Capstone course info Iiris Saittakari September 18, 2019
Today 15.15 – 16.15 What is Capstone about? Course practicalities Expand your network Changes from last Spring 16.15 – 16.30 Break 16.30 – 18.00 Client company presentations Q & A
Faculty Teacher-in-charge: Iiris Saittakari • Email: iiris.saittakari@aalto.fi • Phone: 045 673 4631 Teaching assistant: Priit Tinits
Faculty Facilitators Pekka Pälli Corporate Perttu Kähäri Communication Management & IB Ranajoy Choudhury Entrepreneurship Marja Luukkonen and Innovation Business Law Mgmt
Presentations coach • Presentation skills seminar • Presentation coaching session Christa Uusi-Rauva Corporate Communication
Capstone? From: http://www.capstonebranding.com/about/capstone.php
Capstone = extensive team project • Each team works with one case company on a current, multidisciplinary business problem / task • Together with your team, you will be independently responsible for all aspects of the project • Provide a well-designed and effectively communicated solution for the identified core problem
Course learning outcomes After completing the course, you will be able to • identify, analyze and solve real-life business problems from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint • apply the knowledge and skills gained during your studies to real-life business tasks and challenges • manage complex projects and work in diverse teams • handle uncertainty associated with real life projects • present a case report both orally and in writing • critically reflect on your learning process and outcomes
What will I Iearn? • listen to the client and identify their problem • manage a multi-stakeholder project • work at the limits or outside your comfort zone • manage tensions and challenges in a team • identify and utilize different skill sets • expand your network “The most important issue I learned during the course was that not every project would go the way we expected. It was a repetition of revising the problem statement, adjusting our research and analysis, altering our methods and deriving our solution to better serve our primary customer - the company .”
What can I expect? CHALLENGES! • lack of time • colleagues you can’t choose • problems unclear; limits and definitions need to be negotiated • work outside your own comfort zone or specific interests All these are common in business projects!
Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day. Mark Twain
COURSE PRACTICALITIES
Clients in Fall 2019 Almamedia Elisa Finavia Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN) HMD Global KPMG Posti PwC S Group Soprano Transmeri
Three key deliverables Task Weight Deadline A. 1 Written team case report Team 50% 1a. Progress report 1 Oct 9 1b. Progress report 2 Nov 11 1c. Final report Dec 2 A. 2 Case presentation (10-13 min) Team 30% Nov 27 Summary slide (1-2 min) Nov 26 Presentation skills seminar Oct 30, 9.00-12.00 Presentation coaching session Nov 20-22, one hour per team A. 3 Individual student portfolio= Ind. 20% Dec 4 3A: reflection paper 3B: creative product
Progress report 1 Based on insights from the first project meeting with the case company Its purpose is to ensure that you have a) started working on your project b) put together a project plan with your team You should thus include at least the following items in your report: • problem statement • identification of the actual targets of the project • project plan (you are expected to read about project management to know how to put together a project plan) Create a Power Point report and upload it to MyCourses by midnight, Oct 9
Progress report 2 The purpose of the second progress report is to help the Faculty Facilitator give you feedback on your overall approach to the problem, analysis and recommendations The more you have ready at this stage, the better the facilitator will be able to help you, so ideally, you have a draft of the full report put together. You should cover the following issues: • problem statement (updated) • project plan (updated) • (preliminary) analysis • (preliminary) recommendations Produce the first draft of your written final report and upload it to MyCourses by midnight, Nov 11
Final report (50% of the grade) Business report where you present the problem, your analysis, and recommendations Although you are writing a business report, your academic expertise as soon-to- be MSc graduates should show! (research methods to some degree and refer to theories, research reports and academic articles to back up your plan and implementation) Include: • Executive summary • Brief statement (one paragraph) to clarify how the work was divided and tasks allocated in your team, i.e. who contributed what data/knowledge/information and how you put the report together • 5,000 words + appendices and references Upload to MyCourses by midnight, Dec 2
Case presentation (30% of the grade) 1. Presentation coaching session on November 20-22 (one hour per team) – each team will attend a one-hour presentation coaching session with Christa to get feedback on their presentation before the final session – The presentation needs to be completed (does not have to be perfect yet) for the coaching session so that the feedback will be meaningful – Your team is responsible for booking the presentation coaching session via MyCourses. 2. Final case presentation – Your presentation should be engaging, credible and persuasive! – 10-13 min (not shorter or longer!) followed by 7-10 min Q&A 3. Case presentation slides – Upload to MyCourses by midnight, Nov 27 4. One slide summary – Upload to MyCourses by midnight, Nov 26
Presentation session Nov 27, 15:00-18:00 Session 1 Session 2 presentations presentations 15.00-17.00 15.00-17.00 1 slide summary presentations & networking 17.00-18.00
Individual portfolio a) Reflection paper 1. Reflection on learnings in the Master’s program 2. Reflection on learning in the Capstone course 3. Reflection on the teamwork in the Capstone project – approximately 2,500 words b) Creative presentation of your learnings • express your key learnings and take-aways from both the Master’s program and the Capstone course in a more out-of-the-box way (in the Aalto spirit!)
Some ideas for the creative presentation • a visual representation or a model of your key learnings and take- aways • a short, 2-minute video clip in which you present yourself and the key learnings and take-aways to prospective employers • a song that you have composed in which the lyrics are about the key learnings and take-aways Example from Onni Päivänen: MUSICAL SOURCE: own composition, but the riff may be inspired by “Flying Birds (Excellent Birds)” by Laurie Anderson & Peter Gabriel
Evaluation & Rubrics 1. Case Report evaluated by your team’s Faculty Facilitator 2. Case Presentation evaluated by the Faculty Facilitators listening to your presentation at the closing session 3. Individual Portfolio evaluated by your Program Representative All four RUBRICS (see MyCourses/Materials) will be applied in the evaluation.
NETWORKING
Exercise: Expand your network 1. Interview a person you don’t know, 2 min - Name - Master programme - Expectations: What would you like to achieve and learn during the Capstone Course? - A surprising thing about yourself that you would like to tell e.g. your hobby 2. Present the interviewed student for another pair that you don’t know, 1 min/ person 17.9.2019 24
Expand your network Company representatives Team members Faculty fasilitators Other students https://brand.linkedin.com/downloads
CHANGES BASED ON STUDENT FEEDBACK FROM SPRING 2019
Forming the teams after the case pitches The teams used to be formed before the pitches but now they will be formed after the pitches • Select your three most preferred cases (including short justifications - limited to 300 characters) • Submit case preferences through MyCourses by tomorrow midnight • You can also select the least preferred case (optional) Pros: You get to list your own preferences Cons: Teams may noy be as heterogenous as before
Should individual effort be evaluated through peer assessment and included in the final project grade? The results are mixed “Yes - some of us worked more than others for the project” “Yes I believe very much so . …even if we in the beginning decided on dividing the work pretty "equally" it definitely did not turn out so” “I guess that would be a good idea in order to spot free-riders. But at the same time, those assessments could be sort of biased and give a false impression about the real situation .” “I think this is a difficult question. In general, certainly, when the team works well together. But if the relationship between the team members doesn't work (I don't mean my own team) would the evaluations be objective? Or would the feelings and opinions affect the assessment too much ?” “I would say no, since this evaluation is so highly subjective and also dependent on peoples 'chemistry '.”
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