ISSN: 2249-7196
IJMRR/ October 2014/ Volume 4/Issue 10/Article No-2/961-980
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
*Corresponding Author www.ijmrr.com 961
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH ON THE FACTORS INFLUENCING SELECTION
OF MANAGEMENT SCHOOL AMONG ASPIRANTS
Cheshta Sharma*1 ,Vikas Bhanot
2
1Research Scholar, Dept. of Management, Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mullana,
Haryana, India.
2Alumni, LMTSOM, Thapar University, Patiala, Punjab, India.
ABSTRACT
The growing need of market is creating demand for professionals who are something more
than an engineer and have an edge over technical knowledge with managerial skills. But the
engineering graduates are always confused, do they really want to go for higher studies or
they should stick to their engineering profession only. “Do we need an MBA??” this is the
most important question which comes in mind of every engineering student in his/her final
stages of the course.In this paper we made an attempt to analyse factors influencing selection
of management school among the aspirants. A Master in Business Administration opens
many doors to an advanced management position and many other great career opportunities.
However, is not necessary to have an MBA to have a successful career, and the process is
definitely not for everyone. We concluded from our survey that there are three key
influencing factor which are reputation of the institute, quality of placements and placements
which contributes 68% of all the factors of selecting a Management School.
INTRODUCTION
The MBA qualification broadens and enhances knowledge and should be viewed in a sense
of building up skills. Although the most popular reasons for undertaking the MBA is to
increase salary, other reasons include widening career opportunities, furthering one’s career
and/or to extend personal networks.
Today, an MBA is the most prestigious qualification in the world. It offers the potential for
talented young professionals to place themselves in the shop window for the most prestigious
and highest paying recruiters in the world; companies like Accenture, Bain, McKinsey & Co.,
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley treat the MBA qualification as essential for career changers
seeking to join their firms.
There are other equally important reasons that any prospective MBA student will state, but by
far the most compelling is to create career opportunities for oneself. The challenges imposed
by the 21st century have made it an essential component that we upgrade skills and
qualifications in order to meet the demands set by companies, customers and the environment
we operate within.
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This is where the MBA becomes a tool to be utilized in building up existing competencies -
the theory learned can be utilized to find plausible solutions to concurrent business issues. At
the end of an MBA program, one emerges with an upper level of functional managerial and
business issues as well as new conceptual skills ready to meet the demands that are set by the
competitiveness around us.
Selecting a school from which to obtain an MBA degree can be as confusing as choosing a
personal computer. MBA programs are similar to one another in design, and most of them
offer approximately the same general courses. However, there are subtle differences that can
be critical in determining compatibility.
The larger the quantity, the greater the variant shades of quality of these schools. At one end
of the spectrum you have world-class institutes and at the other end, there are the low-grade
varieties, degrees from which are not exactly passports to big-ticket jobs.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Dr Lew of Damelin International College of Postgraduate Business Sciences in the
magazine of the Fuqua School of business published in July 07 says:
“The fact is, we are operating in an ever-changing, fast-paced, highly competitive and global
world of work, but how does one respond to this environment. According to Dr Charlene
Lew, former dean of the Damelin International College of Postgraduate Business Sciences,
the first step would be to gain an understanding of this distraught business world. “It all starts
with an understanding of the economy and how businesses can contribute to the invention of
products that will increase the country’s resources. With that is an understanding of economic
concepts, such as ‘inflation’ and ‘consumer price index’. A simple insight into managerial
economics, such as supply and demand and opportunity costs assists MBA graduates
understands the role of profit maximisation endeavours in the firm and how economics
inform organisational decision-making.”
Smith Jayne of wall street journal in the business context of august 07 edition says:
“The MBA manager can truly add value to any firm. And the value is added where it really
matters – in improved performance of the manager and in increased profitability of the
company. “But, a principle condition to this increased value-add needs to be clearly stated -
the value added is proportional to the degree to which the MBA knowledge is applied,”
Rashmi Bansal alumni IIM Ahmedabad in the April 08 edition of Business week says:
“At a top tier Management School, you'll find all of the above species of professors - and
then some. But for an academic, what is the real measure of greatness? Popularity among
students or stature among peers? Number of papers published or days spent consulting with
companies? Management - never an exact science - is a field where the academic community
has struggled. However, the debate has just got more heated.”
