Online MBA Program Research Articles

Developing Critical Reflection in Asynchronous Discussions; the Role of the Instructor

We report on a study of how instructors in an online management classroom aim to develop critical reflection through asynchronous discussions. There is an ongoing debate centered on improving asynchronous discussions in online management education but insights into how these discussions could be facilitated to promote critical reflection remains largely under-developed. We address this issue by considering the extent to which management instructors’ perception of their role and understanding of being critical impact their facilitation of asynchronous classroom discussions and the challenges associated with this facilitation. Results from 18 semi-structured interviews with instructors teaching in an online MBA program at a UK higher education institution show the potential of asynchronous discussions to promote critical reflection. However, we found that instructors often fail to capitalize on opportunities for critical reflection that arise from classroom diversity and dynamics. Despite the emancipatory intent that underlies program design, interview data reveals three specific areas of interest: the diversity of instructors’ interpretations of what constitutes being critical in asynchronous discussions, a range of individualized facilitation strategies and the impact of imposed design constraints. We offer suggestions as to how to improve the facilitation of critical reflection through asynchronous discussions as well as directions for future research.

Leveraging the Balanced Scorecard for Online MBA Program Development: A Holistic Approach

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation process establishes that a business school meets the high standards set by a peer review board with administrators and faculty members from various accredited colleges and universities. This paper will synthesize the use of the balanced scorecard across four performance dimensions (financial, customer, internal process, and innovation) with the accreditation process for an online MBA program development effort. Specifically, the balanced scorecard will be examined as a strategic management tool for leveraging resource prioritization and allocation decisions needed to maintain accreditation while meeting the various stakeholders' needs, such as students, university, faculty, and administrators.

Using the Linked List Algorithm to Create a Learning Environment for Online Students

College and university students have requirements to pass prior income degrees on Thursdays. Their time is equally split between art and responsibilities to their own family. It is crucial that students have the option of taking online courses and reading on their own schedule. At the same time, many public colleges are unable to accommodate all of the college students who want to wait for their classes on campus. This problem is described as one of the methods for learning the Data Structure path. It demonstrates how to use RAM Memory by putting data in it and showing how to use it.. Things also offers a video that explains it in a more understandable way. The number of students enrolling in educational institutions has increased significantly over the coming years, and the institutions providing superior training have indicated a strong preference to provide outstanding online MBA programs. It is unquestionably a website with a video demonstrating one of the intricate methods for quickly storing information in the computer's hard drive. Additionally, this website has a dedicated education page that sets it apart from other educational websites by making it easier to teach students how to solve any issues they might encounter while taking a physical lesson. The website offers advice on how to delete the listing from memory and utilize the pop returned method, pop the front approach, posh returned approach, and posh front approach.

Geographical location and its impact on demand for online MBA programs

We examine whether geography is related to online MBA program demand. Although online education seemingly mitigates geographical location as a barrier to attracting students, the location may still play a role in establishing students’ familiarity with schools and with creating competition among neighboring institutions. Using archival data, we find that schools in larger populations see more applications and more entrants to their online MBA programs, while more local competition suppresses demand for a school’s online MBA program unless the school is highly ranked. These results serve as a caution to administrators who view online education as a solution to constraints they face in attracting students locally.

Geographical Location and Its Impact on Demand for Online MBA Programs

This paper examines whether a university's geographical location contributes to demand for its online MBA program. The convenience provided by online education suggests that the location of an institution is unimportant in determining demand for online MBAs. Location, however, may still play a role in establishing students’ familiarity with institutions and with creating competition among neighboring institutions for students. To assess whether the location of an institution influences its demand for online MBAs, we use local population and the number of online MBA competitors within 150 miles as proxies for location. We find that schools in larger populations see more applications and more entrants to their online MBA programs, while more local competition suppresses demand for a school’s online MBA program unless the school is highly ranked. These results serve as caution to administrators who view online education as a solution to constraints they face attracting students locally.

Linked List Implementation “Online learning”

Student enrollment in recent years and institutions of higher education have a keen interest in offering quality online MBA programs to meet the demands. This study aimed to develop an online learning platform. The project is a description of one of the methods of the Data Structure Course, which describes how to store data inside the Ram Memory. It is a website that contains a video to explain one of the methods of storing data within the memory of the computer, and the site contains a special page of training, which distinguishes it from the rest of the educational sites. The site helps to test the health of solving the issues of the student training on the lesson. The site shows how to use the pop front method, pop back method, push front method, push back method and delete the list from the memory. All of these functions could be difficult to imagine in reality, so the researchers designed a webpage to do this task.
 
