We are looking for ambitious master students interested in digital innovation. Students will contribute to DIG and knowledge development in cooperation with our business partners (see figure 1).

As a DIG student you will part of The DIGdeeper master program. The program offers activities, support, resources, and contact with DIG partners. Our students are also part of a digital community, research tutorials and Q&A, NDAs, guidelines, etc., and can in agreement with supervisor apply for financial support for traveling, data collection, and other expenses. You may write in English or Norwegian.

MASTER’S THESIS THEMES FOR autumn 2023

• Methodology developments

  Methodology developments

  THEME 1: Methodology developments

  The dynamic nature of social networks formation requires the development of multidisciplinary methods for the effective business analytics. The research in this direction is motivated by the necessity to overcome the limitation of using analytical methods from the originally disconnected research domains such as graph theory, theory of algorithms, data analytics and so on.  Master students with strong quant. background and passion for social network analysis are welcome to apply. The prospective work is related to the following areas: organizational networks, social media networks, and complex networks.

• Adoption of technologies and innovations

  Adoption of technologies and innovations

  THEME 2: Adoption of technologies and innovations

  Digital innovations and new services are of little value unless they are adopted by end-users. As the majority of new products and services in fact fail, it is crucial for both commercial firms and government institutions to understand the drivers and barriers of new service adoption, as well as how to change consumer behavior in digital environments. 

  DIG will study how organizations can increase commercial success by lowering consumer adoption barriers, removing uncertainty and ‘nudging’ consumers to change their behavior in digital environments and complex service systems. Digital services are radically different from traditional services in their reliance on platforms, co-creation with other consumers, and sharing/subscription rather than ownership. Together with industry partners, DIG will offer new perspectives and tools for understanding and influencing how consumer’s think and act in such complex decision contexts.

  DIG will also focus on how organizations can build and maintain trust when customer interactions are primarily digital, as well as study how consumers react to the use and application of personal data in such interactions.  

  Current projects on consumer adoption include:

  • New approaches and perspectives for understanding consumer adoption
  • Consumer reactions to sharing-economy services
  • Consumer adoption of new sustainable products and business models
  • The different facets of digital trust in adoption of novel services
  • Reactance and resistance to the use of end-users personal data
  • The role of consumer movement in decision-making
  • Consumer interaction with robots/AI
  • The role of VR in destination marketing
  • The effects of quantification on consumer behavior
  • Improving decisions and changing behavior via digital nudging

• Creating and capturing value in the digital era

  Creating and capturing value in the digital era

  Theme 3: Creating and Capturing Value in the Digital Era

  This Theme will lay the groundwork by defining and conceptualizing digital business model innovation and its antecedents, barriers, facilitators and impact on firm performance.

  Subproject 3.1 Digital business models: barriers, facilitators and performance outcomes

  The far-reaching consequences of disruption deeply affect established firms which need to rethink their traditional business models and how they can create, deliver, communicate and capture value in a digital economy. Specifically, we need an empirical analysis of how digitalization affects investments in business assets, and we need to define different types of digital business models and the reasons underlying their different profitability levels.

  Specifically, we will combine (i) qualitative case studies conducted in close collaboration with industry partners (e.g., Telenor, EVRY, Posten) to establish and refine hypotheses and (ii) survey design among Norwegian service providers and registry data to test the resulting hypotheses. The findings of the qualitative and quantitative analyses will shed light on the linkages between digitalization, business model innovation and firm performance. Our results provide a deep understanding of these issues which we expect to significantly contribute to the theoretical advancement of the field as well as provide managers with a framework on how to design, implement and manage digital BMI, i.e. value creation, value delivery, value communication, and value capturing.

  Possible topics for master theses include (but are not limited to):

  • Sustainability: investigating the linkages between sustainability and digitalization, that is, how does the use of digital technology help facilitate sustainable business models
  • Social value creation: How does the use of digital technology help start-ups or charitable organizations to create social business models (with the dual mission of tackling a social challenge as well as being profitable)
  • Internationalization: How does the use of digital technology impact how firms expand abroad? Why do some digital firms succeed in going global while others fail?

  SUBPROJECT 3.2 THE NORWEGIAN INNOVATION INDEX (NII)

  Recognizing that it is customers’ adoption and usage decisions that determine the success of new products and, ultimately, of innovators themselves, a research team at NHH – Norwegian School of Economics has developed a novel, outside-in and bottom-up approach to evaluating innovation efforts – the Norwegian Innovation Index (NII): The world’s first customer-based ranking of most innovative firms!

  NII is a theoretically derived measurement instrument that rests on two assumptions:

  1. countries cannot be innovative — companies can; and
  2. leaders and experts are not the final judges of innovations—customers are.

  Through a carefully designed procedure, NII captures both firms’ innovations and customers’ perceptions of changes in value co-creation that result from these innovations. The focus is on assessing perceived firm innovativeness and on examining the effects of perceived firm innovativeness on firms’ strategic positioning and customer loyalty. Today, the NII-approach is adopted in five other countries and operated by leading business school: Sweden (Karlstad business school; Denmark, Århus University-business school; Finland, Hanken Business school; Belgium, Hasselt University - business school, and USA, Fordham Garibaldi School of Business.

  From the annual survey we collect data from all countries and store them in a database at NHH Norwegian School of Economics organized by country, year, industry, firm, and constructs. Data is, on request, made available for research.

