Thesis Topics

Description: 

The thesis will be embedded in a larger study examining how companies with significant Scope 3 emissions profiles respond to strategic and institutional uncertainty. The project investigates how firms navigate limited control over their value chain, increasing regulatory pressure, and growing demands for climate legitimacy—and what strategies, mechanisms, and trade-offs emerge in the process.

Research Questions:

• How do companies identify barriers and leverage points in Scope 3 governance?
• What role do stakeholders play in value chain decarbonization?
• Which strategic response mechanisms do companies adopt—accept, improve, avoid, explore, or reflect?
• To what extent do firms perceive Scope 3 frameworks (e.g., GHG Protocol, CSRD, SBTi) as fit for purpose?
• How do Scope 3 strategies vary by industry, supply chain position, or governance maturity? 

Prerequisites: Good German and English language skills, Interest in ESG, corporate sustainability strategies, and climate policy, Independent working style  

Methodology: 

You will conduct a qualitative case study based on expert interviews and company documents (e.g., climate reports, SBTi targets, ESG ratings). Your thesis will contribute to the theoretical understanding of corporate responses to Scope 3 complexity and complement an ongoing multi-case study

Start: ASAP 

Application: Please stick to the regular application process via our chair’s online form

Contact: Victoria Fohrer (victoria.fohrer@tum.de)     

First literature to start with:

• Hettler, M. & Graf-Vlachy, L. (2023). Corporate scope 3 carbon emission reporting as an enabler of supply chain decarbonization: A systematic review and comprehensive research agenda. Business Strategy and the Environment, 33(2), 263–282.
• Buchenau, N., Oetzel, J., & Hechelmann, R.-H. (2025). Category-specific benchmarking of Scope 3 emissions for corporate clusters. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 208, 115019.
• Vieira, L.C., Longo, M., & Mura, M. (2024). Impact pathways: The hidden challenges of Scope 3 emissions measurement and management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 44(13), 326–334.

Description: 

Experts consider the integration of ESG metrics into executive compensation as "one of the most significant changes in executive compensation over the past decade" (Ellerman et al., 2021). Despite its strategic significance on corporate agendas, the integration of ESG into business practices is often only discussed superficially, with ESG frequently treated as a buzzword. 

This thesis aims to to analyze the prevailing incentivization approaches and systems. Depending on the degree level, this will be conducted through either a literature review or a multiple case study approach/quantitative analysis.  

Prerequisites: Good German language skills, Interest in ESG, managerial incentive systems & agency theory, Independent working style  

Methodology: Topic dependent (Literature review (BA only), Development of Framework, Multiple Case Study, Data collection or quantitative analysis)  

Start: ASAP 

Application: Please stick to the regular application process via our chair’s online form

Contact: Victoria Fohrer (victoria.fohrer@tum.de)     

First literature to start with:

• COHEN, KADACH et al. 2023 – Executive Compensation Tied to ESG
• Flammer, Hong et al. 2019 – Corporate governance and the rise of integrating corporate social responsibility criteria in executive compensation: Effectiveness and implications for firm outcomes
• Gebhardt, Thun et al. 2023 – Managing sustainability—Does the integration of environmental, social and governance key performance indicators in the internal management systems contribute to companies' 

Description:

The transition toward more sustainable and circular products has put pressure on manufacturers to improve the repairability of their devices. Regulatory frameworks such as the EU Ecodesign Directive increasingly demand that products be easier to repair and maintain. While these requirements serve environmental and consumer goals, they also raise important economic questions: How costly is it for firms to make products more repairable? Which design features are particularly expensive to implement? And how do these costs influence firms’ strategic decisions?

This thesis aims to explore the production cost implications of improved product repairability. Using real-world examples, secondary data, or simulation-based methods, the student will investigate how repair-friendly design affects cost structures and which trade-offs manufacturers face when complying with repair-oriented regulation. The results will contribute to a better understanding of the economic feasibility of repairability improvements and may inform future policy and modeling work on sustainable product strategies.

Possible Research Questions:

• Which specific design features associated with higher repairability (e.g., modular design, standardized fasteners, non-glued components) affect production costs, and to what extent?
• Are there systematic differences in cost structures between products with high and low repairability scores?
• What role do economies of scale, material costs, or assembly time play in cost differentials?
• How do producers balance repairability and cost-efficiency in real-world product design?

Requirements:

• Interest in product development, sustainability, and manufacturing
• Ideally: background in industrial engineering, operations management, or cost accounting
• For quantitative approaches: experience with Excel, Python, or simulation-based tools is a plus (depends on the chosen method)

Possible Methodological Approaches:

Option 1: Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Expert Interviews

• Case selection of 2–3 products (e.g., notebook, vacuum cleaner, smartphone) with varying levels of repairability
• Analysis of relevant design and production features
• Expert interviews with product developers, cost engineers, or repair specialists (e.g., iFixit, Right to Repair networks)
• Goal: Identify key cost drivers related to repair-friendly product design

Option 2: Secondary Data / Document Analysis

• Use of repairability ratings (e.g., iFixit, French Repairability Index) in combination with public cost estimates or teardown-based BOM data (e.g., TechInsights, iFixit)
• Goal: Correlate repairability characteristics with estimated production costs

Option 3: Parametric Cost Simulation (for technically skilled students)

• Design of hypothetical product variants with varying levels of repairability
• Simulation of material, assembly, and development costs (e.g., based on cost structure models or simplified CAD-based estimates)
• Goal: Derive a cost function C(R), where R represents the level of repairability

Language: German or English

Start: ASAP

Application: Please stick to the regular application process via our chair’s online form

Contact: Alina Gries (alina.gries(at)tum.de)