University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Employment rates upon MBA graduation: An evaluation study

(USC Thesis Other)

Employment rates upon MBA graduation: An evaluation study

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content Running head: MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES

1

EMPLOYMENT RATES UPON MBA GRADUATION: AN EVALUATION STUDY

by

Arvind Ramakrishnan

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2018

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables 5
List of Figures 6
Abstract 7
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 8
Introduction of the Problem of Practice 8
Organizational Context and Mission 8
Organizational Goal 10
Related Literature 10
Importance of Addressing the Problem 12
Description of Stakeholder Groups 13
Stakeholder Performance Goals 14
Stakeholder Group of the Study 14
Purpose of Project and Questions 15
Conceptual and Methodological Framework 15
Definitions 16
Organization of the Project 16
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 17
Introduction 17
MBA Program Brand and Rankings 18
Career Services Staff Roles and Skills 19
Career Services’ Interactions with MBA Students and Employment 21
Clark and Estes’ Organizational Problem-Solving Framework 23
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
3
Career Services Staff Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences 24
Conceptual and Methodological Framework 36
Conclusion 39
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 40
Purpose of Project and Questions 40
Participating Stakeholders 40
Data Collection and Instrumentation 42
Credibility and Trustworthiness 44
Validity and Reliability 45
Ethics 46
Limitations and Delimitations 46
Conclusion 47
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS 48
Participating Stakeholders 49
Findings for Knowledge Influences 50
Findings for Motivation Influences 57
Findings for Organizational Influences 60
Additional Findings 71
Summary 75
CHAPTER FIVE: SOLUTIONS, IMPLEMENTATION, AND EVALUTION 77
Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences 78
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan 86
Conclusion 98
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
4
References 99
Appendices 104
Appendix A: Research Study – Interview Questions 104
Appendix B: Evaluation Survey – Immediately Following the Workshop 107
Appendix C: Evaluation Survey – 90 Days Following the Workshop 108
Appendix D: Informed Consent/Information Sheet 109

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
5
LIST OF TABLES
Table Title Page
1 Knowledge Influences Impacting CS Staff 27
2 Motivational Influences Impacting CS Staff 31
3 Organizational Influences Impacting CS Staff 35
4 Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations 78
5 Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations 81
6 Summary of Organizational Influences and Recommendations 83
7 Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes 87
8 Critical Behaviors, Metrics Methods, and Timing for New Reviewers 88
9 Required Drivers to Support New Reviewers’ Critical Behaviors 89
10 Components of Learning for the Program 92
11 Components to Measure Reactions to the Program 93

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
6
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Title Page
1 Gap Analysis Process and Methodology 24
2 A Conceptual Framework to Address the Problem of Practice 36

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
7
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the qualitative research study was to better understand a private
university’s Career Services staff capacity to support MBA students in attaining
employment upon graduation. The larger problem of practice addressed by this study
related to the lower than optimal MBA student employment upon graduation given the
time investment of two year and the high cost of tuition. The study utilized the Clark and
Estes (2008) framework, focusing on Career Services staff’s knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences related to supporting the achievement of 100% employment for
MBA students. Six in-person interviews were conducted with Career Services staff from
the target organization. Data analysis demonstrated that while staff had the knowledge
about employment criteria and interview structure, they needed more knowledge about
employer technical interview preparation. In terms of motivation, the results were
consistently high across both staff’s value for preparing MBA students and confidence in
their ability to improve student preparation. Finally, from the organizational perspective,
while the existing structure facilitated their capacity to support MBA students in a
collaborative manner, the lack of a clearly defined student engagement model and staff
evaluation metrics staff linked to MBA student employment were barriers. The primary
recommendations consisted of supporting the technical employer interview process,
increasing collaboration and engagement across the organization, and aligning staff
evaluation metrics with MBA student employment upon graduation. Ultimately, the
recommendation was to develop a full day training program to address the key findings
and help CS staff better support MBA student’s pursuit of employment upon graduation.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
8
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction of the Problem of Practice
The Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree has been increasing in
popularity in recent years, with approximately 190,000 graduates in 2012 across the US.
The number of graduates in 2012 was the largest of any post graduate degree in the
country at 25.4% up from 11.2% in 1970 (Byrne, 2014). Due to the increase in student
demand, higher education institutions are developing various types of MBA programs,
such as online, one year accelerated, two-year full time, evening part time, and executive
programs to cater to a wide array of aspiring MBA students.
Across MBA educational options, the most traditional and popular remains the
two-year full time program. However, according to the Graduate Management
Admission Council in 2013, only 61% of MBA students in two-year full time programs
secured employment at the time of graduation (GMAC, 2013). The low employment at
the time of MBA graduation is a problem, because a majority of students leave the
workforce and invest time and economic resources to reap the benefits of better
employment opportunities upon graduation.
Organizational Context and Mission
The University of Business is a pseudonym for an accredited higher education
private institution with a two-year full time MBA program. The mission of the business
school is to educate, develop, and help prepare MBA students to secure full time
employment upon graduation. The mission is accomplished through a rigorous core
curriculum with a global focus that is centered on the importance of leadership and
innovation.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
9
The University of Business is a highly competitive institution with incoming
students having a median GMAT score of approximately 700 and only about one third of
applicants being accepted. It is based in the Western region of the United States and
currently has a student population of approximately 400 – 500. The program is comprised
of students with the average age of 28, with roughly 30% being female, and 30% of
African American, Latino, or Asian American decent. Moreover, about 25% of students
are international students and the school has an alumni base in over 25 countries around
the world. Approximately 35% of the students worked in media and entertainment,
financial services, or consumer products prior to their MBA program. The world class
faculty work in both a full time and part time capacity to educate the students on various
business concepts throughout their two-year program. The business school focuses on
global experiences, leadership opportunities, and innovation.
The overall industry of choice for MBA students at the University of Business is
media and entertainment, which represents approximately 40% of student hire. Based on
differing industry hiring practices, it is important to note that the media and entertainment
industry typically hires MBA students as needed as opposed to well in advance as in
industries such as consulting and investment banking. The difference in hiring practices
substantially impacts the University of Business’ employment rates upon graduation
based on the sheer volume of their MBA students that desire employment in the media
and entertainment field, which typically only recruits for open roles as MBA graduation
approaches. The Career Services staff play an integral role in working with MBA
students to help them attain employment upon graduation.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
10
Organizational Performance Goal
The University of Business’ goal is to, by May 2020, achieve a 100%
employment rate for their MBA students upon graduation. The organizational goal
relates to the current problem of practice with a current employment rate of
approximately 70% upon graduation. Based on a class size of approximately 200-250
students in 2015, achieving the performance goal equates to an additional 75 students
employed at graduation. The goal is set by the career services center within the
University of Business as it is one of the primary metrics that impact the school ranking
amongst top MBA programs across the country. Furthermore, achieving the goal
demonstrates the University’s ability to educate and prepare all of their students for
successful employment. The goal of 100% employment at graduation is the optimal goal
for the organization as it would be an indication that all students were successful in
achieving their individual goal of gaining employment upon graduation. The goal is
measured through student exit interviews and surveys that focus on employment status
upon graduation.
Related Literature
A number of different MBA programs exist and for the purpose of this study, the
evaluation focus will be on two-year full time programs. During the course of the
program, MBA students are immersed in an academic and professional environment.
The pursuit of the MBA involves learning critical business concepts to not only help
students have a better understanding of business, but also help further their professional
careers. MBA students typically have approximately three to five years of professional
experience before joining a full time two-year program (GMAC, 2014). An important
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
11
aspect of student development is measured for MBA students by the impact on their
professional career post finishing the MBA program. Top MBA programs provide
students with employment that equates a return on investment either through quality of
education, the right employment opportunity post-graduation or a combination of both
(Carlson, 2013). In support of these efforts, during the two years in the program, in
addition to the academic coursework, students are actively involved with professional
clubs focused on their desired industry or job function of choice post program. The
significant level of invested time and resources put forth by MBA students during the
program further supports and highlights the importance of attaining employment upon
graduation. For the two-year MBA program, universities typically evaluate and measure
employment at the time of graduation and six months post-graduation. According to the
Graduate Management Admission Council in 2013, only 61% of MBA students in two-
year full time programs had secured employment at the time of graduation (GMAC,
2013).
The low employment rates upon graduation for MBA students in two-year full
time programs is a problem because the total cost of attendance in 2014 can be over
$200,000 at universities such as New York University Stern School of Business. The
problem is further reinforced as the lowest total cost that an MBA student can expect to
incur at a top 25 school is approximately $140,000, such as at the University of Texas
McCombs (Byrne, 2014). Moreover, the average debt incurred by an MBA student in a
two-year full time program in 2014 from a top 100 school was $56,157 (Snider, 2015).
The overall high total cost of attendance and cost of financing through loans strengthens
the case for why low employment rates upon graduation are a problem for MBA students.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
12
Overall, attaining employment upon graduation is a critical measure of success for
both the business school as well as the MBA student in the two-year full time program.
In addition, it is extremely important to increase employment rates at graduation, because
the overall rates serve as an important input to determine business school rankings and
through that, the strength of future applicants to the business school. In general, MBA
students place a high value on attaining employment upon graduation, which could
impact candidate application decisions (GMAC, 2014).
Importance of Addressing the Problem
The problem of low employment rates at the time of MBA graduation is a
problem for a variety of reasons. As a result of the national low employment rate of 61%
at the time of graduation, many students that invest economic resources and two years of
time in pursuit of graduate education are faced with career and financial uncertainty
(GMAC, 2013). The challenge of low employment rates at graduation is important to
address for different stakeholders including the student population and the academic
institution. The student population is directly impacted by the employment rates upon
graduation as a recent survey shows that over half of prospective MBA students prefer
full time programs, leaving their secure employment in pursuit of further education and
advanced career opportunities. The same survey of prospective MBA students reinforces
the importance by highlighting that quality and reputation of an institution is of primary
importance when selecting a business school (GMAC, 2014). The academic institution
has a vested interest in improving the employment rates upon graduation as it is both a
reflection of the school and also a measurable statistic that directly impacts their ranking
and brand reputation. The consequences of not addressing the problem of low
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
13
employment rates upon MBA graduation will impact the school’s overall reputation,
ranking, and quality of prospective candidates in the long run.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
The stakeholders that directly contribute to and benefit from the University of
Business’ goal of attaining 100% employment upon graduation are the career services,
faculty, employers, and MBA students. Students attend the University of Business in
order to complete their MBA degree and seek employment upon graduation. The
students come from different career backgrounds prior to starting an MBA program and
actively participate in a number of activities, both inside and outside the classroom to
develop skills to prepare themselves for the workplace post-graduation. Faculty work
closely with the overall MBA program to design and deliver a world class curriculum
focused on student learning to develop broader business knowledge and skills. Career
Services works closely with students and companies to understand the knowledge, skills,
and characteristics required to obtain student employment within a targeted industry upon
graduation. The last stakeholder group are the employers as they are the recipient of
qualified MBA students to help them achieve their business or specific organizational
goals.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
14
Stakeholder Performance Goals
Organizational Mission
The mission of the University of Business is to educate, develop, and help prepare MBA students
to secure full time employment upon graduation.
Organizational Performance Goal
By May 2020, 100% of MBA graduates will obtain employment upon graduation.
MBA Students
By May 2020, 100% of
graduating MBA students
will demonstrate the
knowledge and skills to
obtain employment upon
graduation.

Faculty
By September 2018, faculty will
work with Career Services to
develop additional courses to
support students’ level of
preparation and understanding
of critical concepts and skills
for employment upon
graduation.

Career Services
By September 2018, the
Career Services staff
based on hiring criteria
and employer feedback,
will implement
workshops and trainings
to improve student
employment rates upon
graduation.

