An MBA at Strutledge. Strutledge is a small private liberal arts school located within 50 miles of a major urban area in the southeastern United States. As with most institution 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 a 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 report 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 business analytics or something in the education or healthcare field, Questions: Consider the content in Chapter 1 of the course textbook. You should specifically focus on the section on Strategy and Operations. Review terms such as primary task, core competencies, order winner and order qualifiers, and positioning the firm to answer the questions to follow. 1. What action would you recommend to the Board of Regents? Note, the Regents are generally responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities with the State. The Regents generally preside over the university system and the state education department 2. How should Strutledge go about making a strategic decision such as this? Increasing enrollment cannot be the sole reason to start an MBA program. Individuals consider many things as they parse the pros and cons to enroll in an MBA program. It is a huge I commitment in terms of time and resources. Generally, prospective students have at least five years of work experience and are looking to advance their career in some manner. Thus, the decision of where to attend school is often linked to future career aspirations There are also differences in full-time, part-time, and executive programs and between domestic and international programs. Some school focus on quantitative skills and other on teamwork and communication skills. All of this should be factored into the decision