ISSN: Vol: 1 Issue: 1, 2009

Transcription

1 IMPACT OF THE MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM OF THE DIVINE WORD COLLEGES IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCE Elita B. Valdez, Ed. D. Divine Word College of Vigan, Vigan City Introduction: The prevailing economic crisis sweeping the country and the world impedes the successful attainment of the twin goals of quality and excellence. The delivery of quality education is a function of how far educational resources both human and material can go, hence, harnessing scant educational resources and putting these to optional use is a big challenge for all institutions. The challenge is even greater for graduate school which envision themselves to be a center for training and development, to be a provider of locally and globally competent leaders, whose professional competence, ethics and keen sense of Filipino culture could be harnessed in pushing the frontiers of knowledge and in delivering vital community services for the enhancement of the quality life in Philippine society. It was this light that the impact of the DWC Graduate School of the DWC in the SVD Northern Province was delved into this study. For one, data would be established as to whether or not the graduate school is accomplishing its vision in developing competent leaders who can become catalyst of change and development in their organization, and eventually in society. For another, well conducted assessment studies should be able to uncover systematic gaps and shortcomings that management can address by revisiting the curricula. The findings of the study therefore would be helpful in assessing the effectiveness of the MBA program in terms of graduates productivity. More, specifically, hearing the graduates feedbacks on how they perceive the impact of their trainings in the graduate school would be very insightful in assessing the effectiveness of the programs, and in evolving needdriven improvements. Theoretical Framework: To have a greater insight on the concepts of impact study in business education, ideas from authorities and experts were incorporated in this section as basis of understanding. Recent studies conducted by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) through the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (2004) entitled Evaluation of Graduate Education of the Philippines (EGEP) revealed that the operation of these graduate programs, namely: teacher education, business education and public administration are spread over a wide range in a terms of quality. Aside from the very few institutions recognized by the evaluators as outstanding or superior which can be considered as leaders and centers of excellence on development in their regions, a sizeable 51

2 number may be considered very good ; the bulk fair and many low or poor. A number of recommendations specific to each graduate programs were identified, one of them is the conduct of systematic tracer studies to find out how graduates are doing and assess the impact of their training to themselves, to the organization, and society. Arcelo (1996) opined that higher education must go beyond the academic realm. It must focus on providing the skills, knowledge, and values that enable graduates to contribute meaningfully to accelerate economic political, spiritual and social development and thus enhance their role in society as responsible and productive citizens. The MBA program in the Philippines has been generally successful as it has supplied the managerial force among many private organizations as well as public offices. Many of those who graduated from the country s best MBA schools are the leaders in government and industry today, deciding how companies are seen, shaping the destinies of industries and charting the course of the nation. The Philippine has also good MBA schools. For instance, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) based in Makati City, Philippines has been the training ground for Asia s Managers- not only Filipinos but Asians as well. Indeed, a consistent edge for the Philippines has been in its quality of management and business education. However, MBA education has also the weaknesses. Not all MBA schools run quality programs like AIM, or those offered by De La Salle University or Ateneo de Manila University. Many do not pass international standards. Some of the present weaknesses are low quality of faculty, lack of research skills and the low retention rate in the program. It has been observed that many MBA faculty members lack research skills and have no actual industry experience. Unless the faculty who teach graduate programs are themselves engaged in research and have had actual work experience in industry, the training of MBA students will be superficial. Still another aspect of graduate education is the motivation of students to enroll in the graduate program. In the MBA program, it is generally observed that many of the students are employees of private and government offices who enroll in the program to earn promotion in their jobs. Many of them discontinue after they have earned enough units to earn them a promotion. Hence, as the EDCOM Report correctly cited the motivation to pursue graduate studies is provided less by the desire to undertake research and more by the financial rewards attached to grade units. This largely explains why there is a low retention rate in the program. 52

3 Conceptual Framework: M B A P R O G R A M Phenomenon of Employment Age, Gender Civil Status Nature of Employment Graduate Assessment of the Graduate School Program Relevance Faculty Qualification Research Facilities Adequacy of Classrooms and Laboratory Facilities Adequacy of Library Materials Impact of the Training Programs Graduates Productivity Professional Development and Advancement Professional Recognition Socio-economic Factors Graduates Assessment On The Extent To Which The Program Goals Are Addressed By Their Trainings 53

