Hanken International Strategy and Sustainability Master's Thesis Guide: 2220-E, 22170, 22043 and 22044

Quick answer: what is the current Hanken ISS thesis route?

The current Hanken School of Economics International Strategy and Sustainability (ISS) programme is an English-language, two-year 120 ECTS Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration) programme in Helsinki. The current 2025-2027 study plan uses a clearly separated research package: 22043 Research Design, 5 ECTS, 22044 Research Methods in Management and Organisation, 5 ECTS, 22170 Research Seminar in Management and Organisation, 5 ECTS, and 2220-E Master’s Thesis, 30 ECTS. The programme also has an alternative ENGAGE.EU Global Sustainability Management (GSM) track. Hanken presents GSM as a track inside ISS, not as a separate Hanken degree.

1. The thesis package has four separate components

For current ISS students, the research-design course, methods course, research seminar and thesis are separate study objects. This matters for workload planning because the 5 ECTS seminar and two 5 ECTS research courses are not part of the 30 ECTS thesis credit value. The current Hanken study plan lists all four objects independently, while the programme page also shows Research Design, Research Methods, a thesis seminar and the 30 ECTS Master’s thesis in the recommended study path.

2. 2220-E is the exact current ISS thesis object

The controlling 2025-2027 ISS study plan lists 2220-E Master’s Thesis, 30 ECTS. The direct public course URL for 2220-E is not currently live, so the study-plan table is the stronger current public evidence for the exact code. Hanken’s Degree Regulations independently confirm that a two-year Master’s degree contains a 30 ECTS thesis. Students should therefore use the current ISS study plan and Sisu rather than importing a thesis code from another Hanken programme.

3. 22170 is the current research seminar

The current ISS seminar is 22170 Research Seminar in Management and Organisation, 5 ECTS. Hanken’s general thesis process begins with registration for and participation in the research seminar of the major or programme, where the topic is developed and a supervisor is provided. Current prerequisites, teaching periods and implementation details remain Sisu-controlled and should be checked before registration.

4. 22043 Research Design comes before method execution

22043 Research Design, 5 ECTS is mandatory in the current programme. The separation between research design and research methods is useful for thesis planning. A research design explains how the research question, theoretical perspective, evidence and inferential logic fit together. It should be established before the student chooses a familiar interview protocol, survey, regression model or case-study template simply because that method is convenient.

5. 22044 Research Methods in Management and Organisation is also mandatory

The current plan separately requires 22044 Research Methods in Management and Organisation, 5 ECTS. This confirms a broad Management and Organisation methods environment rather than one universal ISS method. The actual thesis may be qualitative, quantitative, mixed, case-based, documentary or based on secondary data when the choice is appropriate to the question and carried out transparently.

6. Strategy and sustainability form the programme context, not a fixed thesis template

Hanken describes ISS as preparation for leadership, management and developmental work involving sustainability goals in different organisational and socioeconomic contexts. The subject environment covers strategy, international business, people management, responsibility, sustainability and business ethics. These fields shape possible questions and theory choices, but they do not create a single required framework, dataset or analysis technique.

7. ENGAGE.EU GSM is an alternative track inside ISS

Hanken presents Global Sustainability Management as an alternative ISS track and states that up to 10 students are selected. The track is delivered through ENGAGE.EU and uses a challenge-based and experiential sustainability model. It does not appear as a separate Hanken degree in the current programme structure. This distinction matters because mobility and partner-university teaching broaden the study path but do not automatically create a separate thesis examination system.

8. GSM includes a mandatory semester abroad

For students selected to GSM, Hanken requires one semester abroad at an ENGAGE.EU partner university. The recommended path places 32 ECTS of partner-university studies in Year 2 autumn and returns to a 5 ECTS Research Seminar + 30 ECTS Master’s thesis in Year 2 spring or summer. Students considering GSM should therefore plan mobility, research timing and thesis preparation together rather than treating the semester abroad as unrelated to thesis progression.

9. Current evidence supports one ISS thesis code across the standard and GSM routes

The current Hanken ISS plan contains one exact seminar/thesis regime, 22170 + 2220-E, and the GSM path is shown as an alternative inside ISS with the same 5 ECTS seminar and 30 ECTS thesis structure. No separate GSM thesis code is identified in the current official evidence reviewed for this guide. Because mobility arrangements and Sisu implementations are cycle-sensitive, GSM students should still confirm the exact current implementation before registration.

10. Start with an answerable management or sustainability problem

A useful thesis question should identify the organisational problem, unit of analysis, relevant context and type of evidence needed. Broad topics such as “sustainability strategy” or “leadership and ESG” are not yet research questions. Hanken’s current thesis rubric separately assesses the problem statement and purpose, so the student should make clear what is being explained, interpreted, compared, evaluated or predicted and for whom the conclusion is meant to apply.

11. Define the level of analysis before collecting data

Management research can move between individuals, teams, organisations, industries and institutional fields. A thesis should identify the level at which the main claim is made. Employee perceptions may inform an organisational question, but they do not automatically measure firm-level performance. Similarly, an industry-level trend cannot be assumed to describe every organisation in the sample. Keeping the level of analysis explicit prevents overgeneralisation.