Stakeholder Group for the Study

Although the contributions of all stakeholder groups impact the University of
Business’ goal to attain 100% employment of its graduates, it is important to evaluate the
Career Services staff’s capacity from the perspective of their experience with the
organizational structure, resources, and culture as well as their knowledge and motivation
to best help MBA students obtain employment at graduation. The Career Services staff’s
goal is to implement professional workshops and interview training sessions to prepare
students for employment upon graduation. The training is based on an understanding of
the comprehensive hiring criteria by target employers and employer feedback.
Employment upon graduation is measured by direct job offers accepted by MBA students
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
15
at the time of graduation. The inability to attain this goal will impact the overall ranking
of the University of Business.
Purpose of Project and Questions
The purpose of this project is to conduct a gap analysis to examine the root causes
of the organizational problem described below, low employment rates upon graduating
with a two-year full time MBA degree. While a complete gap analysis would focus on
all key stakeholders across the MBA program, for practical purposes, the primary
stakeholder group to be focused on in this analysis are the Career Services staff. The
analysis will focus on understanding their knowledge and skill, motivation, and
organizational influences.
Given this purpose, the questions that will guide this study are the following:
1) What is the current status of Career Services staff’s knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences in the context of supporting the University of Business’
goal of 100% employment for MBA students upon graduation?
2) What are the recommendations for organizational practice?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
The conceptual framework that will be implemented is the Clark and Estes’
(2008) gap analysis. This method is both systematic and analytical and will help to
identify the causes of the organizational performance goal gap. The methodological
framework that will be implemented in this study is a qualitative methods approach that
includes data derived from one-on-one in person interviews, literature review and content
analysis. Based on the results and findings of the two frameworks, research driven
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
16
solutions will be developed. The solutions will include a comprehensive
recommendation and evaluation of the performance goal gap.
Definitions
Career Services Staff: Staff that work within the organization’s Career Services that play
roles ranging from Student Advisor to Employer Relations.
Employer Interviews: Interview structures vary by employer and industry. An interview
typically consists of both a behavioral section and a technical section.
MBA Employment: An MBA student attaining an employment offer from an employer
for work to commence after graduating.
Organization of the Project
Five chapters are used to organize this study. This chapter provides the reader
with an introduction to the problem of practice, organizational stakeholder, and purpose
and framework of the evaluation. Chapter Two will provide a review of current literature
surrounding the scope of the study. Topics of MBA graduate employment rate, MBA
program performance, and the organizational performance are covered. In addition, the
Clark and Estes framework is described, highlighting the gap analysis approach to the
evaluation study. Finally, the key stakeholder knowledge, motivation and organizational
influences will be presented. Chapter Three details the methodology as it relates to the
study methodology, choice of participants, data collection and analysis. In Chapter Four,
the data and results are assessed and analyzed. Chapter Five provides solutions, based on
data and literature, for closing the perceived gaps as well as recommendations for an
implementation and an evaluation plan for the target organization.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
17
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Introduction
Career Services staff are important stakeholders in full time two-year University
level MBA programs. Career Services staff play an integral role in the program by
interacting closely with other key stakeholders such as university administration, faculty,
students, and employers in the MBA program. Given the unique aspects of their role,
Career Services staff have an ability to impact MBA student’s goals of employment upon
graduation. As recently as 2013, only 61% of MBA students in two-year, full-time
programs had secured employment at the time of graduation (GMAC, 2013). The low
employment rate is a problem because a number of students leave the workforce and
invest time and typically incur high levels of debt at top MBA programs (Snider, 2015) in
the hopes of reaping benefits of better employment opportunities upon graduation. Many
stakeholder groups directly impact the employment rate but for the purpose of this study,
Career Services staff is the focus because of their unique role in preparing students for
employment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand Career Services staff’s
role and knowledge, motivation, and experience of the university as the organization’s
resources, structure and culture in the context of supporting MBA student’s pursuit of
employment upon graduation.
Overall, employment for top MBA programs for the year 2014 was approximately
85% at graduation (GMAC, 2014). Top MBA programs range from Harvard Business
School to Wharton School of Management, to University of Chicago (US News, 2017).
The various universities all have focused two-year full time programs and have
consistently ranked in the top 10 MBA programs for the past decade due to the strength
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
18
of the business school, the faculty, career resource center, and students (Symonds, 2013).
The Career Services staff at each of these respective programs have very specific industry
knowledge that helps them work with students to identify their industry preferences upon
graduation. The fact that students potentially shift their industry preferences during their
business school journey highlights the importance of active engagement and relationship
building between Career Services staff and the students. Based on their evolving career
discussions, the Career Services staff at these top schools help to prepare students for the
recruiting process overall, which consists of both company events and job interviews
(Harvard Business School, 2017). Once the student receives an opportunity to interview
with a company on campus, the Career Services staff’s ability to support the preparation
process can help lead to more successful outcomes related to employment offers post-
graduation.
MBA Program Brand and Rankings
Brand reputation is an important factor impacting student applications and
business school enrollment. The overall student perceived brand of MBA programs is
based on a number of components, which are assessed prior to applying and joining a
two- year full time MBA program. The Career Services staff work with students who
are already enrolled in the program and thus are potentially impacted by the market brand
perception and employer brand perception as it relates to post graduation employment,
but those factors are external in nature. Career Services staff must best understand how
to prepare MBA candidates for employment in a competitive job market. Furthermore,
as Harvard Business School stated (2017), it is important for them to truly believe and
stay motivated that they, as advisors, have the ability to influence the student outcome as
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
19
it relates to attaining employment. In addition, the importance of Career Service staff
working with the overall business school organization is imperative for joint success at
both the university and student level. The business school administration overall can
support and encourage Career Service staff to best aide students in their pursuit of
employment, ultimately leading to achieving the organization’s goals.
Business school rankings are an important factor impacting MBA employment
rates at graduation. Target employment opportunities for MBA students range from high
paying jobs in consulting and investment banking to nonprofit management roles (Grove
& Hussey, 2011). The firms in consulting and investment banking typically recruit MBA
candidates at the beginning of their second year, which increases the likelihood of
students obtaining employment upon graduation. Given the longer lead times for these
employers, the student employment rate at any business school can be greatly impacted
by the number of candidates recruited in these fields. Business school’s understanding of
the various types of employment options available upon graduation are critical to the
organization.
Career Services Staff Roles and Skills
Career Services staff can serve multiple roles across the organization including
the roles of a student advisor, career coach, employer relations, and operations (Schmitt,
2017). Each of these roles interact with students in different ways, ultimately helping to
support the organizational goals of students attaining employment upon graduation.
Student advisors work directly with MBA students on a regular basis to determine career
interests, provide insight into employment opportunities, and prepare students for the
interview process. While discussing career interests during initial engagement sessions
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
20
with students, the student advisors are able to build trust with MBA students as they work
together on employment goals upon graduation.
Career Services staff have recently been required to shift their advising focus on
specific employment categories such as industry verticals or business functional areas
(GMAC, 2016). An example of verticals include Consulting, Investment Banking, or
Supply Chain Operations, which are jobs that span across industries. However, verticals
could also relate to specific industries such as Technology, Media, and Entertainment or
the automotive industry. In addition to focusing on verticals, student advisors can also
focus on business functional areas such as Finance or Marketing. Both of these focus
areas relate back to potential employment opportunities for students.
The ability for Career Services staff to fully understand the recruiting process and
timelines is critical in helping MBA students attain employment upon graduation. The
recruiting process for consulting firms consists of multiple steps with both behavioral
interview components as well as technical components. MBA students are required to
prepare differently for each of those interview components and Career Services staff’s
ability to customize their approach to preparing students for the interview process is both
critical, and a major challenge given how frequently business practices change (GMAC,
2003). In addition, the preparation required to be successful in the interview process
starts during MBA students’ first year in the program. For instance, prominent
consulting firms typically recruit MBA candidates early in the first semester of a
student’s second year of the program with above average compensation offers to attract
students upon graduation (Martin, 2017). Given the high level of complexity across the
recruiting process, Career Services staff play a pivotal role in guiding MBA students.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
21
Career Services’ Interaction with MBA Students and Employment
Student advisors work with MBA students to determine their desired career path.
An important aspect of the process kicks off with interview preparation. Given that the
interview process and preparation varies across both vertical roles and business
functional roles, the Career Services staff student advisors play an important role in
supporting MBA student goals with early career development plans (Hannon, 2015). The
student advisors can help to support the preparation of students through one on one
meetings, conducting smaller group sessions on case interviews, or broader workshops on
their respective vertical or business functional area of focus. Given the process and scope
of interviews required for each respective vertical or functional area, advantages exist for
all the avenues of interview preparation. For example, in the consulting vertical, the
interview process can consist of one on one behavioral interviews, case interviews, and
group presentations (Murray, 2013). Given the complexity of the process, Career
Services staff, by guided preparation across all these avenues helps to increase the
chances of MBA students gaining an employment offer upon graduation.
Moreover, student advisors that concentrate on preparing students through
focused sessions and workshops customized to the specific company recruiting will help
to prepare their students for the interview process and result in higher levels of
employment (Contomanolis, 2014). The top MBA programs, Career Services staff
leverage various types of preparation tools such as case interviews, workshops, and
newly designed interactive sessions, leveraging technology to support students’
aspirations for employment (Cruzvergara & Dey, 2014). By increasing student readiness
and leveraging various tools, students will be better prepared for their interviews.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
22
In addition to the student advisor role, Career Services staff can also serve as in
employer relations roles. The employer relations team works directly with external
companies to build relationships and work with recruiting teams to encourage them to
interview and hire MBA candidates upon graduation. Top MBA program Career
Services staff are able to recruit companies from all over the world to interview and hire
their students. The Career Services staff’s ability to build relationships with a greater
number of employers correlates to a higher likelihood that students are able to obtain
employment upon graduation in their desired fields (Contomanolis, Cruzverara, Dey, &
Steinfeld, 2015). As Contomanolis et al. (2015) stated, the importance of external
collaborations and developing innovative partnerships is foundational to the future of the
Career Services profession and critical to helping students attain employment.
Furthermore, the staff’s ability to leverage technology as an avenue to build company
relationships through social media tools helps to strengthen relationships with potential
employers. Career Services staff serving in both the student advisor and employer
relations role have an important impact on supporting the organizational goals of student
employment upon graduation.
MBA students’ pursuit of employment in their desired field upon graduation
impacts their view on the program value and return on investment. Top MBA programs
provide students with employment that equates a return on investment either through
quality of education, the right employment opportunity post-graduation or a combination
of both (Carlson, 2013). The competitive environment across top MBA programs
highlight the importance of providing students with continued value throughout the
educational experience. Due to the wide ranging employment opportunities and factors
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
23
influencing students’ pursuit of various career paths, the importance of Career Services
staff is paramount. Due to the time and financial investment required to complete an
MBA program, some students will seek employment based on higher compensation. In
2016, the median compensation of MBA graduates was up approximately 5% to a total of
$110,000 (Corporate Recruiters Survey Report, 2016). Due to the fact that students in
two-year full time MBA programs leave their existing jobs to pursue a degree and better
career opportunities, student perceived value can correlate to obtaining employment post-
graduation.
Clark and Estes’ (2008) Organizational Problem-Solving Framework
The influences on Career Services staff can be analyzed and further understood by
using a gap analysis framework (Clark & Estes, 2008). The Knowledge, Motivation, and
Organizational (KMO) gap analysis framework and approach assesses a chosen
stakeholder group’s knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences in order to
develop improvement recommendations to achieve organizational goals. The knowledge
assessment will comprise primarily of assessing both declarative and procedural
knowledge (Krathwohl, 2002). The motivation assessment will focus on the influences
of value and self-efficacy as they relate to the stakeholder performance (Eccles, 2006;
Pajares, 2006). Lastly, the organizational influences assessment will focus on
organizational policies, structure and resources related to the ability to achieve the
stakeholder goal (Schein, 2004). For the purpose of this study, the gap analysis
framework will be leveraged to bring the general literature review on employment rates
for MBA graduates and educational research together to help focus on critical factors to
ultimately improve organizational performance (Clark & Estes, 2008; Rueda, 2011).
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
24
The gap analysis process and methodological approach is highlighted in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1. Gap analysis process and methodology adapted from Clark and Estes (2008).
Career Services Staff Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences
Career Resource Center Staff Knowledge and Skills
The University of Business’ goal is to achieve 100% employment for their Full-
Time Master in Business Administration students upon graduation by May 2020. The
organizational goal directly corresponds to the current problem of practice related to
lower than optimal employment rates for students at the time of MBA graduation,
currently at approximately 60% nationally (GMAC, 2013). Achieving the organizational
goal demonstrates the University’s ability to educate and prepare all of their MBA
students for successful employment post-graduation. Employment post MBA graduation
is an evaluation metric used by future applicants and also impacts the national rankings of
the university (GMAC Prospective Students Survey, 2014).
Knowledge influences. Various knowledge influences impact the stakeholder
group’s ability to understand the employment process, prepare MBA students for
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
25
interviews, and implement industry workshops. This section will focus primarily on the
declarative and procedural knowledge staff need to be successful. An effort to better
understand both the acquisition and retention of knowledge of the Career Services staff
will enable a more robust analysis of the level of influence on goal achievement. In
general, staff knowledge is a critical long term factor in contributing to MBA student
employment rates and helping students attain a return on investment (Gai, Polutnik, &
Way, 2016).
In order to be successful in achieving goals, different types of knowledge are
needed by individuals. Declarative knowledge consists of two types of knowledge,
factual and conceptual knowledge. Declarative knowledge focuses on the “what” as it
relates to knowledge while procedural knowledge relates to “how” or understanding how
to perform certain activities. The third type of knowledge, metacognitive knowledge
relates to an individual’s self-awareness on their thinking and approach to learning.
(Krathwohl, 2002). As Krathwohl stated, several of the different types of knowledge
impact the stakeholder’s ability to achieve their goal.
Career Services staff knowledge of interviewer questions by industry. Career
Services staff’s conceptual knowledge is imperative to assess because it demonstrates
their ability to apply higher level principles and theories to their approach in performing
activities. Conceptual knowledge leads to better understanding the employment process
for MBA students and importance of inputs such as work experience prior to starting an
MBA program (Yeaple, 2010). Furthermore, in terms of achieving the staff’s goal of
increasing employment rates, the skill and aptitude around classifying various target
employers into sectors is a critical input to helping students understand job opportunities
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
26
across a number of fields and develop a customized career path (Hanover Research,
2012). For example, job and industry preferences across the MBA student population
vary greatly. Studies show that students target employment post MBA graduation
ranging from management consulting, investment banking, to non-profit management
(Grove & Hussey, 2011). These fields require specific skills that employers assess
during the MBA interview staff (GMAC, 2013). Lastly, staff conceptual knowledge of
the industry segments that exist within the employment market are vital to helping
students attain the right employment opportunities post-graduation (Brewer & Brewer,
2012). For instance, each industry segment desires sector specific experience and
knowledge. In addition, the questions during the interview process will be specific to the
company’s industry. Overall, specific knowledge related to understanding the interview
assessment criteria is critical to attaining the stakeholder goal (Krathwohl, 2002).
Specifically, the Career Services staff’s ability to clearly understand employer interview
processes by industry type will help to increase MBA student employment rates upon
graduation.
Career Services staff interview preparation knowledge. Career Services staff’s
procedural knowledge is imperative to assess because it demonstrates their ability to
successfully help MBA students attain employment and achieve the stakeholder goal.
The Career Services staff professionals leverage their experiences to provide guidance to
MBA students throughout the recruiting and interview process (Hanover Research,
2012). For example, the Hanover Research (2012) study showed that different target
employers have different interview formats that they use while recruiting MBA students
on campus. Understanding these differences are critical for the CS staff to support
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
27
student employment success. Furthermore, knowledge of the criteria involved across
interviews and prior experience help staff implement procedures to best equip students
with the knowledge and skills required to increase employment rates upon graduation.

Table 1

Knowledge Influences Impacting CS Staff

Knowledge Influence Knowledge Type Knowledge Influence
Assessment
CS Staff need to have specific
knowledge related to
employment criteria by
business function or industry
vertical.
Declarative
(Conceptual)
Interviews
CS Staff need to know the
different structures and
formats of employer
interviews by business
function or industry vertical.
Declarative
(Conceptual)
Interviews
CS Staff need to know how to
best prepare MBA students
for interviews to improve
student performance during
employer interviews.
Procedural Interviews
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
28
Motivation
Knowledge and motivational influences are equally important components to
achieving increased employment rates for students upon MBA graduation. Clark and
Estes (2008) stated that motivation is critical to working toward goals and is manifested
in choosing to engage with the goal, persisting to achieve the goal, and lastly, determines
how much mental effort individuals exert toward the goal. How motivated the Career
Services staff are to achieve the goal is an important determining factor in their goal
achievement. Although there are different motivation influences, this paper will focus on
two critical motivational influences that impact individuals, their value for the task and
their expectation to be successful and their self-efficacy.
Expectancy value theory (Eccles, 2006) delves into an individual’s perceived
value for each activity performed across four specific constructs: intrinsic value,
attainment value, utility value, and the perceived cost of that activity. Self-efficacy
theory outlines how individuals’ perception of their ability to perform specific tasks
impacts their day to day functioning (Pajares, 2006). The literature review for motivation
will focus on expectancy value, more specifically, utility value and self-efficacy theory.
Focusing on these two motivational influences will strengthen the evaluation of the
Career Services staff to ultimately determine ways to increase staff motivation if
necessary and ultimately, achieve their goal of supporting students.
Career Services staff: Utility value. Eccles (2006) stated that fully
understanding the utility value or importance of how an activity fits into one’s own
personal and professional goals can have a wide range of positive and negative impacts
on goal achievement. Therefore, it is imperative that Career Services staff value the
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
29
various activities and tasks they engage with throughout the advising process. In
addition, Career Services staff need to value the end goal of employability in order for
them to persist and invest adequate mental effort to determine more effective and
innovative approaches to supporting student success. The staff’s focus on both student
engagement and building relationships with potential employers helps to create
employment opportunities for MBA students upon graduation. For example, the general
student perceived value and return on MBA programs significantly hinge on the ability to
attain employment in desired fields (Arcidiacono, Cooley & Hussey, 2008). Ensuring
that the Career Services staff motivation and perceived values are aligned in a similar
fashion are important considerations to achieving the stakeholder goal.
The best practices associated with Career Services across the country show that it
is important to incorporate different components of the employment process to continue
to keep staff motivated on outcomes of employment. The staff within the Career Services
are evaluated based on various criteria such as student development, partnerships with
employers, and students attaining employment post MBA graduation. For example, the
Career Services staff focus on skills based segmentation by industry for their target
student population to enhance employment outcomes (Garver, 2009). More specifically,
Garver (2009) stated that staff are motivated to prioritize finding quality employers,
leverage technological resources, and have both group and one-one interactions with
students to help them prepare for interviews and attain employment. Furthermore, the
Hanover Research (2012) studies at prominent universities in the southeastern region of
the United States highlight the value in asking staff to focus on specific areas such as
career networks to build employer relationships to be successful. In order to maintain
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
30
motivation across the Career Services staff, other best practices include establishing
student and employer surveys to evaluate the importance of staff contributions to the
employment process. (Gaw, 2012). The motivational influence on Career Services staff
as it relates to their perceived utility value is an important contributing factor to attaining
the stakeholder goal of increased employment for MBA graduates.
Career Services staff: Self efficacy. Self-efficacy is related to how individuals
perceive their abilities impacting their day-to-day functioning. Self-efficacy beliefs
predict our behaviors and our ability to engage with, persist, and invest mental effort into
tasks (Pajares, 2006). The Career Services staff are involved with performing various
activities as highlighted above, such as MBA student interview preparation, career
workshop development, and improving relationships with target employers. The efficacy
beliefs that are built over time and result from either success or failure have a direct
impact on achieving the stakeholder goal of attaining higher employment rates upon
graduation for MBA students. Thus, it is also imperative to be cognizant of self-
perceptions of capabilities relative to actual capabilities as a factor of success.
The staff’s understanding and self-perception of their abilities, or lack thereof,
related to specific job tasks such as MBA student interview preparation could impact
future engagement toward similar activities. As previously noted, Pajares (2006) stated
that self-efficacy beliefs impact the level of effort that individuals expend on an activity.
The staff’s level of self-efficacy to perform those tasks is important, as advising students
on graduate education and career decisions is essential for employment (Brewer &
Brewer, 2012). Furthermore, Simmering and Wilcox (1995) stated that Career Services
staff directly impact MBA students’ career exploration opportunities, thus the staff’s self-
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
31
efficacy to guide them in the process must be high in order to help students attain
employment upon graduation.
Moreover, staff with low self-efficacy can potentially adversely impact a
student’s ability to gain employment upon graduation. Motivational influences on Career
Services staff’s self-perceptions and beliefs related to abilities to perform activities have a
range of positive and negative impacts on achieving the stakeholder goal.
Table 2
Motivation Influences Impacting the CS Staff

Motivational Indicator(s)
Assumed Motivation Influences Motivational Influence Assessment

Expectancy Value (Utility Value) – CS staff need
to embrace and value preparing MBA for post-
graduation employment as a critical component of
their job.