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Warren G. Bennis and James O'Toole of university of South California in august 07
published article ’ Reflections on Leadership and Change’ says:
“The scientific model is predicated on the faulty assumption that business is an academic
discipline like chemistry or geology when, in fact, business is a profession and business
schools are professional schools - or should be," the paper asserts. "Business school deans
may claim that their schools remain focused on practice, but they nevertheless hire and
promote research-oriented professors who haven't spent time working in companies."
C.K. Prahalad professor University of Michigan Ross School of Business in his’ book base
of the pyramid’ Management Guru says:
“The truth is, many academics join the field because of the personal freedoms it offers. They
crave to be "who they are" - a state of being which is often not possible in the corporate
sector. But 'succeeding' in academics, often equated with bagging prestigious consulting
assignments, is not just about brilliance. It requires the very same profile-building and
perseverance in the PR department that most 'thinking types' abhor. Which is why there are
so few Management School professors with their names in lights - both in India and
elsewhere? Peter Drucker is an exception.”
Abhishek Saha student of Oxford university in business week February 08 says:
“A student of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, doesn't enjoy distractions, especially
as he's invariably saddled with projects, assignments and a gruelling schedule. So when he
wants to withdraw money, he doesn't need to step outside the campus. Instead, he simply
steps out of his room to the ICICI ATM machine that has been installed just outside his
hostel. Every second is precious for Saha and the authorities at IIM Calcutta know this only
too well. That's why the entire campus boasts of 8Mbps Internet connectivity helping Saha to
connect to his laptop easily. For his notes, Saha steps into the special computer room
equipped with a laser printer. Break time for him and his friends includes a trip to the gym
with its state-of-the-art equipment and a sports room which boasts of a snooker table, besides
other regular indoor games. And yes, after all the sweat and toil, the dirty clothes don't have
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to be handwashed. They are simply dumped into the washing machines that have been
installed in the campus.”
Dipak Jain Dean of Kellogg says:
“Kellogg, which was deposed from the top perch of BW, should be suffering anxiety attacks.
The reality however, is that Business School officials have become more sanguine about
rankings in recent years, as the proliferation of rankings reinforces their skepticism and as
they realize that rankings seem to be steadily losing their impact with MBA applicants around
the world. Although The Wharton School still tops rankings, Dean Pat Harker argues “Some
people believe that if the rankings help us, who cares if they are flawed or give a limited view
of the school? But we can’t have it both ways. We either endorse a defective, inconsistent
practice, or we speak out and work with the media to enable them to report with more useful,
objective data.”
Frederick Taylor an American mechanical engineer says:
“Defines management as the art of knowing what you want to do and then seeing that it is
done in the best and cheapest way. Management certainly applies science too but it is more
art, based on "insight," "vision," "intuition." And most management is craft, which means
that it depends on experience and learning. Put together a good deal of craft with a certain
amount of art and some science, the manager ends up with a job that is practice. There is no
'one best way' to manage as it depends on the situation.”
Raj Nambiar Programme Director The International College (THINC) Mumbai says “One
thing uniform about Indian business schools, regardless of size, reputation, location,
placements and other academic trivia, is that all of them are ranked amongst the top-10 by
some incongruous publication or the other.”
While the ranking system for universities / colleges / business schools in the West (typically
represented by institutions in the US, UK, Europe) have become more and more scientific,
the same cannot be said about institutions back home. The better known publications such as
a US College News or the Financial Times in the UK resort to statistical tools using historical
data and year-wise comparisons whilst still relying on the basic benchmarks such as faculty,
research, infrastructure / facilities, student scholastic performance, admission criterion,
programs of study and many such prerequisites. Unfortunately, the ranking race is a
commercial opportunity waiting to be exploited for most publications worth their salt. The
race has gotten murkier with publications of all hues jumping onto the ranking bandwagon.
So a cursory glance at any publication at least through the time that students / parents are
considering possible study options would reveal institutions from all corners touting their
newly acquired ranking (which invariably is about how much advertising space the institution
being ranked commits to purchase in the publication which ranks). It makes for interesting
reading how many institutions that have just begun have been ranked for the previous five
years. While the publication / institution conducting the ranking survey is mentioned in fine
print in all probability at the bottom of the advertisement, the criterion used by the
publication in arriving at published rankings would be unavailable to most of us. While the
business of ranking helps add to the bottom lines of most publications, it definitely would be
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Copyright © 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 965
worrying if parents / students actually considered the rankings as credible measures of the
institution's effectiveness or for that matter in making admissions decisions. And there are
publications that can make the deal sweeter by providing the institution with a good ranking
as well as advertorial space next to the page in which these rankings are published. The
advertorial normally quotes a Professor or a Director of the institution paying to be ranked -
and in India it doesn't take tenure, teaching experience or terminal degrees to become a
Professor - the moment you are employed to teach, you become one.
