CALLING ALL HOUSTON NONPROFITS:
Put Rice MBA Students to Work On Your Toughest Management Challenges
The Capstone Course at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business brings together teams of Rice MBA students to develop recommendations that help community organizations solve critical strategic challenges, such as major growth or expansion plans, organization turnaround strategies, and new ventures by the organization in need of a business plan. The course is offered during the spring semester.
Capstone Professors Work with You during the Fall to
Frame the Problem for the Student Teams
An 8-12 page written "case" that provides details about the business challenge and your organization is developed collaboratively with you by the professors before the spring semester as a starting point for the student teams.
Student Teams Develop Comprehensive Strategic
Solutions during the Spring Semester
From January to early May, student teams work through
a series of assignments focused on your organization
that build from initial assessments of your situation to
strategy development to detailed strategic designs and
implementation plans. A Capstone Course professor
supervises and guides the student teams and is in regular
contact with your organization throughout the spring
semester to help facilitate a satisfactory experience and
outcome for your organization.
Capstone is Highly-Collaborative between Students,
Organizations and Professors
Student teams will interact with your organization
throughout the spring semester. Your initial interaction
with the student teams working on your project will
be a 2-hour, on-campus session in which you and
other leaders from your organization will interactively
discuss your situation in detail with the teams. Then,
students conduct in site visits, interviews with the leadership team, Board members and staff and request additional data as they
develop their recommendations. The investment of your
organization’s time is critical to the students’ ability to
develop rich, detailed strategic recommendations that you
may adopt and implement.
Community Organizations Receive Multiple Near-Term
and Long-Term Benefits
Participating community organizations realize many
benefits from their Capstone experience:
- Provides you with fresh ideas and multiple solutions for your strategic challenges
- Taps both student and Capstone professor expertise for the strategic recommendations
- Exposes your organization to current and up-and-coming Houston executives
- Builds and strengthens your organization’s long-term relationship with Rice University