The Bucharest University of Economic Studies - ASE
Faculty of International Business and Economics
Master Programme in BUSINESS COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH
2011-2013
DISSERTATION PROPOSALS
I. COMMUNICATION THEORIES AND FACE-TO FACE COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES &
VII. NEGOTIATION & CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Co-ordinated by Professor Ruxandra Constantinescu-Ştefănel
1. The use of neurolinguistic programming in business formation
2. Stereotypes and slogans in Romanian enterprises
3. Nonverbal communication in the business environment
4. Managerial communication face to face. Case study.
5. Group interpersonal communication in enterprises. Case study.
6. Reception and retroaction in enterprise communication.
7. Semantic communication techniques. Case study.
8. The influence of the communication context in business situations.
1. Negotiating with...(a country at students' choice)
2. Conflict Management - Case study (any real conflict and how it could have been better
resolved)
3. Business Negotiation - Case Study (any real negotiation - how it could have been prepared and
dealt with better)
4. Preparing a Negotiation for ... (a product or a service at students' option)
5. The Portrait of the Romanian Negotiator (survey)
6. NLP in my organisation
7. Social norms and social rules in a joint company (between Romania and a country at the
student's option)
8. Stereotypes in business (Romania and a country at the student's option)
9. Obstacles in business communication
10. Non-verbal communication in business
11. Face in business negotiation
12. Using TA to improve HR management
II. GEOPOLITICS AND BUSINESS
Co-ordinated by Professor Rodica Claudia Popescu
1. The English-French „war” in the field of business communication.
2. Cultural-communicational differences in a global world.
3. Global trends of business environment in the post-cold war world.
4. Informational war, transnational actors and international organisations.
5. Nationalism, international relations and international organisations.
6. Religion as a geopolitical factor in world affairs.
7. Gender issues and business organisations.
8. Geopolitics and business in the European Union.
9. The Geopolitics of global finance.
10. The North-South divide and business cooperation.
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11. The post-1990 geopolitical world and stategies of business organisations.
12. Business organisations in time of peace and war.
13. The post-Cold War trading system.
14. The Digital Divide.
15. Cyberterrorism, cyberwar and business competition
III. LEADERSHIP & ORGANISATIONAL COMMUNICATION
IV. INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
Co-ordinated by Professor Mariana Nicolae
1. Communication and ethical dilemmas – case study
2. The ethics of persuasion and free choice in the international market
3. Non-verbal communication in the global village
4. Communication for social change and social marketing
5. Moral leadership – whose values? How do we communicate them?
6. The ethics of marketing and communication dilemmas
7. Management styles and the organization’s communication climate
8. Leaders, managers – followers, subordinates
9. Romanian business leadership models
10. Leadership and motivation – cultural dimensions
11. Profile of Romanian business leaders
12. Training the leaders – the market, the business, the results
13. The language of leaders in business
14. Effective organisational communication – case study
15. Political correctness – policies of correctness – how adapted is the discourse of Romanian
companies to an international audience ?
16. Challenges of international communication – is there a Romanian model of communication?
17. International meetings – effective strategies of communication in the real and virtual
communities
18. Translation and interpreting – the challenges of a global world
19. Multiculturalism, pluralism and the pressures of international migrations
20. Translation and interpreting – the challenges of membership in the European Union
21. Multilingualism – the challenges of a European Union policy
22. E – communication and Internet resources – myths and reality
23. Internet patterns of communication – living in the world wide web
24. International communication – the language of international organizations
25. Managing meetings in international business
26. Meetings and presentations for Romanian and international audiences
27. Doing business in the global market – communication strategies and tactics
V. INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS
Co-ordinated by Professor Liviu Stelian Begu
1. Comparative Analysis of the Economic Relations between… (2 countries) using the Balance of
Payments Measures.
2. Comparative Analysis of the Economic Relations Tendency between Country A… and Country
B… using the National Economic Aggregates.
3. Comparative External Debts Analysis of the Economic Relations between Country A… and
Country B…
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4. Comparing the stock Market Evolutions in Country A… vs. Country B… using Stock Indexes
Numbers.
