Kaplan Business School MBA600 Capstone Reflective Essay

This essay provides a detailed reflection on a student's experience in the MBA Capstone program at Capstone Institute of Management. The essay begins with an introduction to the institute and the student's motivations for pursuing an MBA, highlighting the emphasis on practical business skills and strategic thinking. The core of the essay discusses the key skills developed during the program, including the "Knowing, Doing, and Being" concept, theoretical, applied, practical, and reflective skills. The student elaborates on how these skills were acquired through coursework, case studies, and workshops. The essay explores the development of a strategic mindset, including system thinking, reframing, and reflection. It also identifies lessons learned, such as the importance of competitive advantage, corporate capabilities, and insights gained in marketing and human resource management. The student reflects on the supportive environment and the value of online resources. The essay concludes with a discussion of the skills developed in the MBA program, particularly in marketing, and how these skills will be applied in the future.

Essay On Experience at Capstone
Essay On Experience at Capstone
Name of the Student
Roll NO
Subject Code

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Essay On Experience at Capstone
Introduction
The Capstone institute of management has been a support system for students who want
to be successful in their life. I have joined the classes of MBA to be more competent for the new
business world, it’s is a well established institute that prepares the student for the world and also
equips each one with high skills. The management studies are very famous in the developing
world and there are many institutes offering a good MBA degree. Capstone is among one of the
best institutes. Its consultancy and support after enrollment is excellent (Prince, Burns, and
Winsor, 2015. I never faced any problem regarding assignment submission or getting good marks
in exam. The experienced teachers are great and are ready to help the student anytime. I learned
the skill of Knowing, Doing and Being concept in the management classes. The strategic mindset
was developed after taking their course. The institute helped me in seeing the big picture of
professional world and their opportunities. The ability of correct decision making was developed
by studying multiple subjects. I was equipped with each subject and lessons. Capstone MBA has
done a great work of educating the new minds of the world. They not only provide knowledge
but also practical business skills (Razmerita, Phillips-Wren, and Jain, 2016).
The skills taught
The major skill is to solve the problems that are of high concern for the development of
the human race. There are many competencies based on which the person is rated and thought to
be of greater abilities. Those competencies of judgment are critical thinking, complex problem
solving, people management, negotiation and many more based on which the competency of the
person is judged. In the recent years the education has developed a lot. What was thought 30
years ago was based on the old theories. Those theories are now a failure in the business world.
The new theories that make the best of the leaders are developed by new institutes (Liu, 2018).
The theories based on the Knowing, Doing and Being concept are the new concept. The
competency of knowing is knowledge of management theories that can make the person capable
of sustaining in the organization and be a good leader. The knowledge is based on the learning
from the management institute about how to use the skills to manage the work force and use the
leadership abilities to take correct decisions (Pemsel, Müller, and Söderlund, 2016).

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Essay On Experience at Capstone
The competency of the doing is the ability to work on any critical situations by applying
the knowledge of management. There are many situations in the Business world which can only
be solved with a critical analysis and thinking methodology. This skill is the most sought after
competency in the business world and is all about using the right skills at the right time.
The competency of being is the perception that one has for itself. How someone is been
prepared for the world defines how they are going to use the concept. Personal values are taught
from the beginning of the human birth and that values matters the most for the person to be in the
world. Every day everyone is judged on their way of their perception. The new defined
competency prepares the manager for new challenges of the coming era (Erickson, and Laing,
2016.).
Four major skills
Theoretical Skills- The knowledge is great and it is very important for any kind of skill. A
theoretical skill teaches why something is right and the other think is wrong. Theory prepared me
for the future education; it set the direction and helps in setting the strategies. To deeply
understand the concept through the context of what, why and how. I have gained a huge
knowledge by following and developing the theoretical skills. The more we studied the concepts
MBA the better our vision become. There are many theories that we have to look for while
solving the problem. With the gain of the theoretical knowledge I was able to increase my
intellectuals, power of memory and gain huge knowledge that was in the books (Sasson, 2017).
The content of the course was highly specified with most recent case studies and books
for new era MBA skills. To solve the complexities a theoretical knowledge is very important.
According tone example I was suppose to solve the case study and its questions based on ethical
leadership duties and skills. The book related to the topic and the study material from the course
was very informative and helpful in understanding the real practical use.
Applied skills- The link between the theoretical and the practical skills. The books that we have
studied are under the theoretical skills developed but before taking it to the practical level we
have to apply the theories to the concerned problem. I can’t solve a leadership based
management problem with the wrong applied theory of time management strategies. To
understand the right theory to be used for giving correct solution the skill of application is very

