Running Head: WHITHER AN MBA AT STRUTLEDGE)

Strategy is how a company mission is accomplished. It unites an organization,

provides consistency in decisions, and keeps the organization moving in the right
direction. An effective positioning strategy considers the strengths and weakness of an

WHITHER AN MBA AT STRUTLEDGE

organization to analyze the capabilities, the needs of the market place and position of the
competitors to evaluate the organizations environment. Having done the SWOT analysis
on this case based on the facts presented regarding establishing an MBA program, I will
make the following recommendations to the Board of Board of Regents Directors
1. To be able to compete with the state-funded university, Strutledge should
consider offering both campus and online distance learning MBA program. Todays
students are the most technologically sophisticated in history. They enter higher
education already accustomed to laptops, smartphones, tablets, and massive Internet and
broadband availability. Great deceives steps have been made in online distance learning,
and making it a much better option for some students than the normal traditional school.
This is particularly true for those students already working, ad to those in locations that
do not have access to appropriate education. Other important factors that prospecting
student will also take into consideration incudes Flexibility (classes times can be
scheduled at non-traditional hours to accommodate those with special needs), Convenient
Schedule and financial savings, (no housing or commuting), Applicable skills (an
independent approach to distance learning teaches the student to be a more effective time
manager),and networking opportunities (students who enrolled in online education
programs network with peers from all over the nation. Also much like a traditional
program, students studying via distance learning view live lectures, meets in study
groups, and can connect in many of the same real-time ways they would if attending a
program in-person and the resulting experience can be surprisingly rich).
Figure 1. Total and Online Enrollment in Degree-granting Postsecondary Institutions Fall 2007
through Fall 2011

WHITHER AN MBA AT STRUTLEDGE

Total
Annual
Enrollment Growth
Rate Total
Enrollment

Annual
Growth Rate
Total
Enrollment

Students
Taking at
Least One
Online
Course

Fall 2007
Fall 2008
Fall 2009
Fall 2010
Fall 2011

2.8%
4.7%
6.9%
2.9%
-0.1%

3,938,111
4,606,353
5,579,022
6,142,280
6,714,792

18,248,133
19,102,811
20,427,711
21,016,126
20,994,113

Online
Enrollment
Increase
Over
Previous
Year
449,730
668,242
972,669
563,258
572,512

Annual
Growth
Rate
Online
Enrollment

Online
Enrollment
as a Percent
of Total
Enrollment

12.9%
16.9%
21.1%
10.1%
9.3%

21.6%
24.1%
27.3%
29.2%
32.0%

Adapted from Projections of Education Statistics to 2020, National Center for Education Statistics

From Figure 1 above, the number of students taking at least one online course
continued to increase at a robust rate. There were 572,000 more online students in fall
2011 than in fall 2010 for a new total of 6.7 million students taking at least one online
course. This is a slightly larger numeric increase as seen for fall 2009 to fall 2010. It also
is very close to the average increase seen for each of the last nine periods (which
produced an average growth of 568,000 students per year).
2. Strutledge should consider engaging local faculty with career, and life
experience to be broadly recognized as among the nations leading schools preeminent in
providing students with the skills and knowledge that offer access to many careers. This
will align with the school vision and mission being a liberal arts school because a liberal
arts education prepares students to assume positions of leadership and to be flexible in the
marketplace. You may acquire specific job skills while in college or after you graduate.
But with a solid liberal arts education you are not limited to a particular niche, but freed
and qualified for a wide range of opportunities for the rest of your life. In todays
economy, employers also desire transferable skills skills employees take with them to
any job, such as written and verbal communication skills, the ability to solve complex

WHITHER AN MBA AT STRUTLEDGE

problems, to work well with others, and to adapt in a changing workplace all
hallmarks of a liberal arts education.

References
Emory Report. May 4, 1998 Volume 50, No.31. Retrieved November 23, 2014
fromhttp://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/1998/May/ermay.4/5_4_98First
Person.html

WHITHER AN MBA AT STRUTLEDGE

I. Elaine, I & Seaman, J (2012). Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online
Education in the United States. Retrieved November 23, 2014 from
http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/changingcourse.pdf
National Center for Educational National Statistics: Projections of Education
Statistics to 2020 Retrieved November 23, 2014 from
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011026
Wiley, John & Sons, Inc. (2014). Russell, Operations Management, 8e.
Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management. Retrieved November 18,
2014 from http://edugen.wileyplus.com/edugen/student/mainfr.uni