Using the Business Strategy and Policy Course as an
Integrative Assessment Model for the
Business Curriculum1
Steward Langdon, Spring Hill College
Ralph Sandler, Spring Hill College
The business capstone course – often called Business Strategy and Policy – has taken
on a critical role in business programs throughout the United States in helping students
with an important integrating experience. We believe that the capstone course is an
underutilized assessment mechanism that can also be used, along with other
instruments, to identify particular strengths and weaknesses in the business curriculum.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the capstone course at Spring Hill College,
specifically one particular aspect (a three-year strategic plan presentation to all
business faculty), and how it has been used to improve our entire business program.
Preliminary results of a national survey of colleges and universities concerning use of
the capstone course in business programs are also reported.
INTRODUCTION
Beginning in the early 1990’s, accrediting agencies began to evaluate colleges and
universities not only in terms of their inputs (e.g., ACT/SAT student scores, financial
endowment, faculty credentials) but also according to the value added by, or outcomes of, the
educational process itself. While student finals and papers assess individual learning, common
methods used to measure student learning outcomes at the institutional level include standardized
tests, surveys of alumni or current students, teacher evaluation forms, and student portfolios.
Additionally, alternative forms of evaluation include performance assessment, in which students
demonstrate proficiency by performing or producing an authentic assessment, which is based on
challenging and engaging tasks that resemble the context in which adults do their work. The
business division of Spring Hill College, a small Jesuit college in Mobile, Alabama, has
developed an authentic assessment for its program. The major purpose of this paper is to describe
the capstone course at Spring Hill College (SHC), and how it has been used as an internal
outcomes assessment model to improve the entire business program. We feel that our approach is
strong and we wanted to find out who else might be following a similar model, so we developed
and administered a survey asking the extent to which the capstone course is being used as an
assessment tool for the entire business program.
The structure of the paper is as follows. First, we present an overview of the literature on
assessment tools in business education and on business capstone courses. From there, we
describe our assessment tools, including our experience using our business capstone course to
identify gaps in our curriculum. Third, we present our survey research on whether any other
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Acknowledgements: We are grateful for the assistance provided by Theresa McGonagle Crider in setting up the
web-based survey used in the paper. We are also thankful for the support provided by Douglas Viehland, Executive
Director, Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs. Dr. Rita Durant, Spring Hill College, provided
encouragement and insightful editorial guidance in support of our research
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programs are using a similar approach. Finally, we present limitations of our research,
conclusions regarding business program assessment, and recommendations for future research.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Business departments at colleges and universities rely on student and alumni surveys,
course evaluations, exit interviews and benchmark surveys to elicit student opinions about a
range of issues. While many of these tools are locally designed, a number of benchmark surveys,
including the College Student Experience Questionnaire (CSEQ), are nationally standardized and
so allow for comparison among schools (Bycio and Allen, 2004). The disadvantage of such
benchmark surveys is the difficulty in pinpointing the effectiveness of the various institutional
levels and components (Bycio and Allen, 2004). Additionally, some question the value of using
student preferences to drive changes in business education (Scrabec, 2000). Although business
programs should be sensitive to student concerns, students are clearly not experts in curriculum
(Richardson-Wilson, 2002), and so too much adjustment to student opinion could jeopardize the
integrity and quality of the program (Driscoll and Wicks, 1998).
An increasingly common method of evaluating educational outcomes, including those of
business programs, is the use of standardized tests. The use of the ETS National Examination in
Business and Management is clearly widespread, particularly at the undergraduate level. The
ETS graduate-level Masters in Business Administration (MBA) examination is relatively new
and its use is not yet as widespread. According to Mirchandani, Lynch and Hamilton (2001),
standardized tests provide a cost-effective way to evaluate students and to compare their
performance to students at other institutions. Nevertheless, there are potential problems in using
ETS results, in that the test scores of some students may reflect socioeconomic circumstances,
rather than actual learning that the outcome assessment is supposed to measure.
While the ETS Examination provides an excellent external measure of students’ expertise
in several relevant bodies of knowledge, it is always a lagging indicator in a field as dynamic as
business education and it fails to assess students’ capability to integrate and apply knowledge
gained in and across the several functional areas of business. Supplementing standardized tests
with internal assessments is promising (Mirchandani, Lynch and Hamilton, 2001).
Administrators at Northeast Missouri State University found that when faculty members created
and administered outcomes assessment themselves, they began to internalize student strengths
and weaknesses and were more likely to initiate improvements in the classroom (Young, 1996).
