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About the Harbert MBA Consulting Capstone

The Harbert MBA program seeks to cultivate knowledge in students; the Harbert MBA Consulting Capstone course provides students the opportunity to share that knowledge with others in a way that positively impacts both students and practitioners and extends the reach of the Harbert College of Business deeper into the business community. Since 2012, the course has enabled thousands of students to work with hundreds of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations on value-creating consulting projects. 

This semester-long course involves students working in small teams with real-world businesses and other organizations to help clients understand and solve organizational issues. "The goal of the program is to teach students how to identify, analyze, and solve business-related problems while leveraging their knowledge and skills acquired in the Harbert MBA program in a way that benefits both students and clients," says Associate Professor Miles Zachary, who teaches the course throughout the year. 

Each client is paired with three teams of consultants. The consulting teams work independently, so clients receive three unique recommendations reports and presentations. "It's three for the price of none - that value proposition is hard to beat," says Professor Zachary. 

In recent semesters, teams receive additional coaching from David Parsons, a former executive at ServiceNow, a global leader in cloud computing and member of the S&P 500, with more than 40 years of business leadership and consulting experience in the tech industry. "David brings a set of knowledge and skills honed over an impressive career as a tech executive that is incredibly beneficial to students and, ultimately, to clients, too," says Zachary.