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MGMT 600 Final Exam

So, you think teaching this course is easy? Here’s your chance to find out.

Attached is a research proposal designed along the lines of what we’ve discussed in this course. To the untrained eye, it might appear to be a perfectly valid and sound proposal. However, it is actually a poor proposal with a number of glaring flaws.

Your assignment is to read the attached proposal and to point out as many problems as you can find.

When you find a problem with the proposal, please highlight it in yellow and add a comment in italics explaining what is wrong with the part you indicated.

If a problem is more general, you may simply describe the problem either in italics or in a brief note.

Your score will depend on the number of problems you identify and correctly discuss. Major problems will be awarded two points each. Other problems will be awarded fewer points. Fractions may be awarded. You should identify everything you think is wrong with the proposal.

Please e-mail this test to Allen Bellas at allen.bellas@metrostate.edu by Sunday, December 11 at 11:59 p.m. Don’t send it to me Monday.

A Research Proposal for the Metropolitan State University MBA Program

Mr. So N. So

Metropolitan State University, Management 600

December 8, 2005

Executive Summary

The market for campus-based Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degrees in the Twin Cities metropolitan area is competitive. As a major competitor in this area, Metropolitan State University is seeking to attract a major share of women, who constitute a growing percentage of MBA students nationwide. This proposal is for a survey of people who are currently in the first year of an MBA program in the Twin Cities to determine their reasons for selecting the program into which they have entered and to identify differences between men and women. Crosstabulation and t-test analysis will be used to examine differences between men’s and women’s reasons for choosing an MBA program.

Background

Metropolitan State University is a member of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system and serves as the comprehensive four-year university for the Twin Cities metropolitan area (Metropolitan State University, 2005). Founded in 1971 as an upper division university offering bachelor’s degrees for working adults, the school has grown and expanded and now offers a variety of undergraduate and masters level programs, the largest of which is the MBA program within the College of Management.

There are a number of institutions offering campus-based MBAs in the Twin Cities. Most of these are private schools whose tuition and fees are well above those charged by Metropolitan State.

While Metropolitan State University is well established as a provider of MBA education in the Twin Cities, it is always seeking opportunities to attract a greater number of highly qualified students to its program. One opportunity to attract new people comes from the increasing numbers of women seeking to earn MBAs. Reports by Gangemi (2005) and Hinds (2005) suggest that women are seeking MBAs in greater and greater numbers, but that they have needs that differ from those of men. If Metropolitan State University can effectively market itself to women in the area who are seeking to earn MBAs and can attract a large share of these women, it would greatly help to increase the number of highly qualified students in the program.

S.W.O.T. Analysis

Metropolitan State University, and the MBA program in particular, have the following strengths and weaknesses and face the following opportunities and threats.

Strengths

• Established and accredited MBA program

• Existing infrastructure, including strong library resources

• Talented and dedicated resident faculty

• Experienced and committed community faculty

• Tuition well below that of other schools

• Alliances with other schools in the metropolitan area

Weaknesses

• Significant bureaucratic inertia and resulting lack of entrepreneurial spontaneity

• Competition from other MBA programs at competing schools in the Twin Cities area

Opportunities

• Diverse immigrant populations in the area who are seeking education

• Increasing numbers of women seeking MBA degrees

• Large number of state and local officials potentially interested in MPNA degrees

• Versatile course offering formats such as online and web-enhanced

Threats

• Incursion by other members of MnSCU into provision of graduate programs in the Twin Cities area

• Competition from online MBA programs offered by other schools around the country

Metropolitan State University is an established school with existing infrastructure and experience providing graduate business education. This means that it has an inherent advantage over any potential new entrants into the local market. The physical infrastructure existing here in the Twin Cities, including a broad array of library resources and the people to help students use those resources, lets Metropolitan State offer an experience that a national, online provider cannot. The combination of full-time resident faculty and part-time practitioner community faculty allows students the best combination of strong theoretical underpinnings and practical knowledge and experience. Because of some funding assistance from the taxpayers of Minnesota, tuition at Metropolitan State is much more affordable than tuition at any other school in the area. In addition, Metropolitan State University has alliances with other schools in the area that make it easy for students to meet prerequisite requirements and to bring themselves up to speed for the MBA program.

