capstone project mba

MBA Capstone & Thesis | 2022 Guide

Reese Lopez

Contributing Writer

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Updated November 17, 2022

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Typically serving as the culminating experience in an MBA program, a capstone or thesis project bridges academic study and professional practice, applying the skills gained from an MBA to real-world business management and research. Thesis projects commonly take a more academic, research-based approach, while capstones focus on the practical side of business, often requiring students to identify and solve problems at real companies.

Capstones require students to synthesize everything they've learned from their MBA programs, serving as their best opportunity to demonstrate understanding of business principles and practices. Andrew Gold, an associate professor of management at Saint Leo University in Florida, puts it plainly: "The capstone is probably the single most important class in the entire program."

This page offers a general guide to MBA capstone and thesis projects. Below, find an overview of the key differences between the two types of projects, typical steps to research and writing, capstone project examples, and answers to common questions -- all accompanied by expert advice from an MBA faculty member.

What's the Difference Between a Capstone and a Thesis?

While a capstone and thesis serve similar functions, most MBA programs distinguish between the two projects. MBAs typically include practicum/internship components, enabling students to gain hands-on experience in professional business environments. Capstones build on this experience, requiring students to develop practical solutions to real-world business problems.

As Gold explains, "The [capstone] is intended to demonstrate that you understand and can apply what you have learned about the various disciplines in the business school and use some creativity to put together comprehensive analyses of complicated, real-life problems."

A thesis generally takes a more academic approach, requiring students to answer a question to contribute new knowledge to the field through a comprehensive research paper. Programs with an academic focus, preparing graduates for research and academic positions, might opt for a thesis over a capstone.

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The MBA Capstone

Broadly, MBA capstones require students to synthesize major program principles to address contemporary business issues, serving to assess overall knowledge and individual skill. As Gold explains, "In addition to demonstrating students' abilities to analyze complex problems, the [capstone] typically shows evidence of creative thinking, critical thinking, and the ability to examine a problem from a variety of functional perspectives." The following sections detail typical capstone components and processes.

The MBA Capstone Process

The MBA Capstone Format

Choosing Your Capstone Topic

Example Topics for Capstone Projects

Business plan for a startup venture, analysis of emerging technology threats, reorganization after corporate downsizing, gamification of sustainability behavior, feasibility and market analysis for a new app.

Completing Your MBA Capstone

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How to Research for Your Capstone

Capstone research often involves a literature review of existing information on a topic, along with original research into the company itself. To address a business problem, students must understand both the general nature of the problem and its specific impact on an organization.

Gold recommends students familiarize themselves with their capstone topics before contacting their organizations with questions: "Get as much information as possible from publicly available sources. Prepare questions in advance."

When conducting interviews, strive for courtesy and professionalism. "Understand that the people you speak with in the company are doing this outside their normal job routine, so make it as easy as possible for them to help you with the least amount of effort on their part," Gold adds. "Be specific with your requests and be very professional."

How to Outline Your Capstone

After conducting initial research, students should create an outline to organize their ideas and prepare to write their capstone papers. Exact organizational strategies vary depending on capstone subject, but most papers begin with an introduction to the company and/or business issue before moving into a more in-depth problem statement. The paper then states capstone goals and objectives, and it describes methods and strategies, a management plan, and a strategy for evaluating the effectiveness of the project.

Gold offers some practical advice for students: "Start with a high-level list of bullet points that will carve out each of the different sections of the project. Then start to narrow down each of the sections. Much of the outline will develop as you start to proceed with the project and there are a variety of templates online that you can also use as a guide."

How to Write Your Capstone

Gold recommends students begin their writing with high-level questions: "What is it that you are trying to answer? Avoid very simple yes/no-type questions, and instead ask questions like, 'How might we' or 'How can we,' that imply more complicated answers. As you hone in your question/topic for your project, then start to think about how you would go about answering the question."

Given that most capstone projects aim to propose solutions to business problems, students should ensure they clearly define the business problem, their strategies for addressing it, and their methods for evaluating strategy effectiveness. Capstone writing should always adopt a professional tone, suitable for academic or business communications, and students can work with faculty to ensure their work meets professional standards.

Capstone Project Workflow Tips

Make realistic goals, divide work into stages, delegate tasks efficiently, use past work as a guide, seek assistance when necessary.

Presenting Your MBA Capstone

How Is an MBA Capstone Graded?

