WHAT IF WE RAN THE MBA PROGRAM LIKE THE REAL WORLD?

I was wondering the other day, what if we ran our MBA program according to how some events played out in the real world?

For example, you might recall that the Iowa Supreme Court recently considered the question of whether an employee who has not engaged in flirtatious conduct may be lawfully terminated from employment simply because the boss views the employee as an ‘irresistible’ attraction. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled yes. On that basis, wouldn’t we need an Irresistible Attraction Committee at the College of Business to decide which MBA students should be dismissed from the program?

You’ve no doubt seen the stories about online retailers varying prices based on a customer’s location. Customer #1 wants a Swingline stapler so she goes to the Staples.com website and sees that it’s listed for $15.79. Just a few miles away, customer #2 looks for the exact same item and it’s priced at $14.29. Most individuals are completely unaware that many websites take several factors into account before giving you their price, including: 1) your specific location; and 2) your distance from a rival brick-and-mortar store. So, for example, if you were within 20 miles of an Office Depot or OfficeMax, Staples.com would show you a discounted price. So, I guess our way of emulating that would be the next time you went online to register for an MBA class, your price would be a function of not only your physical location but also your proximity to another college/university offering a competitive MBA program.

There is a simple provision in the new fiscal cliff tax law that passed in January that reinstates the marriage penalty and essentially translates into higher tax rates for high income married couples than single individuals making the same amount of income. Some very happily married couples are getting a “Tax Divorce”. To simulate this same effect, we’d make textbook prices in the bookstore higher for married MBA students than for single MBA students.

Lastly, South Carolina offers a $50-per-couple tax credit for premarital counseling. A couple can claim an extra fifty dollars by completing a six-hour premarital course taught by "an active member of the clergy in the course of his or her service as clergy, or his or her designee who is trained and skilled." As long as that couple obtains a certificate of completion and a state marriage license in that tax year, the tax credit is theirs. Business faculty would offer a 6-hour pre-MBA counseling class and students could get a $50 reduction in their overall tuition by attending it.

I’m trying to decide which of the above would be the most popular….