The M&M Captsone Course (MMS190)

The Markets and Management Capstone Course is required for all students in the M&M program. The Capstone is designed to review and apply major perspectives and concepts from M&M core courses to current issues and real world contexts. The Capstone format is particularly appropriate because it gives students the opportunity to use the knowledge acquired in the M&M curriculum. Capstone sections typically have 20-24 students and the course is usually taken in the senior year.

"Students learn to work in teams, to identify and resolve problems confronting companies and industries today. This is a difficult assignment because students are expected to blend their diverse perspectives and backgrounds, to bridge theory and facts, and to convince the participants or stakeholders in the situation they are analyzing that they have a realistic contribution to make. In this regard, students must move beyond the passive learner role to become both engaged researchers and policy advocates." Gary Gereffi

Key points for coursework and research include:

Entrepreneurship--the creation of a business plan:

• Business plans are prepared in teams of four students and the same teams use the insights from preparing their own plans to critique another team's plan.

Business plan, management consulting, and community development projects involve:

• Overview of organization theory
• Crucial issues in organization design
• Organizational innovation and change

A case-study final project:

• The focus is on explaining change in a product, firm, industry, occupation, country, or region, which draws upon two or more different intellectual and disciplinary perspectives.

Experiential learning and business projects relating to:

• Problem analysis, strategic planning, and personal leadership effectiveness Business plans and critiques are judged for awards during the academic year.