WGU Capstone

jt2929

Hi all. I'm currently trying to decide between the MSISA and the MBAITM programs at WGU. They both have capstones, but are a little different. It looks like the MSISA is a flexible capstone assignment while the MBAITM is a project with 3-4 other students and cannot be accelerated. I had to do a capstone paper for my BS and absolutely hated it, so which of these options is going to be less painful? Do both options require an oral defense? I didn't have to do a defense for my BS capstone, so what is that like? Thanks for any help.

smokeyalien

The MSISA capstone is going to require a prospectus, a written capstone, and an oral defense with a powerpoint presentation. The topic is up to you to come up with (and have pre-approved by Capstone mentors) and it is purely a giant writing assignment with a very brief powerpoint presentation and a question and answer period at the end to basically validate that you wrote your own capstone and are knowledgeable about the topic. As long as you are comfortable with lots of writing then it will be fine. Don't sweat the presentation.

I can't comment on the MBA/MS Network Management capstone. I believe I read on here that the MBA now has to do a group project for the capstone lasting several weeks. I don't know if the MS version of Network Management has the same requirement. The only thing that would bother me about group projects is that you can only go as fast as the slowest member so if you are pressed for time you are out of luck.

jt2929

Thanks for the info. The MSISA capstone sounds about the same as my BS capstone, minus the oral defense.

jtoast

I'm about to start my MBA:ITM capstone next month. Its got 3 tasks. The first two tasks are based off the results of a group project using a simulation program. Each member has a job such as marketing, production, finance, etc. The team as a whole decides on a strategy and each member implements their piece of it. We then write up how we did, were we went wrong, etc.

You are only partially right about how it cannot be accelerated. When you start, you are given the option of a 4, 6, or 8 week simulation. This sets the deadlines for the team assignments. Once you start, you are stuck with that timeline.

I personally will be choosing 4 weeks.

For the third task, we have to contact a local business and help them resolve a problem. Below is partial info from taskstream:

Look at the organization holistically and examine the problem or need from multiple positions to determine the most probable cause. Areas to consider could include areas of the simulation and previous courses of study:

• strategy
• marketing
• product development
• leadership and organizational structure
• finances and accounting
• operational processes
• production

jt2929

Thanks jtoast, that helps a ton. Do you have to do an oral defense of your project, or just turn it in?

jtoast

Nope. Once all three parts are graded I'm done.

jt2929

awesome, thanks.

lelei

I just finished the MBA:ITM. The capstone was not as hard as you would think.

The portion you do as a group can be finished as quickly as your team is comfortable submitting decisions. If you say you want to finish in 4 weeks, you will likely end up in a group that wants to finish that portion as quickly as possible. My group had the group work portion finished in less than 2 weeks. If you go in with a good strategy and understanding of how to do the sim successfully, you will breeze through.

The papers were fairly easy, and you do not need to finish the group work before you start/finish your solo project paper.

I found the capstone to be much easier and quicker to finish than the financial analysis course was. You write your papers and once they pass taskstream you are done. Also, the graders did not seem to be very technical for the solo project so this ended up being very easy, I didn't have to go into very deep detail for any of it and passed on my 2nd try with very minimal additions needed. I think this capstone would likely be much easier to finish than one that requires an oral defense.

jtoast

Any tips on the "good strategy" portion? I'm looking around the web and seeing a lot of conflicting information so far.

srabiee

Thanks for posting this info. I wondered what the MBA:ITM capstone involved. Much different than the MS:ITM capstone.