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• Developing an Index

Indices are commonly used to help with strategic issues, particularly in cases where you have factors that cannot be incorporated into a financial model.

For example, a company may be looking a possible sites for a new facility. It first decides what factors are important in the decision and weights them such that the weights add up to 100%. For each possible site, it gives a rating on some scale--perhaps a scale to 1 to 5, where 5 is best. It then multiples the ratings by the weightings and adds the result to get an index rating for each site.

Let's say you decide to use the following factors for choosing a topic:

1. Inherent Interest: Do you find this topic interesting--or does it seem pretty dull?
2. Job Relevance: How much relevance does it have to your present job, or to the job you want to get?
3. Availability of Information: Does it seem like it will be relatively easy to find information--or is it likely to be hard to get for one or more reasons: confidentiality, the need to interview people who may be hard to get hold of, information available only in an out-of-way location?
4. Clear Focus: Is it easy to draw a clear boundary around the project--or is it likely to keep spreading into new areas?
5. Ability to Contribute: How easy is it for you to do something original--or will you have to struggle to keep the thesis from becoming a book report?

Next you give each of these factors a weight. The weights should be the same for all topics.

Then for each possible topic, you give a rating for each factor. For example, if a topic is very interesting, you might rate it a 5.

Finally you multiply the weights by the ratings and add the result to get an index.

The table below shows the possible results for one topic. A topics with a high overall index would be more likely candidates for your thesis than one with a low index.

Return to Selecting a Topic