Business education programs should practice what they preach: applying the principles of strategic analysis to play to their strengths and develop distinctive offerings that attract the most profitable "customers"--in this case, students, faculty, local communities, and the institutions that support them financially. With the costs of private MBA programs skyrocketing, public universities, which generally operate out of the spotlight of the Harvards and Whartons, have a tremendous opportunity to distinguish themselves as centers of innovative, high-quality education. Mimi Wolverton and Larry Penley conducted extensive research to identify the qualities of those public institutions across the country--from the University of Washington to Georgia Tech--that have successfully established competitive advantages, generally through a combination of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Elite MBA Programs at Public Universities features 12 in-depth case studies by senior representatives of the respective institutions, detailing the process by which they developed and launched programs to raise their profiles and ultimately compete aggressively for talent and support. From developing strategic alliances with local businesses and complementary academic departments to establishing online and overseas courses to investing in state-of-the-art facilities, these schools are setting new standards for business education--and measuring the positive results, for example, in terms of increased funding, higher faculty research productivity, higher rankings, and greater student diversity. Wolverton and Penley frame the case studies by applying the concepts of strategy theory, drawing lessons that can be applied in other educational institutions, as well as for students of strategy and general readers interested in emerging trends in business education. The result is a fascinating peek behind the scenes at the most innovative MBA programs, as well as a rich canvas for observing the principles of strategic management in action.

Nathan Bennett is the senior associate dean and a professor in the College of Management at Georgia Tech Terry C. Blum has been the dean of the College of Management since summer 1999. She was named to the Tedd Munchak Chair in Entrepreneurship in 1996, making her the first woman at Georgia tech to be awarded an endowed chair Jan Collins is an editor at the Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina Elizabeth O. Farquhar corrdinates media relations for the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University Howard Frank is dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business of the University of Maryland Yash Gupta served as dean of the University of Washington Business School between 1999 and 2004, and prior to that was dean of the University of Colorado-Denver College of Business Administration for seven years Paul Karr is a prize-winning writer, editor, and writing consultant for the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, the University of Chicago, and the Center for international Trade and Security, among other clients John Kraft was business dean at Arizona State University before taking a similar post at the Universtiy of Florida in 1990 Gary W. McKillips is director of communications and external affairs for Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business in Atlanta Rhonda Mullen is a freelance writer in Atlanta and Georgia State PhD alumna Tim Newton is director of external relations and communications for Purdue University's Krannert School of Management Larry Edward Penley is president of Colorado State University and Chancellor of the Colorado State University System. Previously he was professor of management and dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University for more than a decade Dan H. Robertson is a Regents' Professor of Marketing and assistant dean of graduate studies at Texas A&Z University Catherine Hines Wills is director of marketing at the Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina James C. Wimbush is the chair of the Department of Management, associate dean of the faculties, and professor of business administration Frederick W. Winter has been the dean of the University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business since 1997 Mimi Wolverton is an associate professor and the higher education leadership program coordinator at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas