08832323.2011.555790
Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Academic Performance in MBA Programs: Do
Prerequisites Really Matter?
Donald Gene Christensen , William R. Nance & Darin W. White
To cite this article: Donald Gene Christensen , William R. Nance & Darin W. White (2012)
Academic Performance in MBA Programs: Do Prerequisites Really Matter?, Journal of Education
for Business, 87:1, 42-47, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.555790
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Date: 11 January 2016, At: 21:54
JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 87: 42–47, 2012
C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Copyright
ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online
DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.555790
Academic Performance in MBA Programs:
Do Prerequisites Really Matter?
Donald Gene Christensen and William R. Nance
Union University, Jackson, Tennessee, USA
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 21:54 11 January 2016
Darin W. White
Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Many researchers have examined criteria used in Master of Business Administration (MBA)
admissions decisions. However, prior research has not examined predictive ability of undergraduate prerequisite courses in core business disciplines. The authors investigated whether
undergraduate prerequisite courses predicted MBA success by analyzing the outcomes of 491
MBA graduates. The results revealed students who lacked business prerequisite courses performed better in MBA grade point average (GPA) than students who took prerequisites. Additionally, performance in undergraduate written composition is positively correlated with MBA
GPA. Moreover, performance in undergraduate marketing, economics, and business statistics
courses are significant predictors of MBA GPA. Finally, the authors found undergraduate GPA
predicted MBA success.
Keywords: MBA admissions criteria, MBA prerequisites, MBA success
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree has
become a major component of the general credentials business professionals must have to achieve success. DeSimone
and Harris (1998) described the program of study leading to
the MBA degree as one of the most important avenues to management education. Zhao, Truell, Alexander, and Hill (2006)
found that MBA education has a positive impact on graduates’ future employment, income, and promotion prospects
in the short and long term.
The MBA degree represents a significant way for professionals in various specialized areas of business to develop
general management skills. Many examples highlight the
increasing usefulness and flexibility of an MBA education.
Sunoo (1999) noted that human resource professionals can
increase their managerial competence and improve their
chances for career advancement by acquiring an MBA. Messmer (1998) asserted that Certified Management Accountants
benefit from an MBA by gaining skills in areas outside the
accounting department. LaFerla (2005) recommended the
Correspondence should be addressed to Donald Gene Christensen,
Union University, McAfee School of Business, 1050 Union University
Drive, Jackson, TN 38305, USA. E-mail: dchriste@uu.edu
MBA for engineering professionals to compensate for their
technical rather than general management educations and to
better position themselves for advancement. McCook (2004)
found that many schools offer joint PhD–MBA programs
because business-savvy scientists may give companies a
competitive edge or may be the key to a successful startup.
Lynch, Baty, Abdullah, and Seaman (2005) and Mangan
(2007) emphasized that MBA education is useful for
managers of small and family-owned firms. Some business
schools are creating techno-MBAs because of the increasing
importance of technological knowledge along with managerial expertise. Dietrich et al. (1989) proposed requirements
for a joint MBA–information systems management program.
The demand for MBA education has increased considerably (Greco, 2001) with the growing popularity and perceived
value of an MBA education and with higher average salaries
paid to MBA graduates. Consequently, MBA admissions officers face increased challenges to select students who are appropriately qualified to enter MBA programs to better ensure
student success and meet various accreditation requirements.
The purpose of this study was to identify specific
variables that successfully predict the possibility of success
for students entering MBA programs. First, we review the
findings of prior research, which has identified variables
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN MBA PROGRAMS
considered predictors of MBA student success. We then
extend this literature by identifying the variables found by
our study to be good predictors of student success in MBA
programs.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
An understanding of the factors that affect student performance is of particular value to those who design academic
programs and support activities. Many researchers have shed
light on aspects of this issue regarding MBA programs.
Carver and King (1994) reported that several graduate
schools of management base admission to MBA programs
on some combination of the undergraduate grade point average (GPA) and the score on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). Thus, these graduate schools assume
that MBA student performance can be predicted by these
two variables. However, although a number of studies analyzed the relationship between MBA student performance
and these variables, these studies found inconclusive and
conflicting results. Hecht and Powers (1982) reported multiple correlations between undergraduate GPA and GMAT
for first-year MBA students that ranged from .12 to .67.
Wright and Palmer (1994) found that although undergraduate GPA and GMAT scores were modestly correlated with
subsequent performance, those scores did not discriminate
between moderately low and very-low performers. They estimated a multiple R2 factor of .212. Carver and King (1994)
investigated the admission criteria for nontraditional students
and explored a number of variables, including age, gender, undergraduate major, work experience, duration of formal education, competitiveness of undergraduate institution,
undergraduate GPA, and GMAT verbal (GMATV) score,
and GMAT quantitative (GMATQ) score. Carver and King
found that three variables, GMAT score, undergraduate GPA,
and work experience, predicted performance for nontraditional students. They estimated an R2 of .22. Paolillo (1982)
found that undergraduate GPA and GMAT scores explained
less than 17% of variance in graduate GPA. Paolillo’s findings
were consistent with the findings of Deckro and Woudenberg
(1977), who determined that undergraduate GPA and GMAT
explained less than 15% of the variance in graduate performance.
Some studies evaluated the impact of undergraduate GPA
and GMAT on subsequent graduate performance. Zwick
(1993) used schools in Canada and the United States to analyze the validity of GMAT as a predictor of grades in doctoral
programs in business and management. Zwick concluded that
undergraduate GPA was a better predictor than GMATV and
GMATQ together. However, Zwick found all three predictors had greater explanatory power than undergraduate GPA
alone. Ahmadi, Raiszadeh, and Helms (1997) found that undergraduate GPA explained more than 27% of the variability
in graduate GPA, whereas GMAT scores explained 18%.
43
Hoefer and Gould (2000) found that GMATV, GMATQ, and
undergraduate GPA were strong predictors of graduate GPA,
and that GMAT scores were better predictors than undergraduate GPA. In a prior study, Carver and King (1994) also found
that, compared with undergraduate GPA, GMAT was a better
predictor of graduate GPA. Yang and Lu (2001) analyzed the
impact on graduate performance of students’ native language,
GMATQ, GMATV, and undergraduate GPA in a multiple regression model and found the opposite result. Yang and Lu’s
model yielded an overall R2 of .259, with undergraduate GPA
playing the greatest explanatory role. However, Clayton and
Cate (2004) found no significant role for undergraduate GPA
in predicting graduate GPA. Finally, Arnold, Chakravarty,
and Balakrishnan (1996) noted that undergraduate GPA declines in importance as a predictor variable when the elapsed
time between obtaining the undergraduate degree and enrolling in an MBA program is greater than 10 years.
Exploring other variables, McClure, Wells, and Bowerman (1986) found that the number of years of work experience correlated positively with graduate GPA. Dreher and
Ryan (2000) found duration of work experience to be an important predictor of graduate GPA. These results may reflect
that students with greater work experience are able to see the
broader view of business functions and the relevance and potential applications of MBA material. Adams and Hancock
(2000) also found the number of years of work experience
between the undergraduate degree and MBA functioned as
a good predictor of MBA success. However, Dreher and
Ryan (2000, 2002, 2004); Dugan, Grady, Payn, Baydar, and
Johnson (1996); Graham (1991); and Peiperl and Trevelyan
(1997) all concluded that work experience was not correlated
with graduate GPA.
Some researchers explored age as an explanatory factor
in graduate GPA performance. Peiperl and Trevelyan (1997)
found age to have predictive value. They discovered a negative correlation between age and MBA performance with
younger students performing better than older students. One
explanation for this result may be the fact that younger students have more recent experience with academic environments and thereby are better primed for graduate study. However, Graham (1991) and Paolillo (1982) found age not to
be significantly correlated with MBA performance. Finally,
Braunstein (2006) compared business and nonbusiness undergraduates and found age and work experience to be more
significant than GMAT for nonbusiness degree MBA applicants.
Gender also has been studied as a possible explanatory
factor in MBA performance. Ekpenyong (2000), Hancock
(1999), and Peiperl and Trevelyan (1997) found no correlation with MBA performance and gender. However, Hancock
found that men tended to score higher on the GMAT. Deckro
and Woudenberg (1997) found that women performed better academically during the MBA program than men. Their
results were consistent with a more recent study by Cheung
and Kan (2002). Launius (1997) explained this difference by
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44
D. G. CHRISTENSEN ET AL.
proposing that women seem to put more time and effort into
studies than men.
Research focusing on ethnicity also showed conflicting
results. Some researchers found no distinguishable differences across ethnicities. On the other hand, Clayton and Cate
(2004) found students from different ethnic backgrounds differed in levels of academic achievement. They found Caucasian and Hispanic students performed better than Asian
Americans in the MBA program at the University of Northern
Kentucky. Some researchers attributed these results purely to
native language differences. Yang and Lu (2001) found that
language is a significant predictor.
Does the student’s undergraduate major play a role in subsequent MBA performance? Many researchers have found
support for this notion (e.g., Anderson, Benjamin, & Fuss,
1994; Borde, 1998; Cheung & Kan, 2002; Durden & Ellis,
1995; Ekpenyong, 2000). In particular, Ely and Hittle (1990)
showed completed accounting courses were significantly correlated with performance in graduate business studies. Additionally, Anderson and colleagues as well as Didia and
Hasnat (1998) found students who had taken calculus and
other mathematics courses performed better in economics
and finance courses than students without such background.
However, Braunstein (2002), Adams and Hancock (2000),
and Gump (2003) found students who have undergraduate
degrees in business perform worse in MBA programs than
students who do not have undergraduate business degrees.
Gump suggested students without an academic background
in business may work harder to compensate for their lack of
undergraduate preparation.
Finally, Fish and Wilson (2009) found the factors to predict success were different between a one-year MBA program
and a part-time MBA program in the same business school.
They found the factors to predict success for the one-year
MBA program included GMATV, undergraduate GPA, and
a Canadian factor. However, the factors to predict success
in the part-time MBA program included GMATV, GMATQ,
age, and undergraduate GPA. Fish and Wilson concluded
that slightly different entrance criteria should be used for
each program.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES
A number of unresolved issues remain regarding precisely
which variables most strongly correlate with MBA GPA outcomes. The particular research question we posited is: Does
the extent to which students have taken certain required
courses as undergraduates successfully predict differences
in final MBA GPA? We define these prerequisite courses as
those most often required for full admission to MBA programs: principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics,
principles of finance, principles of marketing, principles of
management, principles of financial and managerial account-
ing, and basic statistics. We selected these courses because
they are the courses most often required for MBA program
admission and, in addition, they are the common classes
most business undergraduates take. Further, we analyzed the
relationship between course performance in undergraduate
algebra and written composition and final MBA GPA. We
selected these courses because they are part of the core undergraduate programs at most universities.
Thus, we set forth the following hypotheses.
Hypothesis 1 (H 1 ): There would be a significant positive
correlation between completion of undergraduate business prerequisite courses in marketing, management, accounting, economics, finance, and statistics and final
MBA GPA.
H 2a : There would be a significant positive correlation between student performance in undergraduate algebra and
final MBA GPA.
H 2b : There would be a significant positive correlation between student performance in undergraduate written
composition and final MBA GPA.
H 3 : Prerequisite courses with heavy quantitative content
would be better predictors of overall MBA GPA than
prerequisite courses with light quantitative content.
H 4 : Overall undergraduate GPA would be positively correlated with MBA GPA.
H 5 : Graduation from an Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited undergraduate program would be positively correlated with final
MBA GPA.
ANALYSIS
We gathered data from students’ records for all MBA
graduating-year classes of a midsized private southeastern
university from the inception of the MBA program in 1999
to 2006. We obtained all data from students’ records in the
school of business administration at the main campus and a
branch campus. All students were enrolled in a cohort-based
MBA program (cohort-based programs require students to
move through the entire MBA program in a fixed progression with the same group of individuals). In total, we initially
gathered data for 723 students. After deleting responses with
missing data, the final data set consisted of 491 students, a
response rate of 67.9% of the initial total.
The MBA students in this data set were predominantly
men (62%), and 4.7% of the students were racial minorities. Married students constituted 62.6% of the students. Undergraduate GPAs averaged 3.14 on a 4-point scale, while
the average student in our data had 6.6 years of full-time
professional work experience. Just over two-thirds of the
students completed the eight undergraduate business prerequisite courses primarily by fulfilling requirements of undergraduate business majors.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN MBA PROGRAMS
TABLE 1
Summary of Regression Results
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Hypothesis 1
To test the first hypothesis, we divided our sample into
two subsamples. Subsample 1 included those students who
had completed all eight undergraduate prerequisite courses
(51.3% of the students were in this subsample). Subsample 2
included those students who completed none of the eight undergraduate prerequisites (33.0% of the students were in this
subsample). Students who completed only some (but not all)
of the eight courses were deleted from the analysis (15.7%
of the students were in this subsample).
The first question was: Does overall success in the MBA
program differ between these two subsets of students? The
confidence level for rejecting the null hypothesis in each case
is the standard of p < .05.
The dependent variable used to assess MBA program success for this study was cumulative GPA upon graduation
from the MBA program. The independent variables used in
the analysis included completion of the eight undergraduate business prerequisite courses and specific performance in
each. Specific performance in the prerequisite courses was
assessed by the letter grade received by the students in each
course. No students in our sample received a letter grade of
F in any of the prerequisite courses.
As shown in Table 1, the regression analysis indicated a
significant correlation (β = .239, p < .002) between final
MBA GPA and undergraduate business prerequisite course
completion. Thus, H 1 was supported. However, a post hoc
analysis revealed that those MBA students who had not completed the eight undergraduate prerequisite courses produced
a mean MBA GPA over one-tenth of a point higher than the
MBA students who had completed the eight undergraduate
prerequisite courses. That is, the completion of the prerequisites did not guarantee success in the MBA program any
different than that of students who had not completed the
undergraduate prerequisites.
Hypothesis 2a
H 2a asserted that student performance in undergraduate algebra would be positively correlated with final MBA GPA
(76.1% of the students had taken undergraduate algebra). Although the relational direction was found to be positive, as
expected, this prediction was not statistically supported (β =
.189, p < .085). This was surprising because of the historically close link, in the literature, between quantitative ability
as measured by the GMAT and MBA success.
Hypothesis 2b
H 2b asserted that student performance in undergraduate written composition was positively correlated with final MBA
GPA. In most cases, students in our sample had taken two
written composition classes (95.8% of the students had taken
written composition 1 and 2 while 4.2% had taken only written composition 1). For this analysis, the grades for those
45
Hypothesis
Dependent
adjusted
1
Final MBA
GPA
2a
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
2b
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
5
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Independent variable
β
p
Adj.
R2
Completion of 8
undergraduate
business
prerequisites
Undergraduate algebra
grade
Undergraduate written
composition grade
Principles of
undergraduate
accounting grade
Principles of marketing
grade
Principles of
management grade
Principles of finance
grade
Principles of
economics grade
Principles of statistics
grade
Overall undergraduate
GPA
AACSB status of
undergraduate
school
.239
.002
.051
.189
.085
.024
.324
.000
.097
.184
.069
.024
.202
.044
.031
.001
.992
.010
.178
.104
.020
.335
.001
.102
.346
.000
.111
.466
.000
.216
.027
.556
.001
MBA = Master of Business Administration; GPA = grade point average;
AACSB = Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business; Adj. =
adjusted.
students who took both courses were averaged, and the resulting mean grade was used as the independent variable.
Students who had taken only one written composition course
were deleted from the sample. Regression analysis, as shown
in Table 1, indicated a significant correlation (β = .324, p
< .000) between final MBA GPA and undergraduate written
composition grade.
Hypothesis 3
To test H 3 , regression analysis was employed for those students who completed all eight of the typical business undergraduate prerequisites (as indicated for H 1 , this was 51.3%
of the sample). In those cases in which students had taken a
series of two courses in a given area (for example, principles
of accounting I and II), the mean grade of the two courses
was determined and was used for our analysis. Our results
for marketing (β = .202, p < .044), economics (β = .335, p
< .001), and business Statistics (β = .346, p < .000) were
all significant predictors of MBA GPA. Accounting, management, and finance were not significantly related to MBA
GPA.
46
D. G. CHRISTENSEN ET AL.
Hypothesis 4
Regression analysis, as shown in Table 1, indicated a significant correlation (β = .466, p < .000) between undergraduate
GPA and MBA GPA. Interestingly, this relationship produced
the strongest statistical correlation, with a beta of .466 across
all variables tested in the present study.
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Hypothesis 5
To test the final hypothesis, the sample of MBA graduates
was divided into two subsamples; those who graduated with
undergraduate degrees from an AACSB-accredited business
school (52.5% of the MBA graduates) and those who did
not (47.5% of the MBA graduates). The prediction of a positive correlation between MBA GPA and graduation from
an AACSB-accredited undergraduate program was not supported by our analysis (β = .027, p < .556).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of the present study was to analyze the influence
of several variables on the predictability of student success
in MBA programs. Over the years, a host of researchers have
contributed a great deal of valuable information and direction with regard to what drives the prediction of success for
graduate students as they enter MBA programs. We documented many of those studies in the literature review. In this
study, we developed five hypotheses to test the effectiveness
of certain variables and relationships that we think contribute
to the literature surrounding this interesting issue.
We set forth the hypothesis that a significant relationship
exists between final MBA GPA and the completion of the
eight undergraduate business prerequisite courses in marketing, management, accounting, economics, statistics, and
finance. We found completion of those courses at the undergraduate level does predict MBA success. However, we also
found the rather surprising result that students who did not
complete those undergraduate courses performed at the same
level or slightly higher in MBA programs than those who did.
Further research into the academic backgrounds of the students who did not complete the usual business prerequisites
is needed to shed more light on this issue.
We researched the relationship between students with undergraduate algebra and the subsequent performance of those
students in the MBA program. We found there was only a
rather weak link between undergraduate algebra completion
and MBA success. As noted previously, this was a surprising result because of the relationship documented in prior
literature showing a close link between quantitative ability
measured by the GMAT and MBA success.
We studied the relationship between undergraduate written composition courses and final MBA GPA. We found
a strong positive relationship between written composition
performance and subsequent final MBA GPA. This result is
not surprising because most MBA programs have rigorous
written paper analysis components.
In addition, we analyzed the relationship between final
MBA GPA and the completion of some typical undergraduate MBA prerequisites. Interestingly, marketing, economics,
and business statistics were significant predictors of MBA
GPA success whereas accounting, management, and finance
were not. We also analyzed the success in MBA programs of
those students who graduated from AACSB-accredited undergraduate programs against those who did not and found
no significant results.
The most significant relationship we found was between
undergraduate GPA and MBA GPA. Those students who
were strong performers at the undergraduate level continued
to be, on average, strong performers at the graduate level.
Our findings suggest that the requirement for students to
take prerequisite courses should be reviewed. The MBA prerequisite courses may function as an unnecessary deterrent
to students who would otherwise succeed in MBA studies. In
addition, future researchers should emphasize factors affecting students’ motivation and desire to excel. Areas of study
could include each student’s life-long study habits, degree
of competitiveness, and time available for MBA study given
the constraints of professional work schedules and personal
commitments.
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ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Academic Performance in MBA Programs: Do
Prerequisites Really Matter?
Donald Gene Christensen , William R. Nance & Darin W. White
To cite this article: Donald Gene Christensen , William R. Nance & Darin W. White (2012)
Academic Performance in MBA Programs: Do Prerequisites Really Matter?, Journal of Education
for Business, 87:1, 42-47, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.555790
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2011.555790
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Date: 11 January 2016, At: 21:54
JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 87: 42–47, 2012
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Copyright
ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online
DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.555790
Academic Performance in MBA Programs:
Do Prerequisites Really Matter?
Donald Gene Christensen and William R. Nance
Union University, Jackson, Tennessee, USA
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 21:54 11 January 2016
Darin W. White
Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Many researchers have examined criteria used in Master of Business Administration (MBA)
admissions decisions. However, prior research has not examined predictive ability of undergraduate prerequisite courses in core business disciplines. The authors investigated whether
undergraduate prerequisite courses predicted MBA success by analyzing the outcomes of 491
MBA graduates. The results revealed students who lacked business prerequisite courses performed better in MBA grade point average (GPA) than students who took prerequisites. Additionally, performance in undergraduate written composition is positively correlated with MBA
GPA. Moreover, performance in undergraduate marketing, economics, and business statistics
courses are significant predictors of MBA GPA. Finally, the authors found undergraduate GPA
predicted MBA success.
Keywords: MBA admissions criteria, MBA prerequisites, MBA success
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree has
become a major component of the general credentials business professionals must have to achieve success. DeSimone
and Harris (1998) described the program of study leading to
the MBA degree as one of the most important avenues to management education. Zhao, Truell, Alexander, and Hill (2006)
found that MBA education has a positive impact on graduates’ future employment, income, and promotion prospects
in the short and long term.
The MBA degree represents a significant way for professionals in various specialized areas of business to develop
general management skills. Many examples highlight the
increasing usefulness and flexibility of an MBA education.
Sunoo (1999) noted that human resource professionals can
increase their managerial competence and improve their
chances for career advancement by acquiring an MBA. Messmer (1998) asserted that Certified Management Accountants
benefit from an MBA by gaining skills in areas outside the
accounting department. LaFerla (2005) recommended the
Correspondence should be addressed to Donald Gene Christensen,
Union University, McAfee School of Business, 1050 Union University
Drive, Jackson, TN 38305, USA. E-mail: dchriste@uu.edu
MBA for engineering professionals to compensate for their
technical rather than general management educations and to
better position themselves for advancement. McCook (2004)
found that many schools offer joint PhD–MBA programs
because business-savvy scientists may give companies a
competitive edge or may be the key to a successful startup.
Lynch, Baty, Abdullah, and Seaman (2005) and Mangan
(2007) emphasized that MBA education is useful for
managers of small and family-owned firms. Some business
schools are creating techno-MBAs because of the increasing
importance of technological knowledge along with managerial expertise. Dietrich et al. (1989) proposed requirements
for a joint MBA–information systems management program.
The demand for MBA education has increased considerably (Greco, 2001) with the growing popularity and perceived
value of an MBA education and with higher average salaries
paid to MBA graduates. Consequently, MBA admissions officers face increased challenges to select students who are appropriately qualified to enter MBA programs to better ensure
student success and meet various accreditation requirements.
The purpose of this study was to identify specific
variables that successfully predict the possibility of success
for students entering MBA programs. First, we review the
findings of prior research, which has identified variables
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN MBA PROGRAMS
considered predictors of MBA student success. We then
extend this literature by identifying the variables found by
our study to be good predictors of student success in MBA
programs.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
An understanding of the factors that affect student performance is of particular value to those who design academic
programs and support activities. Many researchers have shed
light on aspects of this issue regarding MBA programs.
Carver and King (1994) reported that several graduate
schools of management base admission to MBA programs
on some combination of the undergraduate grade point average (GPA) and the score on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). Thus, these graduate schools assume
that MBA student performance can be predicted by these
two variables. However, although a number of studies analyzed the relationship between MBA student performance
and these variables, these studies found inconclusive and
conflicting results. Hecht and Powers (1982) reported multiple correlations between undergraduate GPA and GMAT
for first-year MBA students that ranged from .12 to .67.
Wright and Palmer (1994) found that although undergraduate GPA and GMAT scores were modestly correlated with
subsequent performance, those scores did not discriminate
between moderately low and very-low performers. They estimated a multiple R2 factor of .212. Carver and King (1994)
investigated the admission criteria for nontraditional students
and explored a number of variables, including age, gender, undergraduate major, work experience, duration of formal education, competitiveness of undergraduate institution,
undergraduate GPA, and GMAT verbal (GMATV) score,
and GMAT quantitative (GMATQ) score. Carver and King
found that three variables, GMAT score, undergraduate GPA,
and work experience, predicted performance for nontraditional students. They estimated an R2 of .22. Paolillo (1982)
found that undergraduate GPA and GMAT scores explained
less than 17% of variance in graduate GPA. Paolillo’s findings
were consistent with the findings of Deckro and Woudenberg
(1977), who determined that undergraduate GPA and GMAT
explained less than 15% of the variance in graduate performance.
Some studies evaluated the impact of undergraduate GPA
and GMAT on subsequent graduate performance. Zwick
(1993) used schools in Canada and the United States to analyze the validity of GMAT as a predictor of grades in doctoral
programs in business and management. Zwick concluded that
undergraduate GPA was a better predictor than GMATV and
GMATQ together. However, Zwick found all three predictors had greater explanatory power than undergraduate GPA
alone. Ahmadi, Raiszadeh, and Helms (1997) found that undergraduate GPA explained more than 27% of the variability
in graduate GPA, whereas GMAT scores explained 18%.
43
Hoefer and Gould (2000) found that GMATV, GMATQ, and
undergraduate GPA were strong predictors of graduate GPA,
and that GMAT scores were better predictors than undergraduate GPA. In a prior study, Carver and King (1994) also found
that, compared with undergraduate GPA, GMAT was a better
predictor of graduate GPA. Yang and Lu (2001) analyzed the
impact on graduate performance of students’ native language,
GMATQ, GMATV, and undergraduate GPA in a multiple regression model and found the opposite result. Yang and Lu’s
model yielded an overall R2 of .259, with undergraduate GPA
playing the greatest explanatory role. However, Clayton and
Cate (2004) found no significant role for undergraduate GPA
in predicting graduate GPA. Finally, Arnold, Chakravarty,
and Balakrishnan (1996) noted that undergraduate GPA declines in importance as a predictor variable when the elapsed
time between obtaining the undergraduate degree and enrolling in an MBA program is greater than 10 years.
Exploring other variables, McClure, Wells, and Bowerman (1986) found that the number of years of work experience correlated positively with graduate GPA. Dreher and
Ryan (2000) found duration of work experience to be an important predictor of graduate GPA. These results may reflect
that students with greater work experience are able to see the
broader view of business functions and the relevance and potential applications of MBA material. Adams and Hancock
(2000) also found the number of years of work experience
between the undergraduate degree and MBA functioned as
a good predictor of MBA success. However, Dreher and
Ryan (2000, 2002, 2004); Dugan, Grady, Payn, Baydar, and
Johnson (1996); Graham (1991); and Peiperl and Trevelyan
(1997) all concluded that work experience was not correlated
with graduate GPA.
Some researchers explored age as an explanatory factor
in graduate GPA performance. Peiperl and Trevelyan (1997)
found age to have predictive value. They discovered a negative correlation between age and MBA performance with
younger students performing better than older students. One
explanation for this result may be the fact that younger students have more recent experience with academic environments and thereby are better primed for graduate study. However, Graham (1991) and Paolillo (1982) found age not to
be significantly correlated with MBA performance. Finally,
Braunstein (2006) compared business and nonbusiness undergraduates and found age and work experience to be more
significant than GMAT for nonbusiness degree MBA applicants.
Gender also has been studied as a possible explanatory
factor in MBA performance. Ekpenyong (2000), Hancock
(1999), and Peiperl and Trevelyan (1997) found no correlation with MBA performance and gender. However, Hancock
found that men tended to score higher on the GMAT. Deckro
and Woudenberg (1997) found that women performed better academically during the MBA program than men. Their
results were consistent with a more recent study by Cheung
and Kan (2002). Launius (1997) explained this difference by
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44
D. G. CHRISTENSEN ET AL.
proposing that women seem to put more time and effort into
studies than men.
Research focusing on ethnicity also showed conflicting
results. Some researchers found no distinguishable differences across ethnicities. On the other hand, Clayton and Cate
(2004) found students from different ethnic backgrounds differed in levels of academic achievement. They found Caucasian and Hispanic students performed better than Asian
Americans in the MBA program at the University of Northern
Kentucky. Some researchers attributed these results purely to
native language differences. Yang and Lu (2001) found that
language is a significant predictor.
Does the student’s undergraduate major play a role in subsequent MBA performance? Many researchers have found
support for this notion (e.g., Anderson, Benjamin, & Fuss,
1994; Borde, 1998; Cheung & Kan, 2002; Durden & Ellis,
1995; Ekpenyong, 2000). In particular, Ely and Hittle (1990)
showed completed accounting courses were significantly correlated with performance in graduate business studies. Additionally, Anderson and colleagues as well as Didia and
Hasnat (1998) found students who had taken calculus and
other mathematics courses performed better in economics
and finance courses than students without such background.
However, Braunstein (2002), Adams and Hancock (2000),
and Gump (2003) found students who have undergraduate
degrees in business perform worse in MBA programs than
students who do not have undergraduate business degrees.
Gump suggested students without an academic background
in business may work harder to compensate for their lack of
undergraduate preparation.
