MBA · MSc · BBA · Management dissertations
50 business and management research topics across 10 disciplines, each with a research design, statistical method, dataset and university thesis example.
50 Research topics
10 Sub-fields
10 Data sources
3 Universities cited
2018–26 Thesis years
By Siddharth Gupta · Statssy
Most business students plan a survey. Then recruitment gets difficult and the sample is much smaller than expected.
In my 12 years of helping MBA and MSc students, I have found that secondary business data can be an effective alternative. Datasets of employees, customers, orders and companies make it possible to answer many management questions without collecting a new survey.
Each topic below includes a suggested study design and method, a relevant dataset and a related university thesis to examine.
How to use this list Choose two or three questions in your preferred management discipline. Open the underlying dataset and check whether the variables are available. Read the sample thesis and note its business problem, sampling and methodology. Choose the method based on the outcome: a binary decision, a rating, a count or a time-to-event measure. Discuss your shortlist with your supervisor or book a free consultation . Jump to a sub-field 01. Human resource management and turnover 02. Organisational behaviour and leadership 03. Diversity, gender and inclusion at work 04. Marketing and consumer behaviour 05. Digital and direct marketing 06. E-commerce and retail analytics 07. Customer retention and CRM 08. Entrepreneurship and small business 09. Strategy, CSR and corporate performance 10. Operations and supply chain Business research area 01 / 10
Human resource management and turnover HR topics ask why people leave and what keeps them. The IBM attrition file is clean, free and ready for logistic regression.
TOPIC 01 Which employees are most likely to leave the company? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset IBM HR Analytics Attrition (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 02 Does overtime raise the chance of leaving more for younger staff? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression with an interaction term Dataset IBM HR Analytics Attrition (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 03 Does job satisfaction explain the link between work-life balance and attrition? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Mediation analysis Dataset IBM HR Analytics Attrition (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 04 Do pay rises keep staff better than promotions do? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset IBM HR Analytics Attrition (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 05 Does job security predict job satisfaction across Europe? Study design Cross-section, multi-country Statistical method Multilevel linear regression Dataset European Social Survey Free login Business research area 02 / 10
Organisational behaviour and leadership Organisational behaviour topics study how people feel and act at work. Survey data lets you test engagement, autonomy and manager effects.
TOPIC 06 Do workers with more say over their work report higher wellbeing? Study design Cross-section, multi-country Statistical method Multilevel linear regression Dataset European Social Survey Free login TOPIC 07 Does satisfaction with the work environment predict job involvement? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Ordinal logistic regression Dataset IBM HR Analytics Attrition (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 08 Is working from home linked to more work-life conflict? Study design Cross-section, multi-country Statistical method Multilevel linear regression Dataset European Social Survey Free login TOPIC 09 Does time with the same manager predict whether an employee stays? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Cox proportional hazards regression Dataset IBM HR Analytics Attrition (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 10 Do generations really differ in what they value at work? Study design Cross-section, multi-country Statistical method One-way ANOVA with multilevel controls Dataset European Social Survey Free login Business research area 03 / 10
Diversity, gender and inclusion at work Diversity topics test whether gaps at work are real and where they come from. Firm, worker and country data all help here.
TOPIC 11 Is there a gender pay gap once job level and role are controlled? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset IBM HR Analytics Attrition (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 12 Do firms with a woman as top manager perform differently? Study design Firm cross-section Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset World Bank Enterprise Surveys Free login TOPIC 13 Do women report less job autonomy than men in the same occupations? Study design Cross-section, multi-country Statistical method Multilevel regression Dataset European Social Survey Free login TOPIC 14 Are disabled workers less likely to hold management roles? Study design Cross-section, multi-country Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset European Social Survey Free login TOPIC 15 Is the gender gap in starting a business narrower in richer countries? Study design Cross-section, multi-country Statistical method Multilevel logistic regression Dataset Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Free login Business research area 04 / 10
Marketing and consumer behaviour Consumer behaviour topics use real purchases and reviews, not only surveys. Review and order data give you thousands of real decisions.
TOPIC 16 Do star ratings differ by reviewer gender cues and product type? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Ordinal logistic regression Dataset Amazon Reviews 2023 Open TOPIC 17 Do higher-priced products get harsher reviews? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Ordinal logistic regression Dataset Amazon Reviews 2023 Open TOPIC 18 Do late deliveries lower customer review scores? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Ordinal logistic regression Dataset Olist Brazilian E-Commerce (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 19 Does basket size rise before Christmas, and which products drive it? Study design Time series Statistical method Seasonal decomposition with regression Dataset Online Retail II (UCI) Open TOPIC 20 Do incentivised or free-product reviews rate products higher? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Independent t-test with regression controls Dataset Amazon Reviews 2023 Open Business research area 05 / 10
Digital and direct marketing Digital marketing topics measure what actually converts. Campaign and review data let you test channels, timing and content.
TOPIC 21 Does mobile contact convert better than landline contact in a bank campaign? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Bank Marketing (UCI) Open TOPIC 22 Do more contacts in a campaign raise or lower success? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression with a quadratic term Dataset Bank Marketing (UCI) Open TOPIC 23 Are reviews with photos voted more helpful? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Negative binomial regression Dataset Amazon Reviews 2023 Open TOPIC 24 Does review sentiment predict how well a product sells? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Text sentiment score with multiple regression Dataset Amazon Reviews 2023 Open TOPIC 25 Does success in a past campaign predict response to a new one? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Bank Marketing (UCI) Open See the printable 50-topic guide
Business research area 06 / 10
E-commerce and retail analytics Retail analytics topics turn transactions into decisions. These are the most job-relevant topics on this list.
