Reflective Essay: MBA600 Capstone, Skills, and Future Career

This reflective essay provides a comprehensive overview of a student's MBA journey, focusing on the skills and knowledge acquired throughout the program, particularly through the capstone project. The essay delves into the student's personal and professional development, highlighting the evolution of their communication, presentation, and research skills. It emphasizes the importance of management and leadership theories, and discusses the development of essential capstone skills such as research, problem-solving, and decision-making. The student reflects on the consultancy research process, emphasizing its impact on their understanding of business dynamics and their preparedness for future career endeavors. The essay concludes with a discussion of how the acquired skills and competencies will contribute to their success as a manager and leader.

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Learning can be considered to be an ongoing procedure which assists in ensuring that an
individual can grow and develop throughout life (Driscoll 2005). The learning as a process can
be considered to be very difficult process for some individuals because; every individual has a
different pace of learning (Cinque 2016). The MBA course can be considered to be a
comprehensive course and in regard to this, it can be largely understood that the course provides
an enriching learning experience to the various students and not only provides them with the
academic knowledge but also provides them with the practical knowledge of the scenarios which
generally tend to take place in the business environment. Therefore, in regard to this, the primary
aim of this reflective essay is to outline the manner in which I have been able to attain my skills
as a student and as a manager. Additionally, the essay will also be highlighting the manner in
which I have been able to gain capabilities and learning as per my capability, outline the manner
in which I have acquired my essential capstone skills. An assessment and personal reflection of
the manner in which I have learnt how to undertake the consultancy research processes and other
related aspects will also be made. Additionally, how I have developed as a person in this course
of time and how these learned skills will be beneficial for me in the future shall be discussed
accordingly.
Summary of reflective capability and learning
I can describe myself as a person who has always been hardworking and who likes to
take up responsibilities in the right way. Essentially, during this capstone project and my MBA
life I have changed and I have received an opportunity to become a better individual. Relating to
this, it can be rightfully mentioned that I have become better at communication and presentation.

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Earlier, I had not realized the manner in which communication acts as an essential skill which
has to be gained by an individual. However, after undertaking this course, I have arrived at the
realization that in order to succeed in the domain of business, communication has a key role to
play and that if a person is good at communicating, then in such a scenario, they will essentially
be able to perform well.
Moreover, I was also able to enrich my presentation skills which have enormously helped
me to become better at public speaking and business and class presentations. Additionally,
through this coursework I was able to get an idea of how the business environment has an overall
capability to impact the different functioning’s of the current business operations and moreover, I
was also able to understand the underlying importance of research in any business. Through this
capstone project , I have been able to utilize my time in understanding how the different business
tend to perform well in the long run and how it is important for them to consider the outline
factors. I was able to understand that the understanding of these external factors usually tends to
come from the external business research. This capstone project has essentially made me a better
researcher by assessing my research skills and helping me to understand the manner in which the
different mediums have to be made use of to carry out a research and to attain the objectives of
the research.
Knowing
The knowing can be defined as the body of knowledge which needs to be known by the
manager as it will assist them in leading as well as managing effectively (Rosenbach 2018).
Hence, through the course of MBA and through my Capstone project, I was able to gain an idea
about the different management and effective leadership theories which would assist me in

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becoming a better manager. By undertaking courses in various subjects like the Finance, Human
resource management, strategic management, marketing and operations, I was able to get a view
of how the different management theories help and guide the managers and influence them to
undertake the right decision at the right time. Moreover, I was also able to gain an idea about the
method in which the different employees are required to be managed in an organization. This
knowledge assisted me in becoming a better manager and infused me with better leadership skills
which in the long run would assist me to perform well.
Being
The Being states that, self-knowledge as well as awareness about oneself is a good way
of becoming a better leader (Western 2019). Hence, as mentioned earlier, I have always been a
hard worker and have taken various decisions in the past which have assisted me to perform
better. In association with this, the course has helped me to gain my awareness and build my
self-knowledge by exposing me to the finest resources. I have had an access to the library which
has thereby enabled me to build my knowledge and has assisted me in becoming more self-
aware. This self-awareness aspect has then been useful to me as this has helped me in engaging
in various activities which have helped me to earn better leadership skills and will be of great
help to me in the long run when I actually become an intricate part of the organization Therefore,
this coursework and the Capstone project has greatly assisted me in building my skills and made
me a better individual.
Competencies
The competencies help in ensuring that a person is able to become a better individual and
that they are able to imbibe certain skills and knowledge which would be very helpful to them in

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the future (Grint et al. 2016). In regard to this I would like to state that through the coursework
and the capstone project, I was essentially able to build on my leadership competencies. Earlier,
before undertaking this course I did not have any idea about the different leadership
competencies which existed and hence, this limited my overall capabilities and limited my
interactions with my peer group. However, currently, I have been successfully able to build
on my competencies and have been able to come up with different ideas and perspectives which
have assisted me. I have been able to learn that the three key competencies which need to be
followed and preached in order to become an effective leader can be mention to be as follows:
Action orientation, building trust and accountability and lastly the agility. These competencies
have been defined as a core aspect of leadership.
Although I have always been accountability and a trustworthy individual, it is after I
undertook this course that I was able to gain an idea about the fact that if I was to succeed in the
long run then I would be essentially required to be an action oriented leader. With this, I would
like to mention that, it would be essential for me to be able to lead with my actions and it is
through this aspect that I would be required to engage in an agile leadership whereby I would be
required to manage many things at once and would be required to become advanced. Therefore, I
have been able to build various competencies through these programs.
Essential capstone skills
The capstone project in any specialization aims at preparing the different students so that
they are able to give in their full participation and in line of this, they are successfully able to
engage in the studies by building awareness and the understanding of the core values as well as
the expectations of the academic culture (Kim and Lundberg 2016). It not only assists in building