5. Comparing Populations Migrations occurring between Country A… and Country B…
VI. INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Co-ordinated by Professor Virginia Mihaela Dumitrescu
1. Culture as a Non-Negotiable Asset: Managing Cultural Identities and Differences in Business
2. Multinationals: Communication Challenges and Opportunities Posed by an Intercultural Work
Environment
3. Business Communication Norms, Rituals, and Taboos across Cultures: A Comparative Study
4. Cultural Differences between East and West in the Business Arena: A Case Analysis Approach
5. Cultural Values and their Impact on the Business Environment in Confucian Cultures (E. g.
China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong)
6. The Indissoluble Relationship between National Psyche and the Business Mindset: The
Romanian Example
7. Dealing with Gender Stereotypes across Cultures in the Business World
8. Ways to Overcome or Minimize Culture Shock in Situations of Intercultural Business
Communication
9. Basic Requirements for Global Business Success: Cultural Awareness, Sensitivity and
Competence
10. Models of Cross-Cultural Analysis Based on “Dimensions” and their Application to the
Business Environment
11. Bridging the Gap between High-Context and Low-Context Cultures in Specific Areas of
Business Communication
12. Managing Cultural Differences for Effective Verbal, Non-Verbal, and Para-Verbal Business
Communication
13. Breaking Barriers to Cross-Cultural Communication in Business
14. Dealing with Culture-Clash: Western vs. Oriental-Style Negotiation
15. Business Negotiation Rhetoric and Ritual across Cultures: A Comparative Approach
16. Conditions for Successful Cross-Cultural Negotiations
17. Effective Intercultural Negotiation Strategies and Tactics Based on Cultural Competence
18. Culture-Specific Negotiating Tactics and Styles: A Comparative Study
19. Models of Corporate Culture and their Applicability to Romanian Business Organizations
20. National Culture versus Corporate Culture: Which Gets the Upper Hand?
VIII. WRITTEN INTRA- AND INTER-ORGANISATIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Co-ordinated by Professor Maria Enache
1.
2.
3.
4.
Intra- and inter-organisational communication.
Commercial documents.
Banking and transport documents.
Guarantees and bonds.
IX. EFFECTIVE LISTENING AND INTERACTING
Co-ordinated by Professor Denise Dona
1. Active listening – a foundation of effective communication
2. One language, many possibilities: pitfalls of verbal communication across cultures
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3.
4.
5.
6.
Listening between the words: a strategic approach to decoding the right message
‘Small talk’ – a necessary evil: the pains and gains of socialising
Empathy – a vital skill to interpersonal exchanges
Patterns of listening and interaction in the Romanian business environment
X. PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATION
Co-ordinated by Professor Diana Maria Cismaru
1. Public Affairs and the efforts of Romania to communicate with European institutions in
Bruxelles
2. Brand image of Romanian products
3. Reputation Management
4. Responding to a Crisis and Managing Backlash
5. Making Paid Advertising and Public Service Announcements Work
6. Targeting Audiences, Conducting Research, and Developing Messages
7. Capitalizing on the Power of Partnerships
8. Earning Good Media Coverage
9. Managing Public Media and Public Advocacy
10. Fund-raising
11. Acquiring and Managing Volunteers
12. The art of Getting Noticed
13. Expanding the Readership
14. Communicating in Pictures and Sounds
15. Selling the Concept to the Client
16. Government and Lobbying Activities
XI. INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Co-ordinated by Professor Luminiţa Nicolescu
1. The impact of market globalization on marketing strategies
2. The relation between cultural diversity and the international marketing policy of a firm.
3. Ethics and the international marketing practices.
4. A) Competitive strategies in international marketing.
4. B) Competitive strategies in Europe.
5. Marketing audit with a firm. Case studies.
6. Analysis of a firm’s competitors on an external market.
7. The process of external markets selection. Case study.
8. Penetration strategies on external markets. Case study.
9. Marketing strategies of multinational firms and their presence on the Romanian market.
10. A) Marketing plan regarding the launching of a product on the external market. Case studies.
11. B) Marketing plan regarding export promotion.
12. Brand policy in international marketing. Case study.
13. Pricing policy in international marketing. Case study.
14. International distribution of products and services.
15. The impact of new communication technologies on the marketing policy of a firm.
16. International advertising: standardization versus adaptation.
17. A) Designing and implementing the promotional campaign for a product on the external market.
Case studies.
18. B) Designing and implementing the advertising campaign for a product on the external market.
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XII. THE LANGUAGE OF MARKETING AND ADVERTISING
Co-ordinated by Professor Cristina Maria Prelipceanu
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2.
3.
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6.
Promotion as a communication process (verbal + nonverbal communication)
The communication process in gathering primary research data
Cultural values in advertising (print and/or television)
Global media and their implication for advertising (the role of www as an advertising media)
Culture-sensitive adaptation or standardization in advertising
A cultural approach to the Romanian consumer behaviour
XIII. ETHICS AND BUSINESS
Co-ordinated by Professor Dan Crăciun
1. New challenges and requirements in international business ethics
2. Treating consumers unethically and its heavy financial costs
3. Ethical issues in advertising
4.Whistle blowing and loyalty to the firm
5. Discrimination at the workplace
6. Ethical rights and duties of the employees
7. Insider trading: legal and ethical aspects
XIV. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Co-ordinated by Professor Dorel Mihai Paraschiv