The MBA Thesis

An MBA thesis functions similarly to a capstone in some regards, but the two projects maintain notable differences. While capstones address practical business problems, thesis projects draw on original research to contribute new knowledge to the field of business. This section outlines major components of an MBA thesis.

The MBA Thesis Format

Choosing Your Thesis Topic

Completing Your MBA Thesis

Presenting Your MBA Thesis

How is an MBA Thesis Graded?

Frequently Asked Questions About MBA Capstone

What is an mba capstone project, what are different types of mba capstones, is a capstone course hard, how long does an mba capstone project take, what is a great company for an mba capstone analysis project, what happens if you fail your capstone, is a capstone the same as a thesis, what is the difference between a dissertation and a capstone, is a thesis required for an mba, how long is an mba thesis, meet andrew gold.

Andrew Gold

Andrew Gold , Ph.D., is an associate professor of management at Saint Leo University in Florida and an adjunct associate professor at the University of North Carolina, teaching managing innovation processes and performance in the online MBA program . He received his bachelor's degree in finance in 1992 from Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business, with a focus on international finance and investments. He received his doctorate in 2002 from the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School, with a focus on strategy and innovation management.

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Guide to the Business School Capstone Project - Types & Examples

• What is an MBA Capstone Project?

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An MBA capstone project is the final step in many MBA programs. It’s here that MBA students put all that they’ve learned into practice by analyzing a meaningful and strategic business question. Often, this involves hands-on work within an existing company, but not always: MBA capstone projects can take the form of startup business plans and business simulations, too.

No matter their format or focus, each capstone project is likely to be the most intensive, and possibly the most rewarding, feature of an MBA candidate’s journey.

A capstone project is not the same as a thesis project, although they do share some qualities. Thesis projects are focused on theory and research, and based on the type of situations one would face in academia. Often taking the form of a large research paper, thesis projects can last the entire final year of an academic program, and some students may even begin before that, with the ultimate goal of contributing new knowledge to the canon of business research.

MBA capstone projects, by contrast, are more practical and similar to situations one would face in the business world. Here, students work in teams to answer strategic business questions. MBA capstones are hands-on immersions with real-world consequences, and they can have a major impact on an MBA graduate’s program experience, as well as their career.

To see some examples of MBA capstone projects, and to get a walkthrough of the general process, read on.

Stages of an MBA Capstone Project

Most MBA capstone projects take place during a program’s final year and can last anywhere from four weeks to a full semester. They often include some form of instruction (whether through prerequisite courses or scheduled advising) along with practical application.

While MBA capstone programs will vary in format from program to program, they generally include the following stages:

• Topic Selection
• Preliminary Research
• Project Execution
• Written Report
• Final Presentation

It’s not necessarily over after the final presentation, either: some capstone projects carry over beyond the MBA program, leading to successful startup businesses, offers of employment, or investment opportunities.

Choosing a Capstone Topic

Many MBA programs provide some structured options for choosing a capstone topic. This can mean students are allowed to select from a list of possible partnership opportunities; it can also mean that faculty advisors will work with students to find a topic that meets the student’s strengths, weaknesses, and goals. But in other programs, MBA students are given more freedom to choose both their topic and their partner organization.

In their capstone project, MBA students should select a topic where they can answer a meaningful and strategic business question: one that’s complex enough to warrant significant time and energy, but also realistic enough as to be achievable. These are not theoretical questions, though; each one is tailored to a specific real-world business.

Some examples of MBA capstone topics include:

• What are the short-term outcomes of a mutual fund’s impact-investing initiative?
• How do the diversity and inclusion efforts of multinational companies adapt to non-Western office environments?
• What is the market feasibility of a startup’s application in target demographics?
• How can a recently downsized organization recover employee morale while keeping the budget balanced?

It’s critical for the capstone topic to be specifically relevant to the partner company or organization. To this end, MBA students should heavily research the company’s strengths, weaknesses, and objectives before selecting their topic.

Similarly, MBA students should turn that lens on themselves, too: what problems do they want to explore in their business careers, what causes do they find interesting, and how can their own unique skill set be best put to use?

How an MBA Capstone is Graded

Some programs provide MBA candidates with a rubric for how their capstone will be graded, while others do not. Most capstones are graded through their ability to demonstrate key business skills (theoretical, practical, applied, and reflective) across functional areas (finance, human resources, marketing, and operations).

