A Reflection on Educating Business Leaders: Linking MBA Program Quality to Alumni Satisfaction, Recommendations, and Professional Success

Dr. Michael T. Geier, Dr. Lisa A. Schwartz, and Dr. Kristin Stowe Posted on
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.64010/YLLD2806

Abstract

MBA programs are an important way for students to gain additional knowledge and skills that contribute to professional achievements. Quality programs help alumni become successful in their professional careers and create strong business leaders. Understanding why programs are successful is a critical part of assessment. This study of one ACBSP-accredited MBA program finds that alumni associate high quality programs with higher satisfaction. They also report a higher quality program contributes to success in their professional roles and are more likely to refer peers to the program. In their opinion, skills such as presentation and reasoning/logic are the most important factors in a high-quality MBA program.

Introduction

A quality education is a nearly universal goal of colleges and universities. High quality MBA programs provide students with skills and knowledge that lead to better professional opportunities. Problem-solving skills, social skills and tacit knowledge are attributes that influence leader emergence and effectiveness (Zacarro et al., 2004).

An MBA degree can provide access to leadership roles; around one-third of Fortune 100 CEOs have an MBA (Kowarski & Shin, 2019). Thirty-two

of the Top-100 performing CEOs in the world have an MBA, according to the Harvard Business Review (McGinn, 2018). “Since its introduction early in the twentieth century, B-schools’ signature program, the Master of Business Administration (MBA), is arguably the most conspicuous and systematic effort to equip individuals with the skills needed to manage people and organizations” (Varelaet et al, 2013, p. 436).

Quality, though, is a subjective measure. This study looks at one facet of the measure. Feedback from MBA alumni are analyzed to determine which factors within the control of faculty influence a graduate’s rating of the quality of education and how their discernment of quality can lead to beneficial program outcomes.

More specifically, this study explores the perception of overall program quality and how it relates to satisfaction with the program, the likelihood that alumni recommend the program, and the level of career success alumni attribute to the program. General program quality is measured by various individual items related to skills attained through the program, activities performed as part of the program, and engagement with faculty and other students in the program. Respondents were asked to rate the items on both satisfaction and importance. Furthermore, the change in perceived importance of various aspects of MBA program quality is compared between 2009 and 2019.

Literature Review

Bruce (2010) found that more than 60% of MBA alumni rate the value of their degree as outstanding or excellent, while less than 5% rate the value as poor. Graduates tend be most satisfied with faculty, curriculum and fellow students and less satisfied with career services or student services. The degree can also confer nonfinancial satisfaction. This reflects a personal sense of accomplishment, pride in setting a positive example for family members, differentiation in the job market, and new opportunities (Hudson, 2016). Increased skill levels, confidence and the learning of new concepts and practices are all significant.

In service industries, customer loyalty and long-term relationships depend upon customer satisfaction. Carter (2009) investigated whether student expectations affect student satisfaction and the likelihood of subsequent recommendations. MBA students rated satisfaction regarding class availability, professor knowledge, job advancement, facility, tuition. All except tuition were significant paths to satisfaction and recommendations. Expectations do moderate the relationship between service quality and recommendations. Students with low expectations who experience high service quality are more likely to recommend. Similarly, reasons that alumni list for recommending a program are topped by faculty competence, small class size and quality of program (Glynn & Shick, 2006). High tuition is the key reason given for not recommending (Glynn & Woods, 2008).

Rapert et al. (2004) surveyed MBA alumni to understand how they define quality. Common narratives related to the in-class environment included the encouragement of intellectual growth, teamwork and group dynamics, devoted and knowledgeable faculty members, and classmate and faculty relationships. Overall degree satisfaction was most strongly correlated with building skills, beneficial feedback and a participatory environment. Willingness to recommend the program was most strongly correlated with building skills, expectations and beneficial feedback. Interviews with MBA students suggest that inconsistency across faculty in the areas of teaching methods, availability and communication reduce student satisfaction. Faculty utilizing ‘real-world’ experiences can increase student satisfaction (Senk et al., 2014).

Van Auken et al. (2013) asked MBA alumni to rate the content-value of specific courses such as Operations Management or Marketing Management. There was no significant differentiation between the highest and lowest rated courses. After grouping courses into three areas, there were two areas (marketing and management) significantly related to whether the MBA program met expectations, provided a high return on investment or was likely to be recommended. The difference may be due to the business experience brought into the classroom by faculty members in management and marketing at this particular university.