Capstone courses are, by definition, meant to be culminating and integrative
opportunities to apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the collegiate experience. The
literature suggests that the use of capstone courses is clearly widespread in business programs
(Payne, Whitfield, and Flynn, 2002). Common pedagogical approaches in these courses include
traditional lectures based on textbook chapter assignments, written and oral discussions of
business cases, and computer simulations. Many employ a range of teaching methods. Alie,
Beam and Carey (1998) describe a two-semester undergraduate experience at Western Michigan
University, while Marshall, Bolden and Solomon (2002) discuss the integrated two-semester
experience for MBA students at the University of South Florida. At St. Joseph’s University, the
capstone course is taught by a team of cross-functional faculty (Rahmlow, Simmers, and
Webster, 2004). Although coordinated by a business policy instructor, each section of the
undergraduate capstone course has a management, accounting, finance and marketing instructor
of record. Students are required to develop a three-year strategic plan for a real company of their
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choice. At the conclusion of the course, students are asked for a self-assessment of their
competency with respect to a set of specific course objectives.
Much of the literature on the capstone course focuses on the value of requiring students
to take a course that integrates the functional areas of business (for example, see Stephen,
Parenta and Brown, 2003). Aupperle and Sarhan (1994) surveyed institutional practices
associated with the design and implementation of AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business) required “integrated experiences” for MBA degrees at 547 colleges and
universities. Other articles describe and compare various computerized games or simulations that
can be used in capstone business strategy classes (for example, see Keys and Wolf, 1990 and
Wolf, 1997). Payne et al. (2002) discussed how to evaluate the course itself. Much of the
literature has focused on an evaluation of the course itself – a description of the course at various
institutions, and its value as an integrating experience for students. We see little attention to the
possibility that, with full faculty involvement, the capstone course can be used as an important
assessment model.
BUSINESS PROGRAM ASSESSMENT AT SPRING HILL COLLEGE
The business division at Spring Hill College uses its capstone course in business strategy
and policy as an internal assessment mechanism for the entire business curriculum, particularly
given that the basic purpose of capstone courses is to integrate knowledge from all the functional
business disciplines into an overall view of the business world. In this way, the capstone course
is an authentic assessment, as described above. Managers not only are likely to work in several
different functional areas during their careers, but also they need to be able to comprehend the
“big picture” of how all of the functional areas of the business must fit together.
Before describing the details of the capstone course, we want to emphasize that it is part
of a multi-dimensional assessment approach at both the whole college and the business division.
There are a variety of student and alumni surveys that are used to elicit opinions about their
experiences at SHC: the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), the Student
Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) and HEDS (Senior) Survey. These are nationally standardized
benchmark surveys that allow SHC to directly compare their results to other schools.
The undergraduate ETS field exam in business is administered to all graduating seniors
and provides a measure of competence in eight functional areas: accounting, economics,
management, quantitative methods, finance, marketing, legal and social environment, and
international issues. Using the mean and percentile scores, SHC determines how well its
prospective graduates are performing against a national sample of colleges and universities.
These scores are reviewed carefully and, over the years, benchmarks have been established for
student performance in each discipline. Students who fall below a certain minimum overall score
are required to pass a comprehensive, locally prepared examination in order to graduate. The
ETS field exam for MBA students has only recently been established and provides a measure of
student competence in five areas: marketing, management, finance, managerial accounting and
strategic integration. Benchmark standards for student performance have yet to be established in
the MBA program.
Over many years, SHC business students have performed consistently well on the ETS
exam, although some problems have emerged. Lower scores on the marketing section of the
undergraduate exam reaffirmed the need to resolve staffing problems in that discipline. A
decision to require all undergraduates to take an International Business course was, in part, a
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result of student performance on that section of the exam. However, there are limitations to what
ETS results can reveal. The scores for each of the functional areas are broad averages that cannot
pinpoint weaknesses within the curriculum. For example, the mean score on the finance sections
does not identify what may be a lack of student knowledge about specific topics such as capital
budgeting and dividend policy. This limitation in the ETS as an assessment method reaffirms the
need for programs to use multiple measures of assessment. One such method that should be
considered is the Business Strategy and Policy course.
Use of the capstone courses as integrated assessment models for the entire business
curriculum is a relatively recent phenomenon at SHC. Only in the mid-1990s was the capstone
made a requirement for all undergraduate business majors (until the 1995-1996 academic year, it
was a capstone only for the Management Concentration). In the 1997-1998 academic year, the
three-year strategic plan presentations for all Business Division faculty were implemented.