The final presentation is also a factor, as this is where the candidate demonstrates what they learned, or didn’t, through the course of the capstone.

It’s rare that an MBA candidate will fail their capstone project. After all, they’ve made it through practically an entire MBA program up until then. Even if the project is a failure from a business point of view, an MBA candidate will likely still be able to effectively analyze where and why the project failed, and what lessons can be learned from that failure going forward.

Examples of MBA Capstone Projects

Ucla anderson school of management capstone project.

The MBA program at UCLA Anderson School of Management offers three capstone options: the Global Access Program (GAP), the Business Creation Option (BCO), and Anderson Student Asset Management (ASAM).

In the GAP, students partner with high-growth global companies in a market-entry consulting project. Working in five- to six-person teams, students bid on partnership opportunities, perform five to six months of research, then travel internationally to the partner organization. Combining interviews, meetings, and research, the students develop effective strategic business plans to advance the organization’s growth, and present it to the organization’s executives, potential investors, and industry professionals.

Along the way, students are advised by faculty members who have directed, invested in, and provided consulting services to leading companies worldwide. In the last 20 years, over 3,000 students have completed the GAP, impacting 738 companies across 23 countries.

For students with an entrepreneurship focus, the BCO offers them the chance to launch a company. After taking two prerequisite courses to prepare their business plans, students will work in teams across two academic quarters. Through extensive research, development, and implementation, students will put strategies for every aspect of their business into practice. In three years, the BCO has had 47 teams and launched 24 companies.

The ASAM program is for current and aspiring quants who want experience as successful long-term portfolio managers. Guided by a faculty advisor and oversight committee, students in the ASAM program will select an optimal mix of equity, fixed income, and cash investments. Each four-member team manages approximately $200,000. Students will rotate work roles between that of an executive board member, strategy lead, risk manager, and programmer.

Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business Capstone Project

The MBA program at Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business offers students three different forms of capstone program: Global Study; Strategic Management of the Enterprise; and Management Game.

In the Global Study capstone, MBA students will take a four-week study abroad course in either Mainland China and Hong Kong or Germany. Previous topics of study have included bank lending in China; entrepreneurship in Asia; European economic integration; and operations management in Europe. Each class is complemented with tours of local companies and meetings with local business leaders. Upon completion of the international experience, students return to Tepper to give a final presentation.

The Strategic Management of the Enterprise capstone is an experiential learning course where students are matched with one of several consulting projects to solve business problems faced by partner companies. This is a more traditional capstone program, focused on the practical application of business skills learned through the MBA curriculum. Past clients have included Walmart, P&G, and Ameriprise.

Tepper’s Management Game capstone is an applied management experience. Student teams run a computer-simulated multinational manufacturing company for three years, acting as its executive committee. Taking place at the end of the MBA program’s curriculum, the Management Game capstone focuses on the unstructured nature of business problems and prods students to use all the functional skills they’ve learned so far. External-facing exercises include interaction with industry partners and are related to each student’s career choices.

Uniquely, the Management Game capstone is graded by external professionals on the merit of the results students deliver; students have the chance to receive direct feedback from corporate partners throughout the process.

Matt Zbrog is a writer and freelancer who has been living abroad since 2016. His nonfiction has been published by Euromaidan Press, Cirrus Gallery, and Our Thursday. Both his writing and his experience abroad are shaped by seeking out alternative lifestyles and counterculture movements, especially in developing nations. You can follow his travels through Eastern Europe and Central Asia on Instagram at @weirdviewmirror . He’s recently finished his second novel, and is in no hurry to publish it.

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APPLYING MBA KNOWLEDGE IN REAL TIME

Business Creation Program (BCP)

Strategic Management Research (SMR)

SMR is an experiential learning project in which you will form a consulting team to address a business challenge or opportunity on behalf of a client organization. After a deep dive into research, you’ll present key insights and recommendations to the leadership of the organization.

Instead of working on behalf of a client organization, your team, along with an advisor from the entrepreneurship faculty, will spend six months transforming your idea from a business plan to a functional startup organization .

BCP teams can make use of the new UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator.

EMBA BCP - Elims

Belinda, co-founder and CEO of sustainable oral care products company ELIMS taps into BCP capstone, t he UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator and other campus incubators to develop her award-winning business.

EMBA BCP - Nur Labs

Sumita '21 leverages UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator's Summer Activate program, the interdisciplinary studies of UCLA Biodesign, and the necessary connections to launch Nur Labs, an early lung cancer detection platform.