12. A case study provides depth, not automatic population generalisation

Case studies can be highly suitable for strategy, organisational change and sustainability questions because they preserve context, process and meaning. However, one firm or project should not be presented as statistically representative of an entire sector without a defensible sampling basis. The student should explain why the case was selected, what it can reveal and which aspects of the conclusion are analytically transferable rather than universal.

13. Interview evidence represents perspectives, not objective performance by itself

Interviews are common in organisational research, but an interviewee’s account is evidence of that person’s experience, interpretation or knowledge. It does not automatically establish that a strategy was successfully implemented, that a sustainability target was achieved or that a leadership practice caused an outcome. Where the thesis makes broader organisational claims, triangulate interview evidence with documents, metrics, observations or other relevant material where feasible.

14. Survey constructs need transparent measurement

If a survey is used for concepts such as commitment, leadership, sustainability orientation, psychological safety or organisational support, explain how each construct is operationalised. A questionnaire label does not itself prove validity. Report scale sources, item selection, coding, reliability checks where appropriate and the limits of self-reported measures. The analysis should match what the instrument actually measures.

15. Correlation is not automatically causation

A relationship between sustainability practices and financial, employee or operational outcomes can be interesting without proving that one caused the other. Cross-sectional datasets are especially vulnerable to reverse causality, omitted variables and selection effects. Causal language requires a research design that supports the counterfactual claim and makes its assumptions explicit. Otherwise, describe the result as an association or relationship.

16. Strategy implementation is different from strategy declaration

A company may publish a strategy, policy or sustainability target without implementing it uniformly across units or over time. Organisational documents therefore provide evidence of formal commitments and narratives, not automatic proof of practice. If the thesis studies implementation, collect evidence that can speak to implementation processes, decisions, routines, resource allocation or observed outcomes rather than relying only on strategy documents.

17. Sustainability reports are evidence of disclosure, not automatic evidence of impact

Annual reports, sustainability reports and ESG disclosures can be valuable data sources. Their first evidentiary function is to show what an organisation reports. A claim that environmental or social impact actually improved normally requires outcome evidence beyond the disclosure itself. The thesis should therefore distinguish reported commitment, reported activity, measured output and demonstrated outcome where those levels differ.

18. CSR, ESG, responsibility and sustainability should be defined rather than merged

These concepts overlap but are not interchangeable. ESG can refer to measurement or investment-oriented frameworks, CSR to organisational responsibility practices, and sustainability to broader ecological, social and economic questions. Define the construct used in the thesis, explain its theoretical basis and use measures consistent with that definition. This is particularly important when comparing studies that use the same label for different phenomena.

19. Greenwashing claims need explicit criteria

Calling a company or campaign “greenwashing” is a substantive analytical claim. It should not be based only on an optimistic tone or a gap between a researcher’s expectations and corporate language. Define the criteria for misleading, selective or unsupported sustainability communication and show how the evidence meets those criteria. Where the evidence only shows inconsistency or incomplete disclosure, use a narrower conclusion.

20. Separate normative and empirical sustainability arguments

A thesis may ask what an organisation should do, what it does, or what consequences a practice produces. These are different questions. Normative arguments require stated values or evaluative criteria; descriptive arguments require evidence of actual practices; impact claims require evidence linking actions to outcomes. Separating them avoids presenting a preferred sustainability policy as if it were an empirical finding.

21. Stakeholders should not be treated as one voice

Employees, customers, investors, communities, regulators, NGOs and suppliers can value different outcomes and have different access to information. If the thesis uses a stakeholder perspective, specify whose interests and observations are represented. An organisation’s management perspective should not automatically be described as the view of all stakeholders.

22. Cross-country GSM research needs contextual control

The ENGAGE.EU setting can make cross-country or cross-organisational comparison attractive. Such comparisons should identify comparable units and explain legal, institutional, cultural, industry or measurement differences that may affect interpretation. A finding from a partner-university context should not be transferred to Finland or another market without considering those contextual boundaries.

23. Longitudinal organisational change requires time-aware evidence

Research on sustainability transformation, strategic change or organisational development often makes claims about change over time. A valid longitudinal argument should establish the sequence of events and consider changes in participants, organisational structure, measurement systems and external conditions. Comparing two reports from different years does not automatically show what caused the change between them.

24. Performance should be defined precisely

“Organisational performance” can refer to profitability, productivity, innovation, employee outcomes, customer outcomes, environmental performance, social impact or other dimensions. A thesis should state which outcome is being studied and how it is measured. Otherwise, a statistically significant relationship with one indicator can be incorrectly presented as improvement in overall organisational performance.

25. Secondary ESG and company datasets need a reproducible data trail

For quantitative or mixed-method research using databases, company reports or ESG providers, preserve the data source, access date, sample definition, inclusion and exclusion rules, variable construction, missing-data treatment and transformation steps. Where provider methodologies change over time, note the relevant version or period. This makes the analysis more reproducible and helps the student explain differences between raw and final samples.