The capstone courses in business at SHC employ many of the standard features of most
such courses. The basic concepts of strategic management are taught and students are thoroughly
exposed to case analyses. Additionally, students are organized into teams for a semester-long
exercise in managing their own companies in a sophisticated computer-based simulation called
the Business Strategy Game. None of the pedagogical techniques described above are unique;
they are widely used in most comprehensive capstone courses. What may be different and
unique about the SHC approach is the employment of a student exercise that involves
development of a three-year strategic plan, and the presentation of that plan, both orally and in
writing, to their “Board of Directors”. This portion of the course is described in more detail in
the following paragraphs.
The Three-Year Strategic Plan Project
Approximately halfway through the semester, students will have gained five or six years
experience in managing their companies in the Business Strategy Game simulation. By this time
in the semester, they have developed a basic mission, vision, grand and competitive strategies,
and have implemented those strategic initiatives in an industry composed of student teams in
their own class. (At SHC, an “industry” is generally composed of four to eight companies.) This
has allowed them to establish themselves in some competitive position in the industry, and gain
some experience in strategic analysis of the industry and competition. At this point in the
classes, student companies are asked to reflect on their past successes or failures, accomplish a
comprehensive analysis of the industry and the competition, and develop a Three-Year Strategic
Plan for employment in the last half of the semester. Student teams then deliver an oral
presentation of their three-year strategic plans to their Boards of Directors, comprising the
faculty of the Division of Business, supplemented occasionally by members of the Division’s
Business Advisory Board. At the MBA-level, all Division of Business faculty (currently eight
faculty members) typically will attend all of the graduate students’ presentations.
Given the larger number of presentations at the undergraduate level, faculty members are
generally assigned in three or four member faculty groups to serve as “Boards”. These
presentations are designed to show whether our students know how to effectively employ the
tools and techniques of strategic management, as well as tools and techniques learned from other
courses. Student teams also present a written report concurrently with presenting their three-year
strategic plan orally. Attendance at three-year strategic plan presentations by Business Advisory
Board members is necessarily limited; however, from one to three members typically are able to
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attend at least one presentation. Attendance by Business Advisory Board members adds a nice
touch of realism to the process.
Since all faculty in the Division of Business act as Board of Directors’ members for one
or more of the three-year strategic plan presentations, they are able to observe the students’
capabilities to employ the tools and techniques specific to particular disciplines, such as capital
budgeting techniques, exchange rate movements, product differentiation, qualitative and
quantitative reasoning, marketing strategies, human resource practices, etc. The “bottom line” is
that the students are required to demonstrate competencies in all the functional areas of business:
using such specific and powerful techniques as Linear Programming, Regression Analysis,
Financial Ratio Analysis, Capital Budgeting, Market Value Added, Economic Value Added,
Quality Management, and the Marketing Mix. Additionally, capstone students are required to
highlight the ethical values of our College and division, including the importance of managing
for the good of all stakeholders. As a result, student groups are required to pay attention to legal,
ethical and justice issues in dealing with a variety of business decisions. For example, they have
been asked to ensure a “living wage” for employees in overseas factories. Additionally, if they
chose to shut down operations in a particular location, they have been asked to consider the
implications on the local community and the displaced employees.
Student shortcomings evident in the board of director presentations then become data.
For example, noting students’ weaknesses in global issues, faculty members instigated changes
to both the undergraduate and MBA curricula to strengthen this component of student learning.
Specifically, an International Business course was made a component of the undergraduate
business core for all business concentrations. At the graduate level, International Business was
made a designated elective for all students who had not been exposed to an undergraduate course
with an international emphasis. These curricula changes were made, in part, due to accrediting
requirements, and strengthened students’ capability to deal with exchange rate issues, financial
and managerial implications of international competition, and cultural aspects of producing and
selling in overseas markets.
A Business Communications course was added to the undergraduate business core
curriculum, in part due to undergraduates’ deficiencies in oral presentation skills and writing
prowess, as evidenced in the oral and written presentations of three-year strategic plans. Not only
are course offerings adjusted, but also the faculty members have decided to adjust course
content, such as in operations management and human resources management, based on the
feedback provided by the three-year plan presentations. Course content at the undergraduate and
graduate levels has been strengthened in the following areas: production capacity issues,
operating factories at the “best operating level”, use of automation and “operating leverage”,
inventory management, use of linear programming (transportation model) in determining
optimum distribution plans, models for forecasting demand, use of employee incentive
compensation to improve quality and reduce reject rates, dealing sensitively with employees who
lose their jobs because of moving factories overseas or using automation, providing a “living
wage” for employees in overseas factories.