EMBA BCP - Bluefin Foods

Bluefin Foods Inc., is a cell-cultured seafood company focused on bringing bluefin tuna sushi products to all the sushi lovers in the world. Bluefin Foods success is a prime example of the benefits of cross-campus and student research collaboration at UCLA. 

EMBA BCP - Amptron Medical

Before covid-19, a ucla anderson executive mba team developed a low-cost ventilator to deploy amid the pandemic..

Amptron Team (Class of 2020)

Left to right:  Vikram Saurabh (’20), Shannon Demus (’20), Stephan Hwang (’20), Aanchal Kumar (’20), Nirav Patel (’20), and Dezireh Sevanesian (’20)

Is the only program at a top 20 business school that has an entrepreneurial capstone program that allows students to receive credit for working on their startup

Has exploded in growth in the last five years due to the expansion to the femba and emba programs, continues to be the highest rated field study option.

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Tepper School of Business

MBA Capstone Courses

Capstones are immersive, experiential courses at the end of your Tepper experience. Options include working alongside corporations or participating in a strategic management exercise.

Management Game is offered in the online format; Strategic Management of the Enterprise is available to students who can take classes on campus.

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Capstones in Tracks

Students who enroll in an mba track complete their capstone course within that track. , "my capstone showed me that as a business community, we need to invest in bringing emerging energy markets to maturity. it’s exciting, because once the economic problems are solved through scale or incentive structure, there's an opportunity to really change the way the world works in 15 or 20 years.", zachary blustein, mba 2022 (he/him).

Management Game

Management Game is an applied strategic and general management exercise. Teams of students operate computer-simulated companies for three years, acting as the executive committee of a multinational manufacturing company.

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Strategic Management of the Enterprise

Offered in partnership with A.T. Kearney and select sponsoring companies, this capstone is an experiential learning course that sensitizes students to the real-world challenges faced by managers.

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The Best 150 Capstone Project Topic Ideas

10 May 2022

Quick Navigation

❔What is a Capstone Project?

Capstone Project Ideas:

• 💾Computer Science
• 🎒High School Education
• 💻Information Technology
• 🎭Psychology
• 🪄Management
• 🪛Engineering
• 💰Accounting

✅Capstone Writing: 10 Steps

The long path of research works ahead, and you can’t find any capstone project ideas that would be interesting and innovative? The task can seem even more challenging for you to feel all the responsibility of this first step. The top 150 capstone ideas presented below aim to make a choice not so effort-consuming.

With the list of the capstone project topics we've picked for you, you'll be covered in major subjects. Continue reading, and you'll get ideas for capstone projects in information technology, nursing, psychology, marketing, management, and more.

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What is a Capstone Project?

Educational institutions use the capstone project to evaluate your understanding of the course on various parameters. For the students, the work on the project gives an excellent opportunity to demonstrate their presentation, problem-solving and soft skills. Capstone projects are normally used in the curriculum of colleges and schools. Also called a senior exhibition or a culminating project, these assignments are given to finish the academic course.

This assignment has several different objectives, among which are the following:

• to encourage independent planning,
• to learn to meet up deadlines,
• to practice a detailed analysis,
• to work in teams.

It's not that easy to pick the right capstone paper topic. The problem intensifies as each student or separate teams have to work on a single assignment which has to be unique. The best capstone project ideas may possibly run out. However, whatever topic you opt for, you’d better start your preparation and research on the subject as early as possible.

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Amazing Capstone Project Ideas for Nursing Course

Studying nursing is challenging, as it requires a prominent theoretical foundation and is fully practical at the same time. You should have to do thorough research and provide evidence for your ideas, but what to start with? The preparation for your capstone project in nursing won’t be so overwhelming if you make use of these capstone title ideas:

• Innovation and Improvement in Nursing
• Vaccination Chart Creation
• The Role of Nurses in Today's Society
• Shortage in Nursing and Its Effects on Healthcare
• Evidential Practices and Their Promotion in Nursing
• Global Changes in the Approach to Vaccination
• Top Emergency Practices
• Preventive Interventions for ADHD
• Quality of Nursing and Hospital Personnel Shifts: The Interrelation
• Ways to Prevent Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Brand New Approaches in Diagnostics in the Nursing Field
• Diabetes Mellitus in Young Adults: Prevention and Treatment
• Healthcare in Ambulances: Methods of Improvement
• Postpartum Depression Therapy
• The Ways to Carry a Healthy Baby

Attractive Computer Science Capstone Project Ideas

Computer science is so rapidly developing that you might easily get lost in the new trends in the sphere. Gaming and internet security, machine learning and computer forensics, artificial intelligence, and database development – you first have to settle down on something. Check the topics for the capstone project examples below to pick one. Decide how deeply you will research the topic and define how wide or narrow the sphere of your investigation will be.