Finally, Fish and Wilson (2009) found the factors to predict success were different between a one-year MBA program
and a part-time MBA program in the same business school.
They found the factors to predict success for the one-year
MBA program included GMATV, undergraduate GPA, and
a Canadian factor. However, the factors to predict success
in the part-time MBA program included GMATV, GMATQ,
age, and undergraduate GPA. Fish and Wilson concluded
that slightly different entrance criteria should be used for
each program.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES
A number of unresolved issues remain regarding precisely
which variables most strongly correlate with MBA GPA outcomes. The particular research question we posited is: Does
the extent to which students have taken certain required
courses as undergraduates successfully predict differences
in final MBA GPA? We define these prerequisite courses as
those most often required for full admission to MBA programs: principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics,
principles of finance, principles of marketing, principles of
management, principles of financial and managerial account-
ing, and basic statistics. We selected these courses because
they are the courses most often required for MBA program
admission and, in addition, they are the common classes
most business undergraduates take. Further, we analyzed the
relationship between course performance in undergraduate
algebra and written composition and final MBA GPA. We
selected these courses because they are part of the core undergraduate programs at most universities.
Thus, we set forth the following hypotheses.
Hypothesis 1 (H 1 ): There would be a significant positive
correlation between completion of undergraduate business prerequisite courses in marketing, management, accounting, economics, finance, and statistics and final
MBA GPA.
H 2a : There would be a significant positive correlation between student performance in undergraduate algebra and
final MBA GPA.
H 2b : There would be a significant positive correlation between student performance in undergraduate written
composition and final MBA GPA.
H 3 : Prerequisite courses with heavy quantitative content
would be better predictors of overall MBA GPA than
prerequisite courses with light quantitative content.
H 4 : Overall undergraduate GPA would be positively correlated with MBA GPA.
H 5 : Graduation from an Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited undergraduate program would be positively correlated with final
MBA GPA.
ANALYSIS
We gathered data from students’ records for all MBA
graduating-year classes of a midsized private southeastern
university from the inception of the MBA program in 1999
to 2006. We obtained all data from students’ records in the
school of business administration at the main campus and a
branch campus. All students were enrolled in a cohort-based
MBA program (cohort-based programs require students to
move through the entire MBA program in a fixed progression with the same group of individuals). In total, we initially
gathered data for 723 students. After deleting responses with
missing data, the final data set consisted of 491 students, a
response rate of 67.9% of the initial total.
The MBA students in this data set were predominantly
men (62%), and 4.7% of the students were racial minorities. Married students constituted 62.6% of the students. Undergraduate GPAs averaged 3.14 on a 4-point scale, while
the average student in our data had 6.6 years of full-time
professional work experience. Just over two-thirds of the
students completed the eight undergraduate business prerequisite courses primarily by fulfilling requirements of undergraduate business majors.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN MBA PROGRAMS
TABLE 1
Summary of Regression Results
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Hypothesis 1
To test the first hypothesis, we divided our sample into
two subsamples. Subsample 1 included those students who
had completed all eight undergraduate prerequisite courses
(51.3% of the students were in this subsample). Subsample 2
included those students who completed none of the eight undergraduate prerequisites (33.0% of the students were in this
subsample). Students who completed only some (but not all)
of the eight courses were deleted from the analysis (15.7%
of the students were in this subsample).
The first question was: Does overall success in the MBA
program differ between these two subsets of students? The
confidence level for rejecting the null hypothesis in each case
is the standard of p < .05.
The dependent variable used to assess MBA program success for this study was cumulative GPA upon graduation
from the MBA program. The independent variables used in
the analysis included completion of the eight undergraduate business prerequisite courses and specific performance in
each. Specific performance in the prerequisite courses was
assessed by the letter grade received by the students in each
course. No students in our sample received a letter grade of
F in any of the prerequisite courses.
As shown in Table 1, the regression analysis indicated a
significant correlation (β = .239, p < .002) between final
MBA GPA and undergraduate business prerequisite course
completion. Thus, H 1 was supported. However, a post hoc
analysis revealed that those MBA students who had not completed the eight undergraduate prerequisite courses produced
a mean MBA GPA over one-tenth of a point higher than the
MBA students who had completed the eight undergraduate
prerequisite courses. That is, the completion of the prerequisites did not guarantee success in the MBA program any
different than that of students who had not completed the
undergraduate prerequisites.
Hypothesis 2a
H 2a asserted that student performance in undergraduate algebra would be positively correlated with final MBA GPA
(76.1% of the students had taken undergraduate algebra). Although the relational direction was found to be positive, as
expected, this prediction was not statistically supported (β =
.189, p < .085). This was surprising because of the historically close link, in the literature, between quantitative ability
as measured by the GMAT and MBA success.