Undergraduate student teams’ presentations revealed the need to strengthen the
instruction in financial management, specifically in terms of the use of financial ratio analysis.
Accordingly, faculty members teaching Financial Management, Advanced Financial
Management, and Principles of Accounting courses have all emphasized financial ratio analysis,
particularly the interpretation of ratios, rather than calculations.
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Participation in the business simulation, around which the three-year strategic plans are
constructed, involves a significant number of strategic decisions with long-term implications
involving significant expenditures of capital. These strategic decisions provide a marvelous
opportunity for students to demonstrate their prowess in applying capital budgeting techniques,
such as payback period, internal rate of return (IRR), and present value (PV) analysis, and the
associated calculation of the “cost of capital”, needed in IRR and PV analysis. Student
presentations of their three-year strategic plans reinforced the need to emphasize these concepts
at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. As a result, the undergraduate and MBA-level
core courses in Managerial Finance have been strengthened in these areas. At the graduate-level,
students are now exposed to case studies and spreadsheet exercises on capital budgeting, and
projects in which the actual costs of capital are calculated for real, ongoing businesses.
Noting a weakness in the graduate-level three-year strategic plan presentations, the
instructor teaching Accounting for Managerial Control, a required course in the MBA
curriculum, has added a component on “strategic analysis of operating income”. (The purpose of
strategic profitability analysis is to recognize the differences in operating income between
periods of operations to assess successful, or unsuccessful, implementation of the firm’s
strategy.)
Because of presentations at the graduate level, finance and economics faculty have
upgraded Managerial Economics and Management of Financial Resources courses to emphasize
Market Value Added (MVA) and Economic Value Added (EVA) as important measures of
successful strategy formulation and implementation. As a result, MBA students now routinely
present these calculations in their three-year strategic plan presentations.
There is an ongoing weakness among undergraduate students, evidenced in student
teams’ three-year strategic plan presentations, concerning their understanding of exchange rate
movements, and the managerial implications of such movements. Even in their senior year, many
students still seem to be confused about the basics of exchange rates. As a result, exchange rates
will now be emphasized beginning with the basic core micro- and macro-economics courses
required at the freshmen level, as well as more advanced business courses.
In addition to precipitating specific improvements in curricula or course content noted
above, the Business Strategy Simulation and three-year strategic plan exercises provide
exceptional opportunities to “link” and “integrate” all courses in the business curriculum.
Essentially all faculty who are exposed to the simulation and strategic plans observe that their
teaching approach is altered in at least two ways. Significant opportunities are afforded to
emphasize the importance of course work leading up to the “capstone experience”. And the
simulation provides many examples that can be used in a number of courses to illuminate how
principles being taught apply in the simulation.
While we are encouraged by the assessment information available through this rigorous
capstone course, such an intensive experience has its costs. At SHC, the capstone courses are
only offered in the Spring Semester, with two undergraduate sections and one graduate section.
Undergraduate enrollment approximates fifty-sixty students and graduate enrollment varies from
six to twenty students. Thus, the number of student companies that present three-year strategic
plans each spring varies from fifteen to twenty. With essentially all business faculty attending
the MBA presentations, and a minimum of three members attending each undergraduate
presentation, the commitment of time to these presentations by faculty is extensive.
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Preparation for the presentations requires faculty to review industry and competitive
information provided by the instructor teaching the capstone. The actual presentation and
debrief of each company generally consumes one hour. Faculty then spend some time preparing
comments on the presentations and submitting these comments, along with a recommended
grade, to the course instructor. Finally, the Division attempts to schedule a one-hour meeting of
faculty to review the overall quality of the presentations, note any particular strong or weak
points, and highlight areas that need improvement in either the “capstone course” itself, or in
other business courses. The average time commitment of faculty during the most recent
evolution of this process averaged ten hours for each of eight Division of Business faculty
members.
In addition to the commitment of faculty time, the Division of Business has encountered
other limitations in attempting to use the capstone course as an assessment mechanism. Except
for major changes in curriculum, the feedback process whereby changes should take place has
not been completely formalized and the division still relies on informal contact among faculty.