• Strategy in / for digital ecosystems

  Strategy in / for digital ecosystems

  THEME 4: Strategy in and for Digital Ecosystems  

  In a world with increasing levels of digitalization, we see that organization often operate within so-called digital ecosystems. Thus, understanding digital ecosystems is relevant because it represents a new way of organizing economic activity, and because this new way is rapidly capturing “market shares” from alternative and more traditional ways of organizing and coordinating economic activities. By traditional ways we mean those methods of organization and coordination that rely on integrated hierarchical solutions within one diversified firm, as transactions between independent parties in a market, or by regular alliances or collaboration-projects.

  What sets digital ecosystems apart is that they typically arise in situations where a range of different technologies and areas of expertise are needed to interact (seamlessly and continually) to realize a value creation potential or some specific value proposition. These technologies and areas of expertise are possessed by more than one organization, often with diverse backgrounds, which requires coordination. This coordination is mostly achieved by standardizing the interfaces between the different modules of the system. If this interface is respected, modules will work together even if those working on the different modules remain independent firms. Data and information can flow unrestricted across modules, participants in the system can specialize on different modules and innovate and experiment on their own - without the need for permission or funding from some central decision maker. As a result, digital ecosystems have in many settings demonstrated an ability to innovate faster, specialize more, and create bundles of complementary goods and services that users’ value more effectively than alternative arrangements

  Despite this common understanding, academics and practitioners struggle with several core aspects of digital ecosystems which ultimately affects their ability to create and capture value from operating in such systems. On one hand, the large variation, complexity and dynamism of these systems make it difficult to understand how they are born/created, how they function, how they compete and change, and how to navigate and position within them. Or in more general terms: how to think about strategy in and for digital ecosystems.   

• Organizational capacity for radical change and innovation

  Organizational capacity for radical change and innovation

  THEME 5: Organizational capacity for radical change and innovation

  Digital transformation almost invariably implies some degree of organizational change. Radical change and innovation has proven particularly challenging for well-established firms with a history of success as they tend to develop structural and cultural inertia. In this stream of research, the overarching question is how established firms can develop their capacity to transform, renew and radically innovate.

  Master thesis topics for the autumn 2023 are:

  • Effective Teams

    Effective Teams

    Teams are often used to ensure efficient deliveries and sharing of highly specialized knowledge. Globalization, modern technology and the need to solve the “grand challenges” imply an increasing reliance on cooperation within and across organizations and borders. We seek to better understand collaboration in this context. For example, how will team members react to working with an AI as a team member, how can cooperation across companies succeed?

    Contact person: Therese Egeland

  • The role of the executive board in radical change and innovation

    The role of the executive board in radical change and innovation

    The role of the Executive Board has evolved from monitoring performance, controlling the financial aspects and approving strategy to becoming increasingly involved in and responsible for the strategic direction of the firm, not the least in terms renewing the established firm. This project seeks to map existing research on the role of the Executive Board in strategic change and innovation and collect some initial data within the Norwegian context. Preferably on how the Executive Board facilitates innovation driven by sustainability needs/goals.

    Contact person: Inger Stensaker

  • Purpose-driven leadership

    Purpose-driven leadership

    A company’s mission has the potential to engage employees in the pursuit of goals and outcomes. Purpose-driven leadership focuses on the impact that the organization’s work has on society and others. We are interested in how purpose-driven leaders use the mission as a source to motivate employees and the challenges that they face.

    Contact person: Alexander Sandvik

  • The Board of Directors (BoD) as Change Agent

    The Board of Directors (BoD) as Change Agent

    The role of the Board of Directors has evolved from monitoring performance, controlling the financials and approving strategy to becoming increasingly involved in and responsible for the strategic direction of the firm, not the least in terms renewing the established firm. This project seeks to explore how BoDs can initiatie and influence strategic change and innovation (preferably change/innovation driven by sustainability needs/goals) through qualitative methods, e.g. interviews.

    Contact person: Inger Stensaker

  • Sustainable HR

    Sustainable HR

    Sustainable HR

    Sustainable HR implies that organizations include economic, social, and environmental goals in their strategy. Digitalization, the aging population, and demands for sustainable development place new pressures on organizations. We are interested in how employers, employees, and labour unions deal with these challenges, and the implications for HR-activities, such as performance systems, recruitment, and competence development. 

    Contact person: Karen Olsen

• Sustainable HR

  Sustainable HR

  Sustainable HR

  Sustainable HR implies that organizations include economic, social, and environmental goals in their strategy. Digitalization, the aging population, and demands for sustainable development place new pressures on organizations. We are interested in how employers, employees, and labour unions deal with these challenges, and the implications for HR-activities, such as performance systems, recruitment, and competence development. 

  Contact person: Karen Olsen

APPLICATION

To apply to be admitted as a DIG Master Student, please fill out the online application form where you include grade transcripts and a brief application letter (max 1 page) with information about your background, motivation to study the topic(s) of interest, preliminary research questions, and date for thesis submission.

CONDITIONS

• A dedicated DIG advisor on your topic
• An advisor with relationships to partners and networks, who often can help you with access if required. Sometimes you can write your thesis on existing data.
• You’ll will be part of DIG – a leading Norwegian research center on your topic
• Support of up to NOK 10.000 per thesis for travelling and other expenses, after agreement with supervisor.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Average grade B
• Excellent communication skills. Students are expected to present their results to the research group and / or business partners, and will be challenged to write a blog to be published on DIG’s / The HUB@NHH’s webpage.

Application deadlines are: 

To write your thesis in the autumn semester: 15 March

To write your thesis in the spring semester: 15 October

APPLICATION FORM