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Essay On Experience at Capstone
essential. There are many theories and to use them all for solving one management problem we
require the knowledge of applied integration skills (Prince, M., Burns, Lu, and Winsor, 2015).
Practical skills- To resolve the strategic problem the use of the theoretical and the applied skills
is called the practical skill. I was able to use the practical skill in many context. The knowledge
that is acquired for practicing the skills in formulating the concepts. A practice knowledge is all
about doing things, it is almost based on real life tasks. To accomplish the practical knowledge
we go through the theoretical knowledge. In the management world a best manager is one who
has hands on experience in the practical application of the theories that he has studied. To
understand this nicely we were given modules, tasks and workshops so that when we face the
real challenge our Knowles can save us (Machado and Davim, 2016.).
Reflective skills- How to integrate new information to gain the meaning and similarity for the
gained knowledge. The reflection on making decision based on what I have gained in the past
from the theories studied and the practical know to pledge used. To modify the belief and
assumption of what I have learned for future learning methodology to gain the best results.
The most important lesson learned was to of strategic mindset. That is the sign of being
good manager. A strategic mindset is a component of 3 things System thinking, reframing and
reflection.
System thinking - Is a methodology of understanding the relation between the interact , relate
and depend theory. The concept of strategic thinking was made clear to u by giving proper
examples and practical knowledge. I mean that being a strategic thinker I need to interact with
each other in the organization, to relate to each other and to solve the problems depend on each
other. Taking the example of ford motors who was charged with miss leading car details to the
customers. The manager here has to formulate the possible solutions to apply those solution the
method of systems thinking help in understand which theory will suit beet to eliminate the
problem, to identify interaction, interrelation and interdependence that can be possible (Beenen,
and Pichler, 2016).
Reframing- I learned about the concept of reframing. It is a way in which a framed solution ca n
be again framed with different perception. But the end result is same. To apply different
paradigm, framework and different models to understand the situation better to come to the best

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Essay On Experience at Capstone
solution. Sometimes reframing is dangerous as the result may be totally different from what has
been expected (Saïd and Alsultanny, 2019).
Reflection- how to imagine the situation after the implication of the solution is what reflection
is. I learnt to use the belief and assumption of my own against the existing information . There
are three types of reflection that is technical reflection that is related to more of the technical
works of the management. Practical reflection that works best in the live situation how to apply
the reflection to the solution. The last is the critical reflection that talks about the assumption,
ethical substance and the reframing of the problem to get the right answer.
Lessons Learned
The master’s degrees empower us with so many unique qualities. The teaching from the
capstone gave us insight of the real situations and the idea to successfully work on it. The terms
like competitive advantage which teaches us to be ahead of the crowd with some unique skill.
The corporate capabilities are the works together to achieve the particular goal. These are the
topics as example that was related to my study at capstone. I have gained a huge amount of
knowledge that will make me a good driver of management organization. I got an insightful
lesson on marketing and human resource management. The elaborated topics of marketing that
made my skill more useful in context of the industrial organizations. I found the teachers to be
very supportive. They were always availed whenever I had any query (Chernev, 2018). The
online material was very helpful. Those materials were very precise. I was more than happy to
work on every assignment, task or group projects. The best part is the convenience with which
we can prepare and give test. The motivation to do well in every task comes from the pleasing
institute and its faculty. The concept of knowing, doing and being was so new that I was amazed
at its innovation. How everything that we do or learn or apply is so inert related. I learned about
the business model form the given study material which was up to date according to the new
business model. The overall solution to all the questions were very helpful. The experienced
teachers and staffs were very helpful (Baker and Saren, 2016).
Skills developed in the MBA class
My specialization was in the marketing subject. My knowledge before entering the class
was every limited it only enhanced after joining the class. The initial classes were only about the

