Up to now, the informational behavior of the respondents has been our focus. In the following part, we assess the personal motivations of the future, current and former MBA students.
Profile Self-evaluation and Chances of Entering Favorite MBA Program
The respondents were first asked to rate their profiles as candidates compared to others. On a scale from 1 to 7, whereby 1 stands for below average and 7 for above average, 78% of the MBA students rate themselves with 5, 6 or 7. On average, a score of 5.39 is achieved.
Then, the respondents were asked how they consider their chances of entering their favorite MBA program. Most of the MBAs see their chances of entering their favorite program as rather high. On a scale from 1 to 7, whereby 1 stands for extremely low and 7 for extremely high, almost 70% of the MBA students rate their chances of entering their favorite program with 5, 6 or 7. On average, the chances are valuated positively with a mean value of 5.06.
With respect to the group comparisons, different results are achieved. Again, no significant differences in responses between male and female respondents can be observed. Further analysis shows that students with a higher GMAT score also valuate their profiles as being better than their colleagues with lower GMAT results. The highest group (≥710) estimates its profile with a mean of 5.78 as being more above average than the middle group (610<x<710, mean of 5.47). The group with lower GMAT scores (≤610) accordingly rates itself as being the least above average (mean of 5.12). The differences between all groups are significant, with p-values smaller than or equal to p=0.041. Despite these differences in the evaluation of their own profiles, all GMAT groups rate their chances of entering their favorite MBA program with similar scores ranging from 5.09 (GMAT above 710) to 5.02 (GMAT between 610 and 710) to 5.00 (GMAT below 610). An explanation for these similar numbers might be that MBA applicants set their goals lower if they have a lower GMAT.
There is no statistically significant difference between how Full-time, Part-time, Executive and Distance MBAs rate their profiles (means of 5.48, 5.27, 5.17 and 5.08). Executive MBAs rate their chances of entering their favorite MBA program as quite high (mean of 5.47) compared to Full-time MBAs, who position their chances on average only at 4.99 (p=0.027). These perceptions suggest that Full-time MBAs perceive stronger competition than Executive MBAs.
Although there are no differences between groups of respondents with different lengths of work experience with respect to the rating of the own profiles, people with less than three years of professional experience estimate their chances of entering their favorite MBA program as being lower than do MBAs who have more work experience (mean of 4.78 vs. 5.15 (3<x<8 years), p=0.014 and vs. 5.22 (≥8 years), p=0.004).
Respondents from Asia valuate their profiles as being better than their European counterparts (mean of 5.47 vs. 5.24, p=0.021). However, participants of the former group are less optimistic than the latter that they will enter their favorite MBA program (mean of 4.89 vs. 5.20, p=0.007). One explanation for this might be the high competition for top business schools in Asia, particularly in India.
Special Aspects within the Decision Process
We let the respondents answer a couple of select questions in order to better understand the decision-making process of the MBAs. We were interested in the question whether the respondents see their decision-making process as being more emotionally (scale point ―1‖) or more rationally driven (scale point ―7‖).
The majority of the MBAs (77.8%) claim that their decision-making process is based more on rational arguments than on emotional aspects, that is, they select answers with values larger than the scale point 4. On average, a mean of 5.44 is achieved with no significant differences between any of the various groups (Figure 7).
Figure 7: Emotionality vs. rationality in the decision process
Mean, n=810
Furthermore, we wanted to know whether it is the quality of the MBA program or its price that plays a more important role when selecting an MBA. For most of the respondents (73.7%), quality is more important than price. On average, a value of 5.52 on a scale from (1) price to (7) quality is reported (Figure 8).
rather 5.44
emotional rather
rational
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Figure 8: Price vs. quality in the decision process
Mean, n=810
This valuation does not differ much between the groups: With respect to gender, GMAT results and work experience, no significant differences can be observed.
However, looking at the type of MBA the respondent is interested in, is currently studying or has already completed, it becomes clear that there is a significant difference between Part-time and Distance MBAs on the one hand, and Full-time and Executive MBAs on the other hand. The groups Part-time and Distance MBAs rate the price as being more important (means 4.95 and 4.86) than Full-time (mean of 5.61, p<0.001 (Part-time) and p=0.002 (Distance)) and Executive MBAs (mean of 5.96, p<0.001 (Part-time) and p<0.001 (Distance)). The price is also seen to be more relevant than quality for Asian respondents than for European respondents (mean of 5.34 vs. 5.69, p=0.002).
Another important aspect was discovered by the question as to how flexible, in terms of school location, the respondent is/was. Answers were based on a scale from (1) extremely low (I wanted to go to one particular city) to (7) extremely high (I would have gone to nearly any city in the world). The overall responses are almost equally distributed from low to high flexibility with a corresponding mean of 4.08 (Figure 9).