Paul Kedrosky Executive Director of the William J. von Liebig Center in San Diego says:
“The heads of two of the world's top business schools are leaving their jobs at a crucial
moment for MBA programs. The deans of Yale and Harvard are resigning--a rare double
departure in the upper echelon of business schools. It feels a little like rats leaving a sinking
ship. Applications to most top-tier MBA programs have trended down for almost a half
decade now, with Wharton applications falling 21% in 2004. The number of people writing
the Graduate Management Admissions Test, a leading indicator of business school
applications, has fallen 22% since 2002. Why is the bloom off the rose for MBA programs,
and does it have anything to do with why Jeffrey Garten, former dean of Yale, resigned from
his post in June, and Kim Clark, head of Harvard, plans to follow suit at the end of July? The
trouble with business schools, in a nutshell, is that they don't work, they take too much time,
and they cost too much money. As most students discover, the main value of MBA programs
lies in the people you meet.”
Coomi Kapoor editor Indian express says:
“SHOULD higher professional education be cost-effective or should it be subsidised by the
state? That question has come to the fore following the surprise decision by the premium
Indian Institutes of Management to triple its fees from the coming academic session.
Politicians led by HRD Minister Arjun Singh reacted angrily to the rise. They argued that
even higher education is a social service and, therefore, ought to remain unaffected by rising
all-round costs. Votaries of the fee rise, on the other hand, supported the increase, pleading
that those acquiring specialised education get recruited by major national and international
corporate houses at six- and seven-figure annual salaries and, therefore, ought to be made to
pay for their specialised education. There are six IIMs in the country. Every year major
domestic and multinational corporations raid their campuses to snap up various IIM
“products” at fancy salaries. Some of the starting salaries offered to IIM students can run into
nearly Rs10mil (RM788,000)a year. The average starting package, though, is in the region of
Rs3mil (RM236,000) for an IIM post-graduate. To give you a perspective on the mind-
boggling salaries available to IIM products, the per capita income of Indians is less than
Rs30,000 (RM2,360) a year. It was the IIM–Ahmedabad which, so to say, belled the cat. The
chairman of the IIM-A’s board of directors Vijaypat Singhania surprised everyone by
announcing that after a review of the “cost structure” of the two-year post-graduate
programme, the fee has been tripled. From the existing Rs450,000 (RM35,460) for both
years, the new fee would be Rs11,500,000 (RM906,280), that is, Rs550,000 (RM43,344) in
the first year and Rs600,000 (RM47,284) in the second year from the new academic year
beginning June this year.”
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Copyright © 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 966
Dr. Vinith Kumar Nair Asst. Professor DC School of Management & Technology
Pullikkanam says:
“There are about 1200+ business schools in India (not an official estimate) which offer
Management Programs in different formats churning out more than 55000 MBA's in a year.
In India, a management program costs a fraction of one in the West. While an MBA at a top-
ranking Management School in India may cost Rs.3 lakhs, it would cost four times the
amount to get into even a B-category school in the West. Now though Sriram has got this
information but he is still confused about the Management Schools in India. He knows about
the Ivy League, the IIM's, S.P.Jain, NMIMS etc and about the next category of Management
Schools which gives him good education like TAPMI, IMT, Symbiosis, Amrita School of
Business, GIM etc. but what about the rest of the schools. What if he wants to study in a
Management School which is close to his place or what are the other options available in
terms of a Management Program if he is not able to make into the top 20 Management
Schools. There is no system in India whereby the quality of the institute is known. Though
there is a system of ranking carried out by many magazines like Business India, Business
Today, Outlook etc. but nothing is concrete and there is a huge variation in their rankings.
Though ratings are out for this academic year also, a huge variation has been observed in the
same and many of the top institutions not participating in the same. Though there are two
bodies National Board of Accreditation (NBA) of the AICTE or the National Assessment and
Accreditation Council (NAAC) of UGC, which is coming out with a formal system of
accreditation, but there are very few institutes or programs, which have been accredited. The
students who are planning to go for MBA and their guardians who spend a lot of money on
their education are not aware of the grading and their significance. The regulatory authorities
like AICTE and UGC should play a much bigger role in this respect and it is not only
approving the new programs and the institutes but also keeping a check on this institutes as
part of the social responsibility which should be on their cards.”