Because of the limited number of faculty in each discipline, all functional areas of the business
programs are not always represented in each presentation. It must also be acknowledged that
results of program improvements that have been instituted may not show up in managerial
performance of our graduates for many years.
Given the significant commitment of faculty time necessary to support the capstone
course offerings at SHC, and other limitations noted above, the authors wondered if the
processes were widely or narrowly used in business programs nationwide. It may be that
processes such as described above will necessarily be limited to smaller business programs at
“teaching institutions”, in which the number of strategic plan presentations will be manageable,
and faculty members from different disciplines work closely together in the overall educational
endeavor. We wondered what other programs were doing. We wanted to learn from their
experiences, or to see whether our use of the capstone course is truly unique. We wanted to use
the information to place our efforts in the broader context of program assessment and to offer our
story as a possible model to others. Thus, a national survey of business programs was initiated to
determine the nature of the capstone course in business at other small and large colleges and
universities.
NATIONAL SURVEY OF BUSINESS PROGRAMS CONCERNING USE OF THE
CAPSTONE COURSE
Survey instruments were developed to gather information concerning the capstone course
from other colleges and universities nationwide. While the major focus of the surveys was on
whether other colleges and universities were employing a three-year strategic plan presentation
similar to that used at SHC, the authors took the opportunity to gather additional information.
Table 1 contains a list of issues and questions that the authors hoped to be able to address and
answer from the results of the survey.
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Table 1
Issues and Questions Addressed in the Surveys
1. How widespread is the use of capstone courses in business programs?
2. Are computer-based simulations used extensively in capstone courses?
3. How extensive is the requirement to prepare a three-year strategic plan?
4. Are strategic plans presented to business faculty other than, or in addition to, the
instructor assigned to teach the capstone course?
5. Are the simulations and associated strategic plans tailored to fit the culture and
curriculum of the different business programs?
6. Is the capstone course used as an assessment mechanism for the entire undergraduate, or
graduate, curriculum?
7. Do changes in the undergraduate or graduate business curriculum result from use of the
capstone course as an assessment mechanism?
8. What kind of changes to curriculum or course content result from the use of the capstone
course as an assessment mechanism?
The following hypotheses will be tested from survey results:
Hypothesis 1: Capstone courses are employed in most business programs.
Hypothesis 2: Computer-based simulations are utilized in a majority of capstone courses.
Hypothesis 3: Development of three- or five-year strategic plans will be required in a majority
of business programs in which a computer-based simulation is utilized.
Hypothesis 4: The practice of having strategic plans presented orally or in writing to business
faculty other than, or in addition to, the faculty teaching the capstone course will not be
widespread.
Hypothesis 5: Use of the capstone course as an assessment model for the entire undergraduate,
or graduate, business curriculum will not be widespread.
Hypotheses 1 and 2 are supported by the literature review, and the fact that a variety of
computer-based simulations are readily available to all business programs. Hypothesis 3 is
suggested by the availability of business simulations that have a “built-in” strategic planning
module (such as the Business Strategy Game). The faculty time requirements associated with
strategic plan presentations to business faculty other than, or in addition to, the faculty teaching
the capstone course mitigate against widespread use of this practice (Hypothesis 4 above is
germane). Hypothesis 5 flows from Hypothesis 4. If faculty other than, or in addition to, the
faculty teaching the capstone course, are not involved in strategic plan presentations, then the
necessary feedback loop to change the business curriculum is not available.
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Methodology
The survey instruments shown in the attachments to this document were placed on
internet sites so that the surveys could be completed “on line”. A representative sample of small
and large business programs was developed. The accrediting agency for the business programs at
SHC, the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), assisted greatly
by forwarding the links to the survey instruments to all baccalaureate and graduate degree
institutions under ACBSP accreditation (approximately 210 institutions). A random sample of
business programs accredited under the Association to Advance Collegiate Business Schools and
Programs (AACSB) was selected from the AACSB web-site (approximately 180 institutions).
Thus, responses were solicited from large research institutions (AACSB-accredited) and smaller
teaching institutions (ACBSP-accredited).
These results should be considered preliminary, since they are based on only 122
responses (a response rate of 31.3% of the 390 colleges and universities queried). 75 usable
responses concerning undergraduate business programs have been received, and 47 useable
responses addressed MBA programs. 53% of the responses were from undergraduate programs
with less than 500 students, while 86.4% of responses were from MBA programs with less than
500 students. Efforts to increase the response rate will be pursued by follow-up queries to
colleges and universities who have not yet responded.
