Dr Nadia Millington MAR 5.37

This course is compulsory on the Global MSc in Management, Global MSc in Management (CEMS MIM) and Global MSc in Management (MBA Exchange). This course is not available as an outside option.

Students must have completed GMiM Capstone Course - Management in Action (MG488A).

The capstone/ business project provides an opportunity to apply, integrate, and/ or deepen the knowledge, insights, and skills that students learn in the GMIM Master's programme at the LSE or an affiliate university that forms part of CEMS. 

The project is a quasi- academic/ applied project which aims to analyse a real-world problem in a broadly related domain of the Master’s program at one of LSE’s corporate partners.

More specifically a quasi- academic / applied project requires that students support their analysis of the client partner’s challenge /brief, with relevant theory - sourced from academic journals - and with some primary data collection where possible, leading to an evidence-based analysis and compelling recommendations. Every effort must be made to collect some first-hand evidence using standard research methodologies, but in different ways and to different degrees depending on the project.

One notable criterion for evaluation will be the way theory/research from academic journals whether taught in the degree programme/ independently sourced, are used to strengthen the analysis and recommendations of the project. Another criterion is the strength and implement-ability of the recommendations in relation to the client partner’s objectives/ brief.

Project details

The projects will be sourced by LSE and are allocated, on average to groups of 4-6 students.

Client partners range from large multinational organisations to small social enterprises, located both in the UK and globally.

Students will be asked to indicate their project preferences and every aim will be made to place students in one of their preferred projects by week 3 of the term.

2 hours of lectures and 1 hour and 30 minutes of lectures in the MT. 2 hours of lectures and 1 hour and 30 minutes of lectures in the LT.

Year 1

GMiM Capstone Lectures run once a fortnight throughout Michaelmas and Lent Terms. First year students are expected to attend all sessions. Students will also participate in a 30 minute blog group meeting in either Michaelmas or Lent Term.

Additionally, there is a 60 minute assignment information session in Lent Term to help students prepare for their assignments.

Year 2

In addition to the Capstone Lectures, in Year 2 there are two 60 minute lectures and one 90 minute lecture to prepare students for the Business Projects taking place in either Michaelmas or Lent Term. The sessions cover a variety of topics, including a project overview, the basics of consulting, team building and working with your faculty coach.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6 of MT and Week 6 of LT, in line with departmental policy.

Course Overview

Within the first 3 weeks of the term, the course leader is responsible for 3 separate lectures

-Course introduction

-Project Introduction

-Project kick-off

Further details about these sessions can be found in your timetable.

In the third week of the term/ beginning of the 4th week, each team will be provided with a dedicated faculty coach who will:

(i)provide guidance and advice throughout your project

(ii) approve your research ethics form- (Student groups must complete an Ethics Review for their project)

(iii) if required, co-sign a non-disclosure agreement with your client partner and other members of your team. Should the client request one, a standard LSE non-disclosure agreement is available, but students may also be required to sign company-specific non-disclosure agreements.

The formative assessment will have been completed in the first year in line with the MG488A course guide.

There are no specific readings for this course since all the projects differ greatly. However, many student groups utilise interviews / qualitative research as part of their data collection. The following book is very useful: An Introduction to Qualitative research – UWE Flick.

Project (65%) and class participation (10%) in the MT and LT.
Essay (25%, 2000 words) in the MT.

Attendance at Capstone lectures - 10% of total course marks.  Students are required to attend 10 Capstone lectures over the two years of the programme, with credits for attendance attached pro-rata to each session. Students must engage fully with session activities in order to receive attendance credit. It is recommended that students attend the 10 Capstone lectures in the first year of the programme. 

Individual Summative Assignment – 25% of the total course marks.  In year 2 students will write an academic essay on one of the Capstone lecture topics. Essay questions will be provided by the MG488 course team and will be made available in LT of the first year. Essays must consider application of management theory and practice. Students will submit their essays in MT of the second year.

Group Business Project - 65 % of total course marks.  

Student groups will be assessed via

-An oral presentation (approx 30-35 minutes)

-Written material- PowerPoint Slides of the oral presentation + appendices illustrating evidence in support of analysis and recommendations. There is no specific word count for this submission, but all written material must conform to LSE standards of post-graduate academic work, including explicit prohibitions against plagiarism.

-Students are also expected to present to the client

Deadline for presentations will be established in the first week of the course but tends to be either the last week of the semester or the first week of the following semester.