 Keywords: Linked List; online learning; webpage design.

Arts-based Experiential Learning: Creativity as a Collaborative Outcome in an Online MBAProgram

Over the past decade, the arts-based learning movement has gained momentum in both organizations and business schools. Extending beyond logical-analytical ways of knowing, artistic activities afford opportunities to explore various management and organizational issues creatively. Traditionally, artful experiential activities occurred in physical spaces. However, with the proliferation of online education, there is a need to consider applying artistic methods through experiential learning exercises in virtual learning communities. In addition, the 2020 global pandemic forced business schools to reconsider where and how business education takes place. This paper describes an arts-based activity assigned to graduate students in the context of an experiential learning exercise designed to explore the purpose of their online MBA. Some individuals perceive themselves as unable to be creative. This paper employs the alternative perspective that creativeness can be collaborative, as opposed to merely individual practice. Narrative accounts from students illustrate their experiences with artistic, creative assignments in the virtual world. The authors conclude with practical implications and suggestions for future research.

The Role of Motivation in Online Professional Learning Strategies

The importance of online learning has been highlighted by higher education, and online program administrators have looked for management strategies to establish competitive advantages through student satisfaction and loyalty. This research investigated the roles of various learning motivations (i.e., autonomous motivation, external motivation, need achievement, goal setting, social comparison, and reinforcement), perceived value, and satisfaction to predict students’ loyalty toward an online program in the MBA context. Data were collected from online panel members of Qualtrics who were currently enrolled in online MBA programs in the United States. The empirical findings identify that perceived value was significantly influenced by external motivation, need achievement, goal setting, and reinforcement. MBA program satisfaction was positively affected by need achievement and reinforcement, and loyalty toward an MBA program was significantly influenced by perceived value and MBA program satisfaction. Overall, these results indicate the relative importance of each learning motivation for predicting online students’ loyalty.

Design and Delivery of an Online Information Systems Management Course for MBA Programs

Aim/Purpose: In this paper, we present our experience in design and delivery of a graduate Information Systems Management (ISM) course in an online MBA program. Also presented are a detailed examination of the design and delivery of the online course, survey results of students’ perceptions and backgrounds, course evaluation results, best practices and lessons learned, and potential changes and future actions. Background: This graduate ISM course needs to not only cover a broad range of dynamic technology and business topics, but also strike a balance between the width and depth of the content. Effective course design and delivery are critical to improved teaching and learning, especially when the course is delivered online. Methodology: We provided a comprehensive review of the related literature to develop guidelines for the design and delivery of our ISM course; we collected survey data to evaluate the students’ backgrounds and their perceptions of the course; we used data analysis and content analysis methods to assess the course evaluation results. Contribution: A review of the related literature indicates that IS researchers and educators have not adequately studied online graduate education. Given the importance of the graduate ISM course in most MBA programs, and the lack of attention from the IS community, it is critical to address this gap in the research. We believe we have done so with this paper. Findings: The paper’s major findings are embedded in a detailed examination of the design and delivery of the online course, survey results of students’ perceptions and backgrounds, course evaluation results, best practices and lessons learned, and potential changes and future actions. Recommendations for Practitioners: Even though our experience may not be fully applicable to other institutions, we hope our IS colleagues can learn from the design and delivery of this online course, as well as our best practices and lessons learned to improve the teaching and learning effectiveness in IS online graduate education, in general. Furthermore, we provide instructors with an actionable framework onto which they can map their current course offering, and compare their current pedagogical offering to literature driven best practices for ISM courses, in particular. Recommendation for Researchers: It is our hope that the design and delivery of this online course, and our best practices and lessons learned can inspire our IS colleagues to search for innovative ways to improve the teaching and learning effectiveness in IS online graduate education. In addition, we distill a literature driven framework for ISM courses design and delivery that can help researchers frame their pedagogical research questions. Impact on Society: The online course in this study prepares students for more efficiently and effectively delivering IT systems in organizations. Many MBA students work for non-profits and other socially-focused organizations and are able to use the skills learned in the course for the betterment of society. Future Research: We will continue to monitor the impact of the changes on student learning effectiveness and attempt to identify additional innovative ways to improve the design and delivery of this online ISM course.

Visions of Quality Assurance in Online MBA Programs

Online MBA programs have undergone significant growth in recent years. However, quality assurance measures have not kept pace with this growth. The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize aspects of quality assurance specific to AACSB-accredited online MBA programs. The Delphi methodology was used to facilitate a group conversation between expert administrators, faculty, and instructional designers around the topic of quality assurance for online MBA programs over the next 3-5 years. This paper reports the results of this study and how they will help to direct the efforts of those involved in the delivery of a quality online MBA program.

