MBA@Rice Capstone Program | January - March 2023
General
- Graduate
- 50 learners; teams of 5
- 100 hours per learner
- Dates set by experience
- Learners self-assign
Preferred companies
- 1/10 project matches
- United States
- Academic experience
- Non profit, Small to medium enterprise
- Any
Categories
Project timeline
-
January 6, 2023Experience start
-
January 7, 2023Research and Work Plan
-
January 30, 2023Current State Assessment
-
February 13, 2023Strategy
-
March 13, 2023Detailed Designs and Plans
-
March 22, 2023Final Presentation
-
March 24, 2023Experience end
Timeline
-
January 6, 2023Experience start
-
January 7, 2023Research and Work Plan
Teams will formally plan the activities and workload of solving a complex problem, over a multi-month project, with a remote client. This also provides information for the teams and the instructors to hold individual team members accountable for their participation in the course.
-
January 30, 2023Current State Assessment
An in-depth assessment of the client’s current situation to form the basis for the strategic analysis. Generally, it should identify critical issues that must be addressed by the strategy, as well as organizational competencies and other opportunities upon which the strategy should be built.
-
February 13, 2023Strategy
This assignment includes descriptions of all strategic options considered by the team, critical assumptions, qualitative costs/benefits of the different options, and analyses that form the basis for prioritization and final strategy selection.
-
March 13, 2023Detailed Designs and Plans
Will be comprised of four elements: the detailed designs of the recommended solution (strategy + functional improvements); a comprehensive value proposition; a high-level implementation plan for your
recommendation; and a risk analysis and mitigation approach. -
March 22, 2023Final Presentation
The final assignment is a formal presentation and an executive summary document based on the Assessment, Strategy, and Detailed Designs and Plans assignments. It will be presented to the company, including project team sponsors and senior leadership, as well as the Capstone faculty director.
-
March 24, 2023Experience end
Overview
- Details
-
Looking to elevate your organization, and bring it to the next level? Bring on a team of 4-5 MBA students from Rice University to act as consultants to your organization on a large scale, comprehensive, enterprise strategy course that puts every discipline they have learned in their program to work. Students are in their final courses before graduation and looking for a challenging and engaging project.
This capstone will run from the beginning of January to the end of March.
- Learner skills
- Competitive analysis, Project planning, Business consulting, Business strategy, Marketing strategy
- Deliverables
-
Provides a detailed, actionable recommendation at the strategic and tactical levels
Taps both student and Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business faculty expertise to develop the recommendations
Approaches your strategic challenges with fresh, yet experienced perspectives
Exposes your organization to the capabilities of talented MBA professionals
Builds your company’s long-term relationship with Rice University and the Jones Graduate School of Business in Houston, Texas
Project Examples
In this course, second year MBA students will dive deep into the large scale project that you provide, utilizing all disciplines learned throughout their program. Students work with one or two dedicated primary contacts from your organization to gain a thorough understanding of the needs of your business and the competitive landscape of your industry.
As a participating organization, you'll be asked to provide crucial information to our students, that we protect with a non-disclosure agreement. We also ask primary contacts to meet regularly with students, typically once a week, to ensure open communication and project focus. Student review and recommendations will encompass all areas of your business, and at completion teams will deliver a final presentation and roadmap to implement your project goal.
Projects we accept are encompassing enterprise strategy in nature and comprehensive for the whole business or non-profit. The project can include functional issues (e.g., marketing, talent management, operations/supply chain, valuations, etc.), but those will be considered under the umbrella of the main strategy project.
- Focus on large scale strategy
- Growth or expansion plans (most common – over 90% of projects)
- Turnaround business plan
- We do not include fundraising, sales or new customer/client cultivation or acquisition target solicitation activities in projects.
Additional company criteria
Companies must answer the following questions to submit a match request to this experience:
Are you a company or nonprofit with more than 5 years of business operations?
Does your company or non-profit have an updated strategic plan already in place?
Does your annual revenue exceed $2MM for a company or annual budget exceed $250K for a non-profit?
Able to provide an opportunity for students to present their work and receive feedback.
Able to provide a dedicated contact person who is available for weekly/bi-weekly calls to address students’ questions as well as periodic messages over the duration of the project.
Able to provide relevant information/data as needed for the project.