Give students the opportunity to manage a small business to utilize management, marketing, sales and pricing techniques to make a profit. Choose a business type that requires minimal starting costs (i.e. selling ice cream, lemonade, etc.) and have students manage every aspect of the business. Once the business plan has been developed, allow students to go out as a team and try to profit from the business. This project will develop team-building skills, as well as practical knowledge of what goes into running a business. Note that additional class fees may have to be built in to accommodate this project.
Have MBA students work in teams of four to five students and create a business from the ground up, developing a business plan, ways to generate capital, product development and all the things that go into making a new venture successful. If the resources are available, have students create the business and try to generate profits from it. Projects needn't be expensive. Something as simple as an ice cream cart business can be as challenging as a multimillion dollar venture
Give MBA students fictional or real financial and organizational information for a business, including financial statements, business plans and other pertinent documents, then allow them two weeks to develop a plan to improve the company's business model. Force students to come up with actionable ideas that could help this business improve in the marketplace.
Case studies are available from various sources and provide students with information regarding an organization and a specific problem they faced. The case study provides the pertinent details to the case and asks students to analyze the business and suggest ways to improve the business or, in some cases, determine ways the problem could have been avoided.