The major weakness that Metropolitan State University faces is the bureaucratic inertia that comes from being part of a large government bureaucracy. The speed with which new programs can be initiated to take advantage of trends in the marketplace is not what it might be, so the opportunities to be at the cutting edge of fads in graduate education is limited. In addition, the vast array of MBA programs offered by competing schools in the area has the potential to take prime students that we might otherwise attract.

The local population of potential MBA enrollees offers a number of opportunities, including reaching out to immigrants and women. A further opportunity is the large number of local and state government employees who might desire masters degrees appropriate to their experiences and careers. For them, Metropolitan State University offers a very strong Master of Public and Nonprofit Administration program.

As with any industry, threats from existing competitors and from potential new entrants can be a problem. However, as long as Metropolitan State can defend its role as the comprehensive state university in the Twin Cities and can offer more personalized attention than is available from national online programs, it should be able to effectively quiet these threats.

Description of Opportunity

The opportunity to be investigated in this research proposal is that of increasing numbers of women seeking MBAs. Hinds (2005) suggests that women will choose an MBA program based on different criteria than men use, and if Metropolitan State University can identify characteristics, amenities or images that are attractive to women, it could establish itself as the program for professional women in the Twin Cities. As more and more women seek MBAs, being an early leader in the area may be increasingly valuable.

Because of its bureaucratic inertia, Metropolitan State University may have some difficulty changing the nature of its MBA program to attract women, but such changes might not be advisable as they have the potential to detract from the ultimate goal of providing the highest possibly quality of education. Rather, the aim is to determine which of the characteristics of the school and the program to emphasize in marketing efforts, especially those targeted specifically toward women.

Statement of Research Question

The general challenge that Metropolitan State University faces is to attract a larger number of highly talented and qualified students to its MBA program. As a larger number of people graduate from the program and go forth as representatives, the reputation of the program will grow, both in terms of its presence and of its quality. This will help Metropolitan State meet its goal of serving the Twin Cities community and will help to assure employment security for the faculty.

If women represent a growing segment of the MBA market and if they choose a school and a program based on different characteristics than men do, Metropolitan State University would like to put forth a public image through its marketing efforts that will attract highly qualified women to the program.

The research question to be investigated is:

Upon what characteristics do men and women choose an MBA program and how can Metropolitan State University market itself toward women specifically?

Description of Data and Analysis Techniques to be Used

Sampling Design and Method

The population of interest is the schools in the Twin Cities metropolitan area offering campus-based MBA programs. The unit of observation will be each first-year MBA student. The sampling frame is the list of all new, first-year students who started MBA programs at these schools in the past year.

A mail survey will be administered to all of the new, first year students in campus-based MBA programs offered by schools in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. This should provide a sufficiently large number of observations for complete and thorough analysis of preferences and attitudes.

The scales used in measuring attitudes will include Likert scales and ratio scales.

The questions to be asked are attached at the end of this proposal.

The results will be analyzed to determine what, if any, differences exist between men and women in how they chose where to earn their MBA. Mean responses will be calculated for men and for women and any large differences will be identified. Statistical tests may be used to determine whether or not any differences are statistically significant.

Analysis

The following is an example of one table that will be generated to investigate the differences between men’s and women’s decisions:

| |Men | |Women | |

| |Mean |St.Dev. |Mean |St. Dev. |

|2. School | | | | |

|Reputation | | | | |

|Location | | | | |

|Affiliation | | | | |

|Previous degree | | | | |

|3. Program | | | | |

|Cost | | | | |

|Convenience | | | | |

|Flexibility | | | | |

|Months | | | | |

|Concentrations | | | | |

|4. Concentration | | | | |

We also anticipate creating a crosstabulation table to investigate the importance of the relationships between the school characteristics (responses on question 2) and program characteristics (responses on question 3).