• Cybersecurity: Threats and Elimination Ways
• Data Mining in Commerce: Its Role and Perspectives
• Programming Languages Evolution
• Social Media Usage: How Safe It Is?
• Classification of Images
• Implementation of Artificial Intelligence in Insurance Cost Prediction
• Key Security Concerns of Internet Banking
• SaaS Technologies of the Modern Time
• Evolvement of Mobile Gaming and Mobile Gambling
• The Role of Cloud Computing and IoT in Modern Times
• Chatbots and Their Role in Modern Customer Support
• Computer Learning Hits and Misses
• Digitalization of Education
• Artificial Intelligence in Education: Perspectives
• Software Quality Control: Top Modern Practices

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Several High School Education Capstone Project Ideas for Inspiration

High school education is a transit point in professional education and the most valuable period for personal soft skills development. No wonder that the list of capstone project ideas in high school education involves rather various topics. They may range from local startup analysis and engineer’s career path to bullying problems. It’s up to you to use the chosen statement as the ready capstone project title or just an idea for future development.

• A Small Enterprise Business Plan
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Virtual Learning in Schools
• Space Tourism: The Start and Development
• Pros and Cons of Uniforms and Dress Codes
• What is Cyberbullying and How to Reduce It
• Becoming a Doctor: Find Your Way
• Career in Sports: Pros and Cons
• How to Eliminate the Risks of Peer Pressure
• Ensuring Better Behaviours in Classroom
• Cutting-Edge Technologies: NASA versus SpaceX
• The Reverse Side of Shyness
• Stress in High School and the Ways to Minimize It
• How to Bring Up a Leader
• Outdated Education Practices
• Learning Disabilities: What to Pay Attention to in Children’s Development

Capstone Project Topics in Information Technology – Search for Your Best

Information technology is a separate area developed on the basis of computer science, and it might be challenging to capture the differences between them. If you hesitate about what to start with – use the following topics for capstone project as the starting point for your capstone research topics.

• Types of Databases in Information Systems
• Voice Recognition Technology and Its Benefits
• The Perspectives of Cloud Computing
• Security Issues of VPN Usage
• Censorship in Internet Worldwide
• Problems of Safe and Secure Internet Environment
• The Cryptocurrency Market: What Are the Development Paths?
• Analytics in the Oil and Gas Industry: The Benefits of Big Data Utilization
• Procedures, Strengths and Weaknesses in Data Mining
• Networking Protocols: Safety Evaluation
• Implementation of Smart Systems in Parking
• Workplace Agile Methodology
• Manual Testing vs. Automated Testing
• Programming Algorithms and the Differences Between Them
• Strengths and Weaknesses of Cybersecurity

Psychology Capstone Project Ideas

Society shows increasing attention to mental health. The range of issues that influence human psychology is vast, and the choice may be difficult. You’ll find simple capstone project ideas to settle on in the following list.

• The Impact of Abortion on Mental Health
• Bipolar Disorder and Its Overall Effects on the Life Quality
• How Gender Influences Depression
• Inherited and Environmental Effects on Hyperactive Children
• The Impact of Culture on Psychology
• How Sleep Quality Influences the Work Performance
• Long- and Short-Term Memory: The Comparison
• Studying Schizophrenia
• Terrorist’s Psychology: Comprehension and Treatment
• The Reasons for Suicidal Behaviour
• Aggression in Movies and Games and Its Effects on Teenagers
• Military Psychology: Its Methods and Outcomes
• The Reasons for Criminal Behavior: A Psychology Perspective
• Psychological Assessment of Juvenile Sex Offenders
• Do Colours Affect The Brain?

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Capstone Project Ideas for Management Course

Studying management means dealing with the most varied spheres of life, problem-solving in different business areas, and evaluating risks. The challenge starts when you select the appropriate topic for your capstone project. Let the following list help you come up with your ideas.