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Essay On Experience at Capstone
introduction of the subject with the basic knowledge. I learned about the marketing mix,
strategic management, marketing strategies, product strategy, an over view of the digital
marketing with the progress of the class. I learned how to use the skills to analysis the business
problem. There are many crisis that the world is going through. The most powerful impact was in
2008 the global financial crisis. The impact was so dreadful that many lost their job and many
companies shut down. It has been said that the problem happened due to the old strategies that
the world leaders followed. The new method to overcome any such situation is to get educated
with new concepts and terminology. The world has changed and so has the methodologies to
tackle the problem.
The everyone now uses internet and now the social media plays an important role. The
skills of handling the comments, how to use the social media to do brand marketing was taught
to us. How to handle the disruptive market and I got hands on the lean management theories.
These theories teaches us to excel in the limited time and resources without making any huge
mistake. The most important tool is to create competitive advantage for the product or service in
the market. I also learned how to create competitive advantage through people and HR criteria.
How to create authority, work life balance, quality emphasis and team work importance. How to
make a successful business plan was also learned in Capstone. I learned about the most
important management terms like the GE matrix, Porter’s generic strategies, innovative thinking,
pestles laws and many more. There were classes for the financial lessons also. Giving a clear
insight of how to do financial analysis and how to manage funds for project. The finance is the
base of any business and the hands on experience on the money management and tools made me
more empowered (Chonko and Hunt, 2018.).
MBA and its future
MBA is a tool to enhance whatever knowledge we already have. Some have experience
where as some have hereditary and some learn the skill of leadership. How we mould ourselves
to successfully face the world.
MBA gives an added advantage in terms of the knowledge, and how to work in an
organization. I learned the lesson on how to handle the clients and how to put the bad situation to
good with the learned skills. In an MBA course we don’t only have theory but also some

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Essay On Experience at Capstone
practical works that we have learned in the internship. MBA not only teaches about one subject
but in the duration of 2 year we learn so many about so many different subjects like Marketing,
HR, operation and finance. The knowledge of everything is very essential to handle the work in
the company.
MBA also teaches us how to handle the personal relationship, which in-turn helps us
maintains a good professional relationship. MBA enhances the skills those are very essential to
be used for interview and job requirements like time management, personal development,
personality development. We get to meet so many people of other country, culture and ethnicity
that brings our inner talent of managing people. The managerial personality learned are so
important to the world as it only helpful when it comes to technical knowhow of the business.
There were many terms that I learned in the MBA classes. I have been developing since
then and incorporating every skill in me to be ready for the business world. The skills that I
learned was of advertising, market and product mix knowledge, competency of KDB, the 4 skills
that are essential for a successful business student.
Conclusion
The subject of MBA is very vast but if only the important points are segregated for the
best outcome, that is what capstone did for me. I enjoyed my term as student in the institute. The
skills learned was related to the management there are professional help of sustaining in the
company. It changed my attitude to more serious and better person. The mindset has changed
regarding the industrial outlook. Now I am able to analyses any situation with a better knowledge
and can give a better solution with reasoning. My education and learning at capstone has been
great and looking forward for more such courses.
References:

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Essay On Experience at Capstone
Baker, M.J. and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Beenen, G. and Pichler, S., 2016. A discussion forum on managerial interpersonal skills. Journal
of Management Development, 35(5), pp.706-716.
Chernev, A., 2018. Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.
Chonko, L.B. and Hunt, S.D., 2018. Reflections on ethical issues in marketing management: An
empirical examination. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 28(1), pp.86-95.
Erickson, S.M. and Laing, W., 2016. The Oxford MBA: a case study in connecting academia
with business. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 19(1), p.1.
Liu, C.H.S., 2018. Examining social capital, organizational learning and knowledge transfer in
cultural and creative industries of practice. Tourism Management, 64, pp.258-270.
Machado, C. and Davim, J.P. eds., 2016. MBA: Theory and Application of Business and
Management Principles. Springer.
Pemsel, S., Müller, R. and Söderlund, J., 2016. Knowledge governance strategies in project-
based organizations. Long Range Planning, 49(6), pp.648-660.
Prince, M., Burns, D., Lu, X. and Winsor, R., 2015. Knowledge and skills transfer between
MBA and workplace. Journal of workplace learning, 27(3), pp.207-225.
Prince, M., Burns, D., Lu, X. and Winsor, R., 2015. Knowledge and skills transfer between
MBA and workplace. Journal of workplace learning, 27(3), pp.207-225.
Razmerita, L., Phillips-Wren, G. and Jain, L.C., 2016. Innovations in Knowledge Management.
Online]. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Available from: http://link. springer.
com/10.1007/978-3-662-47827-1.
Saïd, K. and Alsultanny, Y., 2019. The Perceived Impact of MBA Degree on Career and Skills
Development: An Explanatory Research Comparing French and GCC Students. Management
International, 23(2), pp.99-154.

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Essay On Experience at Capstone
Sasson, A., 2017. Understanding the Motivations: a Qualitative Analysis of Israelis Holding a
Bachelor's Degree who Pursue an MBA Abroad. Qualitative Research in Education, 6(2),
pp.179-213.