The effect of having children on the decision will be analyzed through a crosstabulation table such as the following:

| |Children | |No Children | |

| |Mean |St.Dev. |Mean |St. Dev. |

|2. School | | | | |

|Reputation | | | | |

|Location | | | | |

|Affiliation | | | | |

|Previous degree | | | | |

|3. Program | | | | |

|Cost | | | | |

|Convenience | | | | |

|Flexibility | | | | |

|Months | | | | |

|Concentrations | | | | |

|4. Concentration | | | | |

The potential also exists to examine differences between applicants with extensive professional experience and those with more nominal amounts of professional experience, with an eye toward potential marketing of an executive MBA program.

Discussion of How Research Results Will Guide Management

Women are participating in MBA programs in growing numbers and the goal is to attract more women to Metropolitan State’s program. While the results of this survey are unlikely to bring about any changes in or additions to the existing MBA program, they can help in furthering understanding of this large and growing segment of the MBA market.

The results of this research will inform the administrators and faculty about the differences between men and women in terms of what they look for in an MBA program. This should help the program expand and attract larger numbers of qualified and talented students.

It is possible that the adjectives provided by respondents will offer further insight into students’ rationale and decision-making processes that will offer additional opportunities for investigation and research.

Conclusion

In the coming years, women are likely to represent a larger and larger portion of MBA cohorts around the country. As Metropolitan State University seeks to grow and strengthen its MBA program, positioning itself to take advantage of this trend is an exciting opportunity.

This proposal outlines a brief study to determine which characteristics are most important to all students, and to women specifically, when choosing an MBA program. The results of this study should allow Metropolitan State University to leverage its current position to attract a large portion of the women who will earn MBAs in the Twin Cities in the coming years.

References

Gangemi, Jeffrey, “B-Schools’ Learning Curve on Parenting; As more mothers go for their MBAs, they’re pushing colleges to be more supportive of their needs – with gradual results”, Business Week Online, May 4, 2005. Retrieved from LexisNexis September 27, 2005.

Hinds, Diana, “MBA courses: What some want from an MBA; The world’s business schools are doing their best to become more”, The Independent, August 28, 2005. Retrieved from LexisNexis September 27, 2005.

Metropolitan State University Web Site, retrieved September 27, 2005, from .

Survey Questions

|1. Are you a student in an MBA program in the Twin Cities metropolitan area? |

| |

|If yes, please proceed with this survey. |

| |

|If no, please accept our apologies. You have been contacted in error. |

| |

| |

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|2. On a scale of 1 through 5, with 1 being not important and 5 being most important, please rate the importance of each of the |

|following in choosing the school from which you chose to obtain your MBA. |

| |

| not most |

| important important |

| |

| Reputation 1 2 3 4 5 |

| |

| Location(s) 1 2 3 4 5 |

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| Religious |

| affiliation 1 2 3 4 5 |

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| Previous |

| degree from |

|there 1 2 3 4 5 |

| |

| |

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|3. On a scale of 1 through 5, with 1 being not at all important and 5 being most important, please rate the importance of each of |

|the following in choosing the program from which you chose to obtain your MBA. |

| |

| not most |

| important important |

| |

| Cost 1 2 3 4 5 |

| |

| Convenience |

| of location 1 2 3 4 5 |

| |

|Flexibility of |

| schedules 1 2 3 4 5 |

| |

| Months to |

| completion 1 2 3 4 5 |

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| Available |

| concentrations |

| in program 1 2 3 4 5 |

| |

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|4. Which of the following concentrations are you pursuing within your MBA program? (circle one) |

|1. No particular concentration |

|2. Human resources management |

|3. International business management |

|4. Technology management |

|5. Accounting |

|6. Financial management |

|7. Other specialization |

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|5. Please list three adjectives that you feel best describe the program you chose for your MBA. |

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|6. Which school are you attending for your MBA? |

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|7. How many years of professional work experience do you have? |

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|8. What is your gender? (Please circle one) Male Female |

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|9. Do you have children under the age of 10 living with you? (Please circle one) |

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|Yes No |

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