R. Sukumar & Pareena Kawatra research associates BT January edition says:
“Indian Management Schools aren't producing enough managers. The evidence? According
to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, there are 1,125 companies in India whose
turnover exceeds Rs 100 crore, comprising 74 banking corporations, 30 financial services
companies, 886 manufacturing companies, and 135 service-providers. And their collective
appetite for new managerial resources is greater than the supply.Of the 74 banks, 80 per cent
-- the nationalised banks -- can be assumed to be uninterested in hiring MBAs. Let us guess
that the average requirement of the remaining 15 is likely to be between 5 and 10 managers a
year. Assuming a mean of 7.50, the banking sector's annual requirement of entry-level
managers can be placed at 113. Given the state of the financial services sector, only about 50
per cent of the firms are likely to need entry-level managers in the medium term. And the
annual requirement of each of these 15 companies can be pegged at between 3 and 5. Taking
a mean of 4, the sector's annual requirement is 60 MBAs.
Prince Kaushal student LMTSOM says:
“Companies hire recruiters to fill their needs, and recruiters are going to do what it takes to
find a match for the company. Because recruiters only get paid if their referral gets hired,
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
Copyright © 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 967
some recruiters will spend more time and energy on the person who is most likely to get hired
quickly and for the highest salary (on which the recruiter’s commission is usually based).
Often times, the higher ranked the MBA program, the easier it is to find a recruit a job. This
is not always the case however, as each student brings different skills and abilities to their job
search.”
Sachin Verma student PUNJABI UNIVERSITY,PATIALA says:
“Top tier schools continually produce highly sought after employees. The relationship each
school has among certain industries and employers can have a major effect on how sought
after their students is. Employers also view MBA programs differently. Some of the larger
banks, Fortune 500 companies, and investment firms will only hire out of top ranked
programs, while many regional and local companies have long standing relationships with
smaller MBA programs and hire extensively through those schools”
Nipeksh Birbian student UBS,Chandigarh says:
“If you are interested in a particular concentration, find out which schools are noted for that
field of study. Northwestern's Kellogg School, for example, is considered to have one of the
best Marketing departments in the country. Consult any one of several books that profile
business schools and highlight noteworthy departments for more information. You may find
information using the MBA websites to which BC has links.”
Gagandeep Singh student Chitkara Univeristy says:
“This is often a measure in determining published rankings of business schools. Check the
business school's prospectus to see what companies recruit on campus, what percentages of
graduates are employed within three months of graduation, and what the average starting
salary is for graduates with different concentrations and different backgrounds (prior industry
experience, length of experience).”
SIMRAN KAUR student Aryans Buss School says:
“An MBA opens doors that otherwise may not have been open to you, or at least, the door
would not have been open to you as quickly. Many times an MBA can also raise your career
ceiling, that is allow you to reach a higher position in your career than you otherwise would
have. Similarly, an MBA can give you a better chance at getting hired more quickly if you
are between positions or if you relocate.”
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
A study was conducted to understand and explain what are the various factors that affect the
choice of Management School by engineering graduates. A questionnaire was designed to
study these factors. The questionnaire focused on the following fifteen factors which were
considered to be important in explaining engineering graduates’ choice of Management
School:
a) Reputation of the institute/Ranking
This is not everything, but, among schools that do not differ dramatically in their ability to
deliver what a student is looking for, it is highly likely to be a critical factor. Rankings like
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
Copyright © 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 968
those produced each year in Business Week, Business World, India Today etc. can give some
idea of a school's reputation relative to other schools. Reputation can be important for
placement success, because companies will sometimes only recruit at certain schools.
b) Infrastructure
A good business school has the basic facilities necessary to provide a quality education. This
includes a separate building dedicated to the needs of the business program. A dedicated
building is probably more likely to have the equipment and room configurations necessary
for a business curriculum. It also includes library facilities, students' access to computers, wi-
fi connectivity and classroom and residential facilities.
c) Quality of placement
It relates to what kind of companies are coming for recruitment, what is the starting salary
being offered , whether the students have the choice of jobs they dream for, etc.
d) Placements
It is also a factor that is considered by prospective students before joining a Management
School. Students often check the business school's prospectus to see what companies recruit
on campus, what percentage of graduates are employed within three months of graduation,
and what the average starting salary is for graduates with different concentrations and
different backgrounds.
e) Teaching Methodology
There should be proper use of computers, Audio and Visual aids. Two predominant methods
are theory based and case method. Theory based coursework emphasizes learning theory in
lecture formats. Case method emphasizes discussions about real-life business situations and
how to resolve them. Most schools offer a blend of both.
f) Faculty
One way to determine the emphasis that a school places on teaching is to examine the
school's policies that affect the hiring and evaluation of the faculty. At one end of the
spectrum are schools that try to ensure teaching excellence by using only senior level faculty
in the classroom, evaluating the faculty on their classroom performance, and measuring their
production of teaching materials (textbooks and cases). At the other extreme are schools that
have policies to use doctoral student "teaching assistants" or recent Ph.D. graduates who may
have little teaching or practical experience, policies to promote and tenure faculty strictly on
the basis of their research records, and policies that do not recognize the value of writing
teaching materials.
