Topics for Bachelor theses
Supervision is carried out by the first examiner Prof. Dr. Rick Vogel and a research assistant and follows the supervision process for theses at the Chair of Public Management.
You are welcome to send your own topic proposals by e-mail to one of the research assistants. They also offer concrete suggestions for topics.
These topics are offered and supervised by Sandra Henninger
Public sector consulting
Current challenges lead to a need for reform in public administration, which often cannot be met by the public sector alone. For this reason, public administrations use services from management consultancies. In 2020, consulting in the public sector comprised around 10% of the total consulting market in Germany (BDU, 2021). Despite this importance of consulting for the public sector and a - in many cases - high public interest in corresponding projects, there has been little scientific research on its opportunities, challenges and success factors (see e.g., Cerruti et al., 2019). Bachelor theses could contribute to a better understanding of consulting in the public context and, for example, investigate the challenges public consulting projects face, how public consulting projects ensure that recommendations for action are implemented, how successful cooperation between consultants and public sector employees is ensured, or how consultations gain legitimacy vis-à-vis the public and the client.
Strategic HR management in the public sector
HR departments are undergoing a transformation in light of current trends and challenges: Demographic and societal change, digitalization, and new expectations of applicants and employees are changing the role of HR from a service provider and administrator to a strategic partner of managers that can contribute significantly to achieving the strategic goals of their organization. There is a large body of research in the private sector on "strategic HR management" (SHRM) and the associated changes in the structures and roles of HR departments (see, e.g., Jiang & Messersmith, 2018). In the context of the public sector, however, there has been little research on this domain (cf. Knies et al., 2018; Ongaro & Van Thiel, 2017). Bachelor theses could contribute to a better understanding of SHRM in the public sector and, for example, investigate what role(s) HR departments currently have in public administration and how these role(s) are reflected in the structure and tasks of HR departments. It could also be investigated which antecedents play a role in the strategic orientation or modernization of HR departments, which hurdles the public sector faces in the strategic orientation of HR, how it is positioned with regard to the competencies required for strategic HR management (e.g., big data, HR analytics), or what influence strategic HR management has on employee and manager satisfaction and the performance of public organizations.
"Sector switching" in the context of employee recruitment in the public sector
In the next 10 years, around 27% of public sector employees are expected to retire due to their age (DGB, 2021). To counteract the shortage of skilled workers, it is not only important for the public sector to retain current employees, but also to attract employees from other sectors. Currently, little is known about the motives of so-called sector switchers (e.g., Bozeman & Ponomariov, 2009). Bachelor theses could contribute to a better understanding of sector switching by investigating, for example, why members of different occupational groups decide to switch sectors (e.g., teachers, educators, IT experts), why people with training in public management decide to start a career in another sector, which hurdles exist when switching to the public sector, and how employee recruitment and management should be designed in order to attract interested parties from other sectors and retain employees in the public sector.
These topics are offered and supervised by Finn Hollberg
Public leadership in times of crises
Crises dominate our society. No continent or country in the world is free from dangers and risks, disasters and catastrophes, conflicts and unrest, uprisings and revolutions, turmoil and terrorism. Whether formal or informal, individual or collective, in times of crisis, people expect their leaders, whether elected leaders in governments or town halls or non-elected leaders in government agencies or research institutions, to guide them through profound uncertainty, help them manage change, and ultimately protect them from dramatic consequences. Leadership and crisis are viewed as "closely intertwined phenomena" (Boin & 't Hart, 2003, p. 544).
Research on this topic is interdisciplinary and can be found not only in public management research but also in political science and management research. Measured by the relevance of the topic, the literature in general is rather underdeveloped (e.g., Mau et al., 2022; Riggio & Newstead, 2023). However, over the past two decades, research interest has increased due to various crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Theses could contribute to a better understanding of public leadership in times of crisis by providing a systematic overview of existing research, e.g., focusing on research articles on collective leadership or decision-making in crises, and deriving recommendations for future research. Moreover, theses could conduct empirical research, e.g., based on interviews or documents, to examine various factors influencing public leaders, e.g., in communicating during crises or learning from crises.