Hypothesis 1: Capstone courses are employed in essentially every business program.
Strongly supported: 70 of 75 institutions reported incorporation of a capstone course at the
undergraduate level (93.3%), while 44 of 47 institutions required a capstone course at the MBA
level (93.6%).
Hypothesis 2: Computer-based simulations will be utilized in a majority of capstone
courses. Rejected: At the undergraduate level, 39 of 70 institutions reported in the negative
(55.7%), while 35 of 45 MBA programs (77.8%) reported lack of use of a computer-based
simulation.
Hypothesis 3: Development of three or five year strategic plans will be required in a
majority of business programs in which a computer-based simulation is utilized. Supported: At
the undergraduate level, 24 of 31 respondents (77.4%) required a strategic plan in the computer
simulation incorporated in the capstone course. At the MBA level, 6 of 10 institutions (60%)
reported use of such pedagogy.
Hypothesis 4: The practice of having strategic plans presented orally or in writing to
business faculty other than, or in addition to, the faculty teaching the course will not be
widespread. Supported: Of the 24 undergraduate programs incorporating a strategic planning
module, only 7 (29.2%) reported the involvement of faculty other than the member assigned to
teach the course. The data at the MBA level are currently limited to 6 respondents who utilized a
strategic plan built around the simulation; of these, only one (16.7%) involved “outside faculty”.
Hypothesis 5: Use of the capstone course as an assessment model for the entire
undergraduate, or graduate, business curriculum will not be widespread. Supported by the
preliminary survey results at the MBA level, and not supported by responses concerning
undergraduate programs: 38 institutions (54.3%) reported use of the capstone course as an
assessment mechanism for the undergraduate curriculum, while 20 institutions (44.4%)
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responded affirmatively for MBA programs. Of these colleges and universities who reported use
of the capstone course as an internal assessment mechanism, 60% at the MBA level and 57.9% at
the undergraduate level reported that changes had been made to curriculum or course content as
a result.
Conclusions, Opportunities for Future Research, and Limitations
The preliminary results reported above are surprising in terms of the lack of widespread
use of computer-based simulations as a centerpiece, or integral component, of the capstone
business course. In view of the realism a sophisticated computer-based simulation can bring to
the classroom, coupled with the competitive environment that can be created, these pedagogical
features, now widely available, seem underutilized. Additionally, at least one computer-based
simulation – the Business Strategy Game – has a built-in three-year strategic planning module
around which three-year strategic plan presentations are built. These presentations are the major
feedback mechanism in the SHC model for internally assessing the business curriculum.
Given the extensive faculty time and effort involved in “all faculty participation” in the strategic
plan presentations, it is not surprising that under 30% of institutions utilizing these presentations
involved faculty other than the person assigned to teach the course. However, if “all faculty
participation” can be included in the student presentations of strategic plans, a direct feedback
link will be in place for effectively evaluating the business curriculum and course content.
Clearly, much more research needs to be conducted concerning capstone business
courses, and their use as an integrative assessment mechanism for the business curriculum. In
particular, more investigation needs to be devoted to determining how the capstone course is
used to modify the business curriculum and course content. The SHC model described in this
research is but one approach of perhaps many that could be utilized. It is noted that fewer than
50% of the institutions responding to our survey reported using a computer-based simulation,
and fewer still required a strategic planning feature evaluated by business faculty. Accordingly, it
is concluded that the SHC model is not widely distributed. Note also that a significant proportion
of institutions responding to our survey (i.e., 54.3% at the undergraduate level and 44.4% at the
MBA level) reported use of the capstone course as an assessment mechanism for the business
curriculum. The means by which the capstone course is so employed at these institutions deserve
further study.
There are some significant limitations to the survey results as reported above. The survey
is still ongoing and consequently the sample size is small, particularly with regard to certain
responses. “Response bias” could also affect the validity of the sample and ultimately the results
of the research; i.e., if certain institutions were not using the capstone course as an assessment
mechanism, those institutions would probably be less likely to respond to the survey. In addition,
we have not yet attempted to determine the statistical significance of the responses. It is also
clear that some follow-up questioning may be necessary. As reported above, many institutions
reported that they used the capstone course as an assessment mechanism, but it is not clear what
process is used to make changes to the curriculum or course content. In retrospect, we should
have included more probing questions in our survey to elicit this information.
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