Running head: INFORMATION AND DECISIONS SUPPORT

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Information and Decision Support for the Strutledge Institute

Author Note This paper was prepared for Operations Management….

Running head: INFORMATION AND DECISIONS SUPPORT Recommendation

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The Strutledge Institute needs to identify if the idea of adding a MBA program complies with the institute’s objectives and mission. Neither the core competencies of the institute nor the MBA program attributes are well defined at this point. If the MBA program can fulfill the expectations of expanding the student base, creating valuable ties with businesses and secure the survival of the institute, depends on a program that appeals to students as well as fulfills the requirements and needs of businesses (Russell, 2014). The recommended steps are to identify the core competencies of the institute and create a better definition of the MBA programs attributes. Additional considerations are the financial resources, the chances of success and the positive differentiators between the Strutledge Institute and competing colleges in that area. Course of Action Identify core competencies of the institute and what customer base it wants to serve with the new MBA program. A sample survey of potential students is highly recommended to identify the order qualifiers and the important qualities that students consider before joining an MBA program. Without this information, a new MBA program will most likely fail (Russell, 2014). In order to identify the successful integration of graduates in the job market, an employer survey is necessary to obtain the needs and requirements of potential employers since this can be an order winner for candidates. The analysis from the survey data is crucial for the structure of a new MBA program and a critical success factor (Sharpe, 2012). Additional research is necessary to obtain the number of