DB8710: Strategy and Innovation: Theorizing, Crafting, Executing

DB8710 is the first course in the strategy and innovation specialization of Capella University's Doctor of Business Administration.

The catalog describes students analyzing the literature on strategy and innovation theories, together with the practical side of creative thinking, and using established gap analysis methods to identify gaps in practice.

The course is a step up from master's-level case work. You are expected to read scholarly studies critically, compare theories, and turn a business problem into a researchable gap. Many students find the shift from "what should the company do?" to "what does the evidence show, and what is missing?" the hardest part.

What DB8710 Covers

Capella's course description names three strands. Each shapes the assignments you will meet:

Key Ideas Explained

Gap Analysis

A gap analysis compares where an organization or field is now with where evidence or its own goals say it should be, then describes the difference and what could close it. In a doctoral course the gap must be supported by sources, not opinion.

Synthesizing Literature

Listing one study per paragraph is a summary, not a synthesis. Group sources by theme, show where they agree, where they conflict, and what remains untested. That pattern is the foundation of the literature reviews you write later in the program.

From Idea to Problem of Practice

A good project idea names a real, current problem faced by practitioners, connects to a theory, and is small enough to study. Expect to move from a broad interest such as "innovation culture" to a specific, answerable problem.

Typical Assignments and How to Approach Them

Where Students Get Stuck

• Description without critique. Doctoral rubrics reward evaluating sources, not retelling them.
• Gaps based on opinion. Support every gap with a citation or data point.
• Topics that are too wide. "Innovation in business" cannot be studied; one organizational problem can.
• Weak sources. Prefer peer-reviewed studies from the Capella Library over general web articles.

Planning Your Quarter

DB8710 is a standard, instructor-paced course rather than a self-paced FlexPath one, so work arrives in a sequence with deadlines set in your course room. Exact due dates and assignment names change by term, so treat the plan below as a way to organize your time, not as the official schedule.

Because the course feeds directly into the later seminar and proposal courses, the sources and project ideas you collect here are worth keeping organized. Many students reuse them months later, so label them clearly.

Use faculty feedback as a guide for the next assignment. If a comment says your analysis is descriptive, the fix is usually to add a comparison or a limitation for each source rather than adding more sources.

Study Tips for DB8710

• Keep a source matrix: author, year, method, finding, limitation. It speeds every later paper.
• Read the grading rubric first and label each section of your paper with the criterion it answers.
• Write a one-sentence problem statement early and test every idea against it.
• Start the project idea thread in week one; ideas change as you read.

How We Help with DB8710

Send the assignment prompt, rubric, any course readings and your draft. We can prepare a custom analysis to study, review your structure and argument, or edit for clarity and APA style. For later stages, see our DBA dissertation help guide.

GradeEssays is independent of Capella University. Our work is a study and reference aid; you complete and submit your own work under Capella's academic integrity policy. Orders are written from scratch, include free revisions within the scope of your original request, and are refunded in full if late.