Broad College of Business
Strategic Plan 2013-2015
Overview
Draft March 4, 2013
CURRENT SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
OVERVIEW OF MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1855, Michigan State University is the nation’s pioneer land-grant university. One of
the top research universities in the world, MSU offers more than 200 programs of study in 17
degree-granting colleges and is a member of the prestigious Association of American
Universities. The university is ranked 28th among public universities by U.S. News & World
Report and is a national leader in study abroad participation.
MSU enrolls nearly 49,000 students (36,747 undergraduate, 10,247 graduate and professional,
and 1,912 nondegree) from all Michigan counties, all 50 states, and more than 130 countries.
As a public university, MSU is funded in part by the state of Michigan. State appropriations to
the university have continued to decline over recent years and in 2012-13 accounted for less
than 20 percent of the operating budget. To offset the reduction in funding, the university has
regularly increased tuition and cut expenses. External research funding in 2011-12 totaled
$502 million.
OVERVIEW OF THE BROAD COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
The Broad College of Business provides business education at the undergraduate, graduate, and
executive levels. The college includes five departments—accounting and information systems,
finance, management, marketing, and supply chain management—and an industry-specific
school of hospitality business. Total enrollment in the college is approximately 6,500 students,
including approximately 2,000 admitted juniors and seniors and 820 graduate students. The
college employs approximately 185 faculty members and academic specialists and
approximately 80 staff members.
Student Enrollment Trends
Undergraduate student interest in the Broad College continues to exceed the college’s capacity,
requiring ongoing enrollment management. An increase of international students has also
challenged resources and appropriate services. Other programs have enrollment challenges; the
Full-Time MBA has experienced steady, declining enrollments while the Weekend MBA
program has benefitted from increasing enrollments, in part due to its expansion from the
East Lansing campus to a second location in southeast Michigan. The MS in accounting
program is a popular choice for students to meet Michigan’s 150-hour requirement for CPA
licensing. PhD programs have declined in enrollments, particularly in the last year or two, as
departmental funds to support candidates have been reduced or eliminated to meet budget cuts.
Faculty and Staff
The faculty and staff of the Broad College are among its greatest assets. While challenged by
recent budget cuts, productivity continues to remain high; the University of Texas-Dallas
Top 100 Business School Research Rankings listed MSU No. 29 in the North American ranking
based on contributions in the 2007-11 period. Like the university, the college is putting more
emphasis on research-focused grant writing.
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Finances
As State of Michigan funding to MSU has declined, the reductions have been passed down to
the colleges. Cuts at the Broad College have totaled more than 16.3 percent over the past five
academic years. The college has absorbed the reductions and sought external funding sources
to fill the gap.
Corporate Partners and External Stakeholders
Relationships with corporate partners, alumni, and donors are highly valued by the Broad
College, and advancement and success of the college is inextricably dependent on these
relationships. The college’s alumni base is in excess of 70,000 graduates; however, the
university and college have current contact information for just a fraction of these individuals.
Those alumni with whom we are in contact are very supportive. College fundraising has been
challenged in the last few years by the economic recession. The recently reconfigured college
advancement team is making excellent progress reaching out to alumni with whom we have not
previously had discussions. The upcoming capital campaign will focus on new prospects. The
college will also focus on building deeper relationships with target corporate partners.
Rankings
Rankings influence the college’s reputation with AAU peer institutions, corporations and
organizations, and its status within MSU. Given our current resources, the college provides
strong academic and developmental programs with respectable rankings. Current 2012 rankings
include the following:
Undergraduate
 24 overall, 14 among public universities by U.S. News & World Report
 51 overall, 21 among public universities by Businessweek
Full-Time MBA
 35 overall, 14 among public universities by Businessweek
Weekend MBA
 35 overall by Businessweek
Reputational Positioning
While faced with financial and leadership challenges over the last decade, the college
acknowledges that operations and programs have declined in quality. The college must improve
its own financial model, communications, and relationships to improve its reputation. Through
this strategic plan, we look to break out of our current position and bridge to a situation with
improved reputation and rankings.
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CRITICAL ISSUES
In our review of the current situation of the college, a number of critical and important issues
have been identified that need to be addressed by strategic initiatives to ensure the ongoing
success of the Broad College of Business. They include:
1. In process of developing and defining our vision/mission/values and market space
2. Sensing changes in education environment/industry (potentially revolutionary) stemming
from globalization and rapidly changing technology
3. Fragmented college culture
4. Internal and external coordinated marketing and communications
5. Faculty research facilitation
6. Variable teaching quality
7. Financial model and constraints
8. Effective management and engagement of undergraduate students
9. Alumni base/corporate relations/boards and recruiters
10. Attracting high-quality graduate students
11. Alignment of college and department staffing and programmatic priorities
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SWOT
Within the context of strategic planning, SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats to an organization. While the SWOT analysis identified numerous
items, only the most pressing issues (noted by #3 ranking) are listed.
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
3a Research reputation is high—MGT, SCM, AIS,
IB, Innovation
3b Large, engaged undergraduate population
o
Multicultural Business Program
3c Strong multi-dimensional relationships with
corporations
3d Strong executive programs—SCM, Leadership
3e Resilient, entrepreneurial, committed, collegial
faculty and staff
3f Integrative design and reputation of SCM
program (national/international)
3g Well-positioned Weekend MBA program
3h Strong research in team leadership
3i Prominent International Business Center
3a Unclear direction and priorities for Broad
College
3b Don’t leverage cross-functional opportunities
(silos)
3c Weak communication internally and externally
3d Lack of infrastructure around RBI resulting in
lack of economy and scale
3e College does not support grantsmanship
3f Teaching quality is not uniformly high
3g Weak culture and lack of forthrightness in
evaluating teaching effectiveness and lack of
transparency as to where the weaknesses are
located
3h Uneven quality PhD Programs
3i General marketing of research is low
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
3a Expand our global footprint through
programmatic offerings and research
collaborations
3b Leverage Bisk relationship
o
e.g., Specializations within WMBA
3c Seek opportunities for provost investment in
cross-college initiatives
3d Leverage corporate relationships
3e Leverage undergraduate programs
3f Partner with MSU Spartan Innovations
3g Expand to west Michigan (WMBA, Grand
Rapids medical programs)
3h Proximity to major national and multinational
corporations (Whirlpool, Dow, General Motors,
Ford, Chrysler, Kellogg, Meijer, big four and
other accounting firms, and others)
3i Platform for generating, encouraging,
enhancing cross-disciplinary research
3j Strategically leverage influx of international
students
3k Leverage MSU emphasis on predictive analytics
3l Leverage technology in the classroom
3a Unmanaged influx of high volume of
international students
3b Unsustainable university enrollment model
3c Marketplace confusion resulting from shadow
programs
3c Competition from other programs in other
markets (U-M WMBA)
3d Changes occurring in higher education
marketplace (e.g., online, MOOCs and other)
that will challenge the traditional brick-andmortar paradigm
3f Pressure to restrain tuition increases
3g Expected future cuts in funding by the federal
and state government
3h No dominant design on online teaching
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BUSINESS CONCEPT
Establishing a future course for the Broad College requires a fundamental understanding of the
status of the college today, where we would like to be in 3-5 years, and the changes necessary to
achieve the desired direction. The following diagram depicts the “platform” model, where the
college serves as a platform that connects and forges relationships between stakeholders.
Stakeholders represent current and future Broad College partners including: alumni, academics,
staff, students, individuals from private and public organizations, and from government.
In order to sustain our platform, we will focus on three strengths of the college going forward:
Our strength in understanding: a) teams and the possibilities presented by leading through
teams, b) supply chain and international expertise that allow a focus on managing global value
chains, and c) our new and growing expertise in analytics that will leverage the volume, variety
and velocity of data flowing through the interconnected global market place.
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VALUE PROPOSITION
The value proposition is what our constituents would identify as the areas where the Broad
College provides the greatest value. Our current benefits, favorable points of difference, and
resonating focus are listed below. The value proposition developed through the college’s strategy
and branding work with consulting firm Eduvantis is also included as well as that of MSU.
All Benefits