26. Statistical significance and strategic importance are different

A small association can be statistically precise but practically unimportant, while an organisationally meaningful effect can be estimated imprecisely in a small sample. Report effect size, units and uncertainty where relevant. Then interpret what the result means in the organisational context rather than treating a conventional p-value threshold as the definition of strategic importance.

27. Mixed methods should be integrated, not merely placed side by side

A mixed-method thesis should explain why qualitative and quantitative evidence are both needed and how they inform one another. Interviews can help explain patterns in a dataset, while quantitative results can test the prevalence of themes found qualitatively. Two unrelated analyses in the same document do not become a coherent mixed-method design without an integration logic.

28. Document analysis should account for why documents were produced

Policies, strategy presentations, sustainability reports, internal memos and public communications are produced for particular purposes and audiences. Their content should therefore be interpreted in context. Explain document selection, authorship, time period and intended audience where these affect the analysis. This is especially important when comparing internal implementation evidence with public sustainability communication.

29. Company collaboration should not control the academic conclusion

ISS theses can be conducted with firms or other organisations, but the thesis remains an academic assessment. A partner can help define a practical problem and provide access, yet the student must retain analytical independence. Findings that do not support the organisation’s preferred narrative should not be hidden or rewritten merely to protect the client relationship, while genuine confidential material must remain outside the public thesis.

30. Hanken requires a data processing description

The current thesis process tells students to complete a data processing description. For interviews, surveys, employee data or confidential company material, plan collection, storage, access, retention and deletion before data collection begins. For public secondary datasets, document provenance, licensing and processing steps. Treat the description as part of research design rather than a form to complete at the end.

31. Personal data and ethical review depend on the actual research design

ISS does not automatically require ethical review. A thesis using public aggregate data or public organisational reports may have no participant route. Interviews, surveys or interventions can create personal-data and ethics obligations, and Hanken lists conditions that can trigger advance ethical review. Check the actual design rather than assuming that all management research follows the same ethics process.

32. Confidential material cannot simply be hidden inside the public thesis

Hanken states that Master’s theses are public and cannot be classified as confidential. If a partner organisation provides confidential background information, keep it outside the public manuscript. Where necessary for grading, confidential material may be made available separately to reviewers. Agree these boundaries early so the thesis still contains enough methodological detail for assessment.

33. AI can support the process but cannot replace the student’s analysis

Hanken’s current AI guidance permits some forms of support while keeping the student responsible for the academic work. AI should not generate findings presented as the student’s own, fabricate references or data, or write the final academic analysis and conclusions on the student’s behalf. Supervisors may require documentation such as prompt examples, reports, drafts or version histories.

34. Protect confidential organisational data when using AI tools

A tool that is suitable for brainstorming or language review is not automatically approved for employee records, confidential strategy documents, interview transcripts or proprietary company data. Before uploading non-public material, check Hanken’s current data-classification and privacy requirements and the specific tool’s processing conditions. Removing a company name does not always remove confidentiality or re-identification risk.

35. The normal thesis length is 60-70 factual pages

Hanken’s current guidance recommends 60-70 pages of factual content for a two-year Master’s thesis. The normal maximum is 100 pages including cover, contents, references and appendices, unless a deviation is agreed in advance. The target should guide scope rather than encourage unnecessary length. A focused research design with defensible evidence is more valuable than a broad sustainability topic that cannot be completed rigorously.

36. The maturity test is a separate compulsory requirement

Hanken requires a maturity test in connection with the Master’s thesis. It is a supervised digital essay related to the thesis, and the current guidance recommends 400-800 words. The exact language route depends partly on prior school education and demonstrated Finnish or Swedish proficiency. The supervisor assesses subject knowledge and a language teacher may also evaluate the test where required.

37. Final submission uses PDF/A and cannot be casually corrected later

The final thesis is submitted through Hanken’s authenticated electronic form as PDF/A. Hanken states that the submitted version is final and cannot be corrected or supplemented afterwards. Before uploading, complete supervisor-agreed revisions, check title and metadata, remove confidential material, verify the PDF/A file and arrange the maturity test with the supervisor and department Administrative Coordinator.

38. Plagiarism control, two reviewers and Education Council grading complete the route

All Hanken Master’s theses pass plagiarism control, and English-language theses are checked in Turnitin after electronic submission. The similarity report supports academic assessment rather than automatically deciding plagiarism. The thesis then has two examiners from different subjects, with at least one holding a doctoral degree; operational guidance states that one reviewer is the supervisor. The reviewers propose a grade and the Education Council formally approves and grades the thesis on Hanken’s current 1-5 scale.

Final note

The current ISS thesis route is 22043 Research Design, 5 ECTS + 22044 Research Methods in Management and Organisation, 5 ECTS + 22170 Research Seminar in Management and Organisation, 5 ECTS + 2220-E Master’s Thesis, 30 ECTS. The ENGAGE.EU GSM option is an alternative track within ISS and currently retains the same 5 ECTS seminar and 30 ECTS thesis structure, while adding a mandatory partner-university semester. Recheck the current Sisu implementation, GSM mobility details, seminar prerequisites, teaching periods and submission dates before cycle-sensitive action.