Teacher behaviors that reflect caring contribute to student satisfaction: accessibility, flexibility, interaction, understanding, rapport, responsiveness, and feedback. Teacher behaviors that reflect professionalism also contribute to student satisfaction: communication, reliability, subject expertise, usefulness of the material and real-world relevance (DeShields et al., 2005; Douglas et al., 2008; Hill, Lomas, & MacGregor, 2003; Keeley et al., 2006; Moore, 2005). The caring dimension is dominant. Being knowledgeable about the subject had an inverse relationship with students’ satisfaction, perhaps because students are intimidated (Geier, 2021).

Neumann et al. (2017) assessed MBA alumni rankings in several areas, including faculty quality, the quality of the learning model and support services. Faculty ratings were related to accessibility, responsiveness, dedication and overall quality. Educational outcomes included standards of the curriculum, comparison to the education received by colleagues at other schools, acquisition of communication and critical thinking skills, and overall quality. Both the quality of the learning model and faculty quality were significant variables in predicting a student’s summative assessment of his or her educational outcome.

A prior survey at this university found that alumni ratings of degree pride and the quality of their education are connected with their views on active learning and skill quality. The more collaborative and cooperative projects that a student completed, the more likely he or she was to rate the learning experience highly. Current MBA students are less receptive to active and collaborative learning. Case studies, team projects and team projects with outside businesses were rated as very important by a lower percentage of current students than of alumni (Stowe et al., 2012).

Sebastianelli et al. (2015) looked specifically at online MBAs. They investigate whether three outcomes (learning, satisfaction, and quality) are linked to factors related to content (rigor, course structure, and course content) and/or factors related to interactions (professor/student/mentor). All of the factors are ones that faculty influence. Perceived learning is significantly impacted by course content. Satisfaction is significantly related to course content and professor/ student interaction. Quality is significantly related to course content, student/student interaction and mentoring. Faculty can encourage collaboration, and meaningful communication between students and faculty can be receptive to students who approach seeking advice and guidance.

Alumni perceptions of degree quality and satisfaction affect donations. Guild (2018) lists reasons that alumni give, including financial capacity, perceived need for the contribution, emotional attachment, sense of community, and satisfaction with the student experience. Surveys of MBA alumni show that alumni who completed an online degree program were significantly less likely to donate as students who completed a face-to-face MBA; alumni are more likely to donate as their perceived sense of community increases.

Methodology

Responses are from MBA alumni of a small, private university. The MBA program is a part-time evening one, serving working adults in a large Southern city. Marketing points include small classes, flexibility, and value. Emails were sent to a convenience sample of 400 alumni for whom a valid email address was available. Anonymous responses were collected online via Survey Monkey. Fifty-two alumni participated, for a response rate of 13.0%. Forty-seven of the 52 responses were usable records (incomplete records were deleted). In 2009, a similar survey was distributed to alumni. The survey asked respondents to rate the same skills, activities, and engagement as the 2019 survey.

In 2019, 60% of respondents were male and 40% female. In 2009, the breakdown was similar with 59% male and 41% female. In 2019, 72% of respondents were White, 14% Black, 4% Asian, 2% Latino and 8% Other. Race data is not available for 2009. Unfortunately, small sub-sample size does not allow for statistical comparisons between groups. Figure 1 shows how many years it has been since the respondent graduated from the MBA program. The survey for 2019 has a higher percentage of recent graduates than the survey from 2009.

Results and Discussion

The goal of any MBA program is to provide education and development of skills to help students succeed in their professional careers. Obtaining feedback from constituents is important to assess if the program is meeting expectations. Alumni were asked to provide feedback on the program related to the overall quality and the quality and importance of specific factors. Results in Table 1 display the mean and standard deviation of general opinions about the program. When asked to rate the overall quality of the program, the respondents rated it 8.00 on a scale of 1 to 10, which indicates alumni feel positively about the overall program.

Other indicators of quality were also addressed. When asked if they would recommend the program to others, the mean answer was 8.82 on a Likert scale of 1 to 10. Alumni rated satisfaction with their academic experience 4.42 on a 5-point Likert scale and, when asked if they attribute a significant part of their success to the program, they responded 3.52 out of 5. These results indicate the alumni generally felt that the program met their needs.

To further understand how the respondents perceived overall quality and the relationship to the other quality indicators, Table 2 presents correlation coefficients. All of the correlation coefficients are significant (p < .001). Those who view the program as higher quality were more satisfied with their academic experience. Also, those who view the program as high quality are more likely to attribute their success to the program. This is important because as noted in the table, the strongest correlation, r = .79, is between overall quality and the likelihood of recommending the program to others. This is critical to the future sustainability of the MBA program. If the alumni feel the program is high quality, they will encourage their peers to attend. Since the previous table indicated they rated the program highly, this may help in future recruiting efforts.

Since overall quality is significantly related to satisfaction, success, and recommendation, it is important to understand more specifically what students expect in a quality MBA program. The alumni were asked to rate the importance of specific activities, skill development and interaction within courses. They were also asked to rate the quality of these components provided by the MBA program. Table 3 ranks these factors according to their own perception of importance and the quality provided by the MBA program.