4 Statement of the Problem: This study aimed to determine the impact of the MBA program of the Divine Word College in the SVD Northern Province. Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions: 1. What is the profile of the graduate school students in terms of the following phenomenon of employment factors: 1.1 age; 1.2 gender; 1.3 civil status; and 1.4 nature of employment? 2. What is the level of assessment of the graduates on the MBA program as to: 2.1 Program relevance; 2.2 Faculty qualification; 2.3 Research facilities; 2.4 Classroom and laboratory facilities; and 2.5 Library facilities? 3. Is there a significant difference of the graduates perceptions on the impact of their master s degree program by school in terms of: 3.1 Job productivity; 3.2 Professional development and advancement; 3.3 Professional recognition; and 3.4 Social and economic factors? 4. To what extent has the MBA program addressed the following goals as perceived by the graduates: 4.1 Provide for a graduate education that is Catholic and Divinian in character and responsive to local and international standards of quality and excellence; 4.2 Promote the development of critical thinking among students in the analysis of issues and concerns; 4.3 Train students to become agent of change in organizations through knowledge development and technology transfer; 4.4 Develop leaders grounded with sound management principles and theories and with sufficient exposure to contemporary issues and problems; and 4.5 Create nationalist perspective in responding to issues and problems? Methodology: Research Design: The researcher utilized the descriptive survey method of research. The descriptive survey method is considered appropriate for this study as it sought to determine the impact of the Divine Word Colleges: Divine Word College of Laoag, Divine Word College of Vigan, and Divine Word College of Bangued Graduate School in the Master in Business Administration (MBA) Program. Research Instrument: A questionnaire adopted from the study of Reynaldo Cruz (2007) of the University of Regina Carmeli was utilized to gather the pertinent data. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: 54

5 Part I solicited the data on the four personal factors of respondents which are age, gender, civil status, and nature of the respondents employment. Part II was made up of questions to identify the level of assessment of graduate students in the MBA program in terms of program relevance, faculty qualification, research facilities, adequacy of classroom and laboratory facilities and adequacy of library facilities. Part III composed of questions pertaining to the impact of the MBA program which was measured in terms of graduates productivity, professional development and advancement, professional recognition, and social and economic factors. Part IV consisted of the graduates perception on the extent to which the following program goals were addressed by the MBA program: provide graduate education that is Catholic and Divinian in character and responsive to local and international standards of quality and excellence, promote the development of critical thinking among students in the analysis of issues and concerns, train students to become agent of change in organizations through knowledge development and technology transfer, develop leaders grounded with sound management principles and theories and with sufficient exposure to contemporary issues and problems, and create a nationalist perspective in responding issues and problems. The respondents were guided by the following Likert Scale in accomplishing the questionnaire on the assessment of the MBA program: Scale 5 Excellent 4 Very Good 3 Good 2 Fair 1 Poor On the perception on the impact of their MBA degree and extent to which the graduate school goals have been addressed the following Likert Scale had been employed: Scale 5 Very Great Extent 4 Great Extent 3 Moderate Extent 2 Limited Extent 1 Very Limited Extent To interpret the average score on each component of the variables on assessment, impact of MBA training and extent to which the program goals have been attained, the researcher set the following norms: Average Score Range Category Description Excellent/ Very Great Extent Very Good/ Great Extent Good/ Moderate Fair/ Limited Extent Poor/Very Limited Extent 55

6 Locale of the Study: The research locale of this study was the SVD Northern Province of the Philippines. In 1981, the Society of the Divine Word Missionaries in the Philippines categorized geographically their area of mission. Societas Verbo Divini (SVD) or Society of the Divine Word had categorized them to the following: SVD Philippines South (PHS) consisting of Districts of Visayas and Mindanao; SVD Philippines Central (PHC) consisting of Districts of NCR, Bicol and Mindoro; and SVD Philippines North (PHN) consisting of Districts of Pangasinan, San Fernando, La Union-Baguio, Vigan- Laoag, Cagayan Valley and Tabuk, Mt. Province. Northern Province is the home of four (4) Divine Word Colleges owned and managed by the SVD s missionary congregation. Out of the four colleges three (3) of them offer the Graduate School, Master in Business Administration (MBA) program. These Divine Word Colleges are geographically located in Laoag City, Vigan City and Bangued, Abra. They are named Divine Word College of Laoag (DWCL), Divine Word College of Vigan (DWCV) and Divine Word College of Bangued (DWCB) respectively. Divine Word College of Urdaneta (DWCU) does not offer MBA program as yet. Population The population of this study consisted of the graduates of the Master in Business Administration (MBA) program on the school years to and those presently enrolled. To determine the sample for the study, random sampling was used. The 59 respondents were the graduates and the still-on-going with the MBA program graduate students representing 32 respondents from Divine Word College of Vigan; 14 respondents from Divine Word College of Laoag; the rest, 13 were from Divine Word College of Bangued. Data Gathering Procedure In the pursuit of the objectives of the study, the researcher first sought the permission from the Presidents and Deans of the Graduate School of the three (3) SVD Colleges in the Northern Province for the use of the graduate students in the Master in Business Administration as subjects of this study, afterwhich she personally contacted the deans in getting all the necessary data. Statistical Treatment of Data To enable the researcher to present and summarize the data in accordance with the objectives set in the study, the following statistical treatments were used: 1. The frequency count and percentage were used to categorize the respondents according to the phenomena of employment factors as age, gender, civil status and the nature of the respondents employment. 2. The weighted mean was used to determine the graduate assessment of the Graduate School and the Impact of the MBA program to the extent to which the program goals are addressed by their training. 56

