| Course | BUS 499 Senior Capstone |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | Final report and reflection |
| Length | About 1,062 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 499 Module 8
What a Year of Lost Customers Taught a Small Company and Its Researcher: Final Report and Reflection on a Capstone Retention Study
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
BUS 499: Senior Capstone
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
What a Year of Lost Customers Taught a Small Company and Its Researcher: Final Report and Reflection on a Capstone Retention Study
Ten weeks ago I set out to learn why homeowners were dropping Prairie Shield's quarterly plans, a composite Wichita business where I supervise customer service. This final module summarizes the completed project, reports what the company did with the results, states what the study contributes and where it falls short, and reflects on what the work taught me.
Executive Summary
The problem. Between customers who started in 2023 and those who started in 2025, the share still on a quarterly plan a year later dropped from about three in four to about three in five. The owners had four theories, including a recent price increase, and no evidence to choose among them.
The method. The study combined two kinds of evidence collected over the same weeks. Company records for 3,186 customers were analyzed with logistic regression to see which recorded factors were associated with canceling within a year, and 19 former customers explained their decisions in telephone interviews. The two sets of results were then compared side by side.
The findings. An unanswered complaint was the factor most closely tied to leaving, while a complaint fixed quickly made little difference. A rotating cast of technicians and paying a separate invoice each quarter each roughly doubled the odds of canceling, and newer customers left more often than those who had already renewed. The price increase showed no clear link. Former customers' own words matched each pattern.
The recommendations. Offer monthly payment as the openly stated default, keep each home with one technician, promise a return visit within two days when pests come back, and teach newcomers what a preventive plan does. Costs for the first year were estimated at about $52,400 against about $140,000 a year in revenue that higher retention could protect.
How the Owners Responded
I presented the findings to the two owners and the service manager in week 9. The owners were surprised that the price increase showed no clear effect, since they had planned to roll it back. After discussion, they adopted three recommendations immediately: leading with autopay when new households enroll, the 48-hour return promise with a part-time callback technician and the onboarding messages. They postponed citywide territories, worried about drive times, and chose instead to pilot fixed territories with four technicians on the south side for six months.
Early figures are encouraging but too recent to judge retention. In the first two months, 68% of new customers chose monthly payment, compared with about half before, and 91% of callbacks were completed within 48 hours. Whether twelve-month retention improves will not be known for a year, and I have agreed to repeat the analysis then.
What the Study Adds and Where It Falls Short
For Prairie Shield, the study replaced four competing guesses with evidence and redirected spending away from a price cut the data did not support. More broadly, it shows that findings from research on large service firms, about service failures, relationships with individual providers, payment timing and defaults, appear to hold in a small residential service business, and that a single company's records can test them. The study's limits are real: it shows associations rather than causes, covers one company in one city, and its interviews reflect customers willing to talk. Its conclusions should be read as strong evidence for Prairie Shield and as suggestive for similar firms.
Reflection: Thinking in Action and After
Schon (1983) described how skilled professionals reflect in two ways: in action, adjusting while the work is under way, and on action, reviewing the work once it is finished. Both happened in this project. During the third interview, a former customer said she had stayed for two years until "they stopped sending Mike." I had planned to ask about technicians only near the end, but I realized in the moment that her story was the answer to my question and let her continue. Looking back, that interview changed how I listened in the rest.
Kolb (1984) pictured learning as a loop in which doing something leads to watching what happened, then to forming an idea about it and finally to trying that idea out. My clearest pass through that cycle came from a mistake. In week 5, my first cleaned file counted customers who had changed payment methods twice, inflating the per-visit group. I noticed only because the totals did not match the billing report. Reflecting on it, I understood that cleaning steps need to be checked against an independent total, a principle I then applied to every later step, and which I will use in my job.
Moon (2004) notes that reflective writing becomes deeper when it moves from describing events to questioning one's own assumptions. My strongest assumption was that I knew why customers left, because I take their calls. The second reader who checked my coding pointed out that I had labeled several comments about billing as price complaints, when customers were really describing the timing of the bill. My closeness to the problem was both an advantage and a bias.
How the Degree Shaped the Work
Several courses came together in this project. Business research and communications taught me how to frame questions and write for decision-makers. Principles of marketing gave me the language of customer value. Statistics prepared me to read odds ratios, though I needed extra study to run the regression correctly. Ethical decision making shaped how I handled default billing and confidentiality. Where I felt least prepared was in qualitative analysis, which I learned largely during the project.
