Capstone Strategic Analysis
Timeline
-
February 23, 2021Experience start
-
February 10, 2021Progress Check and additional questions
-
February 24, 2021Project Scope Meeting
-
April 14, 2021Final results
-
April 14, 2021Experience end
Timeline
-
February 23, 2021Experience start
-
February 10, 2021Progress Check and additional questions
Email interaction with collective student questions as they start working on your project. There are usually a few very valid questions.
-
February 24, 2021Project Scope Meeting
Meeting between students and company to confirm: project scope, communication styles, and important dates. 30 min.
-
April 14, 2021Final results
Students will send you slides and their final product (full paper with analyses, 4000 words per team). It would be nice to discuss briefly and give the students some feedback on any useful recommendations. It could be a 30 min short discussion on zoom starting 8:30 or 9 am. on Tuesday, April 13.
-
April 14, 2021Experience end
Experience scope
Categories
Operations Project management Marketing strategySkills
business consulting business strategy marketing strategy communication researchIn this project, teams of mature students (typically in their last term at SFU) will assess and analyze your company to provide strategic recommendations, based on your organization’s goals. These very competitive students will work the entire term on this project and deliver comprehensive analyses that are worth 40% of their grade in the Strategy Capstone course.
Learners
At the end of the term (April 13), the client will receive 9 strategic analyses/term papers (approximately 4000 words plus analyses) and presentations (on slides, recorded or on zoom depending on the client's preference). We have done this Capstone project with several local and international companies in the past; our clients have always been highly satisfied and gained new and important insights from the comprehensive analysis performed by our students!
Project timeline
-
February 23, 2021Experience start
-
February 10, 2021Progress Check and additional questions
-
February 24, 2021Project Scope Meeting
-
April 14, 2021Final results
-
April 14, 2021Experience end
Timeline
-
February 23, 2021Experience start
-
February 10, 2021Progress Check and additional questions
Email interaction with collective student questions as they start working on your project. There are usually a few very valid questions.
-
February 24, 2021Project Scope Meeting
Meeting between students and company to confirm: project scope, communication styles, and important dates. 30 min.
-
April 14, 2021Final results
Students will send you slides and their final product (full paper with analyses, 4000 words per team). It would be nice to discuss briefly and give the students some feedback on any useful recommendations. It could be a 30 min short discussion on zoom starting 8:30 or 9 am. on Tuesday, April 13.
-
April 14, 2021Experience end
Project Examples
Requirements
Our students will be able to develop any type of analysis (including financial), compare different strategic options, and/or provide a feasibility analysis to inform strategic decisions for the client firm. These decisions can be related to but are not limited to:
- Market entry into international markets or a different regional market
- Research on programs to attract and retain customers
- Competitive analyses of an industry or industry segment that you are competing in or are interested to enter in the future.
- Research in specific technologies and potential markets for those technologies
- Research on potential partners organizations to cooperate with
- Market analysis and market trends
Any analysis at the strategic level (rather than purely functional: e.g. just operations or just HR) would be very interesting for this BUS 478 Capstone project. There can be a focus on HR or Marketing but there should be at least one question that is related to overall strategy (e.g., a competitive analysis). In the past, our Capstone students have worked with Hootsuite, Ballard, Fresh Prep (food delivery service), Freedom 55 Financial, etc. - so we are open to most industries!
Additional company criteria
Companies must answer the following questions to submit a match request to this experience:
Provide a dedicated contact who is available to answer periodic emails or phone calls over the duration of the project to address students' questions.
At the beginning of the spring term, introduce yourself to the company, and the project to the students on zoom or recorded.
Formulate 2-3 key questions that are of interest to your company and communicate those to the students in a short zoom or recorded video (or even email if zoom cannot be done)
Be available for a quick phone call with the instructor to initiate your relationship and confirm your scope is an appropriate fit for the course.
Potentially answer one batch set of clarification questions from the students after introducing the project to them.
Timeline
-
February 23, 2021Experience start
-
February 10, 2021Progress Check and additional questions
-
February 24, 2021Project Scope Meeting
-
April 14, 2021Final results
-
April 14, 2021Experience end
Timeline
-
February 23, 2021Experience start
-
February 10, 2021Progress Check and additional questions
Email interaction with collective student questions as they start working on your project. There are usually a few very valid questions.
-
February 24, 2021Project Scope Meeting
Meeting between students and company to confirm: project scope, communication styles, and important dates. 30 min.
-
April 14, 2021Final results
Students will send you slides and their final product (full paper with analyses, 4000 words per team). It would be nice to discuss briefly and give the students some feedback on any useful recommendations. It could be a 30 min short discussion on zoom starting 8:30 or 9 am. on Tuesday, April 13.
-
April 14, 2021Experience end