Percentage of senior faculty: It gives an idea about how much experienced faculty is
available with the school.
Percentage of faculty holding doctorate degrees: Higher the percentage of doctorate
faculty, the higher the quality of teaching.
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Percentage of faculty having recent publications in scholarly journals: The publication of
scholarly research assures that a faculty member is knowledgeable of the most current trends
in the field.
Percentage of faculty that has published textbooks: Those who write textbooks spend a
considerable amount of time and effort thinking about perfecting the learning and teaching
process. It seems reasonable to assume that there is a relationship between the quality of
teaching and the extent to which the faculty are engaged in the preparation of teaching
material.
g) Fees / Scholarship, Financial Aids
As doing an MBA is a costly affair so several options are available to fund the fee. These
include:
• Scholarships: Many schools offer robust scholarship packages based on merit or need. It
is always a good idea to investigate the availability of scholarships.
• Grants: Grants are wonderful because they do not have to be repaid. There are grants to
be had from schools, as well as at the national, state, and local level. Most grants are need
based, but there are others that are not.
• Work/Study Programs: These are a great way to help pay your tuition or living
expenses while attending school. Some schools offer you the chance to teach an undergrad
course, or do other work in the school which will lower your tuition and give you a stipend.
These programs can be very competitive.
• Student Loans: Loans are the least favourable option from this list because you must
repay them, and you may not qualify for a good interest rate. The good news is, many banks
are willing to extend loans for MBA students because they know that once you graduate, you
should be in line for a nice payday.
• Other financial aid: Sometimes you need to get creative to find other sources of money.
The Internet and your admissions office will be the places to look.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Return on investment relates with how much money you are putting in your MBA degree and
how much you will get at the end of it. To determine ROI following things need to be
considered:
• Cost of MBA program: Once you have decided on which program you wish to attend,
you will know roughly how much it will cost.
• Opportunity cost: This is the forgone salary while you attend your MBA program.
• Post MBA salary: Of course, this is an unknown for students, but thankfully most MBA
programs keep track of this information for past students. You may be able to make a
reasonable estimate.
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Example ROI
As an example, let us assume that a student with work-ex currently earn Rs.3,00,000 per year,
and the MBA program that has been accepted to costs Rs.1,00,000 per year. Assuming this is
a 2 year course, a student will spend Rs.1,44,000 on tuition, and give up Rs.6,00,000 in
forgone salary. However, the total cost of the program is not just Rs.1,44,000, it is really
Rs.6,44,000 because the student missed out on salary for two years*.
Next consider post-MBA salary and determine how long it will take to make up that
Rs.6,44,000 difference. Let us assume the post MBA salary is Rs.5,55,000 per year. With the
additional salary of Rs.2,55,000 per year, the student will earn back that Rs.6,44,000 in 2.5
years. Although it will take 2.5 years to earn back the cost of tuition and lost salary,
everything earned after that is “profit.” This is where return on investment comes in.
*For this example, we will assume the salaries will remain constant. Raises and promotions
are wild cards and lead to more difficult math.
h) Admission Eligibility
Most of the Management Schools accept CAT, MAT, XAT, JMET scores. Some of the
Management Schools also conduct their own entrance tests. Different weight age is given to
test scores and GD/PI. Percentage of marks earned in graduation is also considered.
i) Learning Environment
It includes various factors such as:
Program Reputation: MBA degree will stay for the rest of your life. So will its
reputation.When considering the reputation, one may need to consider how well the
prospective school is looked upon by international, national, regional, or local employers.
Program Specialization: Sometimes the rank of the school is not s important as how well
the school specializes in certain fields. Common specializations include accounting,
entrepreneurship, IT, finance, marketing, strategy, operations, or logistics.
Program Flexibility: Can a student choose a specialty, is there flexible class scheduling, is
the program a lock-step program (meaning you work with the same group of people in a
rigidly structured schedule)?
In-residence or Distance Learning: Where and how one learns is a very important
consideration. One has to choose the program and learning style one will benefit the most
from.