• Innovative Approaches in Management in Different Industries
• Analyzing Hotels Customer Service
• Project Manager: Profile Evaluation
• Crisis Management in Small Business Enterprises
• Interrelation Between Corporate Strategies and Their Capital Structures
• How to Develop an Efficient Corporate Strategy
• The Reasons For Under-Representation of Managing Women
• Ways to Create a Powerful Public Relations Strategy
• The Increasing Role of Technology in Management
• Fresh Trends in E-Commerce Management
• Political Campaigns Project Management
• The Risk Management Importance
• Key Principles in the Management of Supply Chains
• Relations with Suppliers in Business Management
• Business Management: Globalization Impact

Capstone Project Ideas for Your Marketing Course

Marketing aims to make the business attractive to the customer and client-oriented. The variety of easy capstone project ideas below gives you the start for your research work.

• How to Maximize Customer Engagement
• Real Businesses Top Content Strategies
• Creation of Brand Awareness in Online Environments
• The Efficiency of Blogs in Traffic Generation
• Marketing Strategies in B2B and B2C
• Marketing and Globalization
• Traditional Marketing and Online Marketing: Distinguishing Features
• How Loyalty Programs Influence Customers
• The Principles of E-Commerce Marketing
• Brand Value Building Strategies
• Personnel Metrics in Marketing
• Social Media as Marketing Tools
• Advertising Campaigns: The Importance of Jingles
• How to Improve Marketing Channels
• Habitual Buying Behaviours of Customers

Best Capstone Engineering Project Ideas

It’s difficult to find a more varied discipline than engineering. If you study it – you already know your specialization and occupational interest, but the list of ideas below can be helpful.

• How to Make a Self-Flying Robot
• How to Make Robotic Arm
• Biomass Fuelled Water Heater
• Geological Data: Transmission and Storage
• Uphill Wheelchairs: The Use and Development
• Types of Pollution Monitoring Systems
• Operation Principles of Solar Panels
• Developing a Playground for Children with Disabilities
• The Car with a Remote-Control
• Self-Driving Cars: Future or Fantasy?
• The Perspectives of Stair-Climbing Wheelchair
• Mechanisms of Motorized Chains
• How to Build a Car Engine
• Electric Vehicles are Environment-Friendly: Myth or Reality?
• The Use of Engineering Advancements in Agriculture

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Capstone Project Ideas for MBA

Here you might read some senior capstone project ideas to help you with your MBA assignment.

• Management Strategies for Developing Countries Businesses
• New App Market Analysis
• Corporate Downsizing and the Following Re-Organization
• How to Make a Business Plan for a Start-Up
• Relationships with Stakeholders
• Small Teams: Culture and Conflict
• Organization Managing Diversity
• What to Pay Attention to in Business Outsourcing
• Business Management and Globalization
• The Most Recent HR Management Principles
• Dealing with Conflicts in Large Companies
• Culturally Differentiated Approaches in Management
• Ethical Principles in Top-Tier Management
• Corporate Strategy Design
• Risk Management and Large Businesses

Capstone Project Ideas for an Accounting Course

Try these ideas for your Capstone Project in Accounting – and get the best result possible.

• How Popular Accounting Theories Developed
• Fixed Assets Accounting System
• Accounting Principles in Information Systems
• Interrelation Between Accounting and Ethical Decision-Making
• Ways to Minimize a Company’s Tax Liabilities
• Tax Evasion and Accounting: Key Principles
• Auditing Firm Accounting Procedures
• A New Accounting Theory Development
• Accounting Software
• Top Three World Recessions
• Accounting Methods in Proprietorship
• Accounting Standards Globally and Locally
• Personal Finance and the Recession Effect
• Company Accounting: Managerial Principles and Functions
• Payroll Management Systems

Capstone Writing: 10 Essential Steps

Be it a senior capstone project of a high school pupil or the one for college, you follow these ten steps. This will ensure you’ll create a powerful capstone paper in the outcome and get the best grade:

• One of the tips to choose a topic that your professors would be interested in is picking a subject in the course of your classes. Make notes during the term and you will definitely encounter an appropriate topic.
• Opt for a precise topic rather than a general one. This concerns especially business subjects.
• Have your capstone project topic approved by your professor.
• Conduct a thorough information search before developing a structure.
• Don’t hesitate to do surveys; they can provide extra points.
• Schedule your time correctly, ensuring a large enough time gap for unpredictable needs.
• Never avoid proofreading – this is the last but not least step before submission.
• Stick up to the topic and logical structure of your work.
• Get prepared to present your project to the audience, learn all the essential points, and stay confident.
• Accept feedback open-mindedly from your teacher as well as your peers.