7 3. The One-way Analysis of Variance or F-test was used to determine the differences in the graduates perception across schools. Scheffe Test was utilized to determine the result of the significant differences. Findings: 1. Personal Profile of the Respondents 1.1 A greater number (46 or 77.96%) of the graduates have ages 28 and above; only (13 or 22.04%) have ages 27 years and below. 1.2 There are 37 (62.72%) female graduates and graduate students and 22 (37.28%) are male. 1.3 Thirty six (36 or 61.02%) of the graduate students are married, only (21 or 35.59%) are single while (2 or 3.39%) are widowed. 1.4 Among the 59 graduate students, (28 or 47.45%) are employed as professional and technical workers, (11 or 18.65%) are occupying administrative and executive managerial positions, (11 or 18.65%) are also employed as clerks and related works and (3 or 15.25%) are government employees. 2.Level of Assessment of the Graduates on the Master in Business Administration Program of Divine Word Colleges in the Northern Province 2.1 The over-all assessment of the graduate school is Very Good where the mean rating is In the component Faculty Qualification was rated excellent with a mean rating of The following components: Program Relevance (x = 4.14); Research Facilities (x = 3.97); Classroom and Laboratory Facilities (x = 3.75); and Library Facilities (x = 3.92) were all rated Very Good. 3.Differences of the Graduates Perception as to the Impact of the MBA Program 3.1 When the perceptions of the MBA graduates were taken as a whole and their perception on the impact of job productivity were compared by institution, a highly significant difference is evident as backed up by the computed F value of 6.48 where the significance level of 0.05 exceeded 0.05 level of significance. These significant differences could be traced from the perception of the graduates from DWC Bangued as compared with those DWC Vigan and DWCV Laoag. 3.2 When the perceptions of the graduates were taken as a whole and their perception on professional development and advancement were compared by institution, an insignificant difference supported by a computed F value of 0.38 where the significance level failed to reach 0.05 level. 3.3 Insignificant difference also prevailed in the perceptions of the graduates on the impact of the MBA program towards professional recognition when compared by institution as backed up by the computed F value of 0.23 which has a significance level below 0.05 level. 3.4 When the comparison between DWC s graduates perception towards socio-economic factors was made, insignificant differences prevailed supported by a computed F Value of 0.95 was obtained. 4. Perceived Extent to which the MBA Program Addressed the Goals as Perceived by the Graduates 57

8 As a whole the respondent graduates perception extent to which the graduate school goals have been addressed by their trainings had been achieved to great extent with a over-all mean of Conclusions Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn. 1. Most of the MBA graduates of the Divine Word Colleges in the Northern Province are within the age range of 28 years and above, female dominated, married, and mostly employed as professional and technical workers. Graduate education is a fertile ground for leadership training. Graduate school trainings begin with orienting students to the basic principles and theories. Gradually these theoretical underpinnings combine with critical analysis of contemporary issues and problems and the application part comes with the exposures to organizations or schools doing case study analysis. The academic trainings compel them to develop critical and analytical thinking. The focus on creating a nationalist perspective trains them to become agents of change in their own organizations. 2. Graduate education contributes significantly in productivity enhancement and professional development and advancement. 3. Graduate education is viewed as a center for training and development. It offers opportunities both in terms of professional development and career advancement. MBA graduate students are grounded with sound management principles and theories and these are later complemented by meaningful exposures to organizational and societal issues and concerns. Boyer (1990) believes that time has come to move into a new paradigm shift in graduate education, to give it a broader, more capacious meaning which is scholarship and therefore, if one takes graduate education to heart, it would mean not simply knowledge generation. This is indeed the beginning but never the end. Armed with knowledge, the real scholar, looks for connection, builds bridges between theory and practice, and applies one s knowledge effectively in solving problems in organization and in society. Recommendations On the basis of the findings and conclusions, the following recommendations are advanced. 1.One of the recommendation in the study is the infusing information technology into the educational process would give the graduate school the competitive advantage in training graduates towards greater productivity. In an economy that is itself increasingly knowledge-based, new information technologies could offer economical mean of providing relevant and quality education. This is based on the assumption that information technology will change teaching and learning profoundly for IT represents a fundamental change in the basic techniques of teaching and learning. Among the steps that could be taken are: Acquiring state-of-the-art online resources. Lecturers may require that their students carry out CD-ROM and internet literature searches in doing research Acquiring the latest statistical software in doing research. Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS), the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) for use in 58

9 research and statistical analysis of data. Students need better CD-ROM and internet training not just on using the technologies but also in information retrieval skills. Students need to know how to place search queries and how to evaluate search results. 2. There is a need to forge stronger linkages between the graduate school and the world of work, private and staterun schools and the business and industry sector in the case of the MBA program. This strategy is necessary in identifying the competency requirements as well as the emerging needs, issues and trends in business industries and other user factors. A number of strategies may be advocated. Educational observations, involvement of students in research projects sponsored by government and industry sectors may be made part of the curriculum. The participation of stakeholders in program development and improvement may be sought. On the job trainings, business and community immersions may be evolved. In the word of Arcelo (1996) all these and other strategies promotive of experiential learning may be considered as instruments in supplementing cognitive processes of learning which are clearly separated from the world of work. 3. Similar studies should be conducted in other programs in order to assess the impact of other programs offered in the Graduate School as an input for the top management to fulfill the goals and objectives of graduate education. 59