MBA 702 Oral Exam Workshop

1
MBA 702 Oral Exam Workshop

• Purpose
• Process
• Preparation

2
MBA 702 Oral Exam Purpose

• The Mgt 702 exam is designed to test your ability
  to integrate theories (analytic frameworks) from
  the range of MBA disciplines. An integrated
  approach to problem solving implies you should be
  able to
• (1) define a central problem or question.
• (2) identify which disciplinary theories are most
  important for a given business problem and
  explain why these theories are relevant.
• (3) integrate various disciplinary theories and
  stakeholder theory to address this problem or
  question. Integrating theory involves using
  theories in combination. For example, use the
  output from one theory as input in another
  theory.
• (4) describe a method for applying the theory and
  analyzing relevant data for addressing the
  central problem or question. This would include
  explaining the links between data, the theories,
  and the decision making process.
• (5) develop recommendations that are grounded in
  theory application and data analysis and directly
  address the central problem or question of the
  MBA final exam.

3
MBA 702 Oral ExamProcess

• Format 90 Minute Exam
• Administrative Work 5 minutes
• Presentation 30 minutes
• Q A 45 minutes
• Evaluation 10 minutes

4
MBA 702 Oral ExamProcess

• Assessment 6 key areas
• Theory Integration Application
• Use of Stakeholder Theory
• Data Selection Analysis
• Development of Recommendations
• Discussion
• Professionalism

5
MBA 702 Oral ExamPreparation

• Oral Exam Workshops
• Three Meetings
• Individual Group Work
• Additional Feedback from Instructor
• Interaction with 702 Exam Committee
• Presentation Outline to Committee one chance
  for feedback
• Present

6
MBA 702 Oral ExamDefining the Problem or
Opportunity

• Aim to identify a problem or opportunity that has
  the following characteristics
• It draws on your knowledge and interests.
• Includes meaningful stakeholder implications,
  preferably for all 5 general categories of
  stakeholders.
• It strikes a balance between being too broad or
  too narrow with a strategic focus.
• It allows you to integrate three distinct
  theories and the stakeholder perspective.
• You have the potential to gather data (or at
  least have knowledge about where one might get
  data) relevant to the problem/opportunity.

7
MBA 702 Oral ExamThe Presentation

• Focus on the application of theory rather than a
  specific recommendation.
• Data is secondary, and no detailed data analysis
  should be presented. However, be prepared to
  answer questions about data details.
• It is recommended you follow the 17 slide
  format for the presentation.

8
MBA 702 Oral Exam17 Slide Presentation

• Slide 1 introduce the managerial problem you
  will be addressing.  
• Slide 2 identify the 3 theories you will use to
  address the managerial problem. Explain why
  these theories are the most important for
  addressing the problem. 
• Slide 3 Outline how the three theories will be
  integrated to solve the problem.  
• Slide 4, 7, 10 Explain the basic elements of
  the theory and how it works. 
• Slide 5, 8, 11 demonstrate how the theory
  would be applied to your problem.  
• Slide 6 9 explain the transition from the
  theory to the next theory
• Slide 12 Summarize how the three theories are
  integrated to address your managerial problem.
• Slide 13 Identify the relevant stakeholder for
  your decision and present a relatively complete
  map of the stakeholder relationships including
  indirect stakeholders
•  Slide 14 Identify the stakeholders most
  critical for your decision and justify their
  relative importance.
•  Slide 15 Discuss the implications of your
  decision for the stakeholders. Make certain to
  identify at least one stakeholder that will/could
  be negatively impacted by the decision.
•  Slide 16 Summarize how stakeholder
  considerations affected your recommendation
  treating stakeholder issues and Slide 16
  Summarize how stakeholder considerations affected
  your recommendation including how tradeoffs among
  stakeholders were resolved.
• Slide 17 Draw your final conclusions about the
  analysis including a final.