Full-time or Part-time: Is the program being offered full-time or part-time?
j) Course Curriculum or Choice of Trade
It includes what are the various areas of specialization offered viz. HR, finance, marketin, IT,
operations etc. another factor here is what are the various subjects being offered, what are the
electives being offered etc.
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k) Location
Schools located in major cities offer both a social life outside the schools' walls and part-time
employment possibilities. A school's location (as well as its language of instruction) may
offer a chance to learn another language and culture. Going abroad to school may offer a
chance to work abroad, but at the sacrifice of local connections in your home country. Better
the location; more are the prospects of getting a good job. A Management School should
have easy access to industry, so that a series of corporate lectures by eminent industrialists
could be arranged.
l) Accreditation/Affiliation
Make sure that your MBA program is approved by either AICTE / UGC. If it is accredited by
NBA then it is much better. As NBA accreditations are widely recognized and looked with
respect.
m) Student Culture
It is always considered better if there is diversity among the students. By diversity it is meant
that students come from different backgrounds, cultures etc. There should be a proper mix of
students with work-experience and freshers.
n) Friends Recommendation
Prospective MBA students do take into consideration the recommendations of their family
friends. A student often takes advice from his friends and seniors who are already doing
MBA from other Management Schools. It helps the students to get an idea about the work
culture, environment, reputation; placement etc. of the Management School and makes it
easier to make a choice.
o) Exchange Program & Corporate Linkage
There should be student exchange programs with foreign universities of repute. For this, a
Management School should have MoU with foreign institutes. Moreover, it is better to have
corporate linkages so that the course curriculum could be modified according to the industry
needs. Corporate linkages also help in getting the trainings and placements of students done.
FIELD SURVEY
As the topic of our research is related to engineering students so we choose to conduct a pilot
survey. A questionnaire survey was administered to final (4th) year students as well as pre-
final (3rd) year students of various engineering branches This study used final year and pre-
final year students for two important reasons. First, most of the final year students are likely
to have made their career decisions by this time and, second; many third year students start
preparing for MBA so that there is no gap in their studies.
Care was taken to conform to established procedures for creating the survey questionnaire
with respect to such things as phrasing of questions, appropriateness of wording for intended
subjects, clarity of questionnaire items, structuring and scoring a Likert-type scale, and pre-
testing the survey questionnaire.
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
Copyright © 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 972
Soucrce: www.business-today.com
Pilot Survey
A pilot survey was conducted among 10-15 students to check whether the questions included
were relevant as well as understandable, appropriate changes to the questionnaire were made
thereafter.
Finally a questionnaire consisting of 15 questions was administered. For each item the
students were asked to indicate the extent of their agreement or disagreement on a 5-point
Likert-type scale ranging from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly disagree.” Thus the scores
potentially could have ranged from 15 (15 X 1) to 75 (15 X 5), with higher scores indicating
more influence of the given factor. In total 150 completed questionnaires were received of
which 115 were used for analysis. Of the 115 respondents, 70 were male and 45 were female.
The average age of students surveyed was 22 years.
DATA ANALYSIS
Factor Analysis:
Step 1: Descriptive Statistics
Interpretation: Preferred sample size is 75 (=15*5). We have taken 114 samples
114/15= 7.6 > 5
Mean Std. Deviation Analysis N
VAR00001 4.4649 .82204 114
VAR00002 4.0088 .81464 114
VAR00003 4.4123 .98494 114
VAR00004 4.2105 .96371 114
VAR00005 3.7105 1.06200 114
VAR00006 3.7544 1.06896 114
VAR00007 3.3070 1.17592 114
VAR00008 3.6404 .96969 114
VAR00009 3.7368 .93177 114
VAR00010 3.7544 .93659 114
VAR00011 3.3158 1.09960 114
VAR00012 3.8158 1.06069 114
VAR00013 3.5351 1.06580 114
VAR00014 3.1842 1.03536 114
VAR00015 3.4737 1.24240 114
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
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Step 2: Correlation Matrix
Interpretation: Principal component analysis requires that there be some correlations greater
than 0.30 (more than 1) between the variables included in the analysis. For this set of
variables, there are 31 correlations in the matrix greater than 0.30, satisfying this
requirement. They are highlighted.
