Teaching at the Chair of Marketing and Digital Transformation
With our teaching portfolio at the Chair of Business Administration, in particular Marketing and Digital Transformation, we want to enable our students to develop skills and competences to make well-founded, evidence-based and thus better management decisions in marketing practice.
Our teaching can be described by four characteristics. It uses a variety of course formats, is both practice- and research-orientated and offers a learning experience at an international level:
- Our teaching methodology includes diverse event formats such as lectures, seminars, tutorials, simulations and projects.
- Regular guest lectures by practitioners and cooperation projects with companies convey the practical relevance and promote the practical application of the course content.
- Our teaching is also characterised by a strong focus on research. We want to arouse students' curiosity and enthusiasm for theoretical and empirical work and gradually introduce them to research. For her implementation of the teaching concept of "research-based learning", Prof Dr Lena Steinhoff received the Paderborn University Teaching Award for special commitment to teaching in 2018 from the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
- In order to offer our students an internationally competitive academic education, we use internationally recognised teaching materials in our teaching and supplement our courses with courses from international guest lecturers.
Teaching programme
| Module name | Semester | ECTS | Language | Person responsible |
| W3112 Marketing Strategy | WS | 10 | DEU | Prof. Dr. Lena Steinhoff |
| M.184.2114 Global Business Essentials | summer semester | 5 | ENG | Prof. Dr. Lena Steinhoff Prof. James A. Eckert, Ph.D. |
| M.184.3114 Services Marketing | summer semester | 10 | ENG | Prof. Dr. Lena Steinhoff |
| Module name | Semester | ECTS | Language | Person responsible |
| W5114 Relationship Marketing in the Digital Age | WS | 10 | ENG | Prof. Dr. Lena Steinhoff |
| W4114 Relationship Driven Selling: Theory & Practice | WS | 5 | ENG | Prof. Dr. Lena Steinhoff Prof. James A. Eckert, Ph.D. |
| M.184.5115 Omnichannel Shopper Marketing | summer semester | 5 | ENG | Prof. Dr. Lena Steinhoff Prof. Marcellis M. Zondag, Ph.D. |
| M.184.5116 Marketing Research | summer semester | 10 | DEU | Prof. Dr. Lena Steinhoff |
| M.184.5163 Capstone Course | WS | 10 | DEU | Prof. Dr. Lena Steinhoff |
Final theses
The aim of the thesis is for thesis candidates to demonstrate that they can independently and autonomously analyse a marketing issue within a specified period of time by applying scientific methods. We look forward to receiving your application for a Bachelor's or Master's thesis.
At the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, the assignment of theses (Bachelor's theses, Master's theses) is organised via a central web-based application procedure.
Applicants should have an interest in the research areas of the Chair and ideally be able to document this in their previous studies. The Chair of Marketing and Digital Transformation, offers students the opportunity to conduct an empirical study (e.g. experiment, survey, analysis of secondary data, qualitative interviews) as part of both Bachelor's and Master's theses. Applications should have basic knowledge of quantitative and/or qualitative empirical methods. Supervision follows a structured schedule, which the thesis candidates use to receive feedback on various milestones of the thesis.
Bachelor's theses
Bachelor's theses are supervised in seminar style, i.e. the students work on a common overarching topic within which each Bachelor's candidate answers their own research question. The Bachelor's project involves conducting and analysing an empirical-experimental study. There is a central registration deadline for Bachelor's theses, which is set by the Chair and falls within the first four weeks of the respective semester. The supervision of Bachelor's theses is accompanied by a colloquium on scientific work, group meetings and individual feedback discussions along a milestone plan. Attendance at the meetings is mandatory, so it is a prerequisite that you are on site during the semester in which you write your thesis.
Each semester, the chair will call for proposals for a topic for the Bachelor's project. It is not possible to suggest your own topic for a Bachelor's thesis.
Master's theses
Master's theses involve the independent design, implementation and evaluation of an empirical study (e.g. experiment, survey, analysis of secondary data, qualitative interviews). Master's theses can be registered at any time during the first month of the semester for which the supervision agreement applies (winter semester: October; summer semester: April). Supervision follows a structured schedule. In addition to a colloquium on academic work at the beginning of the semester, you will receive feedback on various milestones (outline, reading sample, draft empirical study, preliminary results of empirical study) on dates you specify yourself. The Master's thesis can be written in German or English.
Each semester, different Master's thesis topics are called for proposals by the Chair. Students can also suggest their own topics that fit in with the Chair's research specialisms. Master's theses in cooperation with companies are also possible, but must deal with a research-relevant (i.e. not exclusively practice-relevant) question that enables generalisable (i.e. not exclusively company-specific) findings. Applicants who would like to write their Master's thesis in cooperation with a company are asked to contact the Chair in advance of the application. In a preliminary discussion, it will be clarified whether the planned topic of the thesis can be supervised by the Chair.
Application period
An application for theses in the summer semester 2024 is possible from 22 January 2024 to 2 February 2024.
Application documents
Below you will find the required application documents for Bachelor's and Master's theses at the Chair of Marketing and Digital Transformation.
Bachelor's theses
Please submit the following application documents, summarised in one PDF file
- Letter of motivation
- Curriculum vitae
- Overview of grades
The letter of motivation should not exceed one page. In it, you should explain why you would like to write your Bachelor's thesis in the field of marketing and what interests you about the advertised topic of the Bachelor's project.
Master's theses
Please submit the following application documents, summarised in one PDF file:
- Academic exposé
- Curriculum vitae
- Overview of grades
- List of up to three topics of your choice
The scientific exposé describes your potential research project and comprises a maximum of three pages including bibliography. You should explain the relevance of your potential topic, give a brief overview of the current state of research, formulate your research questions and outline ideas for the methodological approach. Please refer to relevant, current specialist literature when preparing your synopsis. You can specify up to three preferred topics in your application, but only ever write an exposé on your most favoured topic.
Selection criteria
It is an advantage if you have taken part in at least one Bachelor's or Master's module in the field of marketing. Another selection criterion is the grades you have achieved in your degree programme. In addition, the quality of your letter of motivation (Bachelor's theses) or your academic exposé (Master's theses) will be taken into account in the selection decision.
Confirmation of supervision
If you have received a confirmation of supervision for the Chair of Marketing and Digital Transformation, via the central system for allocation theses, your supervisor will contact you within the next few weeks to arrange an initial meeting.
Bachelor's theses
The topic of the Bachelor's project in the winter semester 2023/24 can be found here.
The topic of the Bachelor's project in the summer semester 2023 can be found here
The topic of the Bachelor's project in the winter semester 2022/23 can be found here.
Master's theses
The topics for Master's theses in the winter semester 2023/24 can be found here.
The topics for Master's theses in the summer semester 2023 can be found here
The topics for Master's theses in the winter semester 2022/23 can be found here.
