Business Administration - Capstone Project Description
Focus and Benefits of Capstone Projects
Completing a capstone project helps student integrate and apply the knowledge, skills, and
abilities they have acquired to this point in their career. Students have studied many topics
during their Business Administration educational experience at Loyalist College. Integration of
the knowledge and methods studied brings students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities closer to the
world of professional practice they are pursuing.
The capstone project is a tangible demonstration of students’ competence. A well-executed
project incorporating fieldwork with a knowledge base is stronger and more convincing evidence
– for faculty who are asked to give references and for prospective employers (e.g., as a part of
a professional portfolio). The capstone project and report is a great opportunity for students to
pursue their interests. In simplest terms, a capstone project report represents the application of
knowledge as well as the search for it.
Course Description
This course is designed to provide closure for the Business Administration students at Loyalist
College. In this course, students apply the knowledge, skills, and abilities they have learned in
prior course work to a significant project of their own definition. The student will be provided an
opportunity to assimilate and synthesize those skills acquired during the course of study. The
project details are not specific but the project completion guidelines are as defined below.
The project may be completed through group or individual effort. The design of the course
follows the goals for the capstone experience:
• Student-defined Problem/Challenge: In the capstone project course students
define the project problem/details for themselves.
• Student-defined Method(s) of Investigation: In the capstone project course students
determine what techniques to use for the project they identify.
• Synthesis of Business Administration Strands: The approach selected should integrate
portions of the human resources management, operations management, and business
management strands of the Loyalist College Business Administration Program. While
a specific capstone project might emphasize one dimension or the other, it is
expected that all dimensions will be present to some extent.
• Make a difference: The capstone project should make a positive difference for
the community in which it is carried out – be it a business, school, hospital, or
other context.
• Passion: The capstone project should be something the student feels passionate about.
Choosing a Topic
Because everything depends upon choosing a “doable” topic, students should be thinking about
their project topic as soon as possible (prior to the 6th semester). Students should consider the
questions, problems, proposed solutions, and other people’s research they have experienced in
the courses they have studied; students should ask themselves – Am I interested in incorporating
such a program/challenge into my capstone project? Would I like to study that problem?
This study source was downloaded by 100000861168648 from CourseHero.co m
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, Business Administration - Capstone Project
Some additional considerations to think about include:
• What do you want to accomplish with your project?
• What are your goals?
• Do you want to demonstrate your competence in an area?
• Do you want to strengthen your grasp of a body of knowledge?
• Do you want to contribute to the work of your own organization?
• What is the public purpose of your proposed topic?
• What public goal or value will be served?
• Who might use the results of your work?
The bottom line is that students should find a topic that is: (1) worthwhile in terms of
their goals; (2) that they are interested in carrying out; and (3) that is “doable” within a
semester timeframe.
Capstone Project Statement
Students should start by developing a draft project design. A first step is to put an initial
conception of the topic into a working title and a short paragraph that states the problem that will
be the focus of the study. Consider exploring this initial effort with fellow students and/or work
colleagues.
At this stage, students may not know exactly how they are going to carry out their project, but
they should be able to identify it clearly enough so that they are ready to talk to other people
about the topic and have them understand what the desired outcome(s) for the project are.
Students should also be prepared to think in much more depth about how to complete the project.
For example, students may be uncertain about the particular setting to be studied and how they
can carry out the comparisons they have in mind, but they must present their project proposal
details to Bob Millard’s in the “Initial Meeting & Capstone Project Statement” one-on-one
meeting that they must schedule.
Course Organization and Meetings
The course is scheduled for two working periods per week. After the first two weeks, the
scheduled class time will be used primarily for one-on-one meetings between Bob Millard and
each student/group. Each weekly one-on-one project meeting will typically run 10-15 minutes in
length. These weekly project meetings are designed to help students define and review their
project details, review and resolve project-related issues, and to ensure that the project steps are
completed as planned.