Step 3: KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling
Adequacy. .762
Bartlett's Test of
Sphericity
Approx. Chi-Square 510.649
df 105
Sig. .000
Interpretation: The set of variables included in the analysis was 0.762, which exceeds the
minimum requirement of 0.50 for overall MSA. Principal component analysis requires that
the probability associated with Bartlett's Test of Sphericity be less than the level of
significance. The Bartlett's Test of Sphericity is a statistical test for overall significance of all
correlations within a correlation matrix. The probability associated with the Bartlett test is
p<0.001, which satisfies this requirement. The variables now included in the analysis satisfy
the screening criteria for the appropriateness of factor analysis. The next step is to determine
the number of factors that should be included in the factor solution.
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
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Interpretation: There are two anti-image matrices: the anti-image covariance matrix and the
anti-image correlation matrix. We are interested in the anti-image correlation matrix.
Principal component analysis requires that the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling
Adequacy (or simply MSA) to be greater than 0.50 for each individual variable as well as the
set of variables. (The sampling adequacy evaluates the appropriateness of applying factor
analysis. Values above 0.50 for either the entire matrix or an individual variable indicate
appropriateness). In our initial analysis, the MSA for the VAR00014 variable was 0.434.
Since this is less than 0.50, the variable should be removed from the principal component
analysis.
Step 4: Communalities
Initial Extraction
VAR00001 1.000 .657
VAR00002 1.000 .532
VAR00003 1.000 .728
VAR00004 1.000 .670
VAR00005 1.000 .693
VAR00006 1.000 .766
VAR00007 1.000 .596
VAR00008 1.000 .424
VAR00009 1.000 .689
VAR00010 1.000 .480 VAR00011 1.000 .566
VAR00012 1.000 .530
VAR00013 1.000 .562
VAR00014 1.000 .543
VAR00015 1.000 .457
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Interpretation: The next adjustment that we make to the factor solution is to examine the
communalities. The communalities represent the proportion of the variance for each of the
variables included in the analysis that is explained or accounted for by the components in the
factor solution. The derived components should explain at least half of each original
variable's variance, so the communality value for each variable should be 0.50 or higher. If
one or more variables have a value for communality that is less than 0.50, the variable with
the lowest communality should be excluded and the principal component analysis should be
computed again. In the above case we have var00008 =.424 ,which is less than 0.5,
therefore should be removed from the analysis.
Communalities (Revised - i)
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Communalities (Revised - ii)
Initial Extraction
VAR00001 1.000 .656
VAR00002 1.000 .522
VAR00003 1.000 .727
VAR00004 1.000 .678
VAR00005 1.000 .705
VAR00006 1.000 .764
VAR00007 1.000 .646
VAR00008 1.000 .438
VAR00009 1.000 .678
VAR00010 1.000 .574
VAR00011 1.000 .730
VAR00012 1.000 .525
VAR00013 1.000 .559
VAR00015 1.000 .417
Initial Extraction
VAR00001 1.000 .666
VAR00002 1.000 .505
VAR00003 1.000 .740
VAR00004 1.000 .714
VAR00005 1.000 .710
VAR00006 1.000 .773
VAR00007 1.000 .654
VAR00008 1.000 .447
VAR00009 1.000 .666
VAR00010 1.000 .627
VAR00011 1.000 .762
VAR00012 1.000 .524
VAR00013 1.000 .561
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Communalities (Revised - iii)
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Communalities (Revised - iv)
Initial Extraction
VAR00001 1.000 .662
VAR00002 1.000 .489
VAR00003 1.000 .742
VAR00004 1.000 .721
VAR00005 1.000 .721
VAR00006 1.000 .789
VAR00007 1.000 .664
VAR00009 1.000 .649
VAR00012 1.000 .521
VAR00013 1.000 .544
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis
Final Communalities
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Interpretation: Running the principal components analysis after removing the last variable
produces a table of communalities where all are above 0.50.
Initial Extraction
VAR00001 1.000 .662
VAR00002 1.000 .454
VAR00003 1.000 .742
VAR00004 1.000 .716
VAR00005 1.000 .722
VAR00006 1.000 .778
VAR00007 1.000 .635
VAR00009 1.000 .635
VAR00010 1.000 .364
VAR00012 1.000 .518
VAR00013 1.000 .553
Initial Extraction
VAR00001 1.000 .664
VAR00003 1.000 .740
VAR00004 1.000 .719
VAR00005 1.000 .734
VAR00006 1.000 .800
VAR00007 1.000 .658
VAR00009 1.000 .608
VAR00012 1.000 .556
VAR00013 1.000 .664
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
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Step 5: Total Variance Explained
Interpretation: The components explain 68.265% of the total variance in the variables
which are included on the components.
