BUSN396 Capstone

Word Count: 1800-2000 words (excludes Title Page and References Page)

Format: APA 7th Edition Style (Student), MS Word

Voice: Professional & scholarly, first person acceptable

Required Research Sources: Minimum: five (5) credible sources, supporting points required

throughout the paper; remember in-text citations

Course Objectives: CO-5/LO-5.2

Help Sources

Week 7 Lesson: Reflection, and related readings

How to Format Your APA 7 Paper in 2025. [YouTube Video]

How To Know if a Source is Credible [Web article, Purdue]

Please see Grading Rubric

Purpose of the Paper

The capstone Scholarly Reflection Paper is an opportunity to critically analyze your knowledge,

career development, and professional growth acquired in the MBA program. Tell your story

reflecting from past, present, and future perspectives.

Calling upon your coursework and other relevant experiences during your MBA program, in this

paper you will integrate the insights, applications, and learning you have gained.

Overview

Your professional evolution (Past Present Future)

How your MBA learning and experience apply to real-world business challenges

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Scholarly reflection on key business themes such as: leadership, organizational change,

stakeholder engagement, global trends, cultural differences, decision-making in complex

markets; and career development themes such as career planning, mentorship,

networking, and civic engagement.

Use of ePortfolio

Required Structure & Content

Note: The following Instructions specify the required content to cover in your paper and will help

you organize your approach. Each section of your paper requires support with reference citations.

1. Introduction

Introduce purpose of the reflection paper, importance of career reflection, and key themes that

will be explored.

2. Past: Foundations of Professional Identity

Who were you are the starting gate of your MBA program? Your reflection should be a wellintegrated, thoughtful narrative that incorporates the following:

Describe your career aspirations and professional background before the MBA.

What motivated you to pursue an MBA?

Identify key challenges or limitations in your professional skills before entering the

program, including at least one key strength and one key weakness you saw in yourself.

Discuss early learning moments that started shaping your approach to business.

Scholarly integration: Apply leadership and business theory principles to contextualize

your pre-MBA mindset.

Other observations or insights you wish to include.

3. Present: Growth and Key Learning

Your past reflection should segue into now, the Present. Reflect on your growth and knowledge

today, in a well-integrated narrative covering the following:

Analyze the most impactful learning experiences in the MBA program. Use real examples

from projects, internships, case studies, leadership experiences, or mentorship. One

example might relate to the artifact you selected for Week 5 Assignment.

To illustrate, briefly describe another artifact from your MBA program suitable for your

ePortfolio and why it enhances the ePortfolio. (Note: in addition to the artifact, you

selected for the Week 5 Assignment.)

Reflect on the present aspect of your key strength and weakness you identified in your

discussion of the Past above. Have these changed? In what way?

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Scholarly integration: With assistance of research, reflect on and describe insights and

knowledge you have gained and can apply in at least three (3) of the following areas of

study. This is not a question related to a specific artifact. This question is applicationfocused, that is, your unique and creative application of your MBA-acquired knowledge to

these areas of business operation and management.

o Leadership

o Organizational change & adaptability

o Stakeholder engagement & management

o Global business trends

o Cultural awareness impact on business

o Strategic decision-making

Other observations or insights you wish to include.

4. Future: Application to Career & Industry Impact

Reflection is not only about the past and present. Looking ahead, reflect on the future.

Incorporate and blend the following into the Future section of your reflection paper. Segue your

Present discussion to looking at the future. Include the following in your reflection on the future.

Career development: As part of this course, you prepared a Career Development Plan.

Briefly summarize your plan as part of your reflection

Civic & social responsibility: What do you see as the role of civic and social responsibility

in your career plan for the future?

Networking & mentorship: Reflect on how networking, mentorship, or other personal

associations play a role in the pursuit of your goals.

ePortfolio: The jewel in the midst of all this planning is the ePortfolio. Explain how you can

use your ePortfolio and its artifacts in your career advancement.

Scholarly integration: Long-term professional impact is central to future reflection. How

will your MBA knowledge and skills (that you discussed in your Present refection above)

influence your leadership, strategic decision-making, or industry contributions in the

future? Apply and appropriately cite relevant credible research sources about career

planning, leadership development, and substantive global business trends in support of

your future reflection.

Other observations or insights you wish to include

5. Conclusion

Summarize your key takeaways from the reflection and plan for continued growth

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