Full line of business
programs at a Big 10
university
Intensive Research
University setting with an
accessible campus and a
friendly spirited environment
High quality accessible
faculty
Favorable Points of
Difference
 Quality for those who work
hard and are committed to
success
 Extraordinary ties to alums
and their businesses
 Team oriented
Action learning
Resonating Focus
Broad graduates think in a way
that adds distinctive value in
business because of their unique
ability to see and enable the
interconnections that create
value.
• Culture/Personality:
insightful, hard-working
team players who get things
done
• Benefits: regardless of your
discipline, you gain a deep
understanding of how
interconnected modern
businesses work
• Experience: feeling like a
new-generation leader
connected to – and driving –
the future of business
MSU Value Proposition
Best value and experience for the cost (LAKS)
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THE FUTURE OF THE BROAD COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
VISION
A clear vision of the future of the organization is a requisite element of any strategic plan. A
vision outlines what an organization wants to be and should serve as a source of inspiration. The
vision for the Broad College of Business can be stated as:
OUR BUSINESS—WHAT WE DO
The leading college of business in landgrant institutions

Market leader of AAU in reputation and
influence

Leader and connector at MSU

The Go-To place for integrated business
solutions

Leading research and teaching university

Shaping the whole person
OUR CLIENTS AND STAKEHOLDERS—
WHOM WE WANT TO ATTRACT
Transformational thinkers and doers in an
interconnected world

Students who are more diverse, confident,
and action oriented

Motivated corporate partners, employers,
and higher education

Highly engaged, committed, and effective
alumni and a growing pool of generous
donors