Hypothesis 2b
H 2b asserted that student performance in undergraduate written composition was positively correlated with final MBA
GPA. In most cases, students in our sample had taken two
written composition classes (95.8% of the students had taken
written composition 1 and 2 while 4.2% had taken only written composition 1). For this analysis, the grades for those
45
Hypothesis
Dependent
adjusted
1
Final MBA
GPA
2a
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
2b
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
5
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Final MBA
GPA
Independent variable
β
p
Adj.
R2
Completion of 8
undergraduate
business
prerequisites
Undergraduate algebra
grade
Undergraduate written
composition grade
Principles of
undergraduate
accounting grade
Principles of marketing
grade
Principles of
management grade
Principles of finance
grade
Principles of
economics grade
Principles of statistics
grade
Overall undergraduate
GPA
AACSB status of
undergraduate
school
.239
.002
.051
.189
.085
.024
.324
.000
.097
.184
.069
.024
.202
.044
.031
.001
.992
.010
.178
.104
.020
.335
.001
.102
.346
.000
.111
.466
.000
.216
.027
.556
.001
MBA = Master of Business Administration; GPA = grade point average;
AACSB = Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business; Adj. =
adjusted.
students who took both courses were averaged, and the resulting mean grade was used as the independent variable.
Students who had taken only one written composition course
were deleted from the sample. Regression analysis, as shown
in Table 1, indicated a significant correlation (β = .324, p
< .000) between final MBA GPA and undergraduate written
composition grade.
Hypothesis 3
To test H 3 , regression analysis was employed for those students who completed all eight of the typical business undergraduate prerequisites (as indicated for H 1 , this was 51.3%
of the sample). In those cases in which students had taken a
series of two courses in a given area (for example, principles
of accounting I and II), the mean grade of the two courses
was determined and was used for our analysis. Our results
for marketing (β = .202, p < .044), economics (β = .335, p
< .001), and business Statistics (β = .346, p < .000) were
all significant predictors of MBA GPA. Accounting, management, and finance were not significantly related to MBA
GPA.
46
D. G. CHRISTENSEN ET AL.
Hypothesis 4
Regression analysis, as shown in Table 1, indicated a significant correlation (β = .466, p < .000) between undergraduate
GPA and MBA GPA. Interestingly, this relationship produced
the strongest statistical correlation, with a beta of .466 across
all variables tested in the present study.
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Hypothesis 5
To test the final hypothesis, the sample of MBA graduates
was divided into two subsamples; those who graduated with
undergraduate degrees from an AACSB-accredited business
school (52.5% of the MBA graduates) and those who did
not (47.5% of the MBA graduates). The prediction of a positive correlation between MBA GPA and graduation from
an AACSB-accredited undergraduate program was not supported by our analysis (β = .027, p < .556).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of the present study was to analyze the influence
of several variables on the predictability of student success
in MBA programs. Over the years, a host of researchers have
contributed a great deal of valuable information and direction with regard to what drives the prediction of success for
graduate students as they enter MBA programs. We documented many of those studies in the literature review. In this
study, we developed five hypotheses to test the effectiveness
of certain variables and relationships that we think contribute
to the literature surrounding this interesting issue.
We set forth the hypothesis that a significant relationship
exists between final MBA GPA and the completion of the
eight undergraduate business prerequisite courses in marketing, management, accounting, economics, statistics, and
finance. We found completion of those courses at the undergraduate level does predict MBA success. However, we also
found the rather surprising result that students who did not
complete those undergraduate courses performed at the same
level or slightly higher in MBA programs than those who did.
Further research into the academic backgrounds of the students who did not complete the usual business prerequisites
is needed to shed more light on this issue.
We researched the relationship between students with undergraduate algebra and the subsequent performance of those
students in the MBA program. We found there was only a
rather weak link between undergraduate algebra completion
and MBA success. As noted previously, this was a surprising result because of the relationship documented in prior
literature showing a close link between quantitative ability
measured by the GMAT and MBA success.
We studied the relationship between undergraduate written composition courses and final MBA GPA. We found
a strong positive relationship between written composition
performance and subsequent final MBA GPA. This result is
not surprising because most MBA programs have rigorous
written paper analysis components.
In addition, we analyzed the relationship between final
MBA GPA and the completion of some typical undergraduate MBA prerequisites. Interestingly, marketing, economics,
and business statistics were significant predictors of MBA
GPA success whereas accounting, management, and finance
were not. We also analyzed the success in MBA programs of
those students who graduated from AACSB-accredited undergraduate programs against those who did not and found
no significant results.
The most significant relationship we found was between
undergraduate GPA and MBA GPA. Those students who
were strong performers at the undergraduate level continued
to be, on average, strong performers at the graduate level.
Our findings suggest that the requirement for students to
take prerequisite courses should be reviewed. The MBA prerequisite courses may function as an unnecessary deterrent
to students who would otherwise succeed in MBA studies. In
addition, future researchers should emphasize factors affecting students’ motivation and desire to excel. Areas of study
could include each student’s life-long study habits, degree
of competitiveness, and time available for MBA study given
the constraints of professional work schedules and personal
commitments.
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