The MBA Capstone Course

Abstract

The capstone strategy course is used in many management education programs to provide practical business relevance as a means for students to transition to the business world. We conducted an empirical study to determine to what extent capstone strategy courses are teaching the following four skills that prepare students to meet business job demands: theoretical, practical, applied, and reflective. We found that professors teach applied skills the most, whereas they teach reflective skills the least. However, there was considerable variation in professors’ assessments of the extent to which each skill is taught in their capstone strategy classes. This finding suggests that there is a wide variety of course configurations taught across business schools. We also found that students were learning these skills differentially based on whether they had a business undergraduate background and business work experience. However, all students were learning reflective skills the least. We conclude that providing students with the four skills will go a long way toward ensuring that future managerial decisions are grounded on thoughtful iterative analyses that take into account ambiguities, multiple perspectives, and long-term, systemic implications.