An Exploratory Study Of The Determinants Of Tuition For Online MBA Programs

The number of online MBA programs has increased in recent years while the demand is stabilizing. In light of this trend, the pricing of online MBA programs is an important issue for university administrators and policy makers, who are concerned about program competitiveness and public access to higher education. This study examines the drivers of tuition levels for online MBA programs. Utilizing data from 149 programs in the United States, the influence of various variables on tuition levels is empirically established. The findings indicate that residency and GMAT requirements, as well as enrollment size and student-to-faculty ratio, are important determinants of tuition for online MBA programs. The empirical framework presented in this paper allows university administrators to establish if the tuitions charged for their programs are consistent with market norms, and thereby determine the potential need for adjustment in tuition levels.

Развитие системы обучения и кадрового резерва

The article reveals the problematic issues of the development of the training system and the personnel reserve. In the context of increasing competition in the world market of goods and services, the labor market is increasingly difficult to implement reforms in the field of education. The high need of employers for quality personnel is limited by the inadequate elaboration of the training system and the personnel reserve. Development and optimization of the training system and the personnel reserve will increase the productivity of labor and the efficiency of organizations. In this work, a two-stage sociological study was conducted for the first time, involving 100 representatives of Russian organizations of small, medium and large businesses, mainly operating in Russia, at the first stage. At the second stage, 12 experts from among domestic and foreign scientists, business representatives and faculty took part in the focus group work. The study found that the most popular in companies use such methods of training as business training, refresher courses, instruction on position. At the same time, these methods of training in 2017 showed a certain increase in the frequency of use. As new ways (forms) of training should be allocated online courses and MBA programs. The overwhelming majority of respondents positively perceive the learning process. A number of trends were identified during the study. Among them: expansion of a set of methods and methods of selection in the personnel reserve of management and work with persons enrolled in it, increasing the complexity of their application; the growth of expectations, especially in terms of comprehensive development, based on education and self-education, which are assigned to the staffing reserve of management; priority when working with the management personnel reserve from the development of hard skills towards soft skills, allowing to be successful regardless of the specifics of the activity and direction in which a person works. These and other trends will allow us to develop principles for the effective functioning of the training system and the personnel reserve and apply them competently in practice.

Launching an Accelerated Online MBA Program: Assuring Quality with Scale, Based on Principles of Effective Course Design

This paper describes the challenges and advancements encountered by graduate faculty at a Midwestern public university as it transitioned to offering an accelerated MBA program with online, hybrid, and traditional courses, while experiencing 520% (from 100 to 620 students) growth over 24 months. Faculty consulted a ten-principle framework of course design to develop new courses for MBA concentrations and adjust teaching methods, assignment structures, student interactions, and teaching assistant integration to deliver a cutting-edge program in a competitive market. Case studies in deploying experiential learning in a fast-paced, large online classroom environment are discussed for three MBA courses.

Exploration and confirmation of a reflective-thinking scale to measure transformative learning in online courses

Responding to the ubiquity of information and the corresponding need to filter and make sense of it, transformative learning is increasingly being used to frame learning experiences in higher education. While several instruments have been developed to measure transformative learning in educational settings, little work has been done towards an understanding of transformative learning measurement in online environments. This study was conducted over two phases, an initial exploration of a reflective thinking questionnaire with students in an online MBA program of a higher education institution in the mid-Atlantic region of U.S., followed by a confirmatory phase of a refined, three-factor instrument in the same context. This study demonstrated the improved fit and overall interpretability of the three-factor instrument. The measurement invariance of the factor structure has also been examined with a set of covariates.

Developing and Teaching Online MBA Courses: Strategies for Enhancing Course Effectiveness

Reflecting similar global business patterns, employees are continuously pursuing means to set themselves apart fromtheir colleagues, including through education. With the advances in technology, availability of online businessprograms, marketing of university degrees, and the convenience offered through online education, there has been anexplosive growth recently in online education, particularly for business degrees, both at the undergraduate and MBAlevels. Overall enrollment in U.S. MBA programs has actually decreased in the past five years but enrollment in theonline degrees continues to increase.Given the growth and emphasis in online MBA programs, there has to be measures of quality assurances andensuring student success through learning outcomes and ability of students to develop the requisite competenciesnecessary to excel in organizations. Furthermore, Universities have to be using the relevant technologies, studentshave to demonstrate behaviors that would enable them to succeed in online programs, and faculties have to adaptteaching strategies. So, what actually fosters success and student satisfaction about MBA programs? This paperexamines how online class interactions and quality of instructor online feedback can lead to successfully completingan online MBA course and subsequently the MBA program.

