Master Thesis or Project Study
📌 Key facts
Contents
💡 Background
Political systems are increasingly less suited to the developments and changes in economy, society and technology and are being questioned just as much as the business models of companies. The pressures of transformation are weighing on democracy and political systems, which many citizens increasingly experience as incapable of appropriate action and view with growing mistrust. Political systems are currently under pressure from various motives and perspectives and in the perception of many people, politics is not able to find solutions for the big challenges of our time. Despite this background it is striking that neither politics itself nor the media have so far discussed the necessities and possibilities of innovation by and for political systems. How can political systems adapt and change? Will political systems get their “Ubers”? Are we getting platform politics? The aim of this master thesis/project study is to research the possibilities of innovation and renewal of political systems.
🦾Who we are
The Chair for Strategy and Organization is focussed on doing research with impact. This means we do not want to repeat old ideas and base our research solely on the research people did 10 years ago. Instead, we currently research topics that will shape the future. Topics such as Agile Organizations and Digital Disruption, Blockchain Technology, Creativity and Innovation, Digital Transformation and Business Model Innovation, Diversity, Education: Education Technology and Performance Management, HRTech, Leadership and Teams. We are always early in noticing trends, technologies, strategies and organizations that shape the future, which has its ups and downs.
🎯 Goals
- Systematic research on political innovations such as the randomness principle as a governance principle, third chambers, quadratic voting, partial common ownership, etc.
- Quantitative empirical survey of (parts of) the electorate to study the support and concerns regarding political innovations
- Synthesis and preparation of current state of research, development of a conceptual model based on a literature review and interviews & conclusions for research & practice
- Elaboration of possible, novel solutions at local, state-wide, and national level on how to adapt political systems to adapt to the changes upon economy and society
🎓 Profile
- Reliable and self-driven
- Enthusiasm for innovation in politics and governance / digital disruption
- Ability to do sophisticated internet and desk research
- Passion to learn more about the future and do research with impact
📚 Further Reading
Gartner Hype Cycle for Government: https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/top-trends-from-gartner-hype-cycle-for-digital-government-technology-2019/
Strauss, W. (1997). The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy - What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny. Crown.
Sandel, M. J. (2020). Vom Ende des Gemeinwohls. Fischer.
Henderson, R. (2020). Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire.
Middelhoff, T. & Boersch, C. (2020). Zukunft verpasst?: Warum Deutschland die Digitalisierung verschlafen hat. Und wie uns die Krise hilft, den Anschluss doch noch zu schaffen. adeo Verlag.
Halpern, D. (2016). Inside the Nudge Unit: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference. Ebury Press.
Schäffler, F. (2020). Aufstieg: 16 Vorschläge für die Zukunft Deutschlands. FinanzBuch Verlag.
Heilmann, T. & Schön, N. (2020). NEUSTAAT: Politik und Staat müssen sich ändern. 64 Abgeordnete & Experten fangen bei sich selbst an – mit 103 Vorschlägen. FinanzBuch Verlag.
Mackey, J. & Sisodia, R. (2014). Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business. Harvard Business Review Press.
Sunstein, C. R. (2013). Simpler: The Future of Government. Simon & Schuster.
Davidson, J. D. & Rees-Mogg, L. W. (2020). The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age. Touchstone.
Posner, E. A. & Weyl, E. G. (2019). Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society. Princeton University Press.
Kai-Fu, L. (2018). AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen to foreign-accented speech. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 23(4), 245-259.
Gilder, G. (2017). Life after Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy. Regnery Publishing.
Aral, S. (2020). The Hype Machine: How Social Media Disrupts Our Elections, Our Economy, and Our Health - and How We Must Adapt. Currency.
Mises, L. (2016). Der freie Markt und seine Feinde: Pseudowissenschaft, Sozialismus und Inflation. mises.at.
Sandel, M. J. (2014). Was man für Geld nicht kaufen kann: Die moralischen Grenzen des Marktes. Ullstein Taschenbuch.
Mazzucato, M. (2018). The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths. Penguin.
📄 Requirements to any Work
We do not want your research to gather dust in some corner of bookshelf but make it accessible to the world. Thus, we warmly encourage you to create some or all of the following:
- Infograph - visually represent some of your work (find examples here)
- Slide Deck - summarize your research and possibly present it
- Extract most important sequences from podcasts, videos, and other media
- 3-4 Tweets about the most important findings and summarizing the topic
- optional: Medium Article - let people outside university know about your research and start your personal brand
📬 How to apply
If you are interested, please contact Prof. Dr. Isabell Welpe (e-mail below) by submitting your CV and grade report. Please also briefly outline your tentative research idea (research question, data and methods, possible outcomes with a tentative outline all in word as *.docx)
We're greatly looking forward to hearing more about you!