Reflection on MBA Capstone Project and Skills Developed

This report provides a reflection on the MBA Capstone project and the skills developed during the course. It discusses the importance of capstone projects, the competencies and skills required, and the impact on future career. The report also includes a summary of the learning and skills gained, as well as a discussion on the consultancy research process.

Running head: MBA CAPSTONE
MBA Capstone
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1MBA CAPSTONE
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Discussion:.......................................................................................................................................3
Summary of Learning and skills including Knowing, Being and Competencies:.......................3
Reflection on the learning from the Capstone subject and Consultancy research process:.........5
Reflection on the skills developed over the MBA:......................................................................7
Reflection on future career:.........................................................................................................8
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................8
References:....................................................................................................................................10

2MBA CAPSTONE
Introduction:
Capstone courses are referred to as the last part that needs to be undertaken before
completing any program of study and is mainly represented as the crown of achievement for the
course (Khan and Ahmed 2018). A capstone subject may include a final research paper on a
paper of interest for emerging students with different areas of study. A capstone project is mainly
used to represent new ideas by students and gives them the opportunity to showcase their
knowledge and skills that they have gained during their college course (Burkitt 2017). Similarly
for students who are undertaking the courses on MBA also needs to undertake capstone projects
where they will be provided with the platform to apply their knowledge in real world business
settings (Corley 2016). The following report hence is the brief reflection on the capstone subject
and assessment that is undertaken at my MBA course and based on the subject the identified skill
sets, attitudes, mindset and behaviors are reflected in the following.
Discussion:
Summary of Learning and skills including Knowing, Being and Competencies:
On the first day of workshop, for the MBA Capstone project, we were provided with the
detailed idea of the “Knowing, Doing, Being Competencies of the Capstone Project and also the
four Capstone Skills that are essential for the subject were also being discussed in detail. The
MBA capstone was created first in the year of 1946 at the Business School of Harvard. The
Capstone subject was introduced in order to mark the success of any course where all type
knowledge ideas of the course come together. The entire subject of Capstone is mainly focused
on the theory of integration and the practices that are related to it. The entire subject of MBA

3MBA CAPSTONE
capstone is mainly focused on the different elements of administration. Various debates have
been raised due to the fact that various business schools have failed to provide leaders who could
address the numerous aspects of our changing world. In order to improve the effective
management and the reflective practice for managing competitive advantages, the Knowing
Doing, Being Competencies along with the essential capstone skills proves to be beneficial. The
competencies field of knowing is referred to some theories and methods which are essential for
the successful managing of organizations. On the other hand the doing competencies is referred
to as the practical application of the knowledge in exemplary or real situations. Apart from these
two competencies the third competency that is discussed in the workshop includes the being
competency that mainly focuses on the individual values and goals based on self-reflection. The
capstone subject that is introduced within the management course helped us increasing our
knowing Doing and being competencies. From this workshop I have felt that necessary
challenges might emerge in particular interfaces in between the three competencies that are
offered. The possible gap that might take place here, is the Knowing and Doing gap that is
characterized by the lack of ability to transfer what is learnt in theories and what is practically
applied. Similarly like the knowing and doing gap, discrepancies may also arise with the
knowing and being context with this model. As per various researches suggest, the most
important and crucial competencies that are about to emerge in workplaces includes complex
problem solving ability, critical thinking and the ability to solve new problems in a more
complex environment.
The workshop also provided us with the idea of the necessary skills that are needed for
the Capstone subject. This MBA capstone subject helped us in getting knowledge about the four
very important skills which includes- Theoretical skills, Applied skills, Practical skills and