Preparation of a powerful capstone project involves both selection of an exciting topic and its in-depth examination. If you are interested in the topic, you'll be able to demonstrate to your professor a deep insight into the subject. The lists of ideas above will inspire you and prepare you for the successful completion of your project. Don’t hesitate to try them now!

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Everything You Need to Know About the MBA Practicum and Capstone

Graduating with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and entering a management position allows you to command high wages, even fresh out of school. But your starting salary depends on many factors, including how prepared you are to enter the business world. SNU is committed to preparing learners for lucrative and rewarding careers. We believe in graduating students who become exceptional business leaders poised to serve their communities. Our MBA practicum is a key component of this goal. Sometimes called an MBA capstone project, this experiential learning project is fully integrated into your coursework, allowing you to master business management skills as you complete your classes.

When you complete your MBA at SNU , you will be ready to compete for high wages and demanding roles from day one.

What Is a Practicum?

Theory is one thing. Putting it to practice is another. The working world is sometimes messier and less predictable than classroom theories would lead you to believe. That’s why future business leaders must cultivate the skills they need in business well before taking the helm.

A practicum offers fieldwork that allows students to practice the duties they will one day perform in their jobs. An MBA can prepare you for a wide range of careers, from entrepreneurship to a spot in the C-suite. Your practicum is a chance to test out one of these roles and cultivate strategies for managing day-to-day challenges.

The Benefits of an MBA Capstone Project

Today’s businesses face a wide range of challenges and opportunities for growth. Although an MBA can prepare you with business theories and strategies for effective management, no program can equip you with the ability to solve every conceivable business challenge.

This is where an MBA practicum comes in. This is your chance to put theory to practice in a simulated business environment, test out the skills you have learned and master flexible thinking. With this project, you can:

• Put theory into practice. This helps you understand the real-world implications of the ideas you’ve learned about in school.
• Build self-confidence. There is no substitute for actually managing a business. A capstone project gives you the chance to do precisely that, but without any of the risks.
• Test your ideas. SNU’s MBA capstone project uses a simulation to assess how well your theories will work in the real world.
• Graduate ready to work. Your capstone project helps you master the skills you will need for the rest of your career, preparing you to work from day one.

How SNU’s MBA Practicum Prepares You for a Career

At SNU, we understand how valuable a capstone project can be. We also know that students — especially adult learners — are juggling many responsibilities. Adding a capstone on top of it can feel overwhelming. That’s why we integrate the capstone project into the program, making it a part of your coursework so you can build your project as you accumulate knowledge. This paced approach mimics the realities of business life, where projects build slowly and steadily and may face setbacks. Employers understand the value of the SNU MBA capstone. They know we challenge students and graduate experts who are ready to work.

Components of SNU’s Capstone Project

SNU’s capstone project has two components: the project itself and the class. The capstone class is three credit hours and the culmination of the program. Your capstone project — like many businesses — begins with a business plan that you will revise and adapt as you move through the project. The business plan is integrated into your classes, so as you learn more information, you can incorporate it into your plan.

During the class, you will complete two full simulations to test the results of your project ideas. You will also complete an individual simulation and a team simulation. In business, both your individual efforts and the team you work with can greatly influence results.

We use Comp-XM (a Capsim product) to simulate the individual project, testing analytical skills and business ideas to see how they might work in the real world. Comp-XM is nationally normed, enabling students to compare their results to students nationwide. We use Capsim , a Capstone simulation program, to simulate team results. This simulation assessment tool draws on real-world data to assess performance and provide meaningful feedback.

Students will also complete a business plan debrief, which allows them to compare their results to their initial goals. With this process, they can assess how realistic their ideas were, how effective they were in practice and how they could improve their business plan. This gives students the benefit of simulated successes and failures without the real-world risk, preparing them for the realities of running a business. By integrating the capstone project into our SNU MBA curriculum, we afford students the chance to gain valuable business experience without eating into busy schedules or taking on the risk of starting a business. We nurture business acumen and help students weigh how realistic and effective their ideas are in the real world. Graduates tell us the MBA practicum capstone was highly effective at modeling the challenges they experience in their post-MBA careers.