Step 6: Component Matrix (a)
Component
1 2 3
VAR00001 .645 -.410 -.282
VAR00003 .705 -.428 -.245
VAR00004 .574 -.584 -.219
VAR00005 .734 .417 -.149
VAR00006 .792 .396 -.126
VAR00007 .228 .672 -.393
VAR00009 .624 .326 .336
VAR00012 .474 -.185 .545
VAR00013 .465 .028 .669
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.a 3 components extracted.
Rotated Component Matrix (a)
Component
1 2 3
VAR00001 .796 .158 .079
VAR00003 .832 .167 .141
VAR00004 .841 -.035 .102
VAR00005 .255 .786 .225
VAR00006 .298 .797 .274
VAR00007 -.149 .761 -.241
VAR00009 .060 .501 .594
VAR00012 .223 -.035 .711
VAR00013 .029 .080 .810
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser
Normalization. a Rotation converged in 5 iterations.
Interpretation: Once variables have been removed for low communalities, we examine the
pattern of factor loadings (loadings greater than 0.40) to make certain that each variable loads
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
Copyright © 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 978
on one and only one component. This pattern is called simple structure and is an accurate
description of this table. Thus, the principal component analysis extracted 3 components –
Component 1 included the variables: Reputation of institute [VAR0001]; Quality of
placements [VAR0003]; placements [VAR0004].
Component 2 included the variables: teaching methodology [VAR0005];
faculty[VAR0006];fees/scholarship [VAR0007] .
Component 3 included the variables: learning environment[VAR0009]; Accreditation
[VAR00012]; student culture[VAR00013].
FINDINGS
Out of 15 total factors we consider following factors that were left after all the iterations were
completed:-
1. Reputation of the institute/Ranking
2. Quality of placement
3. Placements
4. Teaching Methodology
5. Faculty
6. Fees / Scholarship, Financial Aids
7. Learning Environment
8. Accreditation/Affiliation
9. Student Culture
Out of these nine factors 3 main factors viz Reputation of the institute/Ranking, Quality of
placement, Placements contributes 68 % of the total contribution of all the nine factors.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Factors
Percentage
Percentage
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
Copyright © 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 979
RECOMMENDATIONS
Reputation of Institute
Reputation of an institute is build upon by its faculty, programs offered, visibility and success
of its alumni. Schools with a strong brand will attract and retain the best students, faculty,
staff and corporate sponsors within their targeted marketed segment. Therefore it’s important
for an institute to have good corporate links, which would further enhance the reputation of
the institute in terms of placements, in terms of overall ranking and in terms of attracting the
best student .Moreover the institute should participate in various Management School surveys
conducted by various agencies, which would further help the institute to get a wider
recognition.
Quality of Placements
The institute should emphasize not on the quantity of the recruiters coming to the campus but
rather on the quality of the jobs being offered. The institute should see that a good starting
salary is being offered and also that the students are satisfied with the job profile. For this to
take place the institute should focus on good corporate linkages so that good quality
organizations come for recruitment.
PLACEMENTS
Often an institute is judged by the percentage of students recruited. This is a factor that many
students see before joining a Management School. So the placement cell of the institute
should do good efforts in bringing as many recruiters to the campus as possible.
LIMITATIONS
The main region of over survey was Patiala city & its adjoining area only. Such focus could
limit the generalizations of the findings of our study to the factor affecting choice of school in
India. The sample size of respondents, although 114 was achieved in this study, which is
considered as an acceptable size, nevertheless, it is felt that for a research like this, using a
larger sample size would have been more preferable.
REFRENCES
[1] Kamran A, Feroz AK, Manzunil A. An Empirical study of factors affecting Graduate
students career choice in New Zealand, 1997.
[2] Kapoor C. Should higher professional education be cost-effective, editor indian express,
2007.
[3] O’Lander R. Factors Effecting high School Student’s Choice of Computer Science as a
Major. St.John’s University, Jamaica, New York, 1993.
[4] Martin S. The MBA Guidebook. Management Research News 1993; 16(7): 15-18.
[5] Bennis WG, O'Toole J. Reflections on Leadership and Change, University of South
California, 2007.
[6] http://www.india-today.com/btoday/07051998/cover7.html
[7] http://scholar.google.com/advanced_scholar_search
Cheshta Sharma et. al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review
Copyright © 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 980
[8] www.onestopmba.com
[9] www. businesstoday.digitaltoday.in.
[10] www.advancedge.com
[11] http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5436/is_200504/ai_n21364211/pg_2
[12] http://businessworldindia.com/oct0305/coverstory16.asp
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