Question

Strutledge is a small private liberal arts school located within 50 miles of a major urban area in the southeast United States. As with most institutions of higher education, Strutledge’s costs are rising and its enrollments are decreasing. In an effort to expand its student base, build valuable ties with area businesses, and simply survive, the Board of Regents is considering establishing an MBA program. Currently, no undergraduate degree is given in business, although business courses are taught. The dean of the school visualizes the MBA as an interdisciplinary program emphasizing problem solving, communication, and global awareness. Faculty expertise would be supplemented by instructors from local industry. The use of local faculty would better connect the university with the business community and provide opportunities for employment of the program’s graduates. In terms of competition, a major state–funded university that offers an MBA is located in the adjacent urban area. Strutledge hopes that state budget cutbacks and perceptions of overcrowded classrooms and overworked professors at public institutions will open the door for a new entrant into the market. The Board of Regents also feels that the school’s small size will allow Strutledge to tailor the MBA program more closely to area business needs. Several members of the Board are concerned about recent reports of the dwindling value of an MBA and are wondering if a better niche could be found with another graduate degree, perhaps a master of science in business analytics or something in the education of healthcare field.

1. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of Strutledge, and the opportunities, and threats surrounding it (if any)
2. List all the possible actions that Strutledge is currently considering taking.
3. Should Strutledge gather more information before it makes a decision on what action to take? If so, what kinds of information would it need?
4. What factors should Strutledge consider before making a strategic decision such as this?
5. What action would you recommend to the Board of Regents? Why?

Answer 1

1.

Strength	Weakness
- Small size, cheaper course cost - Ease to develop better relations with local businesses - As it is privately owned, easier to start new courses	- Small size may affect the credibility - Difficult to find expert faculty - No undergraduate degree provided
Opportunity	Threats
- Starting new courses - Fresh courses may provide new enrollments - Taking faculty from the local businesses may affect in trust among locals	- The state-funded university has higher credibility than a privately owned one

2. The actions that Strutledge is currently considering taking are:

• Starting an MBA program tailored to the local business needs
• Supplement the faculty expertise from the local businesses
• Hiring local faulty and connect with the local businesses
• Considering a niche masters degree rather than a general MBA

3. Strutledge must gather more information before making a decision on what actions to take. They should:

• Connect with the local businesses and check what kind of skills are needed by them and hard to find
• Check the global market and find the recent trends in the educational field
• Gather information about what skills are required for the faculties and figure out if they can be found easily and at what cost

4. Strutledge must factor in the expected enrollments and forecast the future ones by analyzing the current population age in the local and nearby area. It should consider the cost of hiring new faculty or even guest faculty. It must also find out the number of enrollments that the college can handle without having to increase the number of classrooms or making a major upgrade in the infrastructure.