Interview Questions: Open ended questions
for evaluating importance of preparing for
each component part of the interview process.

Self-Efficacy Theory – CS staff need to feel
confident in their ability to improve MBA student
interview preparation.

Interview Questions: Open ended questions
that relate to the staff’s self-perception of their
ability to effectively prepare MBA students.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
32
Organization
Both knowledge and motivation are critical factors to drive change at the
individual level, however, it is important to assess organizational influences as an
overarching system that can either accelerate or decelerate the ability to impact
performance (Clark & Estes, 2008). Organizations that foster and encourage continuous
adaptive learning culture will be able to understand changes externally and move forward
(Senge, 1990). There are many types of organizational influences that impact
performance. Organizational culture is foundational to assess and understand an
organization. In order to understand the cultural climate deep within an organization, it is
important to evaluate the nature of interpersonal relationships, the type of work, the
hierarchy, and the focus on support and rewards (Brief, Guzzo & Schnieder, 1996).
Given the importance of interpersonal relationships, understanding that culture is
collective and a shared phenomenon highlights how it can impact all individuals across
an organization (Schein, 2004). The organizational culture is usually influenced by the
leader of the group or manager of a department. The leader’s impact on organizational
culture is critical to organizational outcomes such as productivity and retention
(Buckingham & Coffman, 1999). Furthermore, Buckingham and Coffman stated that
motivating people and helping individuals find their best fit are critical for an
organization.
Two distinct categories of assessing organizational influences relate to cultural
models and cultural settings, as both play a determining factor in the organization’s
success (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). Cultural models relate to influences on
members of an organization that are less overt and impact the day-to-day activities of
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
33
people whereas cultural settings relate to influences on members of an organization that
are visible and can impact how people operate day to day within an organization.
Career Services staff’s organizational influences. In order for CS staff to be
most productive and focused on goal alignment, it is important to assess various aspects
of the CS staff roles within the organization. The organizational components to evaluate
range from staff title for a specific role, to how the organization supports their ability to
build relationships with key constituents such as employers and MBA students, to the
alignment of goals and expectations across the organization.
In order for staff to be optimally successful in supporting the employment rate
goals of the school, it is critical to assess their titles as they work with both the students
and target employers. The perception of titles to external parties is important because
elevated titles of the Career Services staff help them to better engage with target
employers and foster relationship building (Cruzvergara & Dey, 2014). Due to the fact
that target employers are the key external stakeholder that makes the decision on
employment offers to MBA students, the titles of staff can play a big part in goal
achievement. In addition, the relationships built and sustained by the CS staff with the
target employers creates an environment of trust that could lead to longer term employer
relationships between the university and the target employer for many years.
Furthermore, the alignment of goals across the organization and consistency in the
outcomes for the CS staff and the organization will help to achieve employment for MBA
students upon graduation. The organization should view student employment as a shared
success and not a responsibility that solely rests with the Career Services staff
(Contomanolis & Steinfeld, 2014). The shared success factor facilitates a culture that is
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
34
driven by encouragement across the board to help the student population achieve their
goals of employment in the desired industry post-graduation. Schein (2004) reinforced
this important message by stating that the organizational culture should foster
collaboration and encourage employees to achieve organizational goals. In addition, the
culture should foster engagement across the CS staff and the students for a customized
experience. Overall, the cultural setting and model within the organization should help
the CS staff achieve stakeholder goals.
Another important organizational influence is the structure of the Career Services
center. For example, the model in which the Career Services is structured across staff
that engage directly with students, or directly with employers, or a combination of both
impact potential employment rates post-graduation. The organization should be
structured in such a fashion that encourages staff to develop personal relationships with
students to provide them with a customized experience for recruiting (Cruzvergara &
Dey, 2014). In addition, developing a staff structure that meets the needs of MBA
students across sectors is important for success (Garver, 2009). Garver (2009) also
highlights the importance of the engagement model for customized experiences. Given
the wide range of employment opportunities for MBA students, a structure that enables
point to point discussions could improve employment rates as the search criteria would
be very specific to each individual student.
Overall, the various organizational influences that relate to culture play a critical
role in achieving stakeholder goals. The Career Services staff’s ability to thrive within
the organization is due to a number of factors that relate to working in a collaborative
environment, goal alignment with the organization, the specific engagement model with
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
35
the MBA students and employers, and also the structure of the organization. It is
important to note that no one factor outweighs the other factors, but they are all critical
components of success. In addition, student engagement is a two way street and it is
important to encourage students to work closely with Career Services staff to focus on
employment. The organization should be dynamic in how it operates across staff and
students to develop holistic success that ties to stated university goals.
An organization that focuses on developing a culture that promotes active engagement
and alignment of goals and expectations with the staff have a greater chance of improving
employment rates for MBA students upon graduation.
Table 3
Organizational Influences Impacting CS Staff

Assumed Organizational Influences

Organization Influence Assessment
Cultural Model Influence 1: The current
culture of the Career Services may not
support staff in identifying or pursuing new
innovative ideas to further relationships and
job opportunities with target employers are
not necessarily encouraged.
Interview questions with career resource
center staff to openly highlight and discuss
potential organizational barriers that are
downstream limiting factors for MBA
student employment upon graduation.
Cultural Model Influence 2: The current
organizational relationship that exists
between MBA students and the Career
Services may not foster trust with all students
to promote open discussions about careers
and employment opportunities.
Interview questions with career center related
to current aspects of mutual Explore trust and
open career dialogue with the career resource
center staff impacting employment success
via survey/interviews
Cultural Setting Influence 1: The visible
organizational structure and role definitions
across the Career Services may inhibit
maximum internal collaboration.
Interview questions with CS staff on
intersection between roles, current
organizational structure, and potential for
optimizing structure to benefit students.
Cultural Setting Influence 2: The defined
Career Services staff evaluation system may
not align with organizational goals to
optimize focus on MBA student employment
rates.
Interview questions with career resource
center staff on current state evaluation
system relative to desired state as it impacts
their day to day performance and goal
achievement.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
36
Conceptual and Methodological Framework: The Interaction of Career Services
Staff Knowledge and Motivation and the Organizational Context
The purpose of this conceptual framework is to develop an approach to guide the
research, analysis, and evaluation related to my problem of practice (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). The goal is to leverage the framework as an anchor to ground myself in the
existing literature, concepts, and stakeholder performance to develop recommendations to
close the current gap for employment rates for MBA students upon graduation. The
conceptual framework will focus on the intersections between the various influences on
the Career Services (CS) staff such as areas of stakeholder knowledge and skill,
motivation, and organizational influences impacting achievement of the stakeholder goal.
Furthermore, the conceptual framework will provide an underlying structure that serves
to inform my course of study through a qualitative method research approach.

Figure 2. A Conceptual Framework to address the problem of practice.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
37
The conceptual framework highlights the journey of the MBA student during a full
time two-year program and focuses on the impact that the Career Services staff, as the
primary stakeholder, have on their experience and potential job employment. The entry
point of the MBA student into business school leads to a couple of important decisions.
First, the student has to decide which career track that they are interested in pursuing for
employment opportunities post-graduation. The up-front decision is important as first
year students are exposed to a number of career options including across industries such
as Media and Entertainment, Technology, Life Sciences, and Consumer Products. In
addition to specific industries, the students are also exposed to professional Services
firms that cut across industries such as Consulting or Investment Banking. The earlier
that choice is made by the student, the sooner they will be able to work with the
stakeholder group of CS staff specifically dedicated to those job opportunities. The
second decision that is required by the first year student is the level of effort they are
going to put forth in terms of securing employment post-graduation. The level of effort
required varies greatly depending on the first decision and also the student’s background
and career experiences. However, certain industries and job choices require significantly
more effort due to the parameters of interview preparation and attending a number of
workshops. Both of these critical decisions are made outside the control of the CS staff
responsible for helping students attain employment. The right side of the conceptual
framework highlights the importance of knowledge, motivation, and organizational
structure within the MBA career center as influences on the CS staff’s ability to
understand key employment criteria such as industries, interview types by employer,
organizational goals, and culture. The circle demonstrates how critical it is to understand
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
38
how these criteria are interconnected and influence the employment opportunities for the
student. The CS staff motivation varies from individual to individual and their value for,
and efficacy to support MBA students in obtaining employment is a critical success
factor.
External stakeholders also serve an important role in determining MBA student
employment. The first stakeholder is internal to the organization, but external to the CS
staff. Faculty play an integral role in helping to educate the MBA students the
knowledge required to graduate and apply their skills in the job market. Demonstration of
subject matter knowledge will also be imperative during the interview process and will
influence how CS staff work with MBA students to prepare them for employment.
Furthermore, employers are ultimately the decision maker regarding student employment
offers upon graduation. The employers across industries and types of jobs vary greatly
as do their hiring criteria. The more knowledge that the CS staff has related to the
criteria, the more beneficial to the MBA student. In addition, the relationships between
the CS staff and the employers as a whole impact the number of employment offers
provided to MBA candidates. Based on these factors, CS staff work across a number of
key stakeholders including the MBA students themselves, the university faculty, and
employers. These stakeholders all impact the employment rate upon graduation.
However, the framework also portrays the importance of external factors leading to
employment over and above the control of the CS staff such as the impact of the external
job market and business environment. These factors are out of the CS staff and MBA
student control. The job market is contingent on a number of macro-economic factors
that can change on an ongoing basis and from year to year. These external factors will
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
39
be considered, however not examined during the study. The economic conditions
typically dictate the number of employment offers that companies provide MBA
candidates, thus also impacting overall success rates for employment upon graduation
over and above CS staff control. Overall, various influences impact CS staff’s ability to
achieve the stakeholder goal.
Conclusion
The low employment rate at the time of MBA graduation is a problem because a
number of students leave the workforce and invest time and economic resources to reap
the benefits of better employment opportunities upon graduation. Both the general
research around these critical areas and the specific literature on Career Services staff are
important to closing the gap toward achieving stakeholder goals of improving the
employment rates upon graduation. In summary, the process of evaluating the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences impacting the Career Services staff
at the University of Business will provide valuable insights to better understand the
problem of practice and develop recommendations to improve the employment rates at
the target organization. Chapter Three of this dissertation will provide an in-depth
overview of the methodology and approach taken during the qualitative and quantitative
study to provide tangible support to the ultimate recommendations.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
40
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

Purpose of Project and Questions
The purpose of this project was to conduct a gap analysis to examine the root
causes of why the University of Business has lower employment rates for MBA
graduates upon graduation than their organizational goal. The current employment rate
for MBA graduates is approximately 70% with a performance goal of 100%. While a
complete gap analysis would focus on all key stakeholders across the MBA program, for
practical purposes, the primary stakeholders to be focused on in this analysis were the
Career Services staff. The analysis focused on causes for this problem due to gaps in the
areas of stakeholder knowledge and skill, motivation, and organizational influences. The
analysis began by generating a list of possible causes and then by examining these
causes, and systemically focus on actual or validated causes. The study will consist of a
qualitative methods approach of a purposeful sample of Career Services staff. Given this
approach and purpose, the key questions that guided the study were the following:
1) What is the current status of Career Services staff’s knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences in the context of supporting the University of Business’
goal of 100% employment for MBA students upon graduation?
2) What are the recommendations for organizational practice?

Participating Stakeholders

The participating stakeholders to address the research questions were the Career
Services staff. The Career Services staff work closely with students and companies to
understand the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to obtain employment within a
targeted industry upon graduation. The participating stakeholders serve as Student
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
41
Advisors and Employer Relations within the Career Services and support various
business functions and industry verticals. The staff’s primary responsibility is related to
advising students, leading target industry related student organizations, and serve as
liaisons with employer relations on behalf of the students. The overall population of
Career Services staff is 15 individuals across different roles such as Student Advisor,
Employer Relations, and Operations. For the purpose of this study, I sampled from the
full population of 10 Student Advisors and Employer Relations staff and conducted in
person one-on-one interviews as the focus component of the qualitative study. The
specific rationale for why I chose to work with this stakeholder group is due to the
importance of their knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences in their impact
on MBA students’ ability to obtain employment upon graduation.
Interview Sampling Criterion and Rationale
Criterion 1. Student Advisor Role: Works directly with full-time MBA students
to provide guidance on career direction post-graduation. The primary focus of the
Student Advisor spans across company business functions and industry verticals.
Criterion 2. Employer Relations Role: CS staff that have an understanding of
current state practices across job business functions and industry verticals that directly
relate to MBA student career opportunities and employment which enable them to better
prepare for careers in their respective industry. The employer relations staff work
directly with employers to build relationships and serve as a liaison between MBA
students and employers.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
42
Interview (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
The sampling strategy for in person one on one interviews with CS staff was
purposeful, focusing on a specific subset of ten participants within the broader CS team.
The selected interview participants were contacted by email to confirm their voluntary
participation. The CS staff selected for the interviews served as either a business
function lead or an industry vertical lead. The interviews were conducted in person with
each of the participants. The rationale for that specific number relates to focused
discussions with the total population of Student Advisors and Employer Relations at the
Career Services center. The population set participated in interviews to evaluate across
employment criteria respectively.
Data Collection and Instrumentation

The methodological approach consisted of a qualitative research study. The study
was staged sequentially with a design point of having distributed an overview of the
study to the participants with topics to consider followed by in person interviews
(Creswell, 2014). The collection of the data comprised of in person one on one
interviews with six Career Services staff dedicated to the Student Advisor and Employer
Relations role. With regard to the data collection, the ability to understand and analyze
the interview responses during the discussion enabled a rich and informed dialogue
facilitating the ability to delve deep into topic areas. The analysis of the data sets allowed
for triangulation across qualitative components of data to provide meaningful insights
required to develop future state recommendations. The data collection took place over
approximately a three to four week period of time during the spring of 2017 and took
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
43
place onsite at the target organization campus. The interview questions are included in
Appendix A.
Interview Questions
The overall sample set for the interviews consisted of approximately ten
participants with confirmed participation of six Career Services staff. The interviews
were conducted in person and onsite of the target organization for the research study.
The interviews were approximately 30 to 45 minutes in duration and followed a semi-
structured approach with baseline questions generated prior to the study inception
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The interview questions were developed based on an initial
analysis of the related literature findings. The interviewer had the opportunity to delve
deeper into specific focus areas of the study based on participant responses in order to try
to identify opportunities for improvement within the organization. In addition, given the
qualitative nature of the interviews, the open ended questions and ability to spend more
time on specific questions with participants enabled greater depth of data in focus areas.
The six interview participants all pertain to the Student Advisor and Employer
Relations roles within the Career Services. In addition, the six participants ranged in
level from Associate to Assistant Director. The range of participants within the
stakeholder group during the interview portion of the study also enabled a fruitful
discussion related to opportunities to improve and assess the influences that knowledge,
motivation, and the organization had on their ability to achieve the overall organizational
goals.
The staging of the interview protocol took place with a pilot participant interview
to refine the interview protocol and ensure that the desired data outcomes were being
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
44
achieved through the interviews themselves. Based on the pilot interview, the remainder
of the interviews were conducted with the revamped approach to ensure optimal results
from the sessions and effective use of participant time. The pilot interview took place
during the first week of the interview portion of the research study followed by another
two to three weeks of in person interviews with the remainder of the participant
population. The interview data results were reviewed and analyzed in two stages, first
after the pilot interview was conducted and second once all interviews were completed.
The data was coded for concepts and themes represented in the conceptual framework
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The ability to understand participant responses and ask
additional open questions during the interview was critical. At the same time, it was
imperative to approach the interviews with disciplined subjectivity to remain as unbiased
as possible throughout the study. Being unbiased as possible avoided skewing the
responses or leading the respondents down a specific path to further ensure reliable and
valid data sets. The interview data sets were cross referenced and analyzed in a
comprehensive manner to develop the research insights for the overall study design and
recommendations.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
The design of the qualitative methods research study was open to the entire
Student Advisor and Employer Relations staff population at the target organization. The
approach and design principles of the study helped to limit any issues related to
credibility and the small sample size was relevant given the qualitative methods
approach. The ability to triangulate across qualitative interview data responses and
related literature helped strengthen the credibility of the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
45
In addition, through the pilot interview process and member checks, the credibility will
be strengthened by ensuring the open ended responses were being interpreted accurately.
Lastly, the use of adequate engagement with the respondents by meeting with the Student
Advisor and Employer Relations population through interviews helped to strengthen the
credibility of the study. Overall, based on triangulation, member checks, and ensuring
adequate engagement with the participants, the credibility and trustworthiness for the
study was strengthened.
Validity and Reliability
The qualitative methods study consisted of in person one on one interviews with
open ended questions facilitating in-depth dialogue. The interview component consisted
of six Career Services staff focused on student advising and employer relations that were
all direct employees of the target organization. The approach of leveraging the entire
population of participants in the specific Student Advisor and Employer Relations roles
helped to strengthen the reliability (Fink, 2013). The methodological rigor and focus on
consistency that took place through the in-depth qualitative discussions across with all six
interview participants during the protocol provided for improved validity of the study.
The interview questions were consistent in form and substance across all participants to
also help to increase the probability of validity and reliability and limit any study bias
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Overall, through methodological rigor, focus on form
consistency, and use of the instrument protocol for data collection, the studies validity
and reliability was strengthened.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
46
Ethics
The approach to the research took into consideration ethical parameters to ensure
that participants are consenting to voluntary involvement. Confidentiality and privacy
were critical concerns. The purpose of the study was to understand the CS staff’s ability
to support students in the preparation for effective interviews and ultimately receive
employment upon graduation. In order to accomplish the goals of the study, it was
important to obtain in-depth data from the participants. All data collected was
confidential (Glesne, 2011). Furthermore, participants were provided an overview of the
study and an explanation of measures taken to ensure the privacy of data. Prior to
conducting in person interviews, additional permission was received to audio record the
interview for transcription and data collection purposes. Moreover, the interview data
will be destroyed within one year of the study being completed. Overall, formal
protocols were in place to ensure that ethical considerations were implemented in the
study and all participants are voluntary and informed of the study with confidentiality and
privacy being a focal point.
Limitations and Delimitations
Possible limitations to the study included how honestly the participants responded
to the interview questions. Their responses potentially limit the quality of insights gained
during the study and ultimate recommendations. In addition, limitations could relate to
interviewer bias in the interpretation of the participant responses. In order to offset any
research study limitations, the interview protocol was consistent for all participants of the
study. The protocol of leveraging full audio transcripts of the interview also enabled
clarity on all interview responses across all interview questions. Overall, in order to
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
47
minimize limiting factors to the overall study, measures were put in place as referenced
above to ensure validity and reliability.
Conclusion
In summary, Chapter Three provided an in-depth overview of the methodology
and approach taken during the qualitative study. The primary stakeholders were Career
Services staff and specifically Student Advisors and Employer Relations staff. The focus
of the study was to evaluate their knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
impacting their ability to help MBA students attain employment upon graduation.
Chapter Four will provide an overview of the research study data, findings, and analysis.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
48
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS
The purpose of this study was to conduct a gap analysis to examine the root causes of
why the University of Business has lower employment rates for MBA students upon
graduation than their optimal organizational goal. The current employment rate for MBA
graduates is approximately 70% with an optimal performance goal of 100%. While a
complete gap analysis would focus on all key stakeholders across the MBA program, for
practical purposes, the stakeholders of focus for this analysis was the Career Services
(CS) staff.
The study focused on causes of the problem of practice due to gaps in the areas of
stakeholder knowledge and skill, motivation, and organizational influences. The research
study and analysis was initially based on a created list of possible causes and then
subsequently by examining these causes systemically as actual or validated causes. The
study consisted of a qualitative method approach with a purposeful sample of CS staff
through in person qualitative interviews consisting of 16 questions. The interview
questions were divided into sections that correlated with general, organizational,
motivational, and knowledge related questions for the research participant. Given this
approach and purpose, the key questions that guided the study are the following:
1) What is the current status of Career Services staff’s knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences in the context of supporting the University of Business’
goal of 100% employment for MBA students upon graduation?
2) What are the recommendations for organizational practice?

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
49
Participating Stakeholders

