Learning how to work in a collaborative team environment is important for an MBA graduate to be successful. Case studies are popular learning tools for MBA students because they help foster this ability. In a case study, the students break into groups and read about a business organization that has faced or is facing a dilemma. The students analyze the situation and offer hypothetical recommendations to the class on what the company should do to resolve its predicament.
Business simulations may not always be referred to by the same name, but the principle is the same. Students break off into groups and, over the course of a semester, track the financial and marketing trends of an often fictitious company or business situation. This culminates in an end of semester project that focuses on what the students have learned about the company.
Analyzing a company's 10K report is another project that directly relates to the MBA degree. A 10K is a mandatory report that every public company must produce. In it, a company must disclose what percentage of the company is financed by debt and equity, its current and future stock options, and more. MBA students are tasked with reading and analyzing a particular company's 10K as part of a semester-long project.
Even MBA students cannot escape the dreaded research paper. Many MBA classes use research papers on specific topics as ways to develop a student's writing and comprehension skills. Research papers also help students to use critical thinking and analyzing techniques as well. While it may not be viewed as the most fun of the many MBA-related projects, a research paper is viewed as essential.