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the different skills of the business but also assist in ensuring that the real world problems and
case studies can be solved by the firms essentially. Therefore, by undertaking this study, I was
able to attain the four essential capstone skills which can be outlined as:
Research skills: The capstone skill which was most critical to me can be defined as the research
skills which acknowledged me to a use of a large number of research techniques which could be
applied in order to find the answers to some of the research objectives and related questions. I
was able to gain an understanding of the various research tools with the help of which I was able
to gain an idea about the manner in which the real life research projects in my future
organization can be managed essentially.
Problem solving skills: The Capstone also assisted me in gaining the problem solving skills.
These problem solving skills helped me to understand that very often the problems form a
common part of the research which is undertaken but this simply indicates towards the fact that,
in order to manage a business in the right manner, it is important for the firm to see to it that they
are being able to manage the different issues well and that they are being able to manage all
future scenarios.
Real life decision making skills: Another essential capstone skill I attained was the decision
making skill. The decision making skills refer to the creative and innovative solutions which
have to be designed for the real world problems. These help in seeing to it that an organization is
successfully able to manage the work and with relevance to this, they are being able to find the
appropriate means to look out for the different problems being faced by them.
Written and oral skills: The last capstone critical skill, the knowledge of which I was able to gain
can be referred to as the communication skill. By making use of this skill, I was able to ensure

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that I am successfully being able to gain extensive ideas about the manner in which I am required
to perform and additionally, I was also able to gain an idea of how I will be able to manage the
businesses and present my points in the long run.
A personal reflection on learnings from the capstone project and consultancy research
process
After experiencing the capstone project and undertaking the consultancy research
process, I would like to mention that the entire experience has been very wholesome and learning
to me. Through this endeavor, I was able to experience a great deal of learning and was
successfully able to ensure that I am being able to emerge as a better individual. As mentioned
earlier, I was able to sharpen my research skills. Earlier, before taking the capstone project, I did
not engage in much research for nay projects but just referred to a few textbooks in order to
ensure that I am able to complete my assessments. However, it is undertaking this capstone
project which has helped me to gain a better knowledge about the manner in which the research
is to be carried out successfully and also assisted me to see to it that, I will be required to see to it
that I am citing all the works which I have taken and this has assisted me to become a better
researcher.
Moreover, the problem solving and decision taking skills which I had undertaken as a
part of my capstone project also assisted me to conduct my work in a better manner and to be
able to manage my responsibilities well. I have come to the conclusion that the research tends to
be an integral part of any business success and it is with respect to this that I was able to attain an
idea about the manner in which the research has to take place. The consultancy research project
exposed me to a new business dynamics which assisted me in gaining an idea about the ways in

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which I am required to work in the real world. It exposed me to an opportunity through which I
was able to learn various ways of the professional world. Hence, I would like to mention that
undertake this opportunity has been good for me.
A personal reflection on skills developed over the MBA
The MBA has enabled me to develop a variety of skills over the last two years. Although
I was well disciplined earlier and believed in engaging in handwork, it is through the medium of
MBA that I have been able to develop a number of skills over the last few years which comprise
of Time management skills, organizational skills, communication skills and oral as well as
written presentation skills. My time while taking the course has been very useful whereby I have
been able to utilize my potential to the best of my abilities and have been able to become a better
manager with respect to time management skills, communication skills and overall
organizational skills. I am grateful for undertaking this course as earlier, I did not have these
skills and hence, I am under the belief that undertaking the opportunity has been a life time
experience. Through this course, I have been able to develop various contacts as well which has
assisted me in gaining overall better relationships. Additionally, I also undertook the leadership
competencies which would assist me in the long run. I was a part of various teams throughput the
course and this has assisted me to become a team player. We undertook various case studies and
assessment in teams where I was a team leader and hence, this was a practice for me,
A personal reflection on how these will assist in future career endeavors
Having described the various skills which I was able to undertake through the capstone
project and he different skills which I gained through MBA, it is essential to note that, the MBA
also assisted me in preparing for my future career endeavors. If I am working in an organization,

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I would be able to make use of my personal communication and interpersonal skills in order to
interact with the different individuals in a better manner. Additionally, I will also be able to use
my presentation as well as written competency in the future at my workplace as these will enable
me to become a better worker and will assist my seniors in taking my expertise as a means to
achieve success. I have developed some excellent research skills through this initiative of the
capstone project and the MBA as well and this shall go a long way in assisting me to ensure that
I am being able to engage in a successful relationship with my colleagues. I have learnt the skills
of team work and I believe that this would adjsut me a in a better manner to my work groups.
Hence, after reviewing these skills my employers will be able to realize that I have the potential
in me and this will assist me in my career growth prospects.
Conclusions
Therefore, with respect to this, I would like to mention that it was a good decision to
undertake the MBA as this has assisted me in gaining various skills and competencies which will
be very useful to me tin the long run. In this reflective essay, I have outlined the various skills
which I possessed earlier and the manner in which through my capstone project and through my
MBA as a course I have been able to gain a number of skills. The latter half of the essay
highlighted the manner in which I will be able to use these skills in my future work. I have also
presented a review of these skills gained by me.

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