Master´s Thesis Evaluation by the Supervisor
Title of the Master´s Thesis:
The Impact of E-mobility on Petrol Stations in the Czech Republic Author of the Master´s Thesis:
Bc. Jan Kašpar
Goals of the Master´s Thesis:
To answer the research question: What will be the future impact on petrol stations in the Czech Republic in view of the increasing e-mobility and the rising number of electric vehicles on roads?
Evaluation:
Criteria Description Max.
points
Points
Content 70%
Output Quality The overall quality of the thesis is rather low when evaluating it from both academic as well as practical relevance. The thesis is a nice read for someone who has a very little knowledge about e-mobility as it is all described on a very understandable, readable but at the same time very high level way.
20 5
Goals Evaluating this text as the CEMS master thesis I found the goals unmet. The
reasons will be described in following criteria. 10 2
Methodology: It is very hard to evaluate the methodology. Indeed, the author used only couple of methods. Evaluating scenario planning, the author built the scenarios based on kind of common sense combined with literature review. I am not challenging those scenarios but the way they were developed is disputable. The other methods (PEST, 5 Forces) are of a very low quality as they are again on rather very high level and not that related to the context of the Czech Republic (as the research question suggests). E.g. the author speaks about profit margins in petrol station industry, but all based on US data.
I would expect some other methods to be used. In general the author did only a secondary data research. I missed also at least tiny financial implications, expert interviews, etc.
20 2
Theory/
Conceptualization:
As mentioned before, the author nicely describes the e-mobility and couple more topics but on a very high level. The scenario planning, evaluation of
scenarios and/or bit more modelling were expected. 20 10
Formal requirements 15% Structure: The thesis is a consistent, well-organised logical whole.
3 3
Terminology: It meets the expectations and as mentioned before, it is very nicely readable.
4 4
Formalities: Meets the expectations.
4 4
Citing: It meets expected standards.
4 4
Delivery 15 %
Presentation document:
Is the presentation itself structured in a clear way? Is it appealing and easy to
follow? Does it convey the message efficiently? 5
Presentation skills:
Are you conveying the message efficiently and timely? Do you use
appropriate words, speed, tone of voice, gestures, movement etc. to express
your thoughts in a clear manner? 5
Argumentation: Are you able to readily and briskly react to questions or comments? Are you able to explain unclear parts and connect comments to relevant places in your presentation or parts of particular analyses? How well are you able to defend to your ideas and recommendations?
5
100 0
Other comments:
The quality of this master thesis is far below the expected standards for CEMS master thesis. Besides the high-level secondary data research there is hardly anything what could be evaluated from the academic perspective. As a practitioner or e.g., petrol station owner someone has not learned anything new as the developed scenarios are the ones which are quite often cited in media, which is also supported by the author´s literature review. From practical perspective I really do not know what should be the takeaway for practitioners. When we jointly developed the research question with the author, I was expecting elaboration on either the economic impact perspective on the industry or kind of case study for given company. But in any case, supported by data and calculations. The possible reason of deviation from these expectations was the lack of communication between the author and the supervisor.
Couple more comments are expressed bellow in the form of questions. But in general I found this thesis on the edge of defensibility on the mater´s level.
Questions or comments to be discussed during the thesis defence:
There are some concerns and question which popped up to my mind when reading the thesis as I expected them to be answered or elaborated in the text as its integral part.
1. What is the profitability (profit margins, price structure etc.) of petrol stations in the Czech Republic? What is their product portfolio and how do they generate their revenues? Is it really the same as in US?
2. Looking at page 44, I would like to understand why the author believes that the revenues from car washing will decline in the future with the rise of e-mobility. What is the rationale in behind? Or it is simply only copy poste from a report? At the same time why would the revenues from other goods be growing with the ongoing trend of home delivery of whatever?
3. I really missed much more of the PEST factors which are relevant in particular for the Czech Republic.
Specifically, now before general elections I bet there is much more to write about. In general, what about the
subsidies and other form of public support. In the same time the capability of major car producer Skoda to lobby with the local government etc. The same could be said about other factors.
I would e.g. expect some elaboration on different customer segments using petrol stations, their shares on overall revenues and then linking them with the trends effecting them. I found in the text one interesting finding that the petrol stations are the places where younger generation is getting together with their peers. Is is really again relevant for the Czech Republic? In which extend that is worth mentioning that?
4. The author says: ” There is intense competition in the industry, with five leading companies operating the majority of the industry…“ But looking at some data mentioned earlier in the work, I see that those companies have captured „only“ 30% of the market. Thus, what are the real reasons for such an intense competition?
5. The author also declares that potential new entrants need to be expect massive capital investments and expenditures to become a strong competitor within the industry. Do we know what amounts we are talking about? I also missed some market dynamics data, e.g. how many new petrol stations are build each year.
In general more insights in both analyses would be appreciated specifically in relation to petrol stations in the context of the Czechia.
These are at least few of the question which remained unanswered for me and which may be discussed during eventual defense.
The name of the Supervisor:
Ing. Ladislav Tyll, MBA., Ph.D.
The employer of the Supervisor:
KSG, FPH, VŠE Date 17. 9. 2021
Signature of the Supervisor:
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