of Technology Conference (Vol. 25, pp. 1-17). [82] Orlando, USA: International Association for
Management of Technology (IAMOT).
61
Torben Tambo
Further info
› What can we do to make you succeed?
› Ask, ask, ask
62
Torben Tambo
Plenty of resources on the net
63
Torben Tambo
Topics not covered in this

› Product development, yes, fine › Complaint on examination result -> oh, no
› Costs – yes, some support you can have › Leave during project -> no
› Literature study only – no › Claim that somebody else is delaying you -> see
› Three in a group – bad idea – two ok section on resilient planning
› Supervisor change – hmmm › Ongoing delimitations -> good idea
› Company change –> new project › Submission for competitions -> excellent
› Confidentiality, ok
› Replace part of report with scientific article -> no › And a lot more
› Social science only –> no
› Tone and tense – 3rd person, neutral
› Change topic – bad idea
› ”Nothing is written on this topic” .. Do you really
believe!
64
Torben Tambo
Disclaimer
› Expressions, suggestions and statements in this presentation is made out of best belief,
good faith, and knowledge at the time of writing. Changes can come from the
administrative or legal systems superceding information in this presentation.
› This presentation can’t be used for claiming benefits or form basis for exemptions, as the
administrative or legal systems most always be consulted separately.
› References to individuals, cases and companies in this presentation are anonymised to
the level of pedagical relevance – disclosure of information of unintended and voilations
of confidentiality must be reported to ensure non-violation.
65
Torben Tambo
Can I do my project abroad?

› Yes, but make a good communication plan with your supervisor
› Respect time-differences. Only danish working hours are acceptable.
› Skype and phone sessions become e-mail sessions leaving out the finer details.
› Constant arguments if supervisor isnt sufficiently quick and deep in feed-back.
› Students believe that scientific requirements are less because of the ”burden and beauty” of being
abroad
› Supervisor – student interaction die out and student hand-in self-conceived poetry
› Yes, you can do your thesis abroad
66
Torben Tambo
Instructions on how to write the master

thesis report. From Chalmers
› All research should be carried out using a scientific method and this should be reflected in your report and a
certain scientific level will be required.
› The report must not only describe your results. It should also describe how you have reached these results. You
must describe your method of work. The method and the results should be presented separately.
› Include problems that you have encountered during your work. How were the problems solved? Did you bypass
them or did you not reach a solution? This information makes it possible to understand why you did, or did not
choose a certain method. In many cases the reader of the report can learn just as much from your sidetracks and
mistakes as from your success.
› Experiments should be carried out and described in a way that makes it possible to reproduce them.
› If possible, relate your work to your reference literature and to scientific knowledge.
› Statements that are not obvious should be clarified. Motivate and argue for your statements. If needed, refer to
other sources.
› Make sure that you separate actual facts from your interpretations of these facts.  There must be a source
reference to all information that you get from elsewhere.  Separate carefully between your own material and
quoted material.
› Quotations should preferably be sparse and clearly marked. Plagiarism is prohibited.
67
Torben Tambo
Example: The Technology of Knowledge

Management
› People, communication, perception, processes, learning
The technical part:

› Knowledge management systems (Sharepoint, Lotus, open source)
› Data modelling
› Unstructured data types: text, images, video, blogs, documents
› Record management: document life cycles, approval processes, archiving
› Search, tagging, agents
› Connection to structured data typically in ERP systems, e.g. customer data, product data,
supplier data
› Business process modelling
› AAA – authentication, authorization, auditing
› User interfaces, usability, platform support, mobility
› Interfaces to other systems, e.g. engineering, customer support
68
Torben Tambo
Example: Strategical changes in

engineering organisations
› Strategy, organisation, management, market, globalisation
The technical part:

› The ”object” of engineering, e.g. cooling, wastewater, steel structures, IT
› Engineering competencies
› Underpinning general technologies: software, communication, planning, execution, ERP
› Underpinning engineering technologies: laboratories, software, factories,
› Frameworks, e.g. ISO, CMMI, IEC, DIN, CEN,
› Upcoming changes in frameworks developed by respective technical committees
› Technology roadmaps of involved technologies: New releases, new rules, challenging
technologies, attractive changes,
69
Torben Tambo
A favorite: Eco design of plastic toys

› Experimental product separation
› Understanding of molding and joining technologies
› Understanding of crushing, separation and partitioning of plastic
waste
› Assessment of chemical decomposition and recycling of ABS, PE,
PVC
› Supply chain analysis of materials stream both up and downstream
› Extensive data mining
› Correlation between design, engineering, pre-production, and
operational data and systems
› Suggestions for model approaches in eco-design
70

Master Thesis Seminar 06.05.2020

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Master Thesis Seminar 06.05.2020

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

6 MAY 2020

Master’s Thesis Meeting

› Ready to start thesis within the next 1 - 9 months

Intended outcome Lab

› Project definitions and supervisor relations (preliminary / initial)

› What comes after and career focus

› Good quality, novelty, clarity, credibility

› Try to hit 90 (135) pages from Introduction to Conclusion

A page is a page, especially when it presents

Year Number Duration MarksSeniority Unempl

When to start – and timing

› Formally you have 4 months and 10 (+/-) days

› Advance preparations if possible and

http://edglossary.org/capstone-project/ Torben Tambo

Announced thesis projects

› Many companies offer thesis projects. Look at their websites.

› Aggregator websit https://www.matchmythesis.com/

› Remember that you are not (yet) a consultant – you’re a scholar

› (Making you ready for employment)

Decision matrix for topic selection – for kind

› A good company can also be a good starting point

› The thesis is a full process of

› The labour market loves good graduates

Technology-based business development

Sense of job market – subjective

› Some companies have multi-days tests

› Deadlines for applying graduate programmes are

› Not too funny stuff on your open social media profiles

› Use your supervisor, your company-mentor or me as reference

Back to the thesis

It’s all about engineering science

› Ideally, focus on your core competence:

Technology-based business development

› Progression!! – Being better, doing your best

How to stay between engineering and

B. What technology elements are necessary for your processes?

› Be specific and explicit on technology – ”identify the technological artefacts”

› Present diagrams, figures, flowcharts, calculations, computer numeric models, pictures,

function heapSort(a, count) is

(first place a in max-heap order)

end := count-1 //in languages with zero-based arrays the children

Process vs product focus M

The master thesis as unique

› Develop your own agenda

› Chase problems, understand them, and maybe solve them

Are you sure?

› Consider boundary conditions

› Evaluate influencing factors

› Discuss uncertainty, limits to applicability

Surprise yourself and the world

› Think of synthesis rather than replication

› Come up with solutions thinking out of the box: crazyness,

› ”If it isn’t broken, then break it”

› Design you project to be resistant to delays

› Develop ”Plan B’s”

› Store, save, backup, duplicate any text and data

› Make gross lists of experts, equipment, models,

› Companies asking for pre-submission reviews!

› Enterprise architecture in circular manufacturing

› Enterprise architecture, process management in graphics workflows (SLK)

B2B enabling of the Magento e-business

› Software setup, system mapping, process diagram, implementation guidelines, work

› Reinventing quality management thinking e.g. FMEA, APQP, TS16949