scholarly journals Management Education Benchmarking Designing Customized And Flexible MBA Programs

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen P. Hall, Jr. ◽  
Terry W. Young

To meet the challenges of the 21st century B-schools are revising curriculum, delivery and outcome assessment modalities. Today, the proportion of electives and other specialty offerings in many MBA programs now constitutes more than 50% of the total curriculum. However, this focus on customization, integration and flexibility is not without its own challenges including quality assurance and implementation. Benchmarking, which involves the assessment of a variety of inputs including student satisfaction, the business community and the accreditation process represents, one approach for meeting these challenges. The purpose of this paper is twofold: 1) to benchmark trends and challenges in MBA programs geared towards the working adult and 2) to outline a process for implementing more flexibility and customization in MBA curriculums. The results of a student satisfaction survey of MBA graduates revealed that a customized curriculum yielded greater insights and enhanced job related capabilities than a generalized curriculum.

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 544-561
Author(s):  
Monica D.T. Rysavy ◽  
Russell Michalak ◽  
Alison Wessel

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine eight years of quantitative and qualitative student feedback on library services collected through an institution-wide student satisfaction survey. Design/methodology/approach This paper utilizes data collected during an eight-year period from the college’s student satisfaction survey. This survey contained 40 questions which addressed topics concerning the college’s 13 major departments. Six of the questions were devoted to library services. Findings Over the eight years surveyed, across all divisions surveyed (undergraduate students, graduate students and graduate Saturday students), students on average tended to select “agree” or “strongly agree” with the following six questions asked: The materials in the library meet my course requirements. The library has enough laptop computers for student use. The instructional materials for using the online databases are helpful. The library hours match my schedule and needs. The library equipment is in good working order. The library is generally quiet and suitable for study. Originality/value This institutionally crafted, mixed methods survey was deployed over an eight-year period at a relatively minimal cost (in-house staff hours were used to analyze the data gathered and paper Scantron sheets were used to deploy). Furthermore, rich data were gathered from a relatively simple instrument and this information was used to make institution-wide decisions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saskia Raatz ◽  
Dieter Euler

In recent years, the quality of management education in general, and particularly of MBA and Executive MBA programs, has been called into question. There are serious doubts about universities’ ability to give students the competencies they need to deal with complex problems in modern society. One part of the discussion focuses on ethical issues and the process through which students develop values and attitudes. In line with the economic crisis, there has been increasing interest in the development of learners’ attitudes to responsibility. We report the results of a study that starts with an ambitious and yet ill-structured learning goal in a demanding educational practice area: How can pedagogical interventions in management education be designed to promote learners' attitudes to responsible leadership? As a starting point, there are neither consensual definitions of responsible leadership nor substantial theories available to design promising interventions. De-sign-based research (DBR) provides a structured process to deal with research problems, starting with innovative but imprecisely defined objectives and unknown ways to reach them. We introduce the DBR design and describe the research process and results from a project conducted at St.Gallen University’s Executive MBA program. In close collaboration with practitioners, interventions evolved through multiple cycles of development, testing and refinement with the pursuit of theory-building and practical innovation.


Author(s):  
MSS EL Namaki

Accreditation of business programs and institutions is a powerful industry in the United States and Europe. The industry has massive followers and holds sway over the fate of many an institution. World wide data are not easily accessible but some figures are indicative of the scale and scope of the industry. It is estimated that there are over 4,000 MBA programs in the US, offered by 454 institutions (AACSB, 2014). A multiple of that exists worldwide. Each and every of those institutions needs accreditation or a confirmation of the conformity of the institutional framework, the conversion process and the ultimate outcome with specific standards. The problem, however, is that the standards and those who measure them, have run out of steam, an issue that attracted many including some US politicians(WSJ, July 8, 2015). The following article explores today’s accreditation practice flaws and the potential for a substitute. The article starts with a brief critique of current practice. This is followed by an analysis of the three conceptual foundations of a substitute: systems thinking, metrics and the balanced score card. This alternative blends those conceptual foundations and suggests a novel accreditation instrument: the Program Accreditation Score card or PAS. The article further explores the tenants of this novel instrument and explores its applied dimensions. The article relies on several works on the issue of the accreditation of management education efforts. It refers to existing approaches practiced by key accreditation market leaders and explores some contextual literature. The article could lead to the introduction of a structural change in the conceptual framework and the operational tools of the management education accreditation industry.


2021 ◽  
pp. 185-209
Author(s):  
Björn Schouenborg ◽  
Bent Grelk ◽  
David West ◽  
Paola Blasi

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document