| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Across multiple external customer groups, agreement exists about what signals the presence of MBA academic quality. MBA quality signals were selected from an original list of 45 and a refined list of 35 in a two-stage study. Important signals were “Positive Course Evaluations By Current MBAs,” “Nationally-Prominent Firms Recruit To Hire MBAs,” “MBA Faculty Spend Time With MBAs Outside Class,” “Extensive Library Resources For MBA Students,” “MBA Faculty Consult To Major Corporations,” “Full-Time Faculty With Prior Business Experience,” “Coursework Projects With Real-World Organizations,” “Many Organizations Recruit On-Campus For MBAs,” and “MBA Graduates Who Are Leaders In Their Fields.” Traditional scholarly-oriented academic quality signals are not apparently valued as quality signals by external customer groups. MBA academic quality appears to be a multidimensional construct with sub-dimensions REAL-WORLDNESS, PLACEMENT, STUDENT SATISFACTION, and PROGRAM SCOPE. MBA program design, staffing, resource deployment, and communications issues arise from these quality signals findings. |