Society—including governments,
VISION
communities, professional
The leader in creating
societies, and nonprofits
knowledge and
developing

transformational
thinkers and doers who
make business happen
OUR TEAM AND ORGANIZATION—
HOW WE DO IT
High Performance Culture and Innovative
Business Model

Best, brightest, and most innovative faculty
and staff

Platform-based transformational business
model that connects corporate and
university partners

Effective business processes, systems,
and infrastructure

Effective systems and infrastructure for
dissemination of knowledge
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OUR VALUE CONTRIBUTION—
WHAT VALUE WE CREATE
Knowledge for Business and Society,
Global Citizens, MSU

Solving today’s problems

Anticipating and creating integrative
solutions for future problems

Creating global citizens

Energizing the MSU community
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MISSION
A successful organization has a deep understanding of its purpose, communicated via a mission
statement. A mission describes the most meaningful aspect of what an organization does—its
reason for being—and how it goes about doing what it does.
Our mission defines the purpose of the Broad College, embodies our platform business model,
and it drives our actions and serves as a basis for determining what we should and shouldn’t do.
The mission of the Broad College of Business is to:
VALUES





Teamwork and collaboration: Working together and supporting one another to
accomplish collective objectives. Members of the college collaborate to accomplish
college objectives.
Global mindset: Broad faculty and students value their counterparts from other
cultures and countries to bring diverse perspectives to decision making.
Integrated thinking: Using interdisciplinary knowledge to identify, explore, frame,
and resolve business issues.
Strategic leadership: Providing vision that motivates people to accomplish
organizational goals.
Integrity: Principled adherence to the law and a core set of ethical rules that define the
way we conduct our business. No lying, no cheating, and no plagiarism.
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STRATEGIC GOALS
The Broad College of Business will succeed in executing its strategic plan by uniting faculty and
staff around a common set of clear and measurable goals and strategic initiatives (SI).
Vision Element
Our business:
What we do
Vision Conceptions
Improve market leadership position.
Improve overall quality of faculty research.
Increase faculty interaction on topics of common interest.
Attract, educate, and graduate the most diverse and inclusive student body.
Increasingly leverage digital instruction to improve student access and learning
outcomes.
Improve the physical image of the college by investing in its property and facilities.
Connect and engage with MSU top leaders and faculty across campus.
Our clients and
stakeholders:
Whom we want
to attract
Attract, engage, develop, and place a diverse and high-quality talent pool.
Increase resources coming from corporate accounts.
Create a platform where faculty can build on the Broad strategy to advance their
career.
Create multiple touch points that continuously engage and recognize alumni and
donors with the Broad platform
Our team and
organization:
How we do it
Increase the number of corporate partner engagements
Increase the number of collaborative university relationships, college-level
relationships, and other relationships.
Deepen existing global, college-level strategic global partnerships through more
educational and research activities.
Increase the number of integrative, cross-functional educational offerings.
Increase the number of Broad faculty and staff actively participating on strategic
university committees.
Reshape culture to drive vision and mission efforts
Increase by the number of attractive and effective incentive systems that encourage
risk-taking, entrepreneurship, and innovation
Increase faculty and staff satisfaction and morale.
Increase the relative percentage of available faculty and staff with cross-disciplinary,
boundary-spanning skills.
Strategically reduce the number of shadow databases and systems across the college.
Increase the number of digitally-enabled classrooms
Our value
contribution:
What value we
create
Increase number of consulting projects led by faculty.
Increase faculty participation in executive education.
Increase corporate support of executive education programs.
Increase experiential student projects.
Increase number of inter-disciplinary research projects.
Increase number of field research projects by faculty and doctoral students.
Increase college-level adaptation and innovation.
Increase communication of Broad College accomplishments, research, and
contributions.
Enhance a culture of philanthropy within the Broad College community.
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SPECIFIC STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Strategic initiatives (SI) facilitate the strategic plan and bring it to life. Each SI was developed
and implemented through a team comprising a cross-section of Broad College faculty and staff.
SI 1: Learning effectiveness and innovation
SI 2: Research Impact and Intellectual Contribution
SI 3: Enhanced Physical Facilities and Technology
SI 4: Effective Development, Marketing, and Communications
SI 5: Change Culture and High Performance Organization
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IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
LEVELS OF STRATEGY AND OPERATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION
The Broad College strategic plan and related initiatives will pay dividends to our faculty/staff,
students, and other stakeholders in the implementation phase. Identifying critical issues and
defining our opportunities serves as the foundation of our strategy, but it is dedicating ourselves
to developing and implementing aligned action plans that we reap rewards. Adopting the plan’s
principles and vision and enthusiastically participating in implementing the tactical elements
will facilitate the change needed to achieve our vision and mission.
Following is a high-level overview of the implementation process depicting strategy and
operating plans that will drive success.
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