College of Business - Real Life. Real Business.

Gateway & Capstone Experience

Gateway CapstoneGateway Experience 

Butler MBA students kick off their graduate coursework by participating in a one-day immersion experience with a local business.  The Gateway Experience gives students an initial exposure to the experiential, hands-on learning process in the MBA program. Students work in competitive teams to develop the best solution to a problem currently faced by a partner organization. 

In the morning, students meet with company executives and are presented with a business problem. The student teams are then taken to a site location for several hours of data collection.  The teams return to campus in the afternoon, develop recommendations and then present their ideas to company executives at the end of the day. 

The Gateway Experience sets the tone for the experiential, hands-on nature of the Butler MBA program.  It also kicks-off the self-discovery process for our MBA students. The Gateway Experience gives students a frame of reference for future coursework and in many instances, helps students realize how much they have to learn.  

Gateway Partners Have Included:

  • Steak n Shake
  • hhgregg
  • Aero Technologies
  • Adidas
  • E2 Innovative Solutions
  • City Market
  • Kroger
  • Simon

Capstone Experience

The Capstone Experience is the final course in the MBA sequence and serves as the bookend to the Gateway Experience.  The Capstone Experience provides students with yet another opportunity to apply what they've learned by working on a semester-long project for a local organization. 

The Capstone partner organization presents the class with an actual business problem or opportunity that encompasses several functional business areas.  Student teams meet with partner company representatives throughout the semester, participate in site visits, conduct research, analyze data and present recommendations to executives and faculty at the end of the semester.  Students are expected to follow a detailed consulting process to completion. The Capstone Experience pulls together everything the students have learned throughout the MBA program into a practical, applied, consulting project.

Capstone Partners Have Included:

  • Roche Diagnostics
  • Thomson Consumer Electronics
  • Finish Line
  • Rolls Royce
  • Second Helpings
  • OrthoIndy
  • Mike's Car Wash

  • City Market

Project Brief:  Second Helpings

Capstone students assisted Second Helpings in developing a new strategic plan.  Students interviewed staff and worked directly with executive leadership and board members.

Project Brief:  Roche Diagnostics

Students examined the return and technical support processes for glucose meters used in hospitals.  As part of the process, they interviewed staff, observed call center operations, and performed a complete financial analysis.  The students' recommendations were implemented by the company and subsequently impacted design and contract issues on future products.

Working on real business problems and cases out in the field allows students to hone their problem-solving skills in a relevant and practical way. I have been impressed with the recommendations the students have made to us during the Gateway Experience.
 Andy Giesler
 Vice President of Finance, hhgregg