MG488B      Half Unit
GMiM Capstone Course - Management in Action

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

Requisites

Pre-requisites:

Students must have completed MG488A before taking this course.

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 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 students to support their analysis of the client partner’s challenge /brief, with relevant theory - sourced from academic journals - and with some primary data collection, 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.

Criteria for evaluation:

1. Clarity of Project Scope: Assesses the coherence and precision of the project's objectives and deliverables.
2. Use of Academic Theory and Research: Assesses how effectively theory and research from academic journals, whether taught in the degree program or independently sourced, are utilised to enhance the analysis and recommendations of the project.
3. Robustness of Research Methodology: Evaluates the quality and reliability of the data collection and data analysis approaches employed.
4. Strength of Recommendations: Assesses the thoroughness and implementability of the recommendations in the context of the client partner’s objectives and deliverables.
5. Quality of Final Presentation: Considers the effectiveness of the final presentation, including oral clarity, slide design, presentation flow and overall delivery.
6. Effectiveness of Client Management: Additionally, your effectiveness in managing client interactions and meeting their needs will be considered.

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.

3 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.
3 hours of lectures and 12 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.

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

1. provide guidance and advice throughout your project
2. approve your research ethics form - Student groups must complete an online Ethics Review form for their project.
3. 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 (see Moodle/ dom.gmim), but students may also be required to sign company-specific non-disclosure agreements.

In its Ethics Code, LSE upholds a commitment to intellectual freedom. This means we will protect the freedom of expression of our students and staff and the right to engage in healthy debate in the classroom.

Student groups will be required to submit an interim presentation to their faculty coaches for feedback. This interim presentation should include confirmation of the project scope, a high-level overview of the core literature explored, an outline of the research methodology and plans for next steps. The submission must be made before the end of the term. Additionally, the faculty coach may request to review other work products as needed to ensure the team stays on track. Students are also expected to work with their client to produce work products as agreed including progress reports. It is important to establish expectations around feedback and interim progress reports, with your clients early.

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 particularly useful: An Introduction to Qualitative research – UWE Flick.

Course participation (10%)

Project (65%)

Essay (25%, 2000 words) in August

Student groups will be assessed via: 

An oral presentation (approx. 30 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. 

Deadline for presentations will be established in the first week of the course. 

For home students, the Capstone Project accounts for 65% of your overall grade. The remaining 35% comes from MG488A and is comprised of: 

Class participation (10%) across the Autumn and Winter Terms, and 

A 2000-word essay (25%) submitted in August.

For details relating to class participation and the essay, see MG488A course guide. 

For detailed assessment information, including all deadlines and timings, please see the relevant course Moodle page. Assessment timings will be available at the start of each term.