Course content
The Business Project aims to provide the students with a real life learning experience. International student project teams solve a real business problem as a one-semester part-time activity in consultation with the host company and an academic advisor. The Business Project is a consultancy-like project that aims to make a contribution to the host company with analytical results and advice.
Even though the Business Project course includes a number of fixed deliverables and a tight schedule, students have full responsibility to manage the project process, the analysis, reach conclusions and present these in a clearly communicated way. The students will work with a company and will be assigned a company contact person and an academic advisor from CBS.
The implementation of the Business Project will therefore help students develop a range of competences, in terms of analysis, communication, project, and process management – in other words, competences that are in high demand in the corporate world.
The Business Project forms a substantial part of the workload in the spring semester, and each student is expected to allocate approximately 400 work hours to the project.
The main part of the Business Project consists of the student group’s project work process and the group’s interaction with the host company.
The project team will work on a business problem/challenge/opportunity, as provided by the host company.
It is the responsibility of each project team to establish an internal project organization and structure to be able to handle the process of coordinating tasks, communicate efficiently and effectively with the host company, and ensure that the milestones and deadlines in the process are met.
The kick-off for the CEMS Business Project will take place February. At the kick-off, the company presents the case and meets the student project team for the first time. The aim of the kick-off is to:
- Create an initial understanding of the topic and the situation in the project team
- Establish a shared understanding of the project task
- Set out the framework for the work process towards the first deliverable, the Project Plan
Before the kick-off students are assigned to specific company partners. It is expected that the students prior to the kick-off have done some initial information search, e.g. via the company partner’s website, annual reports, or through consultation with other sources for industry insights.
The kick-off and the following initial project work will lead the project team to produce the first deliverable in the Business Project, the Project Plan.
Re. A: Project Plan
The Project Plan must be submitted to the group’s academic adviser at CBS and to the company contact person. The purpose of the Project Plan is to outline the project’s purpose, the research question, research-based foundation, methodology and expected outcome at an early stage of the process.
Re. B: Mid-term evaluation
The project team must arrange one mid-term evaluation meeting with the company which is the second deliverable in the Business Project. The format for the meeting is flexible and the most convenient format for the specific project is determined by the project team in consultation with the host company.
Re. C: Reporting findings and conclusions
The content and structure of the report will naturally vary according to the company case and research question investigated.
Prior to the submission of the report, the project team must present the preliminary results to the company. At this stage, the project team must orally, on the basis of a supporting slide presentation, communicate the main activities, findings, conclusions and recommendations.
The final report submitted for the exam consists of three elements:
A) A reflection paper, including a short executive summary of the project
B) A slide presentation reporting main activities, findings, conclusions and recommendations.
C) Supporting documentation, including the approved Project Plan.
See course description in course catalogue