The CEO of EducUS Corporation (EDUS), in conjunction with the EDUS board of directors, has decided to increase the corporation's footprint and expand its international operations. After identifying global opportunities, the EDUS board of directors decided to explore the possibility of purchasing the Mekong Cham University (MCU) located in downtown Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
This university is a small academic institution which has a strong technology school but is short on resources. Specifically, the Mekong Cham faculty members are highly acclaimed technologists who are widely published in the field of information technology and enterprise software application. However, while MCU enjoys an exceptional local reputation as an educational institution, it has difficulty in recruiting students outside the Southeast Asia region. One reason is that MCU has no capability, due to lack of funding, to provide online course offerings.
Another reason for the low enrollment at MCU is the poor physical condition of the university building complex. EDUS Corporation also enjoys an excellent reputation as the third largest provider of nontraditional education in the U.S.
EDUS is the parent company of 26 universities located throughout the U.S. and Canada. It has a strong international business and management program offering in most of its holdings and is known for its exceptional online delivery capability.
You have been selected to work on the EDUS research team in support of the steering committee for this acquisition. You are part of a high performance work team which will focus its research in 5 separate areas.
The EDUS CEO has briefed the team and expressed the need for comprehensive research to ensure that the acquisition of MCU will be right for both organizations. She tells you and the team that acquisitions, like this, are often unsuccessful because of incompatible cultures, clashes in management styles, poor integration strategies, and inadequate communications. So she has requested that you particularly focus on these areas of inquiry.
The EDUS CEO also informs you and the team that although she understands that this project will take some time, it is imperative that preliminary recommendations be presented within the next eight weeks.
To meet the guidance of your CEO, you will lead the project team in a presentation of the team's findings within this designated period.