The participating stakeholders to address the research questions are the Career
Services staff. The Career Services organization works closely with students and
companies to understand the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to obtain
employment within a targeted industry upon graduation. The participating stakeholders
serve as Student Advisors and Employer Relations staff within the Career Services
department to support various business functions and industry verticals. The staff’s
primary responsibility is related to advising students, leading target industry related
student organizations, and serving as liaisons with employers on behalf of the students.
The population of Career Services staff is 15 individuals serving in different roles
such as Student Advisor, Employer Relations, and Operations. The focus of the study
pertained to the 10 Career Services staff that are in the role of either Student Advisor or
Employer Relations. All 10 staff were recruited to conduct in person, one-on-one
interviews for the research component of the qualitative study. The specific rationale for
working with this stakeholder group is due to the importance of their knowledge,
motivation, and experience within the organization that all impact MBA students’ ability
to obtain employment upon graduation.
Overall, the research study consisted of six, in person interviews to understand the
knowledge, motivational, and organizational influences related to the problem of
practice. Considering the population size of 15 CS staff, targeted sample of 10 CS staff,
the actual number of CS staff participation in the study totaled six CS staff. Overall, 60%
of the targeted sample participated in the study exceeding the researcher’s expectations
and contributed to a qualitative analysis of the research data. The six, in person
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
50
interviews took place over a three week period between May and June of 2017. The
duration of the interviews ranged from 30 to 45 minutes in length and each interview was
audio recorded and transcribed. Once transcribed, the confidentiality of each participant
was protected by removing full name identifiers. Also, each transcript was destroyed
upon completion of the analysis. Given the small number of participants, no pseudonyms
will be used to provide anonymity. In order to analyze the transcribed data, qualitative
coding was completed across all interview response data to develop and identify key
themes that emerged to develop initial findings across knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences.
Findings for Knowledge Influences
Knowledge influences were important to assess for CS staff as they pertain to CS
staff’s ability to directly support MBA students. The study evaluated three distinct
knowledge influences consisting of declarative and procedural knowledge. The
declarative influences related to employment criteria and interview structure while the
procedural influence related to interview preparation knowledge.
Employment criteria and interview structure knowledge. The fact-based,
declarative knowledge influences that are critical to assess as potential Career Services
staff knowledge gaps are divided into two specific areas. First, the specific knowledge
required related to employment criteria by business function or industry vertical. Second,
the knowledge required to understand different structures and formats of employer
interviews by business function or industry vertical. In order to evaluate the knowledge
influences within the 16-question interview questionnaire that guided the 30 to 45 minute
in person dialogues, two questions related specifically to Career Services staff declarative
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
51
knowledge guided the study. The first question was, “Can you describe the types of
technical and soft skills employers of your industry typically assess during the interview
process?” The second question was a follow up specifically to the first question, “Is the
interview more technical or behavioral or both?”
As it relates to the first declarative knowledge influence, employment criteria
knowledge, the Career Services staff are divided into two categories: Student Advisors
and Employer Relations. Employment criteria is an important aspect of both roles within
CS staff in terms of helping to support organizational goals of employment for MBA
students upon graduation. The results of the interview questions for the knowledge
criteria was confirmed across 100% of participants, however, the responses were
primarily given at a general level.
The second declarative knowledge influence, employer interview structure
knowledge, is also an important aspect of both roles within CS staff in terms of helping
support organizational goals of employment for MBA students upon graduation. The
results showed that 67% of the participant responses related to interview preparation
predominately focused on behavioral interviews as opposed to technical interviews. The
importance of student-led functional clubs became evident as the CS staff referred to
leveraging these platforms to prepare students interested in specific career industry
verticals or job functions with the knowledge required for those jobs. Furthermore, the
results indicated that the workshops also primarily focused on general interview tips,
mock interview simulations, and general feedback to students as they prepared for first
round employer interviews.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
52
Knowledge Finding 1
The first major finding pertains to specific industry vertical and job function
specific declarative knowledge as a critical component to MBA student interview
preparation. The results indicate that only 67% of the CS staff had the required
knowledge related to interview structure. During the participant qualitative interviews,
one participant stated that “it is really all about coaching MBA students and prepping
them for more industry specific aspects of networking and interviews.” Furthermore, she
stated, “the preparation that I provide for students would be for behavioral style
interviews.” Other CS staff participants built upon that idea by stating that they conduct
“workshops and training sessions that talk about specific networking” and have “one on
one discussions with the students accordingly” to help them prepare. The interview data
demonstrated that the process is comprehensive and similar for both domestic and
international MBA students.
Areas of focus over and above workshops that helped to strengthen the
preparation of the MBA students included from one participant’s perspective, “we want
them to do mock interviews before they start having true interviews with recruiters.
However, it doesn’t always work that way as students are very busy.” The CS staff’s
efforts related to conducting mock interviews highlight an important step in the
preparation process to increase likelihood of success for MBA students while performing
their actual employer interview. In addition, the participant’s point related to “students
are very busy” demonstrated that student level of effort is important for collective success
and achieving stakeholder goals.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
53
During the interview discussions, CS staff reported the need and importance of
being more targeted during student workshops and training sessions to improve
attendance, value, and desired outcomes. For instance, one participant stated, “I think CS
often times do not do a good job at being really targeted with workshops. If we are, those
are usually the most attended and highly sought after.” On the other hand, she stated,
“often times we’ll have workshops that hardly have anyone show up, because there is no
value added there.” Other participants reinforced the point on importance of workshops
as an opportunity to prepare MBA students by stating, “It is usually a check-the-box
exercise,” from their perspective. Furthermore, one CS staff specifically mentioned that
the approach to training was too high level, “we talk about networking, students listen,
then they leave,” making it clear that potential challenges exist around engagement and
knowledge relevance. Participant comments related to the standard workshop approach
versus the custom training approach were highlighted by another CS staff member by
stating, “We do an extensive and repetitious workshop so that any student who may have
not had the opportunity when we had it last week, can attend this week,” which highlights
the importance of developing the optimal blend of standardized and custom workshops to
prepare MBA students with the right frequency and relevance.
The CS staff often acknowledged the specific industries or job functions that were
in greatest demand due to business trends, indicating their knowledge about the market.
One participant stated, “Consulting jobs are always most popular, then possibly
investment banking, and then business analytics.” Other participants also supported
those trends by stating that “consulting and technology jobs are of the highest demand” as
well as “business and data analytics.” However, another participant stated that areas of
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
54
jobs with higher demand included, “a big demand for operation and supply chain
functional roles, as well as product management roles.” The business market is
constantly shifting and keeping up with the latest job trends helps CS staff to further
support MBA students’ ability to prepare for interviews. One participant agreed and
highlighted this point by responding to a question related to changes in the market
impacting training. “Yes, there is always going to be ongoing training, which I think is
necessary because things are changing every year. The economy with the job market
every year we have to know how to change with that shift.” The results indicate the
current 33% CS staff knowledge gap related to interview structure.
Interview preparation knowledge. The knowledge influence related to Career
Services staff’s understanding how to prepare MBA students was critical to assess as a
potential gap area. Within the interview questionnaire, two questions specifically
addressed Career Services staff’s procedural knowledge related to interview preparation.
The questions asked how CS staff work with MBA students to help them prepare for
interviews before their first-round session and before their final round employer
interview. Interview preparation knowledge is important because it enables CS staff to
proactively prepare MBA students for both behavioral and technical interview formats.
Behavioral interviews typically include general questions about work experiences and
career interests, while technical interviews target industry or job specific knowledge.
The CS staff’s ability to understand the difference between behavioral and
technical interviews and more importantly, how to prepare for each interview type
accordingly, is critical to student success. In addition, as MBA candidates progress
through the interview process from first round, on-campus interviews to final round
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
55
interviews on employer site, knowledge of the structure and type of questions within the
technical interviews becomes increasingly critical for successful student outcomes.
The interview preparation knowledge results ranged significantly across the CS
staff roles. The interview responses demonstrated the importance of interview
preparation as a critical success factor for CS staff. The results revealed a 50%
procedural knowledge gap as the MBA student interview preparation approach is
different across the CS staff. Overall, across the six interviews with Career Service staff,
approximately 50% of the staff indicated that they had the procedural knowledge required
to prepare students for both the behavioral and technical interviews components. The gap
related to the technical interview preparation process highlights an area to explore
further.
Knowledge Finding 2
The second major knowledge finding pertains to CS staff’s ability to prepare
MBA students in a customized manner for the technical case interview component of the
employment process. Based on the study results, currently only 50% of the CS staff
interviewed had the procedural knowledge required. The interview process for MBA
jobs consists of various components all leading to a successful student-employment
outcome. As one CS staff participant discussed the upfront preparation process, she
referenced the general approach across the board such as, “resumes, cover letters,
interviewing skills, job search skills, or conducting mock interviews,” being valuable to
initial student preparation. Another interviewee stated, “We do all the preparation prior
to the first behavioral interview.” She and other participants referenced the importance of
the downstream interview process after the behavioral interview component to the
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
56
technical component. “The behavioral interview will only just get you through probably
the first round interview and then everything going forward in the process is going to be
very technical.” The CS staff comments indicate that 50% of respondents did not have
the procedural knowledge related to conducting technical interviews, impacting their
ability to prepare MBA students.
The insights gathered through the interview process highlighted the technical
aspect of interview preparation as a key differentiator in student performance during
employer interviews. For example, in the consulting industry interview process,
technical interviews are a determining factor in MBA students progressing with
employers past the first-round interview. Over and above the consulting industry,
participants referenced the importance of technical interviews across all industry verticals
and job functions as both an emerging trend as well as a critical component of the
interview process.
Furthermore, in a different interview, a CS staff took one step further by
quantifying the early stage process relative to final round interviews that are the deciding
employment factors for MBA students. She stated, “I would say nine times out of ten,
the first interview is mostly a behavioral interview. Sometimes you’ll get a basic
situational question, but the technical cases that students usually get are later in the
process” prior to the company providing an employment offer to the MBA student. The
CS staff focus on primarily the behavioral component of the interview process, validates
the existing knowledge gap related to supporting MBA students with the technical
interview components.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
57
Overall, the participant data gathered, analyzed, and evaluated related to the CS
staff knowledge influences led to two specific findings. The findings indicate that only
50% of the CS staff currently have the knowledge required to prepare MBA students for
technical employer interviews.
Findings for Motivational Influences
In addition to determining the staff’s capacity in terms of knowledge, it was also
important in this study to determine their motivation. Motivational influences were
important to assess for CS staff as they pertain to CS staff’s value and confidence to
directly support MBA students. The study evaluated two distinct motivational
influences: expectancy value and self-efficacy motivation. The expectancy value
influence related to CS staff’s need to embrace and value preparing MBA students while
the self-efficacy influence related to their confidence in improving MBA student
interview preparation.
The value of preparing MBA students. The motivational influence is important
to assess for CS staff and is related to their need to embrace and value preparing an MBA
student for employment upon graduation as a critical component of their job. The 16-
question interview questionnaire consisted of one question to address motivational
influences on CS staff. The open-ended question “Describe what your role is as Career
Services staff in helping MBA students attain employment. What are your feelings
related to helping MBA students attain employment upon graduation?” related
specifically to Career Services staff expectancy value with sub questions related to the
participant response to delve deeper into their motivational influences. The motivational
influence is important because it serves as a foundation for the CS staff’s daily activities
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
58
and level of effort dedicated to supporting the goals of the organization. Overall, the CS
staff motivation was extremely high resulting in 100% of CS staff indicating that they
embrace and value preparing MBA students as a critical component to their job. For
example, one participant mentioned that “everyone here is very committed and passionate
about the work they do working with MBA students.” The CS staff expectancy value
resonated in their responses both at an individual level as well as when reflecting on the
broader CS team within the organization.
Confidence in ability to improve MBA student preparation. The second
motivational influence examined whether CS staff feel confident in their ability to
improve MBA student interview preparation. In order to evaluate their level of
confidence or self-efficacy, the interview included one overarching open ended interview
question related specifically to CS staff self-efficacy, “How do you feel about your
capacity to support students in their pursuit of employment post-graduation?” with sub
questions based on the participant response to delve deeper into motivational influences.
Overall, CS staff responses reflected a high level of self-efficacy resulting in 100%
feeling confident in their ability to improve MBA student interview preparation. One
interview participant mentioned at a high level her thoughts on the CS role working with
students on interview preparation. She stated her level of focus and confidence in
helping to support student goals. “It is really about coaching” MBA students and
“preparing them” for discussions with employers. The CS staff belief and their
confidence level of making a difference in the student’s interview preparation process is
meaningful and evident. The insights across participant interviews highlight that all the
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
59
CS staff felt that they had the ability to directly impact MBA student interview
preparation and ultimately lead to greater attainment of stakeholder goals.
The interviews conducted during the study resulted in the finding that 100% of
CS staff had extremely high levels of expectancy value and self-efficacy as it related to
working with the MBA students. The insights generated from the in person interviews
led to the general consensus across all six interview participants that “everyone here is
very committed and passionate about the work they do working with MBA students.”
Furthermore, a number of participants reinforced that they are choosing to work at CS
and often times gave up industry roles to work in higher education specifically with MBA
students. One participant stated, “I think most of the people that are working in Career
Services don’t come here to work because they are going to make a lot of money or
become famous.” Her point was echoed by many of her peers as a demonstration of how
motivated all CS staff were to work with MBA students to help achieve their goals. For
example, another CS staff mentioned, “I think my role is very impactful.” While another
CS staff reinforced that sentiment while discussing the MBA student’s dreams of landing
the perfect job post- graduation, “It’s why I do this work.”
The first motivational influence assessed was the degree to which staff embraced
the value of preparing MBA students as a critical component of their job and the findings
indicated that currently no gap exists amongst CS staff. One Student Advisor participant
mentioned, “I think you get a tremendous amount of satisfaction out of either being able
to create not only opportunities just for the job, but also create better learning
opportunities for the MBA students.” Her day to day value of the role was pervasive
across the organization. Another CS staff on the Employer Relations side mentioned, “I
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
60
think that hopefully not only my work, but I think all the work that we do really does
make a big difference.” Both points communicated the high motivation and the level of
expectancy value that the CS staff held toward their roles working with MBA students.
The second motivational influence assessed was the degree to which staff felt
confident in their ability to support MBA students. The findings indicated that currently
no gap exists amongst CS staff related to their self-efficacy. The CS staff indicated
feeling confident in their ability to improve MBA student interview preparation as a
critical component of their job. One CS staff mentioned her confidence in preparing
MBA students throughout their career, by stating, “preparing students for the ability to
job search and network throughout their career” is her main focus. The interview
discussions and qualitative data analysis validated the current state of high motivation
and the level of self-efficacy that the CS staff held toward their roles working with MBA
students. Overall, both Student Advisors and Employer Relations roles demonstrated high
levels of motivation across both expectancy value and self-efficacy influences related to
their role working directly with MBA students.
Findings for Organizational Influences
Organizational influences were important to assess for CS staff as they pertain to
CS staff’s role within the broader organization. The study evaluated two distinct
organizational influences consisting of cultural settings and cultural models. The cultural
setting influences related to visible organizational structures and the cultural model
influence related to relationships between CS staff and MBA students.
Visible organizational structure and CS staff evaluation. The first
organizational influence assessed was the existing organizational structure on the CS
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
61
staff’s ability to support MBA students. The findings indicated that currently a gap
exists. The results show that only 50% of the CS staff felt that the existing organizational
structure was optimal to supporting MBA students. For example, one participant
described her thoughts on a popular target company for MBA students by stating, “I do
find it sometimes difficult to slice and dice where all these companies fit amongst the CS
staff across our industry sectors.” Both the Student Advisors and Employer Relations
CS staff each have individual roles and responsibilities, but due to the intersection
between the two roles, specific guidance on how best to engage and interact with each
other and MBA students would be beneficial.
The Student Advisors work closely with one of the three 75 student cohorts from
the beginning of their MBA experience until graduation. On the other hand, the
Employer Relations CS staff interaction model with MBA students is contingent on the
student’s preference of desired industry verticals or job functions. Within the existing
organizational structure, the MBA students themselves are able to constantly work with
different Student Advisors as well as different Employer Relations staff. The current
organizational structure lacks clear operating guidelines between the Student Advisor and
Employer Relations CS staff, which adversely impact their ability to support MBA
students. One participant voiced her thoughts on the operating guidelines, “Sometimes I
think that coordination could be a little stronger and we are working on that. We are
making strides to try to come together sooner regarding students.”
The second cultural setting influence assessed was whether the CS staff
evaluation metrics aligned to supporting MBA student employment upon graduation.
The findings indicate that currently a gap exists. Based on the study results, only 33% of
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
62
CS staff felt they were individually evaluated on student employment upon graduation. In
addition, the interview results highlighted that the majority of CS staff felt they did not
have specific clarity on their own evaluation metrics on performance. For example, one
participant stated, “We don’t have our own specific goals and we don’t necessarily even
talk a ton about it.” Several other participants echoed that sentiment, as one participant
stated, “There are really no individual metrics for recognition that I’ve seen to date,” and,
“We really don’t have a specific target goal.” The lack of direct evaluation clarity
adversely impacted their ability to focus their efforts toward MBA student employment
upon graduation.
The insights generated from the participant responses and data analysis show that
100% of participants communicated their understanding of the importance at a higher
business school level around external MBA rankings as a key evaluation metric. In
addition, 83% of CS staff communicated the importance of helping MBA students attain
employment upon graduation as the priority goal and evaluation metric at the broader
Career Services organizational level. One participant mentioned, “It is actually all based
on rankings, business school rankings, and percentage of students hired at graduation.”
Another participant referenced a similar sentiment by stating, “As a Career Services
organization, it is always about what the rankings are and how many students get jobs.”
However, the cultural setting influence impacting each CS staff was the lack of clarity on
individual evaluation metrics, which reduces their effectiveness and daily focus on
supporting direct MBA student employment upon graduation.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
63
Organizational Finding 1
The interviews conducted during the study resulted in the findings that only 50%
of CS staff felt that the organizational structure was optimal. Furthermore, only 33% of
the CS staff had clarity on individual evaluation metrics and 67% felt that relationships
with MBA students were very strong. The results demonstrate that a gap exists within
the organization. Based on the results, the findings to close the gap are three-fold
encompassing both the Student Advisor and Employer Relations CS staff.
The first finding relates to the cultural setting influence within the organization
impacting collaboration and engagement of CS staff. The results of the study indicated
that only 50% of the CS staff believed that the current structure was optimal to foster
collaboration across Student Advisors and Employer Relations staff to help support MBA
students. As one participant stated, “We obviously work closely together, communicate a
lot about individual students and how they are progressing in terms of full-time job
search process. Collaboration is the key.” Her point demonstrated the importance of
collaboration and that closing the gap over time is critical to achieving stakeholder goals.
Another area of focus related to the engagement between Student Advisors and
Employer Relations staff supporting student led clubs focused on employment knowledge
and preparation. The focus on collaboration and engagement of the CS staff to support
student led career clubs is critical as highlighted in the knowledge findings. The clubs
serve as an important forum for CS staff to support student’s preparation for job
interviews. One participant described the engagement model by stating, “I think we do a
lot every year to figure out how we are going to improve the career clubs.” Building an
organizational culture of collaboration and engagement is important across the CS roles
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
64
because the clubs do not always align perfectly within the existing CS staff structure. For
example, one participant described her thoughts on a popular target company for MBA
students by stating, “I do find it sometimes difficult to slice and dice where all these
companies fit amongst the CS staff across our industry sectors.” The custom nature of
the employer jobs and the complexity of intersections across different industry sectors
such as retail and technology indicate that collaboration and engagement across CS staff
is critical to help support MBA students in their employment preparation process. The
current organizational gap related to collaboration and engagement adversely impacts the
CS staff’s ability to support MBA students.
Opportunities to improve collaboration and engagement within Career Services
organization exist and would benefit MBA students. While discussing the current
collaboration model, one interview participant articulated her thoughts. “I would say
Career Services has been very collaborative, but obviously in any kind of organization
there is always room for improvement.” Furthermore, another participant had a similar
view, “I’ve seen in some cases, a really strong appetite for change, for collaboration, and
for getting things done, and I’ve also seen things get stonewalled.” The open
acknowledgement of the importance of strong CS staff collaboration, coupled with the
opportunity to continue to improve, further validated the existing gap and impact on CS
staff. In certain cases, participants referenced the current engagement model of how they
work with external employers by stating, “It is a little confusing where we have sector
leads for our target employer, but we also have functional leads working with the same
target employer.” Another participant expanded on those thoughts by stating, “I think
our organization is finding itself.” The study results clearly indicate the importance of
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
65
increasing engagement and collaboration amongst the CS staff to close the organizational
gap and better support MBA students.
The complexity existing within the CS organization is also adversely impacted by
an inconsistent engagement model with MBA students. One participant mentioned,
“Students can choose to work with any advisor at any point in time. All of us as CS staff
could have any number of students making appointments with us.” The additional
dimension of student interaction led to the same CS staff participant stating, “To be really
honest, in terms of coordination between Student Advisors and Employer Relations staff,
I think it could a little bit stronger.” The focus on closing the existing 50% collaboration
and engagement gap across CS staff is critical to optimizing student employment
outcomes post-graduation. Overall, the finding related to the cultural setting influence is
to create a defined protocol of collaboration and engagement across the CS staff within
the organization. The ability to develop standard guidance will help to create a structured
model of collaboration and engagement within the Career Services to ultimately improve
CS staff’s ability to support MBA students.
Organizational Finding 2
The second major finding relates to CS staff evaluation alignment to MBA
student employment upon graduation as a cultural setting influence within the
organization. The results of the study indicate that only 33% of the CS staff had clarity
on their individual evaluation metrics, adversely impacting their ability to target specific
activities on which they will be measured. At a high level, the study results showed that
the broader Career Services organization focused on key outcome metrics such as MBA
school ranking and MBA student employment upon graduation. However, the results
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
66
demonstrated that most CS staff had no clear-cut individual evaluation metrics related to
MBA student employment upon graduation. The lack of individual evaluation clarity and
accountability on student employment outcomes supports the results of the existing 67%
gap in the organization from the CS staff point of view.
The Career Services at a broader level is aligned and accountable to the
organization’s goals to support MBA student employment upon graduation. A majority
of participants mentioned, “It is actually all based on rankings, business school rankings,
and percentage of students hired at graduation.” Another participant referenced a similar
sentiment by stating, “As a Career Services organization, it is always about what the
rankings are and how many students get jobs.” Furthermore, another participant
quantified the desired goal when discussing target employment outcomes. “Yea, we are
looking for 100% jobs” for the students actively looking for employment upon
graduation. As a team, another participant mentioned that, “We are very focused on a
percentage of graduating candidates that has secured a full-time role at graduation and 90
days out.” The majority of participants were consistent in regards to their view on
broader organizational evaluation metrics.
Furthermore, the Career Services organizational evaluation metrics align with the
general MBA student population goals. Often when discussing goals from the student
perspective, CS staff mentioned their focus and desire on employment post-graduation.
One participant stated, “The students’ goals when they first come through normally are,
’I have to get a job’, that is what they have top of mind.” Another participant added to
that sentiment with definitive language related to the student’s initial goal when joining
the MBA program. She stated, “Their initial goal is finding a job.” The goals of both
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
67
domestic and international students are consistent as well. One participant stated, “I
would say 95%, if not more than that, of our international students want to find a work
experience here and stay in this country for years.” The emphasis on employment upon
graduation is equally important across the board for the organization, CS staff, and MBA
students.
Moreover, as one CS staff participant stated, “Our goals are to serve students and
to ensure that we can help them be better prepared, increase the chances that they are
going to secure an internship and then a full time job,” upon graduation. The focus on
attaining jobs upon graduation is important and continual interaction with employers is
critical. For instance, one participant stated, “I think our ultimate goal is to get our
students jobs and to have our employers be impressed by our students and want to
continuously come back and hire our students.” Goal alignment is critical, as it impacts
all stakeholders involved in the process. The activities and outcomes that the CS staff
engage in on a day to day basis are informed by both organizational goals as well as
individual evaluation metrics.
Although the results demonstrate that 100% of CS staff knew and were aligned to
the broader organizational goals, their individual evaluation metrics were consistently
ambiguous. During discussions with all of the study participants, the response findings
were similar in nature to one and another at an individual basis. For example, one
participant stated, “We don’t have our own specific goals and we don’t necessarily even
talk a ton about it.” Several other participants reinforced that sentiment, as one
participant stated, “There are really no individual metrics for recognition that I’ve seen to
date,” and, “We really don’t have a specific target goal.” The results and findings impact
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
68
the CS staff’s ability to focus on aligning all their day to day activities to directly support
MBA student employment upon graduation.
The lack of clarity on evaluation metrics was clearly stated by the Employer
Relations staff within Career Services. One participant, while discussing self-evaluation
metrics stated, “I know the number of companies brought to campus in the Fall season to
recruit MBA students was greater than the year before.” Her point on using the number
of companies brought to campus as an evaluation metric was through self-evaluation, but
it was not included in her performance reviews. She continued by stating, “On the
Employer Relations side, we are reviewed on how many companies come onto campus,
how many interviews we get.” Furthermore, her point on the evaluation of company
visits was the first specific metric referenced across all participant interviews. The results
demonstrated that lack of clarity on individual evaluation criteria exists across the CS
staff inhibiting their effectiveness.
Overall, student employment rate upon graduation was a goal of the CS staff at a
broad level aligned to the organization. However, at an individual level, their evaluation
was not aligned to MBA student employment outcomes. One participant stated, “I don’t
know how the student’s performance really affects my own evaluation, but certainly I
think as a team. We are all trying to achieve the organization’s goals.” Opportunities to
improve the current evaluation process and approach were communicated by different
participants. One participant raised the possibility for closing the gap by stating, “I don’t
know if we are operating as efficiently or effectively as we can, for sure.” Continually
evaluating the CS staff individual accountability and metrics as a component of the
broader organizational goals is important to achieve stakeholder goals. The second
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
69
finding established the need to create clear evaluation metrics for all CS staff individually
to potentially increase the likelihood of MBA student employment opportunities upon
graduation.
Organizational relationships and trust. Over and above cultural settings,
additional organizational influences were important to assess for CS staff as it pertains to
their role relative to the broader organization. As it relates to the cultural model of the
organization, one important influence to evaluate was the current organizational
relationships between MBA students and the CS staff. The results of the study show that
the current relationship is high, but not optimal. Based on the interview discussions and
results of the qualitative data collection, 67% of participants reported that a high level of
trust currently existed between CS staff and MBA students. Specifically, as one
participant stated, “There were definitely probably moments that students didn’t
trust us as much as they do now.” The level of trust at the organizational level. In
order to continue to improve the ability to facilitate open discussions between CS staff
and MBA students, focusing on trust building and accountability building is imperative.
The broader cultural model influences across the organization impact the CS staff’s
activities and outcomes impacting the ability to achieve organizational goals.
Organizational Finding 3
The third major finding pertains to the cultural model influence within the
organization impacting CS staff’s ability to develop relationships with MBA students.
The results indicate that only 67% of CS staff believed that current relationships with
MBA students were strong. Although, the results demonstrate that CS staff and students
generally have high levels of trust and relationship strength, opportunities to improve
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
70
relationships exist to close the existing gap. The results helped to establish that the
existing organizational engagement model relies on both a push and pull approach with
the CS staff and MBA students. Currently, forums and clubs exist that are both CS staff
led and student led, both focusing on employment preparation. The CS staff are
accountable to prepare and guide MBA students through the employment process
successfully. However, employment outcomes are also contingent on the level of effort
put forth by MBA students, which impact their relationship and mutual level of trust.
The findings from the data analysis identify that both CS staff and student
accountability in the employment preparation process is imperative to attaining
employment offers post-graduation. Furthermore, the underlying trust component of both
CS staff and MBA student’s respective relationships are critical as they work together
during the two-year, full-time program journey to achieve common goals. The level of
trust between the CS staff and MBA students is currently strengthening, which help
collaboration efforts toward interview preparation. As one participant stated earlier,
“There were definitely probably moments that students didn’t trust us as much as they do
now.” The improved trust is based on the partnership model communicated by the CS
staff. Another participant built on that key point by stating, “It is a partnership, we are
here to help, and we are here to help provide resources. The students have to schedule
appointments to utilize the resources.” The mutual level of trust required for CS staff and
MBA students is an important first step to delivering improved outcomes. The current
gap of 33% is being closed through positive actions, but additional efforts and focus are
continually required. In addition to closing the trust gap, findings suggest that an equal
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
71
level of accountability for both CS staff and MBA students is an important component to
achieving stakeholder goals.
Additional Findings
During the participant interviews and data analysis, additional findings emerged.
The key additional findings related to both knowledge specific to employer technical
interviews and student accountability in the preparation process. Overall, the additional
findings are over and above the proposed research focus, however are important to
address to achieve organizational goals.
Additional Knowledge Findings Related to Technical Interviews
During the participant interviews and data analysis, the importance of technical
case interview preparation and level of specificity to each industry and job function
became more and more important. In addition, the level of alumni engagement within the
student-led clubs was highlighted a number of times as a critical success factor to student
employment outcomes. The evaluation study helped identify best practices related to
technical case preparation. The best practices pertained to the level of custom specificity
relative to the industry or job function by the CS staff within the student club
environment. One participant discussed the level of depth and breadth required to best
prepare students, “I’ll do mock interviews with them, every question, and then go over
answers and provide areas of improvement for both behavioral and technical cases.” The
CS staff’s mock interview process as a preparation tool positively impacts MBA student
confidence. The participant referenced, “a lot of MBA students are very confident once
they’ve had a mock interview.” In addition, she referenced the varying nature of the
interview process by breaking it down into specific components during the mock
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
72
interview. Specifically, she mentioned that the feedback that I have given within an
interview is broken down by five or six segments of whether or not the student’s
framework is strong.”
However, the general interviewee responses around the technical training for most
industry verticals and job functions are that “they’ve been developed and are pretty
standard across all students” or that the MBA student technical training can be done
through “case competitions as a form of preparation.” The analysis signals that the more
custom the training and valuable the MBA students perceive the sessions in their
preparation for employment, the higher likelihood of attendance at the student club
workshops. One CS staff participant noted, “The other thing that is interesting is if a club
is doing a pretty good job at their events, then usually their attendance for events at 10
plus students stays high.” The importance of CS staff involvement and leadership within
the student industry or job function clubs will ultimately help lead to achieving
stakeholder goals.
Active engagement and involvement of alumni has also shown positive results in
preparation for technical case interviews with target employers. Given that alumni have
gone through both the interview process as MBA students and are typically currently
working in the target industry or job function, the level of custom relevance is much
stronger than standard training sessions. CS staff that work closely with alumni on the
technical case interview process have seen an increased level of interview preparation by
the students. For instance, one CS staff mentioned, “I really am working to develop a
network of alums that I am personally connected with and I’m networking within these
industries for a better appreciation” of the organization. In addition, many participants
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
73
stated their support of leveraging recent alumni for the technical interview preparation
process. “From a technical standpoint, we are generally able to get alumni to come in
and help. That makes a huge difference.” Given the custom nature of each job within an
industry, the more specific the preparation process is between the CS staff and the MBA
student, the greater the likelihood of successfully attaining employment post-graduation.
A number of participants referenced that the interview preparation process is “no
longer about their general learning on a function, but specific to the role” within the
industry. The additional findings apply to customizing CS staff approach to technical
interview preparation, which was validated during the interview data collection process
and communicated by the participants. The combination of applicable custom knowledge
and leveraging forums such as student clubs and alumni engagement to prepare MBA
students has demonstrated positive employment results. These additional findings
emerged during interview discussions, however are over and above the specific focus of
determining the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences on Career Service
staff in their ability to support MBA students.
Additional Organizational Findings Related to MBA Student Accountability
An important finding that emerged over and above addressing the initial research
question is related to MBA student accountability in the employment preparation process.
From the CS staff perspective, their view is that both the staff and MBA students should
be accountable for the outcomes. In the CS staff approach to preparing students for
employment, one participant stated, “If students need something, we are pretty quick at
responding to that or find someone who can, because if we don’t, they hold us
accountable. Likewise, we hold them accountable when they are not responsive to us.”
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
74
Furthermore, another participant mentioned, “There is always going to be a level of
accountability when it comes to individual job searches.” Additionally, another CS staff
mentioned, “I can provide recommendations on what students can do to improve their job
strategies, but it is really up to the students to implement the recommendation.” The
emphasis on joint accountability is important as CS staff guide and help students with
their career and job searches, but MBA students have to prepare for interviews to receive
employment offers. The students must show accountability as their efforts impact the
ability for CS staff to support the preparation process and ultimately achieve successful
employment outcomes upon graduation.
Employment outcomes upon graduation are impacted by how the level of
accountability taken by MBA students and their preparation process with CS staff. One
participant stated, “The students who take advantage of the resources, all of them, from
the workshops, all the way through, are the ones who do the best in the job search.” The
results demonstrated that the MBA students that took accountability in their commitment
to work closely with CS staff were more likely to attain employment offers. On the other
hand, the same participant stated, that as high as “40% of students you don’t even see”
during the recruiting process or utilizing the Career Services organization. The level of
student effort required during the employment recruiting process is not specified and
varies across students. Another participant supported the claim by stating, “It is really up
to MBA students and there is no ramification if they don’t come in,” to the Career
Services office. Her point further highlights the lack of required accountability taken on
by the MBA students themselves in the job recruiting and interview preparation process.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
75
Overall, in situations that the MBA students do not fully utilize the Career
Services, the ability of CS staff to support them can be rather difficult. One participant
stated, “I think it's really challenging in terms of the others that are sort of floating around
and not taking as much advantage of Career Services, it's hard to know what we could do
to better assist them.” Another participant echoed a similar sentiment as she reflected on
how students viewed accountability in the process, “I don’t know if students view that
they are accountable,” in the job recruiting and interview process. However, as it relates
to questions about working with the students, one participant stated, “I would never want
it to get to a point where students are required to meet with us,” as CS staff. However,
that same participant also supported the claim that, “A lot depends on the students,” and
accountability is important in the process to attain employment offers. An increased
focus on student accountability could help to improve the likelihood of MBA student
employment opportunities upon graduation.
Summary
The research study spanned across a three-week period and consisted of six in-
person, qualitative participant interviews. The two research questions that guided the
study approach and data collection were:
1) What is the current status of Career Services staff’s knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences in the context of supporting the University of Business’
goal of 100% employment for MBA students upon graduation?
2) What are the recommendations for organizational practice?
The participant interview discussions led to rich data and critical insights related
to evaluating MBA student employment upon graduation. The evaluation study assessed
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
76
the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences and yielded a total of five areas
in which there are some gaps. The findings are critical components to developing
actionable and applicable recommendations for the organization to address the research
study questions and close the current gap.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
77
CHAPTER FIVE: SOLUTIONS, IMPLEMENTATION, AND EVALUATION
Chapter four covered the results and findings from the research study. The results
are based on the evaluation of knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
impacting the Career Services staff. The analysis of the data results led to five key
findings addressing the two research questions guiding the study. Overall, based on the
research study findings, opportunities exist for the CS staff to continually improve their
ability to support MBA students and the organization to attain employment upon
graduation.
Chapter five covers the proposed solutions, implementation plan, and overall
evaluation of CS staff as it relates to the problem of practice. The proposed solutions for
practice specific to the target organization will address knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences of the CS staff. The implementation plan and evaluation is
based on the New World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The
overall proposed next steps are customized and specific to the target organization. In
addition, the approach going forward is based on actionable steps and achievable
milestones to effectively incorporate change and improved outcomes aligned to
stakeholder goals.
Chapter five begins with the recommendations for practice to address knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences by component. Subsequent to the proposed
recommendations, an in-depth implementation and evaluation plan will be presented.
The implementation and evaluation plan will consist of tangible actions across Level 4 to
Level 1 of the Kirkpatrick model. Lastly, the chapter will conclude with data and
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
78
analysis reporting of the proposed plan and next steps to be implemented for effective
organizational change.
Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences
Knowledge Recommendations
Introduction. Based on the data collection and analysis, the knowledge
influences in Table 4 below represent the complete list of assumed knowledge influences.
Career Service staff’s ability to acquire skills and increase performance levels by
understanding declarative and procedural knowledge as stated by Clark and Estes (2008).
As such, Table 4 indicates these influences have been validated as a current knowledge
gap and closing the gaps are a high priority for achieving the stakeholders’ goal. Table 4
also shows the recommendations for these validated influences based on theoretical
principles.
Table 4
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Knowledge
Influence

Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
CS Staff need to
have specific
knowledge related to
employment criteria
by business function
or industry vertical.
(Declarative)
Acquiring skills for
expertise frequently
begins with learning
declarative
knowledge about
individual
procedural steps
(Clark & Estes,
2008)
Provide a job aid that
highlights the key
hiring criteria by
potential MBA job
function and/or
industry
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
79
CS Staff need to
know the different
structures and
formats of employer
interviews by
business function or
industry vertical.
(Declarative)
Declarative
knowledge related to
the different types of
interview structures
help to target the
learning and close
the interview
knowledge gap
(Clark & Estes,
2008, Rueda, 2011)
Provide a job aid
with key interview
formats and
questions by industry
vertical or business
function
CS Staff need to
know how to best
prepare MBA
students for
interviews to
improve student
performance during
employer interviews.
(Procedural)
Procedural
knowledge increases
when declarative
knowledge required
to perform the skill
is available or
known. (Clark &
Estes, 2008)
Provide a training
program/workshop
that demonstrates
how Career Services
should be preparing
MBA students for
interviews both
behavioral and
technical questions
(industry/function
specific)

Declarative knowledge solutions. The CS staff need to have specific
knowledge related to employment criteria by business function or industry vertical is an
important knowledge influence to close the gap. In addition, the CS staff need to know
the different formats of employer interviews by business function or industry vertical is
also an important knowledge influence gap. Based on the above identified knowledge
influences the proposed use of job aids can help close the declarative knowledge gap for
the stakeholder group. The ability for Career Services staff to become experts in their
respective field and acquire skills related to the specific employment criteria by industry
vertical or job function is critical for success (Clark & Estes, 2008). In addition, CS
staff’s performance levels will increase as it relates to MBA student’s ability to attain
employment upon graduation through focused job aids that provide an overview of the
candidate interview types to help with MBA student preparation for the recruiting
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
80
process. The combination of job aids to address both types of declarative knowledge
influences will help to close the gap for Career Services staff. Furthermore, the proposed
recommendation of creating job aids as a fact sheet is a critical component to enable
Career Services staff to quickly reference interview structures by target employment area
to close the knowledge gap for students (Clark & Estes, 2008). The ability for both the
Career Services staff and the MBA students themselves to quickly refer to a job aid and
understand the important components of the interview process and to be able to better
prepare students will lead to improved performance (Krathwohl, 2002). Overall, the job
aid will serve as an effective tool to facilitate learning related to different aspects of the
interview process.
Procedural knowledge solutions. Half of the CS staff lacked the procedural
knowledge to best prepare MBA students for technical interviews to improve
performance during employer interviews. Based on this knowledge gap, the
recommendation is to develop a comprehensive training or workshop program to help
close the procedural knowledge gap for the stakeholder group. Career Services staff need
to learn how to best prepare their students for the interview process both behavioral and
technical will help increase their chances of attaining employment at graduation (Clark &
Estes, 2008). The training program will consist of customized aspects to teach the Career
Services staff applicable skills related to their specific business function or industry
vertical as it varies by area. The industry and job specific skills will help the staff work
with MBA students in a more targeted manner to achieve improved results. The training
program addresses the procedural knowledge influence to help close the gap for Career
Services staff.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
81
In order to increase organizational performance at both the Career Services staff
level and ultimately better support the MBA students, the training program will focus on
application of learning. The continuous evaluation of how to apply and communicate
knowledge during an employer interview will help improve performance (Clark & Estes,
2008). In addition, the specific area that the Career Services staff can focus on is helping
MBA students leverage their specific job experience prior to the program to apply
conceptual knowledge in an applicable manner to employers related to their targeted job
roles (Yeaple, 2010). Career Services staff must work closely to customize and build
training courses to optimally improve organizational performance across students as
conceptual knowledge varies greatly across industries.
Motivation Recommendations
Introduction. The motivation influences of expectancy value and self-efficacy
were validated as important, however, no current gap exists with the Career Services
staff. Clark and Estes (2008) stated that motivation is critical to working toward goals
and is manifested in choosing to engage with the goal, persisting to achieve the goal, and
lastly, determines how much mental effort individuals exert toward the goal. The
motivation level of Career Services staff to achieve their goals is an important
determining factor in their goal achievement is extremely high across 100% of the
participants. Table 5 highlights the motivational influences that have been validated with
no current gap and recommendations will only further strengthen the CS staff motivation.
Table 5
Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
82
Assumed Motivation
Influence

Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Expectancy Value
(Utility Value)
Career Services staff
need to embrace and
value preparing an
MBA for post-
graduation employment
as a critical component
of their job.
Individuals are more
likely to engage in an
activity when it
provides value to
them. (Eccles, 2009).

Provide incentives
for exceeding
target employment
rates for
accountable sectors
or business
functions.

Self-Efficacy Theory
Career Services staff
need to feel confident in
their ability to improve
MBA student interview
preparation.
Self-efficacy is
increased as
individuals succeed
in a task (Bandura,
1997).
Provide Training
that simulates the
interview process.
Customized by
employer industry/
job function.
Breakout activities
for the CS staff to
practice to increase
confidence level of
helping MBA
students.

Organization Recommendations
Introduction. The organizational influences in Table 6 below represent the
complete list of validated organization influences based on informal 1:1 interviews and
supported by the literature review and the review of organization and culture theory.
Clark and Estes (2008) suggest that organization and stakeholder goals are not often
achieved due to a lack of resources, and stakeholder specific goals may not be aligned
with the organization’s goals. Two distinct categories of assessing organizational
influences relate to cultural models and cultural settings (Gallimore & Goldenberg,
2001). As indicated in Table 6, validated organizational influences demonstrate the
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
83
priority areas of focus for achieving the stakeholders’ goal. Table 6 also shows the
recommendations for these influences based on theoretical principles.
Table 6
Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations
Assumed Organization
Influence

Principle and
Citation

Context-Specific
Recommendation
The visible organizational
structure and role
definitions across Career
Services inhibit maximum
internal collaboration
(Cultural Setting).
Organizational
performance
increases when
individuals
communicate
constantly and
candidly to
others about
plans and
processes (Clark
& Estes, 2008)
Conduct cross
functional workshops
with both Global
Sector Leads and
Student Advisors to
increase internal trust,
role understanding, and
collaboration.

