Assignment: MBA Capstone Project Guidelines

Throughout your MBA program, you have worked to develop as a practitioner-scholar to meet the needs and future challenges as a business leader. Your program culminates in the capstone project, which forms the primary focus of the final course you will take in the program. The capstone project is intended to provide you the opportunity to demonstrate your MBA program outcomes by:

• Planning and executing the strategic and tactical elements of a comprehensive project.
• Integrating and demonstrating skills and techniques you have learned throughout the MBA program.
• Communicating project outcomes both in written form and in a formal presentation.
• Completing your MBA program with an experience that reinforces and integrates the components that have preceded it.

The following information outlines the requirements and work associated with the capstone project for this course and the next.

Capstone Project Examples

Examples of project types that might be proposed to meet these requirements include but are not limited to:

• Preparation of a strategic plan for an organization.

• A strategic analysis of all or a selected part of an organization.

• Development of a case study of all or a selected part of an organization.

• Development of an intervention, such as a workshop or training activity, that is broad- based enough to demonstrate the program-level outcomes.

• Development of a consulting report on a problematic issue within an organization, provided that the issue is broad-based enough to demonstrate program-level outcomes.

You may propose other structures for the capstone project so long as you are able to identify how the proposed project satisfies the requirement of demonstrating the program-level outcomes. When choosing your topic, keep in mind that your capstone project must result in recommendations, next steps, or some other type of actionable, evidence-based takeaways for the reader or subject of the project.

Capstone Project Requirements

The capstone course project must demonstrate your achievement of the MBA program outcomes. The following table is taken from the proficient column of the final capstone grading rubric. It outlines the expectations for demonstrating each program outcome.

Program Outcome: Proficient Column:

1. Apply foundational knowledge and an understanding of business systems, processes, and technology within and across core disciplines. Applies foundational knowledge (theories, models, and practices) and an understanding of core business systems, processes, and technology within and across core disciplines.

2. Integrate information across disciplines and from differing perspectives. Integrates most relevant supportive and conflicting information (data, insights, best practices) across disciplines from differing primary functional perspectives individually and holistically.

3. Think critically and analytically to provide evidence-based solutions to business challenges and opportunities. Develops logical, well-supported, solutions based on relevant, sound, logical, and credible evidence (data, insights, analyses, best practices) to solve business challenges and opportunities.

4. Apply innovative, strategic, and sustainable approaches to business practice and planning. Applies innovative, strategic, and sustainable (long-term) approaches to business practice and planning.

5. Lead and collaborate in virtual, global,and culturally diverse environments. Applies leadership and collaboration principles and strategies for virtual, global, and culturally diverse environments.

6. Integrate principles of ethics and integrity into business decisions. Integrates principles of ethics and integrity into business decisions by assessing ethical implications and resolving ethical conflicts and dilemmas.

7. Communicate clearly and effectively in a business environment. Communicates clearly and effectively in a business environment by applying professional speaking, effective presentation, and persuasion skills to create a clear and compelling case for business solutions.

When proposing a capstone project in MBA6028, you will be required to identify how the proposed project addresses the demonstration of program outcomes 1, 2, 5, and 6. Outcomes 3, 4, and 7 are demonstrated by the quality of the final deliverable.

The project will be completed individually, not in teams. In addition, the capstone project must meet these criteria:

• The organization must be real, not fictitious. This may be an organization to which you have direct access for data gathering or one for which you will gather data via published sources. In either case, it must be an organization for which you can gather the data needed to complete the project. If need be, you may be allowed to use a disguised name for the organization in the project report, but you must disclose to the instructor what actual organization is being used as the setting for the project.

• The scope of effort required should be such that, once planned in MBA6028, the project can be completed in a single, six-week iteration of MBA6900; extensions will be granted only in unusual situations.

Capstone Planning Requirements and Timeline

Since the six-week duration of a single MBA course may not provide enough time for both planning and delivering the capstone project, planning for the project begins in Business Integration Skills. Typically, this course is taken in the period immediately before the capstone course. During this class, you will complete a proposal for the project that you will deliver in the final class. Specific milestones for this proposal in include:

• Unit 1 - You will post a discussion with a preliminary summary of and rationale for what you are considering as a project, for feedback from colleagues and your instructor.

• Unit 3 - You will submit a draft proposal for the project to your instructor for feedback.

(Appendix A below contains a template to prepare the proposal and Appendix B illustrates an example of a completed draft.)

• Unit 5 - You will submit the final proposal in Unit 5 to the instructor for grading. (Appendix C below contains an outline you may adapt to prepare your proposal.)

Note: Successful completion of an acceptable proposal will facilitate a smooth transition into your capstone course and help you make timely progress toward the completion of your degree. Be sure to contact your instructor with any questions or challenges you have about completing your proposal.

Capstone Deliverables

Once you have successfully completed this class, you will move on to your final course. In your final class, you will complete the following:

Unit 1 Capstone Project Summary - You will develop a brief summary of your capstone project to help your instructor become familiar with your capstone project and provide appropriate guidance. This project summary will specify the topic and scope of your project, including a rough outline of your final capstone project and a project plan that briefly outlines what you plan to do each week to ensure timely completion of your capstone.

Units 2, 4, and 5 Progress Reports - In each unit, you will prepare a brief report of the status of your project, based on your plan. You may also submit parts of your project for feedback.

Unit 3 Capstone Project Draft - You will submit a draft of your capstone project for feedback on your progress toward demonstrating your program outcomes, based on the final Capstone Project and Presentation Scoring Guide.

Unit 6 Capstone Project and Presentation - You will submit your final Capstone Project and Presentation. You will deliver two work products to complete this project:

• Written Report - The final written project report will be a formal document prepared for the key stakeholders of your project. The structure and length of the document will vary according to the type of project being undertaken, but the report is expected to be substantial: approximately 20-40 pages in length.

• Oral Presentation - This formal oral presentation will be supported by a PowerPoint presentation including slides with notes. The oral presentation will be recorded using Adobe Connect, and uploaded to the MBA6900 courseroom for review by your colleagues and a formal review by the instructor. This presentation should be no more than 15-20 minutes in length and will serve to present all facets of the capstone project.

Appendix D contains the scoring guide rubric with grading criteria for your final capstone deliverable. Be sure to review the criteria often throughout your project to ensure you are fulfilling the expectations for demonstrating your program outcomes.

Attachment:- Project-Guidelines.pdf