1. Strategic Planning for International Business
2. Company Developing in IB: Case Study.
3. Strategies of Going Global
4. Strategic Planning for International Negotiations
5. Tactical Planning for International Negotiation
6. Cultural Awareness in International Negotiation
7. Cross-Cultural Negotiation
8. International Business Payments
9. Letter of Credit in IB
10. Franchising Operations
11. Licensing Operations
12. Joint Ventures Agreements
XV. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Co-ordinated by Professor Simona Nicoleta Vasilache
1. Time-inconsistent behavior in organizations
2. Strategic learning in a company
3. Managerial misconceptions about the competitive environment
4. Costs and benefits of knowledge management
5. Strategies of collaboration between the public and the private sector
6. Diversification strategies for expanding businesses
7. Non-market strategies
8. Top management teams
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9. New organizational forms
10. Cooperative and competitive interactions
XVI. DIPLOMACY AND DIPLOMATIC CEREMONIAL AND PROTOCOL
Co-ordinated by Professor Anca Gabriela Ilie
1. Diplomacy in the 21st century: challenges for diplomats in the post-cold era
2. Business diplomacy – defining the international power game. Case study (on negotiations
between two transnational companies)
3. The new risks in international business and diplomacy. Case study (the global supply chain)
4. Communication and conflict management in international diplomacy. Case study (any internal
or international conflict conflict)
5. Diplomacy and security. Euro-Atlantic security after Lisbon NATO Summit
6. The diplomacy of international organizations. NATO and EU strategic partnership
7. The role and reach for unofficial diplomacy. Its influence on official, business diplomacy. Case
study (NGOs influence on business, states negotiations)
8. The diplomacy of the global economic crisis – a case of official and business diplomacy mix at
work.
NB All titles are tentative. Other relevant proposals from students may also be considered.
GUIDELINES FOR DISSERTATION WRITING
The following hints are intended as a guide to writing your project/dissertation.
1. Choose the theme of your project/ dissertation. You can either go for the proposals presented to you
by the professors in the programme, or you can put forward your own proposal.
2. Thoroughly research the topic you have chosen.
3. Make an outline of your future paper under the supervision of your co-ordinating professor/tutor.
4. Systemise all the information you have gathered.
5. Process and interpret the theoretical and factual material.
6. Provide an economic background for the issues you have chosen to discuss within your project.
7. Evaluate the possible outcome resulting from the solutions you have suggested.
8. Start writing and produce a draft. Discuss the draft of your project with your co-ordinating
professor.
9. Provide the written form of your dissertation.
For a better structuring of your dissertation we suggest the following framework:
 present the theme you have chosen and formulate the problem(s) you aim to solve; also mention the
solutions which are already known regarding the respective problem(s).
 think of an original solution/present your case study and the way they fit in the already known
solutions/situations; present concrete ways of applying the solutions you have suggested
 draw conclusions to the theme/case study you have researched
 provide a bibliography
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In order to provide a dissertation within academic standards please take into consideration the
following criteria when editing your paper:
1. print your dissertation paper with the following format: A4 page, indentation 2 cm up, 2 cm down,
3 cm on the left, 2 cm on the right
2. use fonts Times New Roman, size 12 for the body of the paper (you can use other fonts to
emphasize certain parts of your paper, for tables, footnotes, etc.).
3. spacing: 1 ½.
4. alignment: Justified
5. the papers will be written in English
6. subdivisions (chapters, subchapters, etc.) will be clearly marked and numbered
7. no space is left before most punctuation marks (comma, full stop, colon, semicolon)
8. please avoid uselessly long sentences, ambiguities, or other formulations which might result in lack
of clarity
9. the paper should be within 15,000 – 25,000 words, without annexes and bibliography.
10. the paper will be submitted in 1 printed copy + CD.
Attention: Before submitting your project check your English carefully to make sure your sentences are
grammatical, your spelling and punctuation is correct, and that the proper conventions (i.e. ways of
quoting, etc.) have been used.
Readings should be referred to in this way:
As Hofstede (1991, p.34) says, ……
There should be a bibliography at the end of readings actually mentioned in your work. Items
should be laid out like this:
Hofstede, G., 1991 Cultures and Organizations, Harper Collins
CRITERIA FOR DISSERTATION EVALUATION AND GRADING
These questions will be asked in deciding the grade of your dissertation:
1. Have you achieved an appropriate balance of theory and practical examples? Have you used the
input given during the course, does your dissertation focus on practical examples/evidence and are
the two well related?
2. Is the topic presented clearly and succinctly?
3. Is there a clear explanation of possible implications of the topic for the Romanian
academic/business context, with appropriate examples?
4. Have you avoided undue vagueness and generalisation?
Plagiarism and dishonesty are strongly discouraged and will result, if discovered, in the
annulment of the right to submit your disertation.
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