What I Would Do Differently
I would build a data quality check into the plan from the start rather than discovering problems during cleaning. I would also recruit interview participants earlier, since reaching former customers took longer than any other task, and I would ask a colleague to review my coding from the first interview instead of halfway through.
Conclusion
The project answered the question it set out to answer, gave a small company evidence it is now acting on and taught me how research works in a real organization, from narrowing a topic to presenting findings to owners who had expected a different answer. The early results are promising, and the follow-up analysis next year will show whether the changes keep more customers.
References
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall.
Moon, J. A. (2004). A handbook of reflective and experiential learning: Theory and practice. RoutledgeFalmer.
Schon, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
What the BUS 499 Module 8 instructions ask for
Aspen's catalog describes BUS 499 as the place where students draw on knowledge and experience gained across the degree, and the final module usually asks for the completed project and a reflection. Use the Module 8 prompt in your classroom for exact requirements; this example provides an executive summary of the final report and a reflective essay. Summarize the whole project so that a reader who saw none of the earlier modules can follow it. Report what happened when you shared results with the organization, if you did. State what your study adds and what it cannot claim. In the reflection, go beyond describing tasks: examine what you learned, what surprised you, what you would do differently and how earlier courses prepared you. Use a reflective framework to give the reflection structure and depth.
How the BUS 499 Module 8 example is put together
The paper opens with a four-paragraph executive summary covering the problem, the mixed methods design with 3,186 records and 19 interviews, the four main findings and the four recommendations. The organizational response section describes the presentation to the owners, their decision to adopt default monthly billing, the 48-hour return promise and onboarding messages, and their choice to pilot territories on the city's south side first. Early figures show monthly payment rising to 68% of new sign-ups and callbacks completed within 48 hours reaching 91%. A contribution and limits section follows. The reflection draws on Schon's account of professionals who think while acting and afterward, Kolb's four-stage learning cycle and Moon's guidance on reflective writing, and covers a mistake in early data cleaning, a bias the second reader caught and lessons from coursework.
Reading the BUS 499 Module 8 grading rubric
The final module is usually assessed on two things: a complete, accurate summary of the project and a reflection with genuine depth. This example's executive summary states the problem, method, findings and recommendations in fresh wording, consistent with the numbers reported in earlier modules, and reports the organization's response with early results described cautiously. The contribution and limits section shows that the student understands what a single-company study can and cannot claim. The reflection uses Schon's The Reflective Practitioner, Kolb's Experiential Learning and Moon's handbook on reflective learning to move from description to analysis and to future action. It includes specific mistakes and what they taught, which instructors value more than general statements of growth. Connections to particular earlier courses show how the degree came together in the project.
BUS 499 Module 8 help: mistakes that cost marks
The most common weakness in final capstone reflections is a list of tasks completed, written without insight. Use a framework, pick one moment, work out its causes and name the habit you will change. Another weakness is an executive summary that copies sentences from earlier modules; write it fresh, for a reader new to the project, and check that every number matches the findings. If your organization acted on your recommendations, report results honestly, including early or mixed ones, and avoid claiming success too soon. State the limits of your study plainly. Name the courses or skills from your degree that helped and where you felt underprepared. Keep the reflection personal but professional. Admitting one real error and tracing its lesson persuades a reader far more than a record of unbroken success.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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BUS 499 Module 8 questions, answered
What does BUS 499 Module 8 usually ask for?
Aspen's BUS 499 ends with the final report and a reflection, so a summary of the completed project and an analysis of what you learned are typical. Follow your classroom prompt for length and format.
What goes in an executive summary of a capstone?
The problem, the purpose, the method, the main findings and the recommendations, written briefly for a reader who has not seen the full report.
How do I write a strong reflection?
Use a framework such as Kolb's cycle, describe specific experiences, analyze why they happened and explain what you will do differently in future work.
Where can I find a free BUS 499 Module 8 sample paper?
The full paper appears above: the closing report of a pest control retention capstone with an executive summary, the owners' response, contribution and limits, and a reflection.
Should I report what my organization did with my findings?
Yes, if you can. Describing which recommendations were adopted and any early results shows the project's practical value, as long as you present early results cautiously.