General Information
Description
This course is the former required Capstone course. It has two primary purposes.
- First, it gives second-year students the opportunity to practice all the skills they learned during their first year of the MBA program; and
- Second, in a world that increasingly relies on statistical analysis of large data sets, it is increasingly important for business leaders to be able to understand, analyze, and work with such data. This course gives students an opportunity to practice and use these skills, particularly the application of statistics, by working on a real-world problem.
Target Audience
This course is targeted at students who wish to apply the full range of skills learned in the first year of the MBA.
Format
Online Synchronous.
This course takes place during four mostly consecutive Wednesdays, 8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. in the Fall 2020 Term:
- Wednesday, 16 September 2020
- Wednesday, 23 September 2020
- Wednesday, 14 October 2020
- Wednesday, 21 October 2020
Course Mission
Specific course objectives:
- To conduct correct, robust, and insightful analysis of significant amounts of data;
- To apply related business concepts and judgements;
- To convincingly interpret and link theories and concepts within a given context;
- To build a presentation that is clearly targeted and aligned with communication objective; and
- To create and deliver a clear, logical, and organized presentation that supports all claims made
Course Scope
This course provides second year students with the opportunity to develop their statistical analysis and interpretation skills, link these to qualitative judgment, and hone their presentation and communication skills.
Students will enhance their abilities to (1) statistics-based decision making to a real-world problem, (2) use the principles of the first-year core to develop solutions, (3) develop logical and effective presentations.
The course pedagogy focuses on learning-by-doing. Students will learn by regularly meeting with their team to understand the business/policy problem, analyze and interpret data, receive faculty coaching, and develop their recommendations. Student presentations will occur during the final meeting.
Evaluation and Grade Distribution
| Component | Weight |
|---|---|
| Four Homework Assignments (Individual) | 12.5% each |
| Peer Evaluation (Individual) | 10% |
| Executive Summary (Group) | 10% |
| Presentation Deck (Group) | 10% |
| Technical Report (Group) | 20% |
Required Resources
No textbook. Students will use the case, data guide, and data provided for their project.
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