4MBA CAPSTONE
Reflective skills. The first part of the workshop helped us to develop and to create a clear
understanding of these skills and provided us ways by which we can apply these skills in making
critical decisions in businesses. Among the four skills that are discussed in the workshop, the
first skill or the theoretical skill is all about getting experienced on the content of the courses that
we have learnt in our MBA course. The theoretical skill is one of the most intellectual one and
reflects our ability to understand the complexities and the interdependencies that are required for
making better decisions in businesses. In this context, the four skills that we have mainly focused
on are the ability to recall the knowledge that is acquired in the past though our MBA course, the
ability to solve problems with the help of multiple theories, the ability to use quantitative as well
as qualitative information while solving the processes and finally to integrate both the soft and
hard skills within the course. In the overall workshop we were being asked to create lists of all
those theories that we can recall from our studies and to compare those with other group
members and to discuss each of those theories (DiStefano 2018). A video clip based on the
theoretical lenses was thus shown to us that portrayed both the sides of union lobby as well as of
the business lobby. Thus all the competencies that were being discussed in the workshop help us
to gain competitive advantages through specific competencies recalling the knowledge that we
have acquired from the past.
Reflection on the learning from the Capstone subject and Consultancy research
process:
The entire workshop that was conducted based on recalling the knowing doing being
idea. The consecutive workshop focused on the idea of strategic marketing. In strategic
marketing I have learn that how the academic skills that we have acquired through our entire
course are being challenged by the projects that are offered or conducted by various

5MBA CAPSTONE
organizations we are working for. Here in comes the use of product strategy where the products
that we use to offer services are mainly focused on designs that can satisfy the customers
according to their needs (Gallagher and McGorry 2015). This is the first challenge that is mainly
faced and needs to be aligned by the strategic direction of the firm that we are working for.
Product portfolio plays an important role here. From the workshop I have learned about the
various benefits that are being provided by the product portfolios which include standardization,
efficiency in the sales and distribution, uniformity in packages and many more. Within the
workshop activity, we were being assigned with one of the benefits and with the help of our
smartphones we were being asked to identify ways by which these benefits could be realized
(Gray et al. 2015). Producing new products is another important aspect that lies with the
sustainable growth and profit while creating differential advantages. Besides all these the
workshop provided us with the ideas of branding strategies, differentiation strategies, positioning
strategies and many more. The new trends and terms that were introduced in the workshop,
helped us to build our knowing repertoire concerning to this area. The next workshop that was
conducted was based on the applied knowledge of growth and innovation. From this workshop I
have learned that how innovation plays as an important key to business while increasing
competitiveness including strategic planning process (Albert and Grzeda 2015). As small to
medium sized companies are not always capable of benefiting from the economies of scale than
the big companies, the ability to innovate becomes much more difficult for them. Companies that
grow are known for two types of growth one is the internal and the other is the external (Forsyth
and Anastasia 2016). Within the course we were being asked to reflect on the idea that whether
disruption is needed in order to gain competitive advantages. According to me, disruption is an
important factor that needs to be retrained as it tends to tie up different companies more closely

6MBA CAPSTONE
to their buyers and suppliers and thus helps in achieving competitive advantages. The week 5
workshop that was conducted, was mainly based on the understanding of the different business
models and the problem solving techniques. The workshop seven mainly discussed the research
methods and the analysis of data for carrying out day to day operations. From this workshop we
have learned that how firms uses data management plan in order to perform better than others.
The workshop 8 discussed about the leadership communication and message dissemination
(Charlebois and von Massow 2015). From this workshop I have learned about how to develop
the change management concepts that help in leading changes and communicate the same. I
think that it is an important concept in MBA capstone project as the firms who communicate
well and focus on the change management concepts performs substantially better than other
firms (Cordell and Plaster 2015). Reporting to the management is another important part that is
covered under the capstone subject. It is a vital process that helps in providing information to
different levels of the management in order to ensure the investigation and ensures effectiveness.
Performance and metrics measurement is another important factor that I have learned in order to
measure the success and to understand the need for contingency (Gupta and Turek 2015). Some
of the important measurement metrics includes productivity, efficiency and setting up tools of
benchmarking.
Reflection on the skills developed over the MBA:
The entire MBA Capstone course helped me in building up skills which include
theoretical skills, applied skills, practical skills and most importantly the reflective skills (Green
and William 2016). From the entire MBA Capstone program a detailed relevance to the practical
business is gained by me that gave me the idea of how the process of transition to business takes
places (Morreale and Zile-Tamsen 2017). From the MBA I found that among most of the skills