The endurance test: A virtual project team's lived experience in an online project management course

This case study examines longitudinal data stored in the learning management system (LMS) of an online MBA program’s project management course to understand and describe the lived experience of a virtual student team that exhibited difficulty delivering a term project. Testing the constructs of a theoretical model previously proposed in literature, the findings consider whether the model design can be applied in a specific situation and suggests additional case studies are warranted for further understanding. The findings also confirmed two concerns. First, unless students actively contact their instructor to escalate feedback about progress, it is difficult to assess a given student’s contribution to virtual team projects. Second, the instructor actively solicited feedback and facilitated closure to compensate for a lack of student accountability, prompting concern about whether requiring an online instructor’s constant oversight and engagement is an optimal strategy for effective project delivery on virtual student teams.

A phenomenological study of teamwork in online and face-to-face student teams

Team-based projects are widely used in both traditional face-to-face and online programs in higher education. To date, the teamwork experiences of students in each modality have been documented primarily through evaluative research conducted over short spans of time and limited by a priori frameworks. The literature also reflects a lack of agreement about what constitutes the phenomenon of teamwork in each modality. In order to address these limitations, we conducted a phenomenological study examining the lived experiences of teamwork among students in both face-to-face and online MBA programs in Iran. Our analysis revealed striking commonalities in the experiences of both groups, including a shared desire for effective leadership to alleviate the problem of free riders, as well as substantial time and effort invested in retaining reliable teammates from one team project to another. In other respects, face-to-face and online students’ experience differed strongly. For example, while face-to-face participants pursued teammates with similar beliefs about how teamwork should be accomplished, online participants found themselves pre-occupied with staying connected with their teammates and struggled to establish common communication channels with each and every team member. Overall, our findings suggest that while training and support for student teamwork can partly build on the shared needs among students in both modalities, the nature of the experience in each modality may be so different in vital respects that engaging in one mode of teamwork does not necessarily prepare students to participate well in the other mode. Other implications and limitations of the research are discussed.

Online MBA programs and the threat of disruptive innovation

Online MBA programs are examined through the lens of disruptive innovation theory. Disruptive innovations appear at first to be inferior to the level acceptable to the consumers of the products offered by incumbents, targeting an audience ignored by the latter; as they improve, challengers can challenge market share. Using data from the 2011–2012 US News and World Report survey of online MBA programs, this paper evaluates the extent to which this model applies to online MBA programs offered by institutions accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) (incumbents), and those offered by MBA programmes with other accreditation (challengers). Many significant differences are found, in areas such as acceptance rates, target audiences of potential students, pricing, faculty, class sizes, and support services. These differences indeed cast the incumbents and challengers in the roles outlined by the disruptive innovations theory, indicating that incumbents may be at risk of disruption.

Innovation In Business Education: Developing A High Quality Online MBA

Online degree programs were probably pioneered by for-profit universities such as University of Phoenix. Many online degree programs were initially considered low quality academic programs compared to traditional programs. Therefore, many public and private universities were slow to adopt the online programs. However, gradually more and more "non-traditional" students began to enter schools. Employees already holding jobs began to seek to better their qualifications by coming back to school while still working. For both these groups, online degree programs offered an opportunity to go to school while still employed. Consequently, many schools offering traditional MBA programs are forced to offer online MBA programs to meet the demand and to beat the competing schools. In keeping up with the trend, Arkansas State University launched a high quality online MBA program that parallels the best of the ongoing online MBA programs. This MBA program has been ranked number 1 in faculty credentials and training and in the top 15 in all categories among all online MBA programs by U. S. News and World Report for three consecutive years. This paper presents how the Graduate Faculty of Arkansas State's College of Business developed its high quality online MBA and how the program operates with revenue sharing for the College of Business.

LESSONS LEARNED: ONLINE TEACHING ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES

This study provides practical "nuts and bolts" advice on developing and teaching a new online course for first-time online instructors. The advice is predominantly based on the observations and experiences of two instructors who developed and taught online courses for the first time on the "maiden voyage" of a newly established online MBA program and subsequent online teaching experiences. The lessons learned the "hard way" are discussed so instructors who are developing and teaching online courses for the first time within the context of a new program can avoid some "learning curve" problems.