College of Business Capstone

Fall 2025 Business Capstone Festival

We are excited to invite you all to join our Fall 2025 College of Business Capstone Festival!

The festival is in-person and will showcase the Capstone consulting projects by hardworking College of Business seniors.

Please come and show your support for our students' achievements and learn how their Capstone projects are making an impact in the community.

For students:

A culminating experience that integrates and applies the knowledge and skills students learn in their courses
An opportunity to work as a team to bring value to the client
A bridge to prepare students for professional life or graduate school

For businesses & organizations:

Business consulting provided at no- or low-cost
A review of an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT)
Actionable recommendations to help achieve goals

Interested in becoming a Capstone Client?

Email the College of Business Department office at business@csumb.edu.

Why is Capstone Valuable?

The College of Business surveyed alumni who graduated from 2005 to 2012. Here is what they said:

Their beliefs about their own capabilities, particularly those required to function as professionals in business, were significantly improved in capstone.
They strengthened skills in writing, speaking, leadership, and analytical thinking.
They learned valuable skills required to function effectively on teams.
They considered the improvement in their applied skills so significant that they viewed this outcome as “transformative.”
Work on a team for a real client, and being supported by faculty who had extremely high expectations of them, make the Capstone a very meaningful experience.

Requirements

Team project

Teams of approximately four students analyze a local firm (for-profit company or nonprofit organization) from a strategic management perspective.
They make recommendations based on their strategic analysis.
The team presents at the campus-wide Capstone Festival.
The team submits a comprehensive written report.

Individual project

Each student applies the tools of strategic management to his/her own career planning and submits a final personal life strategy paper.

How it works

Before you start

Students in the BUS 300S course are required to attend at least one capstone festival presentation to help them understand what the deliverable is in capstone and the level of excellence expected.
Before classes start, students enrolled in BUS 499 receive an Advance Information Memorandum outlining how to form a successful team and select a client firm, and the requirements of the final report.

Weeks 1-4

Form the team
Select the client firm
Study the text to gain a complete picture of the components of a strategic analysis
Develop and submit client interview questions from chapter readings
Write the first draft of the history, external analysis, internal analysis and strategic recommendations sections of the personal life strategy assignment.

Weeks 4-5

Weeks 6-8

Weeks 9-12

Weeks 13-14

Analyze findings and write the opportunities and recommendations section of the client report and the executive summary
Develop and present section PowerPoint presentation

Week 15

Week 16

Week 17