7MBA CAPSTONE
that are being taught in class, professors usually miss the reflective skills and also there is a
considerable variation to the skill ideas that are being taught in class than those I gained from the
MBA Capstone course. In total I have developed my area on all the four skills that are very much
essential in order to go a long way towards ensuring future career on this field. Besides this
almost every workshops had a public speaking opportunity. This also enhanced my
communication skills capability. Now I know how to manage a diverse team using the skills that
I have gained. The entire MBA course helped me in developing my soft skills as well as the hard
skills and this will help me in developing my professional career in the long run (Zheng, Zhang
and Li 2015).
Reflection on future career:
By taking up the MBA Capstone program, it will benefit in gaining flexibility and work-
life integration. Besides the skills that area developed from the program will also help in design
thinking, to enhance employee engagement and to analyze the value of the people in different
companies (do Amaral and Gonçalves 2015). The learning’s from the course will also help in
connectivity, machine capabilities, modularizing and globalizing. In future this will also cause
the replacement in labor leading to automation, and open innovation. As the whole world is
changing so the jobs for which we are aiming for would not be existing in the future trends of
work for which the skills that have acquired from this course will be beneficial in the long run.
Conclusion:
MBA Capstone projects are one of the valuable resources that need active participation of
students. The Capstone Project is intended to provide final touch of skills that are required by the
MBA students in order to integrate the concepts that are being learnt throughout the course. The

8MBA CAPSTONE
MBA Capstone project helps in providing solution based recommendation for the organizations
through rigorous analysis and detailed researches.

9MBA CAPSTONE
References:
Albert, S. and Grzeda, M., 2015. Reflection in strategic management education. Journal of
Management Education, 39(5), pp.650-669.
Burkitt, D., 2017. MBA PROGRAM SYLLABUS. Cell, 323, pp.481-2530.
Chapman, P. and Hurford, G., 2016. Experiential learning with MBA students: bridging theory
and practice.
Charlebois, S. and von Massow, M., 2015. The effectiveness of co-opetition in a live case study
approach: Increasing knowledge of an industry while helping others in a competitive MBA
classroom environment. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 7(2), pp.164-179.
Cordell, V.V. and Plaster, T.L., 2015. The Experiential International Business Plan as a Capstone
MBA Course. In Proceedings of the 1997 World Marketing Congress (pp. 141-145). Springer,
Cham.
Corley, C., 2016. Introducing the capstone initiative: building pracademic capacity in Canada’s
community safety & well-being sector. Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 1(3), p.66.
DiStefano, M.B.A., 2018. Business Education: Real-World Capstone.
do Amaral, J.A.A. and Gonçalves, P., 2015. The use of system thinking concepts in order to
assure continuous improvement of project based learning courses. Journal of Problem Based
Learning in Higher Education, 3(2).
Forsyth, B. and Anastasia, C., 2016. The Business Simulation Paradigm: Tracking Effectiveness
in MBA Programs. Journal of Management Policy & Practice, 17(2).

10MBA CAPSTONE
Gallagher, M.J. and McGorry, S.Y., 2015. Service learning and the capstone
experience. International Advances in Economic Research, 21(4), pp.467-476.
Gray, D.M., Boasson, V., Carson, M. and Chakraborty, D., 2015. Anatomy of an MBA Program
Capstone Project Assessment Measure for AACSB Accreditation. International Journal of
Business Administration, 6(1), p.1.
Green, R.F. and Williams, S., 2016. The strategic consulting experience: Providing experiential
learning opportunities within an MBA program. In Developments in Business Simulation and
Experiential Learning: Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL conference (Vol. 43, No. 1).
Gupta, A. and Turek, J., 2015. Empirical investigation of predictors of success in an MBA
programme. Education+ Training, 57(3), pp.279-289.
Khan, M. and Ahmed, M., 2018. Capstone Project Based Experiential Learning-Case of Institute
of Business Management (IoBM). Journal of e-Learning and Higher Education, 2018.
Morreale, C. and Zile-Tamsen, V., 2017. Thinking Skills by Design: Using a Capstone ePortfolio
to Promote Reflection, Critical Thinking, and Curriculum Integration. International Journal of
ePortfolio, 7(1), pp.13-28.
Zheng, G., Zhang, C. and Li, L., 2015, September. Practicing and evaluating soft skills in IT
capstone projects. In Proceedings of the 16th Annual Conference on Information Technology
Education (pp. 109-113). ACM.