Cambrian College
Cambrian College
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Strategic Business Solutions Capstone

(SEM 641)
Open Closing on January 20, 2025 / 1 spot left
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Chandler Holyoak He / Him
Employer and Community Partner Outreach Specialist
3
Timeline
  • February 7, 2025
    Experience start
  • February 11, 2025
    Kick-off meeting
  • March 25, 2025
    Mid check-in's
  • April 19, 2025
    Final presentation
  • April 22, 2025
    Experience end
Experience
4/5 project matches
Dates set by experience
Agreements required
Preferred companies
Canada
Small to medium enterprise
Any industries

Experience scope

Categories
Accounting Financial services Training & development Operations Market expansion
Skills
strategic analysis business strategies master of business administration (mba) decision making
Learner goals and capabilities

The Strategic Business Solutions Capstone is a pivotal component of the Alberta School of Business MBA program, designed to bridge academic learning with real-world application. MBA students, equipped with a diverse set of skills in business frameworks, analytical tools, and decision-making processes, collaborate with sponsor organizations to tackle strategic challenges. Through this experience, students apply their cross-functional knowledge to deliver actionable insights and recommendations, enhancing both their educational journey and the strategic capabilities of the participating organizations.

Learners

Learners
Diploma
Intermediate, Advanced levels
30 learners
Project
80 hours per learner
Educators assign learners to projects
Teams of 5
Expected outcomes and deliverables
  • Comprehensive strategic analysis report
  • Industry and market research summary
  • Implementation roadmap for strategic initiatives
  • Final presentation of findings and recommendations
Project timeline
  • February 7, 2025
    Experience start
  • February 11, 2025
    Kick-off meeting
  • March 25, 2025
    Mid check-in's
  • April 19, 2025
    Final presentation
  • April 22, 2025
    Experience end

Project Examples

Requirements

As a requirement of a Business Strategy course, projects must encompass two or more cross-functional business areas (accounting, finance, marketing, operations, human resource management, logistic & distribution, manufacturing, etc.) or be related to the business strategy of an entire business unit or a particular project of scale. In other words, projects should be more comprehensive than, say, a consumer marketing research study or website SEO.


● Projects should lend themselves to the student group conducting primary and secondary research to explore your organization and your industry. This may include research from internal resources. The student group may conduct rudimentary market or competitive research, if the project requires such, but should not be expected to conduct extensive primary research or act as a market research service.


● Projects should provide students with sufficient context and content to conduct an in-depth analysis of the problems or opportunities.


● Projects should be of genuine need, and sufficiently meaningful or important, to your organization and ones where a fresh perspective would be welcomed and considered, and where additional help would facilitate or expedite your decision-making.


● Project magnitude should be framed keeping in mind that students must complete the project within approximately three months and with the understanding that student groups will likely average 8-10 hours per week as a team commitment to the project.

Additional company criteria

Companies must answer the following questions to submit a match request to this experience:

Please provide a 1-2 page project description using the form that will be given to you after the request is sent. This includes an organization description and/or company background, an overview of your project scope, the expected project deliverables, and a primary contact person for the student group.

Projects are chosen by the students and not assigned by the instructor. There is a risk your project may not be chosen.

After the initial student meeting, your student group will present a Project Scope document to you (and to the instructor). If their understanding of the scope aligns with your expectations, you will review and sign-off on it and the students will then design their research plan accordingly.

Once underway, your project may require that the student group be exposed to proprietary information about your organization, particularly financial or operational data. We ask that you agree to provide such data and would encourage you to do so under a NDA with the student group. Additionally, students and the instructor are bound by the U of A’s Research & Ethics Policy which requires that the privacy of research participants be safeguarded and used solely for the purposes of research and learning.

Please confirm. We ask that sponsors whose projects are selected by the student groups agree to commit to meeting with their student group at least 3-5 times during the 3-month period including an initial meeting at project kick-off, at least 2-3 progress meetings throughout the 3-month time period, and a final meeting before the project due date.

You will be invited to attend the student presentation of the final project and you will have the option to debrief project outcomes with students after receiving the final report. The MBA office would also be grateful for feedback on your experience by asking you to complete a post-project evaluation questionnaire.