BUSN696 Capstone

Week 7/8 Assignment 

Scholarly Reflection Paper 

Instructions

Housekeeping

Due: Sunday ending Week 8, 11:59 pm ET

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

•        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? 

•        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.

The Paper Word Count – Guidance    

The Exemplary level word count per the Grading Rubric is 1800-2000 words (excluding title page and References list page). This means the minimum is 1800 and the maximum is 2000. Balance the length of the sections of the paper. The introduction and conclusion should be shorter than your three main discussion sections. 

Hint: Write your first draft without paying attention to word count. Then you will have a document to revise, remove repetition, add something missing, tighten wording and style, and so forth, to balance the paper and regulate your word count. Your narrative should be succinct, organized and clear. 

Submission Requirements

•        Paper must be in Microsoft Word

•        APA 7 Format

•        Submit to Assignment tool by end of Week 8

•        Review Turnitin (TII) report. A high % similarity score (i.e., over 15%) must be addressed and resolved as needed.