Figure 9: Flexibility in terms of business school location
Mean, n=810
Female MBAs seem to be less flexible than their male counterparts, as female respondents rate their flexibility on average at 3.51 versus 4.30 for male respondents (p<0.001). A breakdown of the responses according to the type of study reveals that Full-time MBAs are more flexible than the other groups. They rate their flexibility at 4.50, significantly higher than Part-time (mean of 2.72, p<0.001), Executive (mean of 3.40, p<0.001) and Distance MBAs (mean of 3.08, p<0.001).
5.52
price quality
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
extremely low 4.08
flexibility extremely high
flexibility
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
We also find a significant difference between respondents with high and low GMAT scores. Those with low GMAT scores (below 610) rate their flexibility at only 3.94 on average, whereas respondents with high GMAT scores (above 710) give a score of 4.49 (p=0.056).
People with more than eight years of work experience indicate that they are less flexible (mean of 3.45) than those with less work experience. Whereas the group with less than or equal to three years of work experience, on average, rates this aspect at 4.38 (p<0.001), the middle group with three to eight years of professional experience assigns a similar value of 4.30 (p<0.001).
Market Knowledge and Transparency
In the next section, the respondents’ market knowledge and the perceived market transparency is focused upon. The respondents were asked to indicate their degree of agreement with the statement ―I have a very good knowledge of the MBA market‖ on a scale from ―I do not agree at all‖ (1) to ―I totally agree‖
(7): 51% of the respondents agree to the statement with scale values of 5, 6 or 7;
in contrast, 27% basically do not agree, indicating this with a mark of the scale values 1, 2 or 3. In total, a mean of 4.35 is achieved (Figure 10).
Figure 10: Perceived knowledge of the MBA market Mean, n=810
In further analyses, we could see no difference in answers with respect to gender, the GMAT score, the region of nationality (Asia or Europe) and the type of study. Only one difference can be observed: The group of people with three to eight years of work experience claims to have a better knowledge of the MBA market than people with less than three years of work experience (mean of 4.54 vs. 4.19, p=0.019).
Next, the respondents were first asked to rate whether it was difficult for them to judge the strengths of and differences between business schools. On a scale from ―I do not agree at all‖ to ―I totally agree‖ (7), a mean score 4.30 is assigned (Figure 11).
I do not 4.35
agree at all I totally
agree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I have a very good knowledge of the MBA market.
Figure 11: Judging the strengths and differences between the business schools
Mean, n=806
When asked whether finding the right MBA program is difficult or easy, 54.7% of the respondents mark 5, 6 or 7 (7 corresponding to extremely easy), whereas 25.3% score 1, 2 or 3 (1 corresponding to extremely difficult). The resulting mean is 4.54 (Figure 12).
Figure 12: Perceived difficulty of finding the right MBA program
Mean, n=810
Further analysis shows that female respondents think that identifying the strengths of and differences between business schools is less difficult compared to male respondents (mean of 4.04 vs. 4.41, p=0.003). However, both groups do not differ with respect to the difficulties they experienced in finding the right MBA program.
An analysis of the type of study reveals that it is more difficult for Full-time MBAs to judge the strengths and differences between business schools than for Executive MBAs (mean of 4.43 vs. 3.74, p<0.001). Executive MBAs as well as Part-time MBAs find that identifying the right program is easier when compared to Full-time and Distance MBAs respondents (mean of 5.24 (Executive) vs. 4.39 (Full-time), p<0.001 and vs. 4.27 (Distance), p=0.002, mean of 4.94 (Part-time) vs. 4.39 (Full-time), p=0.004 and vs. 4.27 (Distance), p=0.057). This might be explained by the fact that Full-time MBAs are much more flexible than any other group (as shown above) and thus have to deal with a larger choice of business schools. The Distance MBAs on the other hand are not flexible, but since school location does not matter, they might also face a large choice set. We also suppose that the Distance MBA is a comparatively new market in which the customers still need to develop the appropriate approach to find and evaluate relevant information.
I do not agree 4.30
at all I totally
agree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
For me, judging the strengths and differences between the business schools is (was) very difficult.
extremely 4.54
difficult extremely
easy
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
For me, finding the right MBA program is (was) ...
Although no difference with respect to the judgment of strengths and differences between business schools can be observed, people with more than eight years of work experience rate the ease of finding the right MBA program higher with 4.75, compared to people with less than three years of work experience, who give a score of 4.41 (p=0.048). An explanation for this result may be that the former group is more certain about what it is looking for. The same results are achieved for the GMAT groups: No differences with respect to an assessment of a business school’s strengths and differences can be observed, but people with a GMAT score higher than 710 find it more difficult to find the right MBA program than do the respondents with a GMAT score between 610 and 710 (mean of 4.24 vs. 4.72, p=0.006).
As a last point, we can observe that people from Asia find it more difficult to rate the strengths and differences than do Europeans (mean of 4.46 vs. 4.17, p=0.019) and find it less easy to find the best MBA program for their needs (mean of 4.31 vs. 4.80, p<0.001).