Analytics Management Capstone

The Pre-Capstone and Analytics Management Capstone courses are an experiential learning opportunity integrated throughout the SMB-A curriculum, which exposes you to leading organizations' real-world analytics challenges. You'll realize the full potential of the analytical skills acquired throughout the program, gain experience managing a small team and showcase your business expertise to a professional audience.

Connecting Analytics with Business

Unlike most other graduate analytics programs, Ohio State's SMB-A program is taught within the Fisher College of Business. The connection Fisher provides between business and analytics means you'll gain highly desirable real-world experience solving problems companies are facing today. No matter the current stage of your career or analytics experience level, we tailor the program and capstone experience to you. It's time to advance your leadership skills and analytical expertise so you can reach your goals. View the three steps of the Analytics Management Capstone below.

View the SMB-A Capstone Webinar

Step 1: Select your real-world project

Identify a real value-adding consulting project in diverse sectors of interest to you (technology, healthcare, operations, supply chain, education, finance, government, research, retail, etc.), where data can inform practice. Companies all over the world and in diverse sectors choose Fisher students to take on significant problems they face.

Working professional SMB-A students (part-time or full-time) typically choose a project with analytical work related to their current employer. It's an excellent way to capitalize on existing contextual knowledge and understanding of the analysis's relevance and potential impact. It's also a great way to impress leadership at your current organization.

Being a school of business at a renowned university has its benefits. Students without a project/current employer can work with a SMB-A program director to tap into Fisher sourced-projects for clients who expect the same quality of deliverables and positive teamwork that they would receive from their own employees.

Step 2: Leverage your analytics micro-team

As part of your capstone experience, you and another SMB-A student manage a small analytics team in a real-world setting, which occurs in a spring Pre-Capstone course.

About the Pre-Capstone

The Pre-Capstone is a data and methods preparatory curriculum in advance of the summer term. This curriculum continues discussions of problem structuring, begun in the Fall. It includes a 10-week Micro-Team experience where SMB-A students manage and collaborate with a junior analyst and advisory faculty member. By its design, and exposure to additional analytics tools, the Pre-Cap ensures you'll be well-prepared for successful independent Capstone work in the Summer term. A typical team is as follows:

* The number of assigned Fisher undergrads matches the number of SMB-A students on the micro-team (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).

Some benefits of the micro-team experience

• Demonstrate skills gained in coursework as a project lead
• Establish tasks and timelines
• Coordinate any required NDAs
• Apply descriptive/predictive/prescriptive analysis
• Reporting and presentation work that builds leadership

Step 3: Put theory into practice

To help guide initial thoughts and the ultimate development of the project and its deliverables, SMB-A students and their teams will make use of several frameworks. Examples include the OUtCoMES Cycle, Systems-Oriented A3, and the Management Analytics Decision-Tree. These resources, and more, are introduced and utilized during 1-hour advisory sessions every two weeks during the autumn and spring semesters, which lead into the summer when you will move to two 1-hour advisory sessions every week for seven weeks. Below is a quick look at the Management Analytics Capstone timeline. The capstone is an integral part of the SMB-A program structure and curriculum.

Next, explore the SMB-A program structure