TOPIC 26 Which customers are most valuable, using RFM segmentation? Study design Cross-section Statistical method K-means clustering Dataset Online Retail II (UCI) Open TOPIC 27 Does a high freight cost relative to price lower review scores? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Ordinal logistic regression Dataset Olist Brazilian E-Commerce (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 28 Which products are bought together most often? Study design Transaction data Statistical method Market basket analysis (association rules) Dataset Online Retail II (UCI) Open TOPIC 29 Do customers far from sellers wait longer and rate lower? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Multilevel regression by state Dataset Olist Brazilian E-Commerce (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 30 Do repeat customers spend more per order than first-time buyers? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Independent t-test and regression Dataset Olist Brazilian E-Commerce (Kaggle) Free login Business research area 07 / 10
Customer retention and CRM Retention topics predict who leaves and why. The Telco churn file is the classic dataset for this.
TOPIC 31 Which customers are most likely to churn? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Telco Customer Churn (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 32 How much does a long-term contract cut churn? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical method Cox proportional hazards regression Dataset Telco Customer Churn (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 33 Can a random forest predict churn better than logistic regression? Study design Prediction model Statistical method Random forest compared with logistic regression (AUC) Dataset Telco Customer Churn (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 34 Do customers with more add-on services stay longer? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical method Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank test Dataset Telco Customer Churn (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 35 Do older clients respond better to savings offers? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Bank Marketing (UCI) Open Business research area 08 / 10
Entrepreneurship and small business Entrepreneurship topics compare who starts businesses and what holds them back. GEM and Enterprise Surveys cover most of the world.
TOPIC 36 Does fear of failure lower the intention to start a business? Study design Cross-section, multi-country Statistical method Multilevel logistic regression Dataset Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Free login TOPIC 37 Is access to finance the biggest obstacle for small firms? Study design Firm cross-section Statistical method Ordinal logistic regression Dataset World Bank Enterprise Surveys Free login TOPIC 38 Do firms that export grow their workforce faster? Study design Firm cross-section Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset World Bank Enterprise Surveys Free login TOPIC 39 Does necessity-driven entrepreneurship fall as countries get richer? Study design Country panel Statistical method Fixed effects panel regression Dataset Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Free login TOPIC 40 Does competition from informal firms hurt small formal firms’ sales? Study design Firm cross-section Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset World Bank Enterprise Surveys Free login Business research area 09 / 10
Strategy, CSR and corporate performance Strategy topics link big company decisions to results. SEC filings date every CEO change, deal and disclosure.
TOPIC 41 Does a new CEO help a firm recover after a big fall in value? Study design Event study Statistical method Buy-and-hold abnormal returns Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 42 Do firms that grow by acquisition outperform those that grow on their own? Study design Firm panel Statistical method Fixed effects panel regression Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 43 Do firms that publish sustainability reports grow revenue faster? Study design Firm panel Statistical method Propensity score matching Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 44 Do supply chain leaders disclose more on ESG than their peers? Study design Firm cross-section Statistical method Text-based disclosure score with t-tests Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 45 Do firms that talk more about CSR in annual reports face fewer controversies? Study design Firm panel Statistical method Negative binomial regression Dataset SEC EDGAR Open Business research area 10 / 10
Operations and supply chain Operations topics forecast demand and find the causes of delay. Transaction and firm survey data cover both.
TOPIC 46 Is weekly demand for top products predictable? Study design Time series Statistical method ARIMA forecasting Dataset Online Retail II (UCI) Open TOPIC 47 What drives late deliveries in online retail? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Olist Brazilian E-Commerce (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 48 Do power outages cut firm productivity in developing countries? Study design Firm cross-section Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset World Bank Enterprise Surveys Free login TOPIC 49 Do sellers closer to customers get better ratings? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset Olist Brazilian E-Commerce (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 50 Do firms with a quality certification export more? Study design Firm cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset World Bank Enterprise Surveys Free login See the printable 50-topic guide
Free business and management datasets The following ten sources support the research ideas above. Before choosing one, check variable coverage, access conditions and whether it represents actual observations or a teaching dataset.
Synthetic employee attrition data with job satisfaction, pay, roles and overtime; useful for demonstrating models, not estimating real-world population effects.
Cross-country survey variables on work, attitudes, wellbeing and employment.
Firm surveys covering finance, exports, performance, staffing and business obstacles.
Entrepreneurial attitudes, activity and motives; check access rules for the relevant country-level and individual-level files.
Transaction-level UK online retail purchase records for segmentation and demand analysis.
Brazilian online retail orders, delivery details, payments, sellers and customer reviews.
Large-scale product review text, ratings, timestamps and product attributes.
Customer contract, service, billing, tenure and churn data.
Bank campaign contact and subscription outcomes for classification analysis.
US public-company disclosures; analysis-ready firm panels and stock returns may require separate construction or additional sources.
Printable MBA and MSc research guide
Get all 50 topics in one PDF The printable guide will contain all 50 business research questions, study designs, statistical methods, dataset links and related university theses. A download link will be added after the PDF is generated and uploaded to WordPress.
PDF download coming soon How to turn one of these into your own topic Frame a business problem. Begin with a decision that a manager can act on.Check the data first. Confirm your outcome and explanatory variables are actually recorded.Choose a method appropriate to the data. Binary outcomes often suit logistic regression. Time-to-event models require a meaningful event-time variable and censoring information.Add a managerial recommendation. Translate relevant findings into measurable actions.Check existing studies. Search academic journals and university repositories for related work.Also see dissertation topics using regression analysis and finance dissertation topics for adjacent methods and ideas.
Related topic collections Need a second pair of eyes?
Choose a business topic you can complete. Bring your research shortlist and dataset to a free 15-minute meeting. We can discuss methods and the business implications of your research question.
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