This study source was downloaded by 100000861168648 from CourseHero.co m
P agone032-0o2-f20723
https://www.coursehero.com/file/9776169/Focus-and-Benefits-of-Capstone-
Focus and Benefits of Capstone Projects
Completing a capstone project helps student integrate and apply the knowledge, skills, and
abilities they have acquired to this point in their career. Students have studied many topics
during their Business Administration educational experience at Loyalist College. Integration of
the knowledge and methods studied brings students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities closer to the
world of professional practice they are pursuing.
The capstone project is a tangible demonstration of students’ competence. A well-executed
project incorporating fieldwork with a knowledge base is stronger and more convincing evidence
– for faculty who are asked to give references and for prospective employers (e.g., as a part of
a professional portfolio). The capstone project and report is a great opportunity for students to
pursue their interests. In simplest terms, a capstone project report represents the application of
knowledge as well as the search for it.
Course Description
This course is designed to provide closure for the Business Administration students at Loyalist
College. In this course, students apply the knowledge, skills, and abilities they have learned in
prior course work to a significant project of their own definition. The student will be provided an
opportunity to assimilate and synthesize those skills acquired during the course of study. The
project details are not specific but the project completion guidelines are as defined below.
The project may be completed through group or individual effort. The design of the course
follows the goals for the capstone experience:
• Student-defined Problem/Challenge: In the capstone project course students
define the project problem/details for themselves.
• Student-defined Method(s) of Investigation: In the capstone project course students
determine what techniques to use for the project they identify.
• Synthesis of Business Administration Strands: The approach selected should integrate
portions of the human resources management, operations management, and business
management strands of the Loyalist College Business Administration Program. While
a specific capstone project might emphasize one dimension or the other, it is
expected that all dimensions will be present to some extent.
• Make a difference: The capstone project should make a positive difference for
the community in which it is carried out – be it a business, school, hospital, or
other context.
• Passion: The capstone project should be something the student feels passionate about.
Choosing a Topic
Because everything depends upon choosing a “doable” topic, students should be thinking about
their project topic as soon as possible (prior to the 6th semester). Students should consider the
questions, problems, proposed solutions, and other people’s research they have experienced in
the courses they have studied; students should ask themselves – Am I interested in incorporating
such a program/challenge into my capstone project? Would I like to study that problem?
This study source was downloaded by 100000861168648 from CourseHero.co m
P agone031-0o2-f20723
https://www.coursehero.com/file/9776169/Focus-and-Benefits-of-Capstone-
, Business Administration - Capstone Project
Some additional considerations to think about include:
• What do you want to accomplish with your project?
• What are your goals?
• Do you want to demonstrate your competence in an area?
• Do you want to strengthen your grasp of a body of knowledge?
• Do you want to contribute to the work of your own organization?
• What is the public purpose of your proposed topic?
• What public goal or value will be served?
• Who might use the results of your work?
The bottom line is that students should find a topic that is: (1) worthwhile in terms of
their goals; (2) that they are interested in carrying out; and (3) that is “doable” within a
semester timeframe.
Capstone Project Statement
Students should start by developing a draft project design. A first step is to put an initial
conception of the topic into a working title and a short paragraph that states the problem that will
be the focus of the study. Consider exploring this initial effort with fellow students and/or work
colleagues.
At this stage, students may not know exactly how they are going to carry out their project, but
they should be able to identify it clearly enough so that they are ready to talk to other people
about the topic and have them understand what the desired outcome(s) for the project are.
Students should also be prepared to think in much more depth about how to complete the project.
For example, students may be uncertain about the particular setting to be studied and how they
can carry out the comparisons they have in mind, but they must present their project proposal
details to Bob Millard’s in the “Initial Meeting & Capstone Project Statement” one-on-one
meeting that they must schedule.
Course Organization and Meetings
The course is scheduled for two working periods per week. After the first two weeks, the
scheduled class time will be used primarily for one-on-one meetings between Bob Millard and
each student/group. Each weekly one-on-one project meeting will typically run 10-15 minutes in
length. These weekly project meetings are designed to help students define and review their
project details, review and resolve project-related issues, and to ensure that the project steps are
completed as planned.
This study source was downloaded by 100000861168648 from CourseHero.co m
P agone032-0o2-f20723
https://www.coursehero.com/file/9776169/Focus-and-Benefits-of-Capstone-