Choosing the Right MBA Program

The MBA program you choose is a predictor of your success. Good schools lead to good jobs. Additionally, your school experience can affect how well you do and whether you finish, especially if you’re an adult learner juggling multiple responsibilities.

Some things to look for in your program include:

• Flexible scheduling options, including online and night classes, so you can fit school into your routine — not the other way around.
• Supportive financial aid so that school doesn’t break your budget.
• Rigorous courses taught by quality instructors.
• No Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) requirements for admission.
• The right accreditation, so you know your transfer credits will go with you if you move to a different school.
• A commitment to nurturing the whole person and embracing diversity, equity and inclusion.

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School of Business

A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management

Master’s Students Tackle Analytics Projects for Companies

Louis Young is the CEO of Healthmetryx Inc. in Boston, and he had previously worked with Md Moniruzzaman , lecturer in business analytics at UCR School of Business, on analytics work. And, as Young was looking at other projects within his company that needed attention, “Md said, ‘You know, if you want to turbocharge what you’re doing, we have some really hungry master’s students that would like help,’” says Young.

The CEO made a presentation to UCR’s Master of Science in business analytics (MSBA) students: “They were really enthusiastic about the possibility of working with us,” says Young, who founded Healthmetryx, an exhaled-breath health-data analytics and artificial intelligence company that is working with NASA, NVIDIA, and Amazon to launch the Respiratory Cloud Machine, an IoT-enabled cloud-based AI platform.

“The platform’s intent is to provide drug developers, clinical decision-makers, and population health managers with real-world data and evidence to make better decisions related to the health status of any target population,” says Young.

The grad students were indeed eager to work with Healthmetryx. Each cohort of MSBA students participates in a capstone project like this one: a hands-on, real-world experience that allows students to take the concepts and methods they’ve studied and apply them in a practical setting. “The capstone course for business analytics emphasizes the importance of analytical skills, data visualization, data mining, and big data analytics,” says Moniruzzaman.  

A Win-win for Everyone

Working virtually, the five business analytics master’s students provided strategic goals, areas to work on within the company’s data on the Amazon cloud, and how to “plug that data into different visualizations,” says Young.

“They developed a host of analytics visualizations that allow for population health management uses and understanding the status of particular populations—males, females, individuals living in certain states, people working in certain industries, and other categories.”

Young feels the project was a win-win for everyone.

“They did very good work, and we couldn’t be more pleased,” says Young. “Their work positioned us to understand what the analytics and visualizations would look like from an artificial intelligence standpoint and how to use those analytics and visualizations as mockups for our larger work with Amazon and AWS.”  

Creating a Capstone Experience

Each year, master’s students work on different capstone assignments, and Moniruzzaman’s extensive contacts within the industry allow for exceptional experiences for grad students. He finds companies that are willing to share existing projects within their organizations and pairs executives with capstone students, who then take a deep dive into an actual business challenge.

“In this instance, Healthmetryx’s expertise in respiratory early detection and self-monitoring technology aligned with some the health care-related problems that the students might work on in their careers,” says Moniruzzaman.  

Projects Come to Life

“It was interesting to see a data-driven project come to life,” says MSBA alumnus Florian Sterr ’22. Along with four other MSBA students, his capstone project was with Lionchase North America (LNA), a private equity firm (which was the initial investor in Healthmetryx).

LNA President Kenneth Brown says the capstone students did an “excellent job. They were an ambitious group and very inventive. They helped us with a large Department of Transportation database and came up with a process to learn how the data could assist us with site location.”

Sterr was a product manager in the banking industry before deciding to make a career pivot, which included earning his master’s in business analytics; the capstone project was a valuable immersion into the work he loves. He is currently a product manager for Playstudios, a developer of free-to-play mobile and social games.

“Using data from the U.S. government predicting the movement of perishable goods through trucking, we investigated and validated an approach to identify ideal locations for the warehouse sites for perishable goods,” says Sterr of the LNA capstone project. “We used geographical information systems in conjunction with statistical analysis programs.”  

Executives Understand the Value of Hands-on Immersion

Brown and Young know that taking the time to work with business master’s students is important. “Any real-world opportunity to learn about client needs is extremely helpful. It’s also ideal to learn the limits of technology and intersection of practical approaches to solve problems versus always relying on technology because it might not be available all the time,” says Brown.

Young agrees, and says, “The combination of classroom education and getting experience in the real world is necessary because these students now have a substantive project they can talk about as they compete with their peers for jobs.”