BTH 9743 Bachelor Thesis - Small Business Development

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013

BTH 9743 Bachelor Thesis - Small Business Development Responsible for the course Thomas Hoholm Department Department of Innovation and Economic Organisation Term According to study plan ECTS Credits 15 Language of instruction Norwegian Introduction This bachelor’s thesis in combination with the course BST 9742 Small Business Development, 15 ECTS, constitutes a specialisation of 30 ECTS. Students in the Bachelor of Business Administration or the Bachelor of Marketing programme who have chosen this combination will receive a final certificate stating that they have completed this specialisation. The bachelor’s thesis is a significant independent piece of work in which the students are to show that they can examine a current problem and take overall responsibility for solving it in a suitable manner. The bachelor’s thesis is a mandatory part of the programme. It is to be written in groups of 2-3 collaborating students. In special cases students may be permitted to write individually. Learning outcome Acquired knowledge The students are to acquire an understanding of the operations of small businesses while working on their bachelor’s thesis. They will also gain an understanding of the significance of management of small businesses and of the overall perspectives of small businesses. Acquired skills The students should be able to prepare plans for growth in SMEs They must be able to prepare budgets They must be able to describe the collaboration within the group. Reflection The students are to develop critical reflection They should develop ethical consciousness associated with business management. Prerequisites The students must have completed BST 9742 Small Business Development or have equivalent knowledge. In addition they must have basic knowledge of social science methodology. Compulsory reading Books: Løwendahl, Bente R. og Fred Wenstøp. 2008. Skriv gode oppgaver! : praktisk innføring i bruk av informasjon, effektiv skriving og samarbeid med bedrifter og andre organisasjoner. Cappelen akademisk Saunders, Mark N.K., Philip Lewis, Adrian Thornhill. 2012. Research methods for business students. 6th ed. Financial Times Prentice Hall Recommended reading Course outline The students are responsible for finding a topic or problem area that is suitable for the specialization in Small Business Development. Computer-based tools The course is supported by BI’s learning platform and the students must have access to PCs with relevant software. The library offers courses and guidance in using the statistics program (SASJMP) and literature searches. Learning process and workload Students are expected to take personal responsibility for work on their bachelor’s thesis. Tutorials and seminars presuppose that students are prepared for discussions and tutoring. The students must fill in their chosen topic in a registration form. They will then be assigned a supervisor. The course duration is one semester and includes both seminars and tutorials. See also the guidelines in Student Handbook for writing bachelor’s theses. The teaching includes 4 seminars. For each seminar the students must usually prepare and present, and/or hand in material beforehand. Up to 3 hours of individual tutoring for each student group is offered. The seminar teaching is mandatory. Students that have not taken part in seminars and/or have not handed in documentation must expect to be called in for an oral check. Activity Workload Participation in introduction lecture 2 Participation in library information meeting 2 Preparation for seminars 40 Preparation of interim papers 80 Participation in seminars, 4 x 2 hours 8 Work on thesis 265 Individual tutoring 3 Total recommended workload 400 Examination At the end of the course the students hand in a bachelor’s thesis. The thesis is to be written in groups of up to 3 students or individually. It’s recommended that the thesis be written in groups Examination code(s) BTH 97431 Bachelor thesis in small business development which accounts for 100% of the grade in BTH 9743, 15 ECTS Examination support materials All aids are allowed Re-sit examination A re-sit is held in connection with the next scheduled course Additional information

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