The defined Career
Services staff evaluation
system does not align with
organizational goals to
optimize focus on MBA
student employment
(Cultural Setting).
Organizational
performance
increases when
processes and
resources are
aligned with
goals established
collaboratively
(Clark & Estes,
2008)

Develop whiteboard
session with all staff to
actively develop staff
goals that
reinforce/support the
organizational goals
for increased
alignment and
accountability.
The current organizational
relationships between
MBA students and the
Career Services center
does not foster trust to
promote open discussions
about career and
employment opportunities
(Cultural Model).
Assess
organizational
influences as an
overarching
system that can
either accelerate
or decelerate the
ability to impact
performance
(Clark & Estes,
2008)
Developing a student
led steering committee
with a monthly
cadence of meetings
with Career Services to
help strengthen
relationships and
increase trust across all
parties in order to
focus on shared
stakeholder goals

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
84
Cultural setting solutions. Based on the above identified organizational
influences the proposed use of collaborative workshops and revised CS staff goals will
help close the organizational gap for the stakeholder group. The organizational influence
of cultural settings can be in two forms, either in the form of stakeholder collaboration or
stakeholder goals. The importance of Career Services staff to have cultural settings that
reinforce open communication and alignment to goals help close the organizational gap
(Clark & Estes, 2008). In addition, open communication and increased collaboration
across the staff Student Advisors and Employer Relations support the MBA student’s
goal of employment upon graduation. The use of open communication across the
organization to address current cultural setting influences will help to create a more
dynamic organizational environment increasing collaboration from the beginning of the
MBA student employment journey to ultimately a positive employment outcome post-
graduation. The organization should view student employment as a shared success and
not a responsibility that solely rests with the Career Services staff or the students
(Contomanolis & Steinfeld, 2014). Furthermore, the alignment of stakeholder goals
specifically to address the overall organizational goal will reinforce the staff’s focus on
achieving outcomes that lead to greater employment rates upon graduation.
The proposed recommendations of increasing collaboration and aligning
stakeholder goals will continue to close the organizational gap for stakeholders (Clark &
Estes, 2008). The impact on cultural settings through these two forums will help the
Career Services staff feel more supported in their pursuit to help MBA students achieve
their employment goals. The staff’s ability to improve interpersonal relationships
through increased communication and collaboration will positively impact the
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
85
organization (Schein, 2004). In addition, Schein (2004), stated that the organizational
culture should foster and encourage employees to achieve organizational goals, which
highlights the importance of goal alignment. Overall, the increased collaboration and
aligned goals will serve as an effective tool to facilitate an organizational setting to help
achieve stakeholder goals.
Cultural model solutions. Based on the above validated organizational
influence, the proposed creation of a student- led panel to facilitate increased interaction
between Career Services staff and MBA students will help close the organizational gap
for the stakeholder group. The cultural model influence relates to relationships and the
foundation of trust. The importance of Career Services staff to operate within a cultural
model that accelerates the ability to impact performance will help to close the
organizational gap (Clark & Estes, 2008). Furthermore, relationships that are
strengthened between stakeholders and MBA students help to mitigate adverse
organizational influences and support the staff’s ability to support MBA students with
employment upon graduation.
The proposed recommendation of developing an overarching system via a student
led steering committee will positively impact the organizational model and close the
organizational gap for stakeholders (Clark & Estes, 2008). The impact on cultural
models through this forum will help to increase and foster trust between MBA students
and the Career Services staff stakeholder group. The proposed structure will meet the
needs of the MBA student population leading to greater achievement of stakeholder goals
(Garver, 2009). In addition, the organization and interaction model should be structured
in such a way that encourages Career Services staff and students to develop stronger
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
86
relationships (Cruzvergara & Dey, 2014) based on mutual trust. Overall, the increased
Career Services staff and MBA student interaction will serve as an effective tool to foster
trust and support the achievement of stakeholder goals.
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
Implementation and Evaluation Framework
The model that is the basis for the implementation and evaluation plan is the New
World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016), resulting from the original
Kirkpatrick Four Level Model of Evaluation (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2006). This
model is based on four levels of evaluation to develop an actionable plan customized to
helping the target organization achieve stated goals. The four levels work together, but
backward in numeric order from level 4 results, level 3 behavior, level 2 learning, and
level 1 reaction. The key bridge to a successful implementation within an organization
lies between level 2 learning and level 3 behavior, which relates to the stakeholders
learning skills and then applying them in their job after completing training demonstrated
through changes in behavior. Designing an implementation plan in this manner helps to
increase the probability of stakeholder consensus buy-in and success (Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Organizational Purpose, Need and Expectations
The mission of the University of Business is to educate, develop, and help prepare
MBA students to secure full time employment upon graduation. The mission is
accomplished through a rigorous core curriculum with a global focus that is centered on
the importance of leadership and innovation. The University of Business’ goal is to, by
May 2020, achieve 100% employment rate for their MBA students actively pursuing jobs
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
87
upon graduation. The organizational goal relates to the current problem of practice with
a current employment rate of approximately 70% upon graduation. The key stakeholder
is the Career Services staff within the University of Business’ two-year, full time MBA
program. The recommended plan for the CS staff is to implement professional
workshops and interview training sessions to best prepare students for employment upon
graduation. The training is based on an understanding of the comprehensive hiring
criteria by target employers and employer feedback. Employment upon graduation is
measured by job offers accepted by MBA students at the time of graduation. The
inability to attain this goal will adversely impact the overall ranking of the University of
Business.
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
Table 7 below shows the proposed Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators in the
form of outcomes, metrics, and methods for both external and internal outcomes for the
University of Business. If the internal outcomes are met or exceeded as expected due to
the result of the training and organizational support for the Career Service Staff training,
then subsequently the external outcomes should also be met or exceeded.
Table 7

Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes

Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External Outcomes
1. Improve the University of
Business full time MBA
ranking
The US News MBA rankings Assess baseline ranking and
review on a semi-annual basis
for progress
2. Increase the number of
qualified two-year full time
MBA candidate applicants
Number of qualified candidates Assess baseline qualified
applicants, define criteria (for
example, students to be
accepted). Review on a semi-
annual basis for progress
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
88

Internal Outcomes
1. Increased number of 1
st

round on campus job
interviews for MBA students
in target fields
The number of 1
st
round
interviews conducted by MBA
students throughout the
academic year
Quantify baseline of current
state 1
st
round interviews across
all Functions and Sectors
2. Improved conversion rate
of student final interview to
full time job employment
offers
The number of employment
offers received per final round
interview
Aggregate data from students on
employment offers from final
round interviews

Level 3: Behavior
Critical behaviors. The stakeholders of focus are the Career Services staff of the
University of Business. The first critical behavior is that CS staff must apply customized
functional and sector specific knowledge in their interview preparation workshops with
MBA students. The second critical behavior is that CS staff must engage with MBA
students as they progress from first round on campus interviews to final round interviews
with employers. The specific metrics, methods, and timing for each of these outcome
behaviors appears in Table 8 below.
Table 8

Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for New Reviewers
Critical Behavior Metric(s)
Method(s)
Timing
1. Apply customized
approach for
interview preparation
based on job function
or industry sector.
The number of
workshops conducted
by job function and
industry sector for
MBA students during
the recruiting season
The CS staff member to
track their workshops
and training sessions
conducted for their
realm of responsibility
From August to
April during the
primary full-time
job recruiting
window.
2. Engage with MBA
students prior to their
final round interview
for additional
preparation
The number of touch
points between the CS
staff and MBA
students between the
first and final round
employer interview
The CS staff member to
track their touch points
by student for those that
are moving forward in
the interview process
with target employers
From August to
April during the
primary full-time
job recruiting
window
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
89
Required drivers. CS staff require the support of their direct supervisors and the
CS organizational leadership to encourage application and reinforce what they learn in
the training to proactively support MBA student job interview preparation. Tangible
rewards should be established for achievement of performance goals to enhance the
organizational support of demonstrated progress. Table 9 below shows the recommended
drivers to support critical behaviors for CS staff.
Table 9
Required Drivers to Support New Reviewers’ Critical Behaviors
Method(s) Timing
Critical Behaviors Supported
1 and 2
Reinforcing
Job Aid by job function and
industry vertical highlighting
key trends and applicable
interview questions
Ongoing 1
Team meeting to discuss CS
interdependencies
Weekly 1, 2
Encouraging
Collaboration across
functional/industry leads to
share best practices
Weekly 1
Direct supervisor discussions
to motivate team
Ongoing 1,2
Rewarding
Individual performance
incentives for student advisors
and employer relations staff if
they exceed their goals
Annually 1, 2
Team performance incentives
for CS staff if collectively
they exceed their goals
Annually 1, 2

Monitoring
Supervisor 1:1 meetings with
CS staff for status updates on
progress
Weekly 1, 2
CS Team meetings with
organizational leader for
status updates across the team
Bi-Weekly 1, 2
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
90

Organizational support. In order for the organization to execute on progress
relative to the stakeholder goals, it is important to assess the three suggested
recommendations in further detail. The first recommendation is to conduct a cross-
functional workshop between the Student Advisors and the Employer Relations staff to
gain alignment on the new approach. The second recommendation is for the organization
to develop both an individual and collaborative approach to evaluating CS staff such that
they are aligned to the broader organizational goals. Lastly, the third recommendation is
for the organization to create an MBA student led steering committee to provide a voice
for students with the Career Services staff on areas of interest and improvement relating
to the employment process. Holding the stakeholders accountable for implementing
these recommendations and further incorporating them as a form of sustainable change is
an important factor for success. The success of implementation is based on stakeholder
accountability, which stems from organizational accountability. In order for the
organization and the stakeholders to be held accountable at a leadership level, the MBA
program and the Career Services organization should adopt the recommendations. Thus,
as an important aspect to implementation, having stakeholder discussions prior to the
deployment of the recommendations with leadership will be important for increased
success. Moreover, by highlighting the potential gains and return on investment for the
Career Services through increased MBA student employment will further support the
case for change. The compelling case for change will hopefully lead to leadership
consensus and buy in of the recommendations resulting in a definitive set of accountable
measures for the organization and the CS staff individually. The shared accountability
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
91
metrics will help create alignment across the CS staff and accountability of actions going
forward.
Level 2: Learning
Learning goals. Following completion of the recommended solutions and
conducting the Career Services organization and staff workshops, the CS staff
stakeholders will be able to:
1. Articulate the key trends and critical components of interviews by job
function to help prepare MBA students for employment (Declarative)
2. Develop customized interview preparation materials for behavioral and
technical interviews by job function and industry vertical (Procedural)
3. Conduct customized workshops with MBA students to help them prepare for
job interviews by job function and industry vertical (Procedural)
4. Believe that their support of MBA students is critical to their ability to attain
employment upon graduation (Expectancy Value)
5. Demonstrate the confidence in their ability to support MBA students with the
interview preparation process for desired employment (Self Efficacy)
Program. The learning goals listed in the previous section, will be achieved
through a training program that explores the end to end process of MBA student
interview preparation from the start of the recruiting process to successfully
accomplishing the goal of employment upon graduation. The end to end full day
program will consist of a facilitated workshop, collaborative whiteboard sessions, and job
aids over an eight-hour period during the spring semester of 2018 to support the Career
Service staff in their achievement of organizational goals. Furthermore, the
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
92
comprehensive training program will provide support across a range of learning
applications such as declarative and procedural knowledge to best prepare CS staff to
work directly with MBA students. In addition, the training will further strengthen CS
staff’s high degree of self-efficacy and a high degree of value related to the tasks that
they perform. Lastly, the training focus on the combination of knowledge and motivation
application, augmented by the suggested changes to the organizational structure,
specifically incentives to help ensure optimal achievement of both stakeholder and
organizational goals.
Components of learning. Demonstrating declarative knowledge is often
necessary as a precursor to applying the knowledge to solve problems. Thus, it is
important to evaluate learning for both declarative and procedural knowledge. It is also
important that learners value the training as a prerequisite to using their newly learned
knowledge and skills on the job. However, CS staff must also be confident that they can
succeed in applying their knowledge and skills in a committed fashion on the job. As
such, Table 10 below lists the evaluation methods and timing for these components of
learning.
Table 10
Components of Learning for the Program.
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Open forum discussion across Student
Advisors and Global Sector Leads on key job-
related knowledge on function or industry such
as trends/applicable jargon
At the beginning of the workshop
Knowledge checks via short milestone quizzes At the midway point of the workshop and after
the workshop is complete/post assignment

Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
93
Individual presentations during training,
demonstrating the ability to apply skills and
knowledge learned
During the workshop
Role play interviews demonstrating the ability
to understand and apply lessons learned in the
form of behavioral and technical interviews
During the workshop
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Instructor’s observation of all participants During the workshop
Self -assessment assignment completed by all
participants at the completion of the workshop
During the workshop
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Individual surveys filled out by all participants At the end of the workshop
Follow up interviews with all participants

90 days after the workshop
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Individual action plan with milestones

At the end of the workshop
Follow up interviews with all participants

90 days after the workshop
Level 1: Reaction
Components to measure reactions. The ability to measure CS staff’s reactions
to program implementation are important to evaluate success. Thus, it is important to
measure reactions across engagement, relevance, and satisfaction. It is also important
that methods and tools are utilized to appropriately evaluate the level of engagement to
make program related course improvements within specified timelines. As such, Table 11
below lists the components to measure reactions to the program.
Table 11
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program.
Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing
Engagement
Survey across individuals Midpoint of the workshop
Number of contributions made by participants During the workshop
Observation by instructor/facilitator During the workshop
Course evaluation At the end of the workshop
Relevance
Open forum feedback conducted with polling
question across all participants as a whole
Midpoint of the workshop

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
94
group
Course evaluation At the end of the workshop
Satisfaction
Open forum feedback conducted with polling
question across all participants
Midpoint of the workshop

Course evaluation via online survey At the end of the workshop

Evaluation Tools
Immediately following the program implementation. At the completion of the
eight hour, full day workshop an immediate online survey will be distributed to gather
critical data related to the CS staff’s reactions to both Level 1 Reaction and Level 2
Learning components of the program. The survey will be in addition to the various
check-in points and open forum feedback discussions conducted throughout the
workshop and at the midpoint check in period.
The comprehensive survey for both Level 1 and 2 will consist of approximately
one to two items per component of learning with reactions to learning accordingly. The
survey will begin with items addressing declarative and procedural knowledge attained.
The survey will then transition to items related to motivation such as attitude, confidence,
and commitment. The second half of the survey will consist of items related to reactions
to engagement, relevance, and customer satisfaction (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
The detailed survey instrument is included in the appendix and will consist of items
related to participant application, open ended responses, and Likert scale questions.
Delayed for a period after the program implementation. Approximately 90
days after the implementation of the workshop training a participant survey will be
distributed online and conducted to evaluate the program. Furthermore, the results of the
data collection will be utilized to develop additional recommendations on the training and
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
95
actions to be taken to foster continuous improvement at the target organization. The
detailed survey will consist of primarily four items based on Likert type anchors to
evaluate the 4 Levels of the Kirkpatrick model and will be included in the appendix
accordingly (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). In addition, the survey will include one
item that is an open-ended, qualitative question to gauge participant feedback for
continual improvement and best practices.
Data Analysis and Reporting
The results of the recommendations from Levels 1 through Level 4 will be
analyzed and reported to monitor, track, and improve results on an ongoing basis. The
reports will capture the progress for key metrics outlined above. The reporting will be
done using both Pareto chart analysis with side-by-side bar charts as well as scorecard
dashboards.
The Pareto chart analysis example below related to Level 3 recommendations will
consist of data from a number of training workshops conducted for each industry vertical
and job industry. Furthermore, building off that analysis the ability to develop more
specific metrics. For example, the number students that move forward in the interview
process and receive an opportunity for a final round employer interview. Based on the
two side-by-side bar charts in Pareto format, the percentage of employment offers
attained from the final rounds will be included. The analysis will communicate to the
Career Services team the progress that students are able to demonstrate and areas of focus
for continual improvement. By analyzing in a Pareto format as well as side-by-side
analysis throughout the interview process will help to provide an opportunity for the team
to leverage best practices across industry verticals and job functions on an ongoing basis
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
96
for areas with high percent of employment offers. In addition to the metrics captured on
interviews attained and progression throughout the process, the CS staff stakeholders will
maintain data that shows their touch points with students as they progress to final rounds
to assess the effectiveness leading to employment offers. The Pareto chart reports will be
shared with the team on a regular basis to focus on achieving stakeholder goals.
In terms of the broader external and internal metrics outlined in Level 4, a
quarterly reporting dashboard will be utilized to capture progress over time. The
dashboard will consist of the metrics related to qualified candidates, rankings
information, first round interviews attained, and the number of employment offers
received for full time MBA students. A baseline dashboard with current state statistics as
of 2017 will be utilized to align the Career Services organization and the staff on areas of
focus and agreement on exceeded stakeholder goals, on track to meet stakeholder goals,
and at risk of missing stakeholder goals as the colors green, yellow, and red respectively.
The dashboard reports will be shared with the CS team on a monthly basis to focus on
achieving L4 stakeholder goals similar to the Pareto chart reports.