The most important skills for them were presentation and reasoning and logic skills with means of 4.60. Data skills and writing skills were ranked lower, but still had means of 4.38 and 4.32. Other factors of importance are student participation (M = 4.56) and professor/student interaction (M = 4.38). This particular MBA program is mainly in-person with a few hybrid courses. Students likely self-select the program because of the in-person experience and they subsequently rate it as important. Activities such as case studies (M = 4.28) and team projects (M = 3.90) ranked lowest in terms of importance. These results are consistent with previous studies by Glynn (2005) and Glynn & Shick (2006), who find MBA students at a small, private school rate critical thinking skills, problem solving skills and presentation skills as the most important ones.

When looking at their opinion of the quality delivered by the program, the highest factor was student participation (M = 4.28) with professor/stu-dent interaction slightly below at 4.16. Again, this is likely because the format of the program stresses an in-person academic experience. Activities like case students and team projects, which were less important, were rated as 4.08 and 4.04 in quality. So, even though alumni might not feel they are as important as other skills, they do indicate they were high quality activities.

The quality of all of the different skills (presentation, writing, reasoning, and data analysis) were rated below 4.0 on average, which is concerning because students rate skill development as very important. While the program does well in engagement, it could find ways to improve student skill acquisition. Providing a high-quality education where students gain necessary skills is critical to the overall quality of the program and sustainability of the program.

To better understand the relationship between overall quality and the quality of the specific factors, Table 4 provides correlation data. All skills, activities, and engagement factors had a significant relationship (p < .01) with overall quality of the program. Respondents who rated the quality of the individual factors as higher also rated the overall program higher quality.

The highest correlations were with data analytics and computer skills and writing skills, both r = .56. Alumni who felt that the program provided high quality education in data analytics and writing also felt the overall program was higher quality. Since data analytics was rated as the lowest quality factor in the previous table, there is an opportunity to improve how the school teaches data analysis to better meet student expectations. Improving this skill will likely increase the overall perception of quality, which can improve satisfaction, recruitment, and success in business.

Table 5 compares how the alumni ranked the importance of skills in 2019 vs 2009 (Stowe et al., 2012). T-tests revealed that all of the skills, activities, and engagements had lower means in 2019, with the exception of case studies; however, most were not significantly different. Presentations skills, reasoning and logic skills, and professor/student interactions were all significantly lower (p < .05). While the means may be lower, the ranking of factors is very similar in 2009 and 2019, with presentation skills and reasoning skills ranked as one or two.

Data analytics dropped from being ranked first in 2009 to fourth in 2019. Considering that skill is also ranked lowest in quality, that lower quality may impact alumni perception of importance. Also, more specific graduate programs in data analytics are available now, so it may be that individuals interested in data analytics seek out those programs. People in general MBA programs may be more focused on broader skills, like presentations and logic.

Activities like case studies and team projects are ranked lowest (seven and eight) in both surveys. This indicates students are more interested in skill development and engagement than in specific types of learning activities.

The results indicate that students are focused on gaining skills and proficiencies that will help them be successful in their careers. The skills they view as most important are presentation skills and reasoning skills. Analytical skills and writing skills are ranked lower, but are still important to students. Respondents also value participation and interactions with faculty. Of lesser importance are specific activities like case studies and team projects. Higher quality delivery of these skills and engagements results in their perception of a higher overall quality MBA program. High overall quality is connected to satisfaction with the program, professional success and a likelihood to recommend the program to others.

Conclusions

Students choose MBA programs to increase knowledge and skills necessary to become successful in their professional lives and develop into strong business leaders. Zacarro (1996) determined various requisites for an executive leader. These include cognitive skills and social skills. For instance, analytical and reasoning skills and writing skills are part of the executive requisites. Social skills such as conflict management skills are reinforced in an environment with increased professor and student interaction.

The MBA program evaluated in this study is from a small, private university that is primarily focused on an in-person experience. Students who self-select programs like this are looking for strong engagement with faculty and other students. They value assignments that provide active learning and courses that help them obtain skills they view as necessary for their professional success.

This analysis indicates that faculty choices can affect perceptions of a high-quality MBA program.

Pedagogical decisions such as whether to include case studies or presentations can impact assessments of program quality. Opportunities for classroom discussion and for individual student interactions also prove important over time.

All MBA programs need to continually assess to make sure they are meeting the needs and expectations of students. Understanding which skills, assignments and engagements provide the best outcomes for students is critical to maintaining a successful program. If students feel the program is beneficial to their own professional success they will be more likely to recommend the program to their peers, colleagues and others.

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