Dashboard Report (Illustrative)
0
5
10
15
20
Industry X Industry Y Function A Function B
Pareto Chart Report (Illustrative)
# Workshops 2nd Interviews Employment Offers
# of
workshops
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
97

Summary
The New World Kirkpatrick Model is instrumental to the proposed plan,
implementation strategy, and approach to evaluate recommendations for the organization.
By application of the four level framework from Results, Behavior, Learning, and
Reaction, enables a structured approach to evaluating the recommended training program
to optimize achievement of stakeholder goals (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). My
expectations of utilizing the framework in the evaluation of the program is to
comprehensively understand the stakeholder and target audience to deliver successful
results while focusing on continuous improvement. The model provides benefits
throughout the process from planning to execution in a manner that aligns to the proposed
stakeholder goals. Furthermore, given the tiered approach across distinct levels, the
model allows for numerous checkpoints to assess and evaluate the program direction
relative to anticipated results.
Overall, the ability to leverage the Kirkpatrick model as an evolving mechanism
for evaluation will prove valuable for the proposed training program and achievement of
stakeholder goals. The program will meet or exceed expectations of improving
stakeholder results and achieving organizational goals of increased MBA student
employment upon graduation. The focus on both external and internal outcome metrics
will help to align all Career Service staff’s daily, weekly, and monthly work activities to
Qualified Candidates Program Rankings
1st Round
Interviews
Employment Offers
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
98
common goals and achievable outcomes. Furthermore, the focus on continuous
improvement through the proposed training program, working closely across the CS
team, and with the MBA students will all help to create a common platform for success.
Conclusion
The MBA degree has been increasing in popularity in recent years, with
approximately 190,000 graduates in 2012 across the US. However, according to the
Graduate Management Admission Council in 2013, only 61% of MBA students in two-
year full time programs secured employment at the time of graduation (GMAC, 2013).
Career Services staff are important stakeholders in full time two-year MBA programs
with their ability to support students in attaining employment post-graduation. The
purpose of this qualitative research study was to conduct an analysis of the knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences on the CS staff’s ability to support MBA
students. The evaluation study results yielded five areas where a gap exists and provided
recommendations to close the gap. Overall, the ability for the Career Services to support
MBA students and achieve organizational goals can be strengthened by moving forward
with the suggested recommendations and implementation plan.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
99
References

Anderman, E., & Anderman, L. (2006). Attributions. Retrieved from

http://www.education.comreference/article/attribution-theory/.
Arcidiacono, P., Cooley, J., & Hussey, A. (2008). The economic returns to an MBA.
International Economic Review, 49(3), 873-899.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Brewer, L. K., & Brewer, D. P. (2012). Influencing variables and perceptions regarding
MBA degree programs. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 16(4).

Brief, A., Guzzo, R., & Schneider, B. (1996). Creating a culture and climate for

sustainable organizational change. Organizational Dynamics, 24(4), 7–19.
Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (1999). First, break all the rules. New York: Simon and
Schuster, pp. 25–49, 53–67.
Clark, R. E., & Estes, F. (2008). Turning research into results: A guide to selecting the
right performance solutions. Atlanta, GA: CEP Press
Contomanolis, M. (2014). The new breed of career Services professional: what’s in the
secret sauce of success? LinkedIn Pulse.
Contomanolis, E, Cruzvergara, C, Dey, F, & Steinfeld, T. (2015). The future of career
Services now. National Association of Colleges and Employers
Contomanolis, M., & Steinfeld, T. (2014). Thriving in the brave new world of Career
Services: 10 Essential Strategies, LinkedIn Pulse.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
100
Cruzvergara, C. Y., & Dey, F. (2014). 10 future trends in career Services. LinkedIn

Pulse. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com

Eccles, J. (2006). Expectancy value motivational theory. Retrieved from

http://www.education.com/reference/article/expectancy-value-motivational-theory/.

Fink, A. (2013). How to conduct surveys: A step-by-step guide (5
th
Edition). Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Gai, Y., Polutnik, L., & Way, M. (2016). Compensation and employment impact of a

Full-time MBA program. International Atlantic Economic Society, 22(1), January

2016.

Gallimore, R. & Goldenberg, C. (2001). Analyzing cultural models and settings to
connect minority achievement and school improvement research. Educational
Psychologist, 36(1), 2001.

Garver, M. (2009). Need-based segmentation analysis of University Career Services:

Implications for increasing student participation. Research in Higher Education

Journal, 3, 1.

Gaw, K. (2012). Measuring SLOs: The importance of scaling. NACE Knowledge

Center. Retrieved from: www.naceweb.org

Glesne, C. (2011). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction (4th ed.). Boston,
MA: Pearson. Chapter 6, pp. 162-183.
Graduate Management Admission Council. (2016). Corporate recruiters survey report.

Retrieved from: www.gmac.com/market-intelligenceandresearch

Graduate Management Admission Council. (2013). Global management education

graduate survey. Retrieved from: www.gmac.com/globalgrads
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
101
Graduate Management Admission Council. (2014). Prospective students

survey. Retrieved from: www.gmac.com/globalgrads

Graduate Management Admission Council. (2003). (2003). Tackling the top 10

challenges in career Services. Retrieved from: www.gmac.com

Graham, S., & Weiner, B. (1996). Theories and principles of motivation. In D. C.
Berliner & R. C. Calfee (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (Macmillan
Research on Education Handbook Series) (pp. 63–84). New York: Macmillan.
Grove, W. A., & Hussey, A. (2011). Returns to the field of study versus school quality:
MBA selection on observed and unobserved heterogeneity. Economic Inquiry,
49(3), 730–749.
Hannon, K. (2010). Consider a school’s career Services before applying. Retrieved
from: www.usnews.com/education
Hanover Research, (2012). Best practices in career Services for graduating students.
Washington DC: Academy Administration Practice
Harvard Business School, (2017). Career development resources. Retrieved from
www.hbs.edu/mba/career-path
Kezar, A. (2001). Theories and models of organizational change. Understanding and
facilitating organizational change in the 21
st
century: Recent research and
conceptualizations. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, 28(4), 25-58.
Kirkpatrick, D. L., & Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2006). Evaluating training programs. San
Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler
Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Kirkpatrick, W. K. (2016). Kirkpatrick’s four levels of training
evaluation. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
102
Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An overview. Theory Into
Practice, 41(4), 212–218.
Martin, E. (2017). 18 of the highest-paying consulting firms for MBAs. Business Insider.
Retrieved from www.businessinsider.com
Mayer, R. E. (2011). Applying the science of learning. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and
Implementation (4
th
Edition). San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
Murray, S. (2013). How an MBA can help you launch a consulting career! Retrieved

from www.businessbecause.com

Pajares, F. (2006). Self-efficacy theory. Retrieved from

http://www.education.com/reference/article/self-efficacy-theory/.

Pintrich, P. R. (2003). A motivational science perspective on the role of student

motivation in learning and teaching contexts. Journal of Educational Psychology,

95(4), 667–686.

Rueda, R. (2011). The 3 dimensions of improving student performance. New York:

Teachers College Press.

Schein, E. H. (2004). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Schmitt, J. (2017). The b MBA career centers. Poets & Quants, 2017.

Retrieved from: www.poetsandquants.com

Senge, P. (1990). The leader’s new work: building learning organizations. Sloan

Management Review, 32(1), 7–23.

Shraw, G., & Lehman, S. (2009). Interest. Retrieved from

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
103
http://www.education.com/reference/article/interest/.

Simmering, M., & Wilcox, I. B, (1995). Career exploration and identify formation in

MBA students. Journal of Education for Business, 70(4), 233-237.

Symonds, M. (2013). A history of the US News MBA rankings 1990 – 2003.

Retrieved from: www.mba50.com

University of Florida. (2016). Career Services center. Retrieved

from: www.crc.ufl.edu

US News (2017). Retrieved from: www.usnews.com

Weiner, B. (1985). An attribution theory of achievement motivation and emotion.

Psychological Review, 92, 548 – 573.

Yeaple, N. R, (2010). Measuring the economic value of pre-MBA work experience.

Journal of Education for Business, 85, 13-20.

Yough, M., & Anderman, E. (2006). Goal orientation theory. Retrieved from

http://www.education.com/reference/article/goal-orientation-theory/

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
104
Appendix A
Research Study - Interview Questions
General Questions:
1) Please describe your current Student Advisor or Employer Relations role at the
Career Services center in terms of focus areas from a business function or
industry vertical perspective.
2) How many years of experience do you have in MBA Career Services?
3) During your career in MBA Career Services, have you been in any other type of
role, over and above Student Advisor?
4) During your career in MBA Career Services, have you worked at any other
universities or business schools?

Organizational Influences
5) How is the Career Services Center organization structured in terms of roles and
responsibilities? How does your role fit into the broader organizational goals?
6) What are the organizational expectations on MBA student employment rates for
your industries, if any? In your current role, to what degree are you held
accountable for employment outcomes for the students you support?
7) How are your job goals aligned with MBA student goals?
8) How are Career Services staff incentivized, if at all, for meeting or exceeding job
goals?

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
105
Knowledge Influences
9) What type of industries do you specialize in for the MBA students?
10) Typically, what do your MBA students do upon graduation? How often do they
work in their desired industry? What is the current industry employment rate for
MBA students upon graduation? Please expand on any employment trends you
have seen in your role for the target industry over the past couple of years.
11) Can you describe the types of technical and soft skills employers of your industry
typically assess during the interview process? Is it more behavioral, technical, or
a combination of both?
12) How do you engage with MBA students to help them prepare for the interview
process prior to the recruitment period? Does that change during the interview
process and if so, please provide an example?
13) How do you prepare students for job interviews once they progress from the first
round, on campus interview or the second round in the office interview? How
successful has that approach been in the last year? Anything you would like to do
different? If so, please expand?

Motivational Influences
14) Describe what your role is as Career Services staff in helping MBA students
attain employment. What are your feelings related to helping MBA students
attain employment upon graduation? Any examples that support your position?
15) How do you feel about your capacity to support students in their pursuit of
employment post-graduation?
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
106
Overall
16) Do following any of the following areas at the Career Services Center have
opportunities for overall organizational improvement? If so, please expand
a. Training and development
b. Staff motivation
c. Staff to staff interaction
d. Staff to student interaction
e. Staff to employer interaction
f. Staff goal alignment with the organization

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
107
Appendix B
Evaluation Survey – Immediately Following the Workshop
1) Identify the top three business trends in your industry or job function.
(Declarative)
2) Explain how to incorporate market opportunity analysis for companies in your
industry/job function. (Procedural)
3) Describe why you thought this training was worthwhile. (Motivation)
4) State your level of confidence that you think you can do your job, on a scale 1-5,
with 5 being the highest level of confidence. (Motivation)
5) State your level of commitment to applying the training to your everyday job, on
a scale 1-5, with 5 being the highest level of commitment. (Motivation)
6) State if you your level of engagement during the training program, on a scale 1 -5,
with 5 being very high. (Engagement)
7) State the level of relevance of the training to your job in Career Services, on a
scale 1-5, with 5 being very high. (Relevance)
8) State your level of satisfaction with the training program, on a scale 1-5, with 5
being very high. (Satisfaction)

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
108
Appendix C
Evaluation Survey – 90 Days Following the Workshop
For the following questions, answer on a scale of 1 -5, with 5 being “strongly agree”, 3
being “neutral”, and 1 being “strongly disagree”
1) What I learned in the workshop is beneficial and valuable to my role as a Career
Services staff working with MBA students to attain employment upon graduation.
(L1)
2) I have been able utilize the training to become more familiar with industry or job
function business trends in my role as a Career Services staff. (L2)
3) I have been able to apply the training in how I prepare MBA students for
interviews in my role as a Career Services staff. (L3)
4) Based on the training, the interview success rate of the MBA students that I
support as a Career Services staff has increased resulting in higher employment
offers upon graduation. (L4)
The following question is open ended and qualitative in nature
5) Identify opportunities to improve the training workshop to best achieve results.

MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
109
Appendix D
Informed Consent/Information Sheet
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education

INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR EXEMPT NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

Evaluation of Career Services and MBA Employment Rates upon Graduation

You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people
who voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information about this study.
You should ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the study is to examine how the university supports MBA students in their
employment goals.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
You can participate by taking part in an in-person interview. The in-person interview will
last for one hour each and will be audio recorded for transcription and research purposes.
You do not have to answer any questions you don’t want to, and if you don’t want to be
taped, handwritten notes will be taken. You do not have to answer any questions you do
not want to.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION

There are no incentives for participation.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain
confidential. No personal identifiers of any kind will be used. The audio-tapes will be
destroyed once they have been transcribed. The data will be stored on a password protected
computer in the researcher’s office for one years after the study has been completed and
then destroyed.

Required language:
The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human
Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors
research studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.
MBA EMPLOYMENT RATES
110

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
TBD

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301,
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The purpose of the qualitative research study was to better understand a private university’s Career Services staff capacity to support MBA students in attaining employment upon graduation. The larger problem of practice addressed by this study related to the lower than optimal MBA student employment upon graduation given the time investment of two year and the high cost of tuition. The study utilized the Clark and Estes (2008) framework, focusing on Career Services staff’s knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences related to supporting the achievement of 100% employment for MBA students. Six in-person interviews were conducted with Career Services staff from the target organization. Data analysis demonstrated that while staff had the knowledge about employment criteria and interview structure, they needed more knowledge about employer technical interview preparation. In terms of motivation, the results were consistently high across both staff’s value for preparing MBA students and confidence in their ability to improve student preparation. Finally, from the organizational perspective, while the existing structure facilitated their capacity to support MBA students in a collaborative manner, the lack of a clearly defined student engagement model and staff evaluation metrics staff linked to MBA student employment were barriers. The primary recommendations consisted of supporting the technical employer interview process, increasing collaboration and engagement across the organization, and aligning staff evaluation metrics with MBA student employment upon graduation. Ultimately, the recommendation was to develop a full day training program to address the key findings and help CS staff better support MBA student’s pursuit of employment upon graduation.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Job placement outcomes for graduates of a southwestern university school of business: an evaluation study

PDF

College and career readiness through independent study: an innovation study

PDF

Employee churn in afterschool care: an evaluation study of manager influences on employee retention and turnover

PDF

Nonprofit donor retention: a case study of Church of the West

PDF

Line staff and their influence on youth in expanded learning programs: an evaluation model

PDF

Violence experienced by registered nurses working in hospitals: an evaluation study

PDF

Preparing millennial students for a multigenerational workforce: an innovation study

PDF

Application of professional learning outcomes into the classroom: an evaluation study

PDF

Improving instructor skills (IIS): a Needs analysis

PDF

The Bridge Program and underrepresented Latino students: an evaluation study

PDF

Evaluation of thesis completion in a graduate blended learning program

PDF

The role of higher education in bridging workforce skills gaps: an evaluation study

PDF

Collaborative instructional practice for student achievement: an evaluation study

PDF

The moderating role of knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences on employee turnover: A gap analysis

PDF

Completion in online learning: graduate students' perspectives

PDF

The knowledge, motivation, and organization influences affecting the frequency of empathetic teaching practice used in the classroom: an evaluation study

PDF

Spiritual persistence of high school alumni: an evaluation model

PDF

Customer satisfaction with information technology service quality in higher education: an evaluation study

PDF

Online graduate-level student learning and engagement: developing critical competencies for future leadership roles: an evaluation study

PDF

Evaluating the problem of college students graduating into underemployment and unemployment

Asset Metadata

Creator Ramakrishnan, Arvind (author)

Core Title Employment rates upon MBA graduation: An evaluation study

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Publication Date 01/31/2018

Defense Date 12/15/2017

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag career services,gap analysis,KMO,Knowledge,MBA employment,Motivation,OAI-PMH Harvest,organization

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Seli, Helena (committee chair), Datta, Monique (committee member), Ziemniak, Anne (committee member)

Creator Email arvind327@gmail.com,arvindra@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-465991

Unique identifier UC11267467

Identifier etd-Ramakrishn-5977.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-465991 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Ramakrishn-5977.pdf

Dmrecord 465991

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Ramakrishnan, Arvind

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA