recruitment activities influencing students' choice of...
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RECRUITMENT ACTIVITIES INFLUENCING STUDENTS' CHOICE OF SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY'S
SEGAL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Andrea Kirby B.A., University of Alberta, 1998
PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT O F T H E REQUIREMENTS FOR T H E DEGREE O F
MASTER O F BLJSINESS ADMINISTRATION
In the Faculty
of Business Administration
MBA Program
0 Andrea Kirby 2007
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Spring 3007
All rights reserved. Th i s work may not bc reproduced in whole or in pnrt, by photocopy or othcr means , without permission of the ai~thor.
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Andrea Kirby
master of Business Administration
Recruitment Activities l~ifluencing Students' Choice of Simon Fraser University's Segal Graduate School of Business
Dr. Colleen Collins Senior Supervisor Associare Professor of Marketing
Dr. Ed Bukszar Second Reader Associate Professor of Strategy
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ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the recruitment activities that influence prospective graduate
students' choice of Simon Fraser University's Segal Graduate School of Business. Academic
research, results from the school's q~~alifications assessment form, and applications for academic
programs beginning in January 2006 and September 2006 as ~ c l l as popular literature provide the
basis for analysis. An examination of the M R A product is conducted through a 4Ps analysis as
well as p rod~~c t explanations that identify other factors and variables influencing a student's
choice of MBA program. Findings indicate that students are more likely to enrol at the Segal
Graduate School of Business if they are from Vancouver (or Canada), if they attend an
inforniation session in the fall, and if they receive fi~nding in the form of a scholarship or award.
Findings with regards to the effect of advertising on number of q~lalifications assessment
inquiries and inlimnation ses5ion registrations may provide the basis for research.
DEDICATION
The con~ple t ion o f this project would not have been possible without the love and support
o f my family, who stood by m e through the trials and tribulations orgraduate business education.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Bob Krider for opening my eyes to the magical world of data
mining and C'ollecn Collins for her support and insight. I am grateful to senior members ofthe
SFU Rusincss community who put their faith in mc to recruit the next generation of MBA and
MA students to the Segal Graduate School of Business and for enabling me to research thc
recruitmen1 activities used in the past to inform my future activities in this role.
I woulcl also like to thank Carolyne Smart, Ed Bukszar, Diane Cross and Peter Klcin for
their support and encouragement while I learned the ropes a1 SFU Business. They have been keen
mentors and role models.
I would also like lo acknowledge Gord Rein for his foresight in developing the
qualifications assessment form and Nyung Nguyen for her commitment to using and updating it
through the recruitment season. The qualitications assessmen1 form has turned out to be
invaluable in terms of facilitating two-way marketing communications between the Segal
Graduate School of Business and prospective students.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Approval ............................................................................................................................................... i i ... Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 111
Dedication ............................................................................................................................................ iv
........................................................................................................................... Acknowledgements v
.............................................................................................................................. Table of Contents vi ... List of' Figures ............................................................................................................................... V I I I
List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................... ix
C;lossary .............................................................................................................................................. x
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 3 1 . 1 Market conditions affecting MBA schools .........................................................................
.......................................................................... 1 . 2 Marketing theory - a view of the b-school 4 1.2.1 Service marketing ........................................................................................................... 7 1.2.2 Information search .......................................................................................................... 7 . ........................................................................................................ 1 2.3 The choice process 8
1.2.4 CRM ................................................................................................................................. 8 .......................................................................................................................... 1.2.5 Branding 9 ....................................................................................................................... 1.2.6 Rankings 10
Canadian MBA Schools' recruitment practices .................................................................... 12
2 . I Best practices among Canadian imi\/ersities ............................................................... 12 2.2 Recruitment at the Segal Graduate School of Business ................................................. 14 . . .
2.2.1 Graduate business program ot ter~ngs ......................................................................... 14 2.7.2 Administrative structure ............................................................................................. 16 2.7.3 Marketing activities: branding /awareness and recruitment ...................................... 17
Rcasearch ...................................................................................................................................... 20 . .
3.1 Research objectives and scope .......................................................................................... 20 3.2 Research elements ............................................................................................................... 20 - . ................................................................................................................ 3.3 Research t~ndlngs 23
3.3.1 Students' information search ....................................................................................... 7-3 ....................... 3.3.2 Ma-jor conlpetitors of Segal Graduate School of Business' programs 24
.................................................................. 3.3.3 Advertising and number of QAF inquiries 27 3.3.4 Length of sales cycle ..................................................................................................... 33 3.3.5 Information session attendance ................................................................................. 34 3.3.6 Number of qualifications assessment inquiries ........................................................... 41
......................... 3.3.7 Regional demand for Segal Graduate School of Business offerings 46 3.3.8 Overseas recruiting - applications and enrolnients .................................................... 51
Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 59 ........................... 4.1 Personal reconmendation. student involvenlent. and alumni referrals 50
Long-term contact with prospective graduate business school studcnts ....................... 6 I Career Management Centre Services .............................................................................. 62 Scholarships and awards ..................................................................................................... 63 . . Qiialit~cations assessment form .......................................................................................... 64 International recruitment and MBA fairs ....................................................................... 67 Advertising and promotions ................................................................................................ 68 Additional support ............................................................................................................ I Recruitment funnel. revised .............................................................................................. I
5 Limitations and areas for further research ............................................................................. 79
..................... ............................................................................................... 5.1 Limitations .. 79 5.1 . 1 Qualifications assessment form ................................. 5.1.2 Information session registrations ................................................................................. 81
................................................................................................................... 5.1.3 Exit surveys I ............................................................................................................. 5 . 1 . 4 Advertising 82
5.1.5 Other .............................................................................................................................. 83 5.3 Areas Ibr further research .................................................................................................... 84
Appendices .......................................................................................................................................... 87
Appendix I : Overview of Management Education Value Chain ............................................... 87 Appendix 2: How students became aware of MBA programs ................................................ 88 Appendix 3: Relationship selling trajectories: a conceptual model and empirical . .
investlgatlon ............................................................................................................. 89 Appendix 4: Business school rankings (2006) .......................................................................... 90 Appcndix 5: Qualifications assessment inquiries by country 2005 - 07 .................................... 91 Appendix 6: Number of QAF inquiries per week from China & India, and MBA Fair
participation by SFU Business representatives (January 2005 - February 2007) ......................................................................................................................... 92
Reference List ................................................................................................................................... 94
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
-. I-~gure 2.1 : Recruitment funnel, Segal Gruduate School of Business ............................. .. .............. 18
Figure 3.1 : Decision tree results of target variable "applied" .......................................................... 37
Figure 3.2: Total number of Q A F and webform inquiries by month (December 2004 - January 2007) ............................... .... ................................................................................ 42
Figure 1.3: Total number of QAF and webform inquiries by month (as a rate) ........................... 43
Figure 3.4: Nuniber of QAF and webforni inquiries by program (January 2005 - February 2007) ................................................................................................................. 45
Figure 3.5: Decision tree with target variable "enrol" ...................................................................... 56
Figure 4.1 : Recommended revisions to recruitment fiinnel, Segal Graduate School of Business ........................................................................................................................ 76
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1: Profile of students inquiring through the QAF (Decembcr 3004 - February 2007) ................................................................................................................................. 16
............................... Table 3.1 : Summary of recruitment contacts (December 2004 - April 2006) 2 I . .
Table 3.2: Summary and explanation ot var~ables used .................................................................. 22
Table 3.3: Sources of information influencing students' choice of Segal Graduate School of Business (% checking yes) ............................................................................. 24
Tablc 3.4: Competitor Schools considered by Segal Graduate School of Business students (numbers of students) ...................................................................................... 36
Table 3.5: Regression output - number of QAF assessment inquiries (response variable) and advertising. Coefficients and level of signiticance are shown) ............................. 29
Table 3.6: Number of placements per media and number of QAF inquiries (January 2005 - February 2007) ..................................................................................................... 32
Table 3.7: Number of months between QAF inquiry and intended start date for students who applied to the Segal Graduate School of Business ................................................ 34
Table 3.8: Number of information session attendees by month (January 2005 - April 2006) ................................................................................................................................. 3 5
Table 3.9: Crosa-tabulation analysis - information session month and "apply" ............................ 35
Table 3.10: Regression output, number of information session registrations per day and advertising placements (July 2006 - February 2007) .................................................... 39
Table 3.1 1 : Conversion rates by program - information session attendance, application, ........................................................................................................ and withdrawal rates 4 1
Table 3.12: Percentage of QAF inquiries by country of residence ................................................... 47
Table 3.13: Regression output - number of QAF inquiries from prospective students living in China and India and participation in MBA fairs in those countries. Coefficients and significance levcls are shown. ......................................................... 48
Table 3. 14: Total numbers of GMAT tests taken in China and India, 2001 - 3006 ....................... .50
Table 3.15: Number of QAF inquiries and applications from students living in Canada, China, India, Pakistan, and the US ................................................................................ 52
Table 3.16: Cross tabulation output - students living idoutside Canada and percentage of . . declined offers of adn i~s s~on ........................................................................................... 53
Table 3.17: Cross tabulation output - students living inloutside Vancouver and percentage of declined offers of admission .................................................................... 53
Table 3.1 8: Percentage of declined offers of admission from students living in Canada, China, India, Pakistan. and the United States ................................................................ 54
Table 4.1 : Advertising placements shown to have a significant impact on Q A F inquiries and/or information session registrations ....................................................................... 70
GLOSSARY
IMOT MBA
IMOT Biotech IMBA
G A W M MBA
M A in FRM
EMBA
SIMBA
SFU MBA
QAF
CMC
M B A in Management oSTechnology
M B A in Manage~nen t o f Biotechnology
M B A in Global Asset and Wealth Management
Master of Arts in Financial Risk Management
Executive M B A
Specialist M B A - three concentrations in Leadership and Organizational Change, Marketing, and International Business.
General I -year M B A Program (launched 2007)
Qualifications Assessment Form
SFU Business Career Management Centre
INTRODUCTION
This analysis is intended to evaluate the effectiveness of recruitment tools to identify
which are most critical in influencing a student's decision to attcnd Sinion Fraser Ilniversity's
Segal Graduate School of Business. With greater a~tention paid to those motivating factors. it is
hoped that recruitnient efforts could be made more effective (ie: iniproved conversion of student
inq~~ir ies to enrolment).
In this first chapter, market conditions affecting for business schools (commonly referred
to as b-schools) are cliscussecl along with an overvicw ofthe business school product life cycle.
An examination of the MBA product is conducted through a 4Ps analysis as well as product
explanations that identify the other factors and variables influencing student's choices of MBA
programs. Because business schools can be characterized as a service product. the role of
information search is reviewed in the context of understanding students' need for relevant dala
and personal contact. Methods used to attract prospective M B A students, including branding,
custonier relationship management (C'RM) systems, and participation in MBA school rankings
surveys are also explored.
In the sccond chapter, the recruitment and marketing activities at three well-known
Canadian business schools are reviewed. The recruitment process at the Segal Graduate School
of Business is then presented following an overvieiv of the school's program offerings and
administrative structure. This overview of product characteristics, market conditions, and best
recruiting practices relevant to Canadian business scliools culminate in recommendations to
improve recruitment activities at the Segal Graduate School oSBusiness to attract greater
numbers of bright, qualifiecl students.
In the third chapter, the factors intluencing students' choice of the Segal Graduate School
ol'Business are explored. Data l'rom the qualifications assessment form (QAF) inquiry database.
information session registrations and attendance, application data (January and September 2006
intakcs), and the results of exit SLlrveys conducted in 3006 provide the basis for this analysis.
Regression analysis, decision trees, and cross-tabulation analysis reveal inquiry and enrolment
patterns based on a prospecti\~c student's country of residence, attendance at an information
session, and receipt of funding. The impact of advertising placements on the number of QAF
inquiries and information session registrations is explored using regression analysis. While thesc
results are inconclusive, they may provide the basis Ihr future analysis. By analyzing the impact
of various marketing and recruiting activities at the Segal Graduate School of Business,
recommendations will be presented to increase their effectiveness.
1.1 Market conditions affecting MBA schools
Given the forces of change and potential changes in supply and demand in the graduate
business education market, ~lniversities are now diverting more attention to marketing and
identifying the factors that most strongly influence students' choice of graduate business school.
Underlying factors that traditionally attracted b-school applicants no longer have the same draw,
so i t is important to identify the factors intluencing MBA students in their choice of institution. A
number of these factors are discussed along with strategies ~lsed by leading Canadian b-schools
(ie: most highly ranked and sought after).
The MBA marketplace has become increasingly crowded over the last sevcral decadcs
with many new entrants, delivery methods, and intensified global competition. Prospective
students can choose from any n ~ ~ m b e r of traditional ~~niversities, private or independent offerings,
and joint ventures. With increased competition, the importance of marketing MBA schools vis-a-
vis active student recruitment has increased. Facing a shrinking pool of potential candidates in the
"Baby Bust" generation, combined with a bull economy that leaves would-be stuclents wondering
why they would lcave thcirjobs. business schools are challenged to attract bright. qualilied
students.
MBA providers aim to dcvelop managers with the skills to run protitablc, efficient, and
competitive enterprises (Kempner. I991 ). However, the delivery of MBA courses now differs
enormously in terms of duration, level of specialization. and delivety method.
In terms of product life cjcle, MBA programs in Canada, US, and in thc UK \sere largely
launched in the 1960s, with gron th in the 70s and 80s. The 1990s and 2000s saw the arrival of
the maturity stage, and experts foresee radical changes across higher education to create new S-
curve in the MBA life cycle (Friga et al., 2003). The 1990s saw a 46% increase in the ni~rnber of
MBA degrees awarded in the United States, but after a three year decline after 2002, GMAC has
reported a surge in deniand for filll-time programs in 2006 (Richards-Wilson Rr. Galloway,
2006)(Lavelle & Lehman, 2006).
Management education has evolved from corporate-based models to the student-based
models that are now proliferating institutions of higher education and the Internet (Friga, Bettis,
& Sullivan, 2003) (Appendix I ). Corporate-based models common in the 1950s which saw
professionals delivering business lessons in local markets were replaced by the faculty-based
models that esisted until as late as 1909. These faculty-based models, bhich emphasized
theoretical or empirical models taught by PhD faculty have further evolved into the student-based
models that are now more common: modular learning taught by faculty made up of academics as
well as seasoned professionals. These courses are backed by extensive digital libraries and are
only limited by the boundaries of the Internet (Friga et. al., 2003).
Globalization, disruptive technologies, demographic shifts, and deregulation (in terms of
public funcling for universities and accreditation) have imposed radical changes on universities. In
the past, marketing efforts were not required to attract more, better students; however, decreased
demand for MBA degree5 betwecn 2002-2005 and new entrants has created a competitive
landscape in which ilniversities are forced to consider strategies such as increasing student-
teacher ratio, leveraging brand awareness, and expanding global reach (Friga et al., 2003). As thc
market Ibr prospective MBA stirdents has become increasingly competitive, many schools have
reinvented themselves i n terms of course offerings (Hazelwood, 2004), specializations (Hollows)
ct al., 2003), and dclivery methods (Brown, 2003; Lord, 2003).
Universities must meet the needs of a number of different customers, including parents,
alumni, donors, the community. the government, and prospective employers; however, students
are still the primary customers. Kotler and Fox argue that universities will till courses morc easily
whcn the) ol'fer the qualificationc students are looking for, price programs at a level that provides
value, meet students' expectations and provide information that prospective students can use to
make decisions ( 1 995). These variables have traditionally been controlled through the 4Ps, but in
today's competitive b-school marketplace, marketing activities must addrcss a greater number of
variables.
1.2 Marketing theory - a view of the b-school
The factors that deterniine success in the competitive marketplace of postsecondary
institutions offer~ng graduate busincss education are far more complex than the application of the
4Ps; however, the application of relationship marketing principles seems too complex in a market
where repeat purchases is not the norm but relationship marketing might be appropriate for
services with a relatively long purchase cycle and experience (Ivy & NaudC, 2004). Prospective
students conbider their enrolment in an MBA program a once-in-a-lifetime engagement designed
to enhance their career prospects into the long term. One exception to this seems to be cases
where students earned their MBA in another country, and. upon immigrating to another country.
feel the need to enhance their credentials by earning a second MBA from a local school.
On a basic level, we can use the 4Ps to conceptualize graduate b-school marketing. In
terms of place. universities use alternative means by M hich students can access their programs,
such as online delivery or changing the time of clay or frequencj of classes. Promotion includes
the range of newspaper ads, busincss track journals, conventions, graduatc program or MBA fairs
and thc Internet.
Pricing for graduate business education was found to be inelastic in Leslie and
Brinkman's 1987 study; however, prices for MBAs has increased significantly over the past
twenty years. Although this paper does not address the effect of price on students' choices of
graduate business school, two hypotheses co~dd be explored. First, price in the strict economic
sense matters. Pricing affects custoniers' perceptions of quality and value - creating or
reinforcing a school's quality image. If price affects prospective students' perception of quality, i t
would be important that the Scgal Graduate School of Business remain within the sanic price
point as its tnost significant competitors, thereby signalling a similar level of repute and quality.
Further research could explore whether a high list price with discounts matters to prospective
students. If the latter pricing strategy mattered, the Segal Graduate School of Business would be
at a disadvantage compared to other schools that routinely use scholarships to "discount" the
posted price. Pricing and a school's ability to offer internally funded scholarships may be
influenced by the institution's overall administrative 1 funding structure.
Thc Iburth P, product, is regarded difltrently by scholars. Kotler and Fox (1995) think of
students as the "raw materials" and graduates as the product of the business school (employers
are the customer). Levitt ( 1980) sees a university's program of'erings as different products, made
up of the core, tangible and augniented product. From the benefits perspective, the b-school
protluct is graduates' ability to find jobs, gain status, and earn the lifestyle to which they aspire
(Lcvitt, 1980).
Indeed, career placements and salary levels are an important factor in b-school rankings,
and schools are increasingly relyins on niche programs focused on careers rather than academic
disciplines (The M.B.A. hard sell, 1004). A 2006 study by the EFMD' found that 81.9% of
I Ihropean Foundation ['or Management Ikvelopment.
MBAs said they enrolled in business school to increase their earning potential (compared to
46.8% of BBA students who reported this samc motivation) (EFMD, 2006). Over 72% of
respondents chose their business school because i t had a good record of enhancing career
prospects (EFM [I, 2006).
Several scholars have recogni7ed a fifth P in the services marltcting mix: people. Keller
( 1983) argues that the role of personncl at an institution is crucial in the services product mix.
MBAs. like all educational products. are heavily influenced by the staff and faculty that deliver
and support students' course worh (Nicholls, Harris et. at, 1995), so attention to the quality of
service being dclivercd by people throi~ghout students' recruitment, enrolment, study, and life as
alumni is critical. Ivy and NaudC (2004) identified seven elements of the business school
marketing mix through factor analysis of survey data conducted with 507 current MBA students
in t ~ e l v e different state-subsidized schools in South Africa. The elements of the marketing mix,
program. prominence, price, prospectus, people, promotion, and premium. The first five of these
had a mean importance score greater than the mid-point on a 5-point Likert scale (Ivy & NaudC,
2004). The program element - the "range of electives and the choice of majors in the MBA
degrec" - is the most important factor influencing students' choice of program. The prominence
element, which ib made up of staff reputation and a popular rankings list, was also an important
factor influencing MBA program choice. Ivy and NaudC concluded that promotions (advertising)
and premiums (accommodation, eschange opportunities, cultural diversity and class s i ~ e ) were
least important to MBA students (Ivy & NaudC, 2004). These findings negated the 5P model of
services; the 7 factors that were identified accounted for 70% of the variance in MBA students'
program choice (Ivy & NaudC, 2004).
This discrepancy between explanattons of the product mix influencing the perceived
quality of MBA education may be explained by the fact that an MBA could in many ways be
classified as a service, including intangibilit). simultaneity of production and consumption, and
non-standardization (Murray, I99 I ). I t is generally accepted by scholars that services are
sufilciently different from tangible products that they their marketing deserves separate treatment
(Nicholls, Harris ct. al., 1905).
1.2.1 Service marketing
Murray ( 199 I ) esplains that servicc customers have specific inforniation needs at
different points in their purchase decision processes. Scrvicing those information needs is of
primary importance in the MBA marketplace because an MBA is purchased only once. It is for
this reason that the transaction is considered riskier than a transaction involving consumable,
tangible goods. Moreover, consumers are highly involved in the process of deciding upon an
MBA program becausc they are ac~~ te ly awnre of thc differences between b-school brands. As a
consequence, prospective students' access to relevant, influential information is critical.
1.2.2 Information search
Marketing MBA programs involves selling a product that is expensive in terms of both
time and money, and is most likely purchased once. Consequently, an understanding of the
information-gathering behaviour of potential MBA students is vital to the task of recruiting them.
Nicholls and Wong's ( 1988) study regarding MBA students' information search revealed that
53% of respondents listed personal contact as a main source of information and that 89% of
students sought some kind of personal advice while making their decision.
Beard's 1992 findings revealed that students found out about the MBA they attended by
enquiring directly (27%), a personal recommendation by someone who had done the course
(33%). and through thc AMBA directory. Only 6% of full-time students used advertisements and
15% learned about their program of choice through articles in the newspaper. Beard's results are
summnrizcd in Appendix 2. The most important sources of information that intluenccd Segal
Graduate School of Business students are outlined in section 2.2.4.
Despite the growing importance of the Internet, MBAs and alumni said that newspapcrs
mere almost as iniportant 3s the Internet as a sourcc of information in selecting their business
school, according to a 2006 sludy by EFMD. The Econoniist and Financial Times rankings were
most frequently cited as influential media in the b-school choice process (EFMD, 3006).
1.2.3 The choice process
Pu11.i and Staelin ( 1978) sought to uncover the characteristics that studcnts consider when
choosing a school as well as the relative intluence of these attributes, focusing on which school a
student would choose if helshe were accepted into a number of programs. Factors such as cost of
tuition, distance from home, and quality of the graduate business school relative to the quality of
the prospective student's undergraduate school were considered. Their results indicated that i t is
possible to accurately predict the aggregate behaviour of students based on their predictive model
of individual behaviour. In the context of marketing graduate business education, the construction
o f a similar model wilh variables suited to a school's particular situation can help int'orni policj
changes such as increases in tuition or financial aid (Punj Sr Staelin, 1978).
1.2.4 CRM
Business education publications cmpliasize the need to treat students as customers and to
fbcus on the school's brand. Bejou (2005) advocates the use of a Customer Relationship
Management (C'RM) sjsteni to manage students' relationship \\it11 the s~liool tliro~~ghout their
academic career beginning with the student recruitment phase. Bejou's model of relationship
selling trajectories is reproduced in appendix 3. I t demonstrates how thc relationship between
buyers and sellers begins with an initial encounter and continues for as long as satisfaction
remains high. In a business school contcxt, the relationship between the institution and
perspective students gocs through several stages and occurs over many years (fi-om initial
encounter to an alumnus' last donation):
Exploration: Recruitment - the school communicates with prospectivc students with regards to the benefits and rewards oI'cnrolIing.
Expansion: Enrolment Management - school administration actively advises and orients new students in terms of courses, financial aid, and the development of peer groups through social activities. The faculty is actively engaged in retaining students.
Commitment: Retention and Progression - the school ensures that students remain committed to the school through thc later phase of the program and into alumni activities.
Dissolution / Continuation: Post-Graduation - career scrvices arc critical at this phase. and graduation sho~lltl be an affirmation that studenls maclc the right choice while providing recognition for their hard w r k . Alumni engagement s h o ~ ~ l d conti~iue indefinitely (Bejou, 2005).
Bejo~t, who is the Dean of Business at Virginia State University, has organized faculty
and staff into C R M committees that correspond with each of these phases of relationship
management to ensure a seamless interaction of stakeholders through each phase of the student's
relationship with the school - from firs1 contact to post-graduation.
1.2.5 Branding
Branding is another dominant issue in business publications. More than the quality of a
particular program, ranking, or test scores, branding is about a school's culture, niindset, and
aspirations informed by reality (Hisous, 3003). A school's brand should be informed by students,
stafl; faculty and administration, as well as its history and legacy; i t must go "be>oncl the product
portfolio and embrace the whole offering from the business school, including products. people,
pricelvalue, and placc" (Bisous, 2003, 3 5 ) . In many ways, business schools should brand
themselves in ways that align them with the values of companies hiring MBAs.
Many schools develop and brand and then try to make the marketplace believe it;
ho\vever, more often than not they are surprised at what people act~mlly think ofthem. Rather
than trying to change the public's perception of their brand, b-schools should base their brand on
what they excel at or what the! have the resources to change (Bisous, 2003).
Some business schools have made the mistake ot' promoting one department or part ot'the
business schuol at the expense of others, but in reality, each department should support the larger
brand. According to Tim Westerbeck, executive vice president of Lipman Hearn, b-schools
should aim to crcate a powerful, single brand image within the public's mind. A b-school brand
should encompass thc \\ hole product offwing, including the products, people, pricelvalue, and
place. The brand ~hou ld also communicate the school's legacy. history and its ambitions to
various stakeholders ( B i s o ~ ~ x , 20U6). One brand specialist recommends looking closely at what
each departmcnt has accornplishecl then ~~ncovering what holds them together in order to uncover
the strongest brand associations for the school as a whole.
Another recommended approach to branding a b-school is to increase the b-school
administration's ~mderstanding of the b-school's particular market niche through graduate
surveys. MBA students are unique in terms of their backgrounds, program concentrations. and
work experience, consequently, there are many ways in which these individuals could have
benefited from their MBA programs. "Armed with this information, schools of business can
develop a set o r offensive and defensive strategies for maintaining, or even expanding, their
market niche" (Richards-Wilson & Galloway, 2006, 95). The analysis in one graduate student
study found that different subgroups of students benefited differently from their MBA program,
and marketing and recruitnient activities uere enhanced when the school was able to address
those subgroups more effectively by addressing these students' main reasons for pursuing an
MBA ( Richards-Wilson & Gallowaj, 2006).
1.2.6 Ranliings
Finally, b-school rankings are given a great deal of attention in the media and popular
press; honever. these rankings are hardly an objective rellection ol'the quality of education or a
school's graduates. A comparison of thrce global ranking systems, the Financial Times 100, The
Wall Street Journal and thc Econoniist magazine, reveals that none of the top I0 schools are held
in cornnion by all tlirce ranking systems (see Appendix 4) . If these ranking systems are not in
any way consistent in terms of the "top I0 b-schools", wc must question the objectivity and
relevance of using ranking as a measure of quality of business education. Today there are
rankings from Bzr\i~ir.v.v Week Tllc Wull Sfrcrt . / o w t ~ c ~ l . I.i)~.hc\. Thc) Ewt701~i s t , \ ~ ~ I ~ ~ I z ~ I I L ~ . L I I I L I
/ / w Globe L I I K ~ Muil2. Each publication has its own methodology and its own agcnda - no two
survcys are alikc and nonc of thcni capturcs the complexity ol'business education in a ~miversity
environment. According to M ebsi te CanadianR~~sinessSchools.coni, the Brrvirresv W w k rankings
are the most important of international rankings'. Although the publication foc~lses on mainly U S
schools. ten schools from outside of the U S (plus another ten that were considered for ranking)
are listed. The Fintr17c.i~ll Tilnp.s, on the other hand is awarded credibility on the basis of its
comprehensive, all encompassing, tri~ly international approach to ranking busincss schools.
From personal experience, business schools must devote considerable staff tinie to
completing surveys and ensuring that alumni respond to the survej s that are sent to them.
Rankings are as much a reflection of a school's concerted effort to participate as they are an
indication of a school's quality.
' International rankings from all three publications are used to cnsurc that 311 major busincss schools arc potential candidates. ' "Rating the Rankings" (2005). \~\vr+~.~.'anadiantl~~sincssSctiools.com Iacccsscd 39 Mar 20071.
2 CANADIAN MBA SCHOOLS' RECRUITMENT PRACTICES
2.1 Best practices among Canadian universities
In order to identify best practices among Canadian business-school recruitment, an
overvicw is provided of the recruitment activities at three well-known school~, Q~~een ' s School of
Business, Western University's Richard lvey School of Business, and the University of Toronto's
Rotnian School of Management. These schools have consistently appeared in rankings by T i ~ e
Fi'i17~1n~'iul T~ITTC'S, B I L S ~ I ~ C W M/(.'~di, and Tlw Wcrll S t tw t Jour-twl. By observing the conlmonalities
between their marketing approaches, there are perhaps lessons to be learned for other business
schools trying to stay ahead in this competitive landscape.
All three or these schools are accredited by either EQUlS or AACSR (Queen's is
accredited by both). These accrediting bodies certify that these schools are upliolding standards of
excellence in nianagement education. Deregulation ol'higlier education in many parts of the
world and the proliferation of private MBA-granting institutions has created a need to ensure
these standards are met. Leading business schools add legitimacy to their programs and graduates
by seeking accreditation.
Not surprisingly, these schools are proud of their position in rankings by Blair~cw Wkc4.
Thc' Ecww?ii.st. Tlw Hfdl S ~ I - ~ W ./our-~i~rl and in the FTI 00. Thcse schools protile their position in
the rankings on their websites and in their marketing collateral.
These schools also recognize the importance of career enhancement opportunities to
prospective MBA students and to the rankings; each website contains detailed salary and
placement reports and descriptions the services offered by the carcer management centres - from
resume assistance and job postings to mock interviews. Access to this type of information is
highly relevant to prospective students given their stated goals in pursuing a n MBA (EFMD.
2006). Rclated to career placement and enhancement are rhe alumni protiles posted on Queen's
site. These protiles or "testimonials" inform prospective students about the alumni network they
may join and demonstrate graduates' career success.
These schools have also niet with the challenge of globalization through partncrships
with universities around the world. Whether they are delivering programs at othcr universities or
enteringjoint ventures (as in the case of the Queen's Cornell EMBA program), Rotman, lvcy, and
Queen's have enibraced international partnerships and the need to build satellite campuses or
exchange relationships. In doing so, they not only build brand associations of a global orientation,
these schools borrow brand equity from reputable schools in foreign markets.
The literature stresses the in~portance of personal contact and references for perspective
students. Rotman, Ivey and Queen's have incorporated a high degree of personal involvement
from administration, current students. and alumni. For example, Queen's and Rotman have posted
student blogs that describe a day in the life of an M B A student. lvey has a "no commitment
assessment form" where students can enter their qualifications and program of interest. lvey
admissions officers then respond by providing feedback with regards to the student's chances of
being admitted to the school. The adniissions officers also remain in contact with that student to
remind h idher about upcoming inf-ormation sessions, M R A fairs, and important deadlines. lvey
also invites prospective students to schedule an appointment with a representative in their city or
one nearby. Personal contact and guidance plays an important role in these schools' recruitntent
and marketing activities.
Elements of the relationship-selling trajectory described by Rqjou are apparent in
Rotman, lvey, and Queen's approach to customer relationship management. Throughour the
recruitnlent stage, students are exposed to thc benefits and rewards ofthe school via Internet
resources and personal contact with alumni and current students using formalized channels. The
Internet also facilitates enrolnient by providing detailed advice on financing their M B A through
scholarships, auards, RESPs, and bursaries. Social activities. extracurricular activities, and
networking opportunities open to students and alumni are described and promotcd. The Rotnian
Ambassadors Program, for example, provides prospective students with an insider's perspective.
Incoming students arc offered mentorship and guidance from current students in their senior year.
Students' relationship to the school throughout their program is strengthened through activities
that take place outside of the classroom. For example, Queen's advertises an extensive list of
student clubs, which deal with everything from corporate social responsibility to biopharma.
Ciraduates' relationship with their alma mater continues through honiccoming celebrations,
networking events, and publications.
In order to meet the information needs o r prospective students. leading Canadian
universities provide information regarding programs (part-time or full-time and options for
students to access the program), career management services (such as reports of graduntc
placements and salaries), and offer potential students personal gi~idance and advice through
university administration, current students, or alumni. Not only do these schools position
thenlselves competitively according to the 4Ps, they use CRM strategies from the recruitment of
students to the cultivation ot'alumni. These strategies can help bubiness schools differentiate
themselves in a highly competitive market.
2.2 Recruitment at the Segal Graduate School of Business
2.2.1 Graduate business program offerings
The Segal Graduate School of Business is known for its innovative, industry-responsive
programs. These programs have expanded to include five credit offerings with a sixth MBA
product being launched in September 2007. SFU Business' flagship product, the Executive MBA,
was launched in 1968. For almost forty years, this strategy-focused program has prepared
managers to lead at senior levels oforganizations. S F U Business also developed an online
prograni to deliver business fundanientals to students with an undergraduate degree in a discipline
other than business, the Graduate Diploma in Business Administration. The EMBA and GDBA
are not part ol'this analysis as they wcre not listed as options on the OAF until late 3006.
Launched in 2000. the MRA Program in Managcnient of Technology / Biotcchnology
(MOT / MOT Biotech) was developed using a "teaching hospital" method; leading companies in
the BC' technologq sector helped SFU Business faculty de\<clop a relevant, industry-spcci tic
course to q u i p individuals employed in thc technology and biotechnology industrics with the
skill set to manage firms facing rapid product cycles, change, and innovation. This program
attracts engineers, scientists, or other individudls working in technology-intensive industries.
Although the minimum number of years of work experience is two, a typical MOT MRA studcnt
has been working in a professional capacity for 5 years.
A concentration in finance, the MBA in Global Asset and Wcalth Management (GAWM
MBA) was also designed using the "teaching hospital" method. The GAWM Program was
designed to prepare graduates to work in di\erse areas of tinance including wealth management,
corporate finance or financial engineering, and portfolio n~anagement. Students admitted to this
program are required to have at least t\vo years of experience in tinance related roles, including
financial serviccs or accounting. The hands-on aspects of the program, including a four-month,
paid internship and the administration of Canada's largcst student-managed fund has prepared
over 80 alumni [or positions across Canada and internationally.
In 2005 a second concentration in finance was added to SFU Business' portfolio: A
Master of Arts in Financial Risk Management (FRM). This program focuses on the quantitative
aspects of financial risk management. Approximately one third of the courses in the FRM
program are shared with the GAWM MBA, but FRM students are prepared to deal with a distinct
subset of corporate finance issues; using advanced quantitative skills to measure. quantify, and
mitigate the risks facing firms. Students \vho are admitted to this program are not required to lime
~ o r h cxpcricncc. and arc recruited fi-om m m i ~ quantitative disciplines such as Matheniatic5,
Physics, Engineering, C o m p ~ ~ t e r Science as wcll as Finance o r Economics
Although all programs (EMBA, CiDBA, MOT, FRM. and G A W M ) recruited students
through MBA Fairs, information sessions, and advertising, only GAWM. FRM, and MOT / MOT
Biotech were listed as options on tlic Qualifications Assessment Form ( O A F ) posted on the
sfubusiness.ca webs~ te . This analysis will focus on the results o f the recruitment o f s t ~ ~ d e n t s to the
programs listed in the database o f QAF asscssnients. A snapshot profile o f the students inquiring
about MOT, / M O T Biotech, FRM, and G A W M through Q A F is in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1: Profile of students inquiring through the Q A F (December 2004 - February 2007)
i I / Work Experience
2.2.2 Admi~iistrative structure
FRM
MOT I Biotech
GAWM
Until 2006, SFU Business' graduate business programs had an executive director for the
MOT/ M O T Biotech program, one for tlie CiAWM MBA and Financial Risk Management
Sorircv: Qu(rli/ic~r/iorts tr.c..sev.vr~ren/ /i,twr cl t r / ( r . Dcc.cnr/wr 2004 - Feh~wcrty. 2007 (SFCI G~rsit~css).
FT
88%
47%
79%
programs, and one for the Executive MBA program and G D B A progranis. Under this structure,
each executive director was responsible for recruiting for his/her own program. As o f 2006, the
PT
10%
26%
17%
Segal Graduate School adopted a more centralized administrative s t r ~ ~ c t ~ ~ r e wherc recruitment for
all programs is conducted through a single student recruiter who acts as the school representative
Online
NA
19%
NA
at M B A Fairs, and does a preliminary assessment o f students' qualifications - either through
ESL
30%
13%
17%
Wrote GMAT at
time of QAF
30%
16%
33%
Graduate Degree
89%
46%
87%
0-2 Yrs
56%
21%
28%
2-4 Yrs
25%
36%
41%
More than 6
17%
35%
30%
NA
2%
7%
1%
direct queries or througli the SFU Business website quali tlcations assessmcnl form. The student
recruiter rcports to tlic Executive Director, Graduate Business Programs.
Admissions to the graduate programs are conducted through faculty committees. While
thc executivc director, student recruiter. and associate director of the SFU Business Career
Management Centre provide comments, they are not formal members of the adjudication
committee. Once the academic chair accepts a student using the feedback of tiislher committee,
the studcnt is sent a letter of acceptance and asked to submit a $ 1 000 non-reti~ntlable deposit to
secure their space in the class. At this point. the offer of admission may be declined.
Potential issues surrounding price of graduate business programs were briefly addressed
i n the previous chapter. The Segal Ciradunte School of Business exists within the administrative
structure ofthe University as a whole. C'on~ecluentlj, thc school's administration is constrained
by some exlcnt with regards to pricing, and in terms of its ability to offer discounts in the form of
internally funded scholarships The Segal Graduate School keeps only 60% of tuition paid, so
internally iimded awards (tuition discounts) have a double impact on the school's bottom Ime.
External scholarships (through annual donations or endowments) do not impact the school's
revenue.
2.2.3 Marketing activities: branding 1 awareness and recruitment
Chapter I described the various stakeholders targeted by business school niarketing
communications. S F U Business' stated marketing goals are to target the ihllowing groups:
Prospective students (Doctoral, Graduate, Undergraduate and Executive levels)
Current students
Alumni
Prospective and current donors, intluencers, and supporters
Prospective and current faculty
Prospective and current recruiters (employers of students)
Ciovcrnment decision makers - municipal, provincial, and Federal
The objectives o f thc marketing plan set out in 2005 were to create awareness and
communicate key messages for SFU Business and the Segal Graduate School o f Business locally,
nationally, and internationally; create awareness i'or specific niche programs; identify qi~alif ied
prospects interested in an MBA, graduate, o r undergraduate program; and to cngage those
prospects \\ ith personnl i~ed communications relevant t o their choice o f program. T o this end,
SFU Business' marketing and recruitment endeavoured to create a "funnel", moving prospects
from interest to enrolment. The fiunnel inst i tut ionali~ed the recruitment process across all
graduate programs throigh database techno log^. Marketing efforts were focused on lead
generation, prospect identification and qualification, and conversion o f qualified candidates to
enrolled students. The linal stage o f the funnel was intended to maintain those students who werc
admitted to the programs. The current recruitment funnel model is illusrratcd in Figure 3.1.
Figure 2.1: Recruitment funnel, Segal Graduate School o f Business
f
Prospect Qualification
Application and I I Admission
Maintenance and Enrolment
At thc time the 3005 - 2006 marketing plan \\as developed, SFU Busincss administration
indicated that SFU Bus~ness and Sinion Fraser University had cons~derablc local and national
recognition; but the Segal (~raduate School of Husincss was newly named, so i t was relativelj
unknown under that name. Brand and program advertising was necessary to create awareness
among stakeholders of the newer programs and to direct further inquiries to the website for 311
programs.
The impact of advertising for SFU Business is explored in the next chapter. Although the
statistical analyses employed do not establish causality (ie: that particular marketing activities
( W U ~ C L / an increase in the number of qualifications assessments inquiries or information session
registrations), i t is hoped that the annlysis can help to determine whether particular marketing
activities (or advertising in particular p~~blications or t h r o ~ ~ g h certain media outlets) are more
effective than others in terms of lead generation.
Compared with the recruitment practices at other leading Canadian universities,
recruitment activities at the Segal Graduate School of Business lack formalized alumni 1 current
student involvetncnt, the inclusion of key information regarding the availability of scholarships
and other f o r m of funding, and post-graduation employmcnt statistics. Increased personal
contact fi-om alumni and current students and access to information relevant to prospective
students' b-school search, such as linancing and career statistics would likely improve the
effectiveness of SFU Business' recruitment activities.
3 REASEARCH
3.1 Research objectives and scope
Ytudent recruitment activities such as participation in MBA or career fairs, information
sessions, quali tications assessments for prospective students, and advertising are costly. From a
planning perspective, i t is important to measure how many students typically apply to a parlicular
program and how many are accepted. An understanding ofhob\ many students decline offers of
admission, and, if possiblc. whether particular students are morc likely to decline offers thm
others is also critical in~ofar as planning and budgeting is concerned.
This evaluative analysis focuses on the prospective students' reaction to marketing inputs
of the Segal Gracluate School of Business; however, actions of compelitors and environmental
conditions, such as macroeconomic forces, arc omitted. Moreover, the study exaniincs a period of
time in which programs ol'fered at the Segal Graduate School of Business were in flux. Demand
for Segal offerings (proxicd by numbers of QAF inquiries) has changed over time, but this may
bc a consequence of several Sactors not considered by this investigation. Moreover, the impact of
advertising does not take into consideration the quality ol'the advertisenients. \\ hich \vould
impact ad performance. Areas ol' future rcsearch and other limitations of this stud! are outlined
in greater detail in Chapter 5.
3.2 Research elements
A summary of thc recruitmcnt eontach is outlined in Table 3.1. Other parts of the analysis
use more current data as well (post April, 2006). In addition to the QAF inquiries and information
session registration data, exit surveys conducted in 2006 provide insight into Segal Graduate
School of Business students' infbrrnation search and the recruitment contacts that most strongly
influenced thcir decision to attend this business school.
Table 3.1: Summary of recruitment contacts (December 2004 - April 2006)
1 Recruitment tools Total number of responses I attendees I I Qualifications Asses smen t Form 1 3436 1
MOT 1 1009
MOT Biotech
I GAWM 1 352 1 FRM
1 Undecided 1 639 1 Other I 71 5
1 Information Sessions 1 3 9 3
Analysis was conducted to exaniinc the relationship between Q A F and email webform
inquiries and marketing activities in the form of advertising (both radio and in published Ibrm).
The relationship between particular niarketing activities, such as program-specific
advertisements, and number of qualitications assessment inquiries was also examined. Table 3.3
provides a summary and explanation of the variables used in the analysis.
Tablc 3.2: Summary and explanation of variables used
Variable Name
Firstcontact i
/ GMATScore
Management Experience
1 ESL
Program r Program Schedule
NumbeofMonths C
Cou n tryof- Residence
CityofResidence
OutsideofCanada
Outsideof- Vancouver
Explanation
Either qualifications assessment form, email webform, or information session
Information session held by SFU Business
The month in which the prospective student attended the information session
The month in which the prospective student completed the qualifications assessment form
Self-reported GMAT score, divided into the following intervals: 0- 500, 501-550, 551-600, 601-650, 651-700, 700+.
Whether the prospective student completed the GMAT at the time that they completed the qualifications assessment form.
Years of management experience divided into the following intervals: 0-2, 2-4, 4-6, 5-6, more than 6.
Years of work experience (total), divided into the following intervals: 0-2, 2-4, 4-6, 5-6, more than 6.
Factor variable; whether the prospective student already has a graduate degree.
Factor variable; whether the student completed hislher undergraduate degree in a language other than English. "Yes" if the student indicates "No".
The prospective students' program of interest (GAWM, MOT, FRM, SMBA courses (Leadership and Organizational Change, Marketing, International Business), and Undecided).
Factor variable; Full-time, Part-time study or Undecided
Number of months between a prospective student's intended start date and the month in which he or she completed the qualifications assessment form. For simplicity, it was assumed that the student completed the qualifications assessment form on the first of the month.
Country in which the prospective student was living when he or she completed the qualifications assessment form.
City in which the prospective student was living when he or she completed the qualifications assessment form. All cities within the GVRD, including West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Delta, Maple Ridge and Surrey were coded Vancouver for simplicity.
Computed variable for all cases where CountryofResidence did not equal Canada.
Computed variable for all cases where CityofResidence did not equal Vancouver. All cities within the GVRD, including West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Delta, Maple Ridge and Surrey were coded Vancouver for simplicity.
1 Variable Name I Explanation
AgeatPrescreen
I nclude-Res
Include-Phone
Applied
Accepted
Enrolled
Declined
I ScholAmt I The amount that a student received in the form of a scholarship. 1
Computed variable using PrescreenDate and self-reported date of birth. Unrealistic cases (ie: reported ages under 15 years) were recorded NA. Variable binned into equal-widths. Whether the prospective student included a resume or personal profile in the qualifications assessment form.
Whether the prospective students included a phone number in the qualifications assessment form.
Factor variable; whether or not the student applied for admission,
Factor variable; whether or not the student was accepted for admission.
Factor variable; whether the student actually enrolled in classes after applying and being accepted for admission.
Factor variable; whether the student declined the school's offer of admission. I ReceivedSchol
3.3 Research findings
Whether the student received funding in the form of an entrance scholarship or award.
3.3.1 Students' information search
In 2006, three exit surbeys were administered to students graduating fro111 the FKM,
MOT, and GAWM progranis. Students were asked to identify thc most important sources of
information that influenced their decision to apply to the Scgal Graduate School of Business
(m~~l t i p l e entries wcre permitted). Survey results broken down b j program are suniniarized in
Tablc 3.3. Thc threc most commonly cited sources of information by graduates of Segd Graduate
School programs arc the sfi~busincss.ca website, colleagues or friends, and SFU alumni. These
stand in contrast to the most ~ntlucntial sources of'inli)rmation cited in Beard's 1991 stud)
(Appendix 2 ) and thc EMFD'\ 2006 stud), which found that nwspnper articles were the most
~ntlucntial in terms of students' choice of g rad~~a te business school. Although the Intcrnet's scope
and importance ha\ increased exponentially sincc 190 1, the inipact of \\lord of mouth through
employers and alumni continues to be a signilicant factor in students' decision to cnrol in
graduate busincss progranis offercd thro~~gh SFIJ. This is consistent with the importance of word
of'mouth for w-vices pcnerdly.
Table 3.3: Sources of information influencing students' choice of Segal Graduate School of Business (% checking yes)
Source of information FRM 1 M e 1 GAWM 1 Total
("/.I ("/.I
3.3.2 Major competitors of Segal Graduate School of Business' programs
SFU Alumni
Colleague 1 friend
Employer
sfubusiness.ca website
Newspaper
Students in the FRM, GAWM. and MOT / MOT Biotech programs graduating in 2006
werc also asked to report what other schools they considered when considering undertaking
22
24
11
30
0
graduate business education. These competitor b-schools are summarized in Table 3.4 along with
the FT I00 Global Business School rankings results in 3005 and 3006.
12
20
8
24
0
The fact that IJBC's Sauder School ol'Business was most frequently cited as the school
that students considered as an alternative to attending the Segal Graduate School and the fact that
14
2 3
5
18
0
the top throe choices are located in Canada suggests that students' consideration set was generally
17
23
9
2 6
0
national (although American S C I ~ O O I S were more frequently cited than other international busincss
schools). Morc specifically, i t appears that approximateli\ 1!3 of students intendcd to come to
Vancouver and were then likely deciding betueen SFU and UBC'.
Notablq, Sour FRIM stuclcnls indicatcd that they had also con5idered SFU Business'
GAWM MBA Program - making i t equal to University of Toronto as a competitor to this
program. I t is important to note, howver , that few students \\ho enter the FRM program would
bc qualified for the G A W M MIJA program as students in the G A W M program are required to
havc at least two ycars of relevant experience in financial services or finance-relatccl roles. The
nia-iority ofstudents inquiring about adniission to this program through thc QAF have less than
trio years of work experience (56%). Although preference is given to studcnts \\tho have some
work cxpcrience, over 50% of the students in the inaugural class of this program Iiad less than
two years of esperience.
Response rates for these surveys varied by program: FRM, 26 / 39; GAWM, 16 ! 16;
MOT: 15 ! 15. Not a11 students provided answers to this queslion, which may suggest that they
consiclered SFU Business only.
Table 3.4: Competitor Schools considered by Segal Graduate School of Busir~css students (numbers of students)
Competitors
Sauder School of Business ('JBC)
Queen's
FRM
Rotman (U of T)
Richard lvey School of Business
Schulich School of Business (York)
Haward
3
3
University of Victoria
Stan ford
Stern School of Business ( 0 1 1 I O I 1 % 1 9 1 7
MOT 1 MOT
Biotech
4
0
0
1
Royal Roads
Haskayne School of Business (U of C)
Thunderbird ( 0 1 0 1 1 % 49 1 4 5
13
6
GAWM
4
3
3
0 I
0
0
5
2
1
1
0
1
University of Pheonix
Total
3
1
0
2
1
0
1
1
ASU
Sweden
McGill 1 0 0 1 % 39 44
Manchester University 1 0 0 1 % 44 22
29%
15%
3%
3%
I I I I I I
0
I I I 1 I I
Indian School of Business 0 0 1 1 %
University of Michigan 0 0 1 1 Oh 49 3 1
Pittsburgh 0 0 1 1 % 70
FT 100 Ranking (2005)
15%
6%
4%
4%
0
0
0
0
Columbia
Wharton I O ) O ( I ( l % / 1 / 1
FT 100 Ranking
(2006)
71
4
1 %
1 %
1
I I I I I I
Dalhousie 0 0 1 1 % 1 1
55
2 1
34
22
1
3
1
1
24
3 1
18
2
0
1
1 %
0
0
0 0 1 1% I 3
1 %
1 %
4
3.3.3 Advertising and number of QAF inquiries
The impact oSad\~ertising (both awareness-building ads for the opening of thc Segal
Graduate School of Business and program adw-tising) was analyzed using multiple regression
analysis. The number of qualifications assessments inquiries per \leek (total QAFs as well as
QAFs per program) are the dependent ~ariablcs and advertising placements (newspapers,
m a g a h e s , and radio spots) used during the period between January 2005 and February 3007 are
the independent variables. Adbcrtising placements were represented using dummy variables.
Medi,~ placements by wceh have been supplied to the readers of thi< project in the back matter;
this schcdule is confidential and will not appear in the library copy of this work.
The results of the regression analysis are shown in Table 3.5. Coefficients of variable5 arc
shown along with asterisks indicating the significance of a particular variable, nherc one asterisk
represents significance at the .05 level and three asterisks indicate 0 level of significance. A
period after a number indicates significance at the 0. I level. Adjusted R-squared. sometimes
referred to as the proportion of explained variation, is a descriptive measure between 0 and I . The
cloacr the adjusted R-squared ia to I , the greater the model's ability to predict variation in the
independent variable (total number of QAF inquiries per week or number of QAF inquiries per
program ).
Total qualifications assessment inquiries appear to have bcen influenced by a relatively
small number of publications (AQ maga~ine, BUZZ, radio adbertising on C'KWX, the Sound~ng
Board, and miscellaneous campus publications). The adjusted R-squared is 0.4256.
The number of QAF inquiries for the GAWM program was driven by advertising in AQ,
Businesb in Vancouvcr, Career Inaicler, CiAWM-specific advertising, Investnicnt Executive, and
MBA Fairs (specifically the MBA Fair in China). The adjusted R-squared is 0.2955.
The number of QAF inquiries for the FRM program was influenced by advertising in
BUZZ and other campus publications, Canadian Business, MBA Fair participation (and
spcciticall} part~cipation in MBA Fairs in China), and the Sounding Board with an adjusted R-
squared of 0.563 I .
The numbcr of QAF inquiries for the MOT was evplained by advertising on CKWX
radio, in campus publications. 011 CanacIianBi~sinessSchools.corn, and in Canadian Business
magazine. Thc adjusted K-squared for this ~nodcl MLIS 0.4547.
Adverti\ing on C K W X , in campus publications. Canadian Business, and in Sounding
Board (the official monthly publication of The Vancouver Board of Trade ivith a total rcadcrship
of 30,000) appear to havc influenced thc number of QAFr for MOT Biotech program. These
variables csplaincd 3 3 % of the variance with ,in adjusted K-squared of 0.3374.
Advertising in AQ Magazine arid Canadian Business appears to be the only variablcr
influencing the number of Q A F inquiries from students undecided with regards to the program
they \vould likc to join; these variables explained only 12% of the variance in the number of
undccid~d QAF inquiries (adjusted R-Squared of 0.12 14).
I t should be noted that the results of these linear regression models arc suspect for a
number of reasons. First, multicollinearity may be a problem. Multicollinearity occurs when two
variable5 are highly correlated. In this case, advertising in one media (eg: Sounding Board)
frequently coincided with advertising in another media (eg: The Vancouver Sun). The Vancou\lcr
Sun did not appear to be \igni ticant as a pred~ctor of number of OAF inquiries, and yet the
Sounding Board did. To explore whether The Sounding Board and the Vancouver Sun were
highly correlated, the Vancouver Sun was included as a var~able in the regression model without
Sounding Board. Because the adjusted R-squared dropped only slightly ( to 0.4 198 from 0.4256),
we may conclude that some ol'the variables may be highly correlated. Consequently, we cannot
rely on the regrcsslon coefficients as i~seful predictors of the dcpendent variables.
Ta
ble
3.5
: R
egre
ssio
n o
utp
ut - n
um
be
r o
f QA
F a
sses
smen
t in
qu
irie
s (r
espo
nse
vari
able
) an
d a
dve
rtis
ing
. Co
effi
cien
ts a
nd
leve
l of s
ign
ific
ance
are
sh
ow
n)
I I
I I
I I
BC
Bu
sin
ess
I I
I I
I I
QA
Fs
- U
nd
ecid
ed
AQ
Mag
azin
e 1 1
5.73
5 **
1 5
.329
5 **
*
I Can
adia
n B
usi
nes
s 1
1 1 6
.1 7
64 *
**
1 -1 1
.048
0 **
* 1 -3
.927
6 **
* 1 -3
.783
0 **
QA
Fs
- B
iote
ch
5.15
90 *
*
BU
ZZ
Bu
sin
ess
in V
anco
uve
r
CK
WX
Cam
pu
s P
ub
licat
ion
s
To
tal #
of
QA
Fs
per
wee
k
I GA
WM
-Sp
ecif
ic A
ds
1 1 -5
.288
7 **
1
I I
1
QA
Fs
- F
RM
Q
AF
s -
GA
WM
- 27.
274
***
12.6
62 .
55.6
27 *
**
Car
eer
Insi
der
Fin
anci
al P
ost
QA
Fs
- M
OT
10.0
649
***
1.65
89 .
Glo
be
& M
ail (
Nat
ion
al)
Glo
be
& M
ail (
Reg
ion
al)
Geo
rgia
Str
aig
ht
Inve
stm
ent E
xecu
tive
Jack
FM
6.77
93 *
*
-1 0
.762
2 **
*
19.0
1 56
***
8.06
79 *
18.8
198
***
3.15
77 *
5.02
91 *
*
The impact of advertising on recruitment tools was also explored using the number of
advertisement placenlents per media outlet as well as the total number ol'QAF inquiries that
corresponded with these placements (see Table 3.6). This table also includes the percentage of
total OAF inquiries and the number of OAFS per placement. Over 20% of QAF inq~~ir ies were
generated during ad placements in the Vancouver Sun, C'anadianBusinessScliools.corn, Business
in Vancouver, the Sounding Board, AC), HC' Business, and during MBA Fairs. Because response
rates were higher during advertising placement periods for these media, these media and
recruitment tools seem to be influential in terms of generating responses from prospective
students.
The impact of advertising is also analysed using the number of information session
registrations on a given day in Section 3.3 .5 . The recommendations provide a summary of the
media that were shown to have a significant impact on recruitment through either numbers of
Q A F inquiries or information session registrations.
These results are not conclusive. They arc limited by the problem of multicollinearity, as
well as the fact that for the first time, significant brand awareness advertising was used in the fall
of 2005 to celebrate the opening of the newly established Segal Graduate School of Business.
Full-page newspaper advertisements as \\ell as radio coverage (a media channel that had not
traditionally been used by public universities in BC) could have contributed to the peak of
demand during that time.
Nevertheless, the data can be used as a starting point for ongoing monitoring of the effect
of advertising on recruitment. Controlled experiments with advertising, including strategic
devclopment and evaluation of advertising copy, evaluation of media. and the impact of
advertising spending (Eastlack 6r Rao, 1989).
Tablc 3.6: Number of place~r~ents per media and number of QAF inquiries (.Januav 2005 - February 2007)
Vancouver Province
I Georgia Straight
24 Hours
MBA Fair C / Canadian Business
1 Financial Post
Business in Vancouver
Number of Total number % of all Number of weeks with of QAFs inquiries QAFs per Placements during placement
placement
( Sounding Board 1 29 1 1265 / 38% / 44
1 Globe & Mail (BC Edition) 1 8 I 290 1 9% 1 36
AQ
BC Business
14 682 20% 49
37 1 163 35% 31
( Investment Executive 1 12 1 394 1 12% ( 33
Globe & Mail (National Edition)
Toronto Star
3 100 3% 33
1 22 1% 22
/ News 11 30 1 7 I 340 1 10% / 49
Career Insider
BUZZ
5 144 4% 2 9
8 178 5% 22
Jack FM
CKWX
New Scientist
Campus Publications
7 340 10% 4 9
7 368 11% 53
1 7 0 2% 7 0
3 306 9% 102
S o ~ n w . SFU B~~,itw.\.\ t)icit~kc/it~gplc/~n. 2005 - 2007
3.3.4 Length of sales cycle
The Q 4 F and email neb fo rm dat'l u a s used to compute the number o f months be tueen
students' Q A F inquiries and intended start datc5. Length ol 'timc (numbcrs ol 'mnnths) \ \as
converted to Ihctors and factor levels wcrc relabclled to ensure that a sufficient numbcr o f
observations werc present in the 3 0 - 34 nionth range. For simplicity. inquiry dates in a particular
month were considered to have happened on the first o f the month. T h e rcsults o f the cross-
tabulation analysis are in Table 3.5.
Cross-tabulation analysis reveals 47% o f t h o s e students who applied completed a
qiralilications assessment lorm between 1 1-30 months prior to their intended start datc; 43% o f
students who applied completed a Q A F 6-10 months prior to their intended start date.
Interestingly. 13% o f applicants completed an assessment form 1-5 months prior to their intendctl
start date, indicating that student recruitn~ent activities b e r e ongoing eccn after the application
deadlines passed.
The intensity o f inquiries during the period between 5- 12 months prior to the start o f the
program suggests that additional recruitment support may be required during this period in order
to give prospective students adequate personal attention to convert them from inquiry to
applicant. This is particularly s o as this period also coincides with the busy M B A Fair and
graduate studies fair season. Although the M O T program had intakes in both January 2006 and
September 2006, the length o f t ime between the Q A F inquiry and the prospective students'
intended start date \vould be i~naffected.
These results are limited by the fact that o f the programs originally listccl as options on
the QAF ( M O T and SMBA), only M O T exists today. Students who ~nqu i red about options in
Leadership and Organ i~a t iona l Change, Internationnl Business, and Marketing could not have
begun their program in September 3006.
Table 3.7: Number of months between QAF inquiry and intended start date tbr students who applied to the Scgal Graduiite School of' Business
I Number of months between QAF and intended start
I
I Applied Column percentages
(Yes)
-
0 - 5 months
months
1 1 - 2 0 months
3.3.5 Information session attendance
Three hundred and ninety three individuals attended S F U Business information sessions
between January 2004 and April 2006. Missing data is significant as seventy-three additional
prospective s t~~dcn t s attended infbrmation sessions during this time period, but it is unknown
when.
Yes
13
20 - 35
Information sessions are typically held during particular months of the year. In the 2005 -
2006 recruitment season, information sessions were held approximately every two to three weeks
(September to November and January to March). The number of attendees per information
session is not consistent in these months (see Table 3.8). Increased information session
attendance held in October, November and in January suggests that these months are critical in
terms of recr~~itment activities; however, further examination was required to explore what
information session rnonths resulted in the most significant number ofapplicants.
7 7
No
187
months
100%
3
8%
1255 47%
341 1%
Table 3.8: Number of information session attendees by month (January 2005 - April 2006)
Month
September
October
November
I March I 1 I 10 I
January
February
Cross-tabulation analysis of information session month and "apply" reveals that students
Number of Information Sessions
1
3 I
who attended information sessions in September, October, and November are more likely to
Number of Attendees per information session
17
28
2
3
2
apply than students who atlend information sessions in January, February, and March. These
30
37
19
res~dts were significant at the 0.05 level. The results of the cross-tabulalion are in Table 3.9.
Table 3.9: Cross-tabulation analysis - information session month and "apply"
InfoSessionMonth
I 1 1
Applied
Yes
1 I I I
No
October
November
January
Total Attendance
February
March
I I I I
p-value / 3.86E-08 1
% Applications
9
6
4
Pearson's Chi-Squared Test
1
0
X-squared
Degrees of Freedom
80
55
106
42.91
5
58
12
89
6 1
110
10%
10%
4 Oh
59
12
2%
0%
Hut how important are inl'ormation sessions in ternis of generating applications for the
graduate business programs? A dccision tree was used to evaluate the most significant predictors
of students' decision to apply to the Segal Graduate School of Business (see Figure -3. I ). Thc
decision tree (also called a classification tree) is a predictive model lhat uses a sequence of if-then
logic statements to predict a target outcome (in the case, the target outcome is the variablc
"applied").
The first split of the tree is "lnfoScssion". This is the first two-way split predictor or the
target variable, apply. The vertical length ofthe branches reflects the relative strength of the
relationship between the splitting \/ariables and the target variable. The convention for the printed
tree is that the branch on the left meets the condition that the prospective student did not attend an
information session. OF the prospective students who did attend an information session (the right
branch), the number 0185 indicates that there are 85 applicants.
This decision tree was rerun to esclude the variable "OutsideOtVancouver" as i t is most
likely that only students who live in Vancouver would be able to attend an information session in
the first place. The variable "received scholarship" was also omitted as students would not have
received a scholarship ~ ~ n l e s s they had applied. Attendance at an information scssion remained the
clear best predictor when those variables were re~novcd.
Figure 3.1 : Decision tree results of target variable "applied"
Given the importance of information sessions in students' decision ro apply to thc Segal
Graduate School of Business, it is important to assess the effectiveness of advertising activities in
terms of generating information session registrations. A decision tree was used to analyze the
effect of different publications in which inl'ormation session advertisements appeared (Globe and
Mail National and BC editions, Georgia Straight, Vancouver Province, Vancouver Sun and 24
Hours along with radio advertisements on CKWX and Jack FM) along with the factor variable
"day of the week". Advertising in the Vancouver Sun appeared to be a significant driver ol'
information session registrations, followed by "day of the week".
The variable "day of the week" is not a very usefill predictor as i t is difficult to assess
whcther individuals are reacting to an advertisement they may have seen at an earlier time (ie:
although most information session registrations were done on Mondays-Wednesday, individuals
may be responding to an ad they sa\k on a weekend). The number of advertising placements was
consistent on every day of the meek.
Regression analysis using all media outlets in which advertising placements were made
revealed that the number of information session registrations per day was intluenced by BC
Busitwss, Bil.sinc.c.\ u~ dfcrncwuvtv., CanadianBusinessSchools.com, I t ~ v e s t m w t E w c ~ ~ t i \ ' o , and the
J ' m ~ ~ ) r r v c ~ SLUI . Dummy variables for BC B~itinc.s.\ were entered for every day of the month in
which advertising placcnlents were made. This treatment of a monthly publication does not take
into consideration that actual readership may be higher towards the beginning of the month when
the magazine first appears in mailboxes and on n e w stands. The results of the regression analysis
are shown in the following table:
Table 3.10: Regression output, number of information session registrations per day and advertising placements (July 2006 - February 2007)
BC Business
Business in Vancouver
CKWX
CanadianBusinessSchools.com
Number of Information Session Registrations per
day
- 0.6318 **
0.61 10 *
1.0473 *
- 0.7684 **
Investment Executive
Vancouver Sun
1 Significance codes: 0= ***; 0.01= **; 0.05= *; 0.1=.
1.0696 ***
2.0669 ***
Multiple R-Squared
Adjusted R-Squared
Despite these findings, it is important to kcep in mind that some prospective students
register for inforniation sessions but d o not attend and some students attend the information
session w i t h o ~ ~ t registering beforehand. A further limitation o f this analysis is that there are a very
small number o f observations within certain variables (eg: only one advertisement was run in the
Vancouver Province during this period). Finally, the conclusion that students who attend
information sessions in J a n u a r ~ - March are less likely to apply and enrol i-, complicated by the
fact that during the period under consideration, the MOT program had an intake o f studcnts in
January ( 15 students began in this semester). Nevertheless, the fact that only 4 students applied
for admission (among the I I0 who attended information sessions in this month) is notable.
0.2304
0.2073
Further analysis is required t o determine why students who attend information sessions
early in the New Year are less likely to apply for admission for the following fall. Application
deadlines for these programs falls at the end o f March, s o perhaps it is important to stress that
applicants are free to submit G M A T scores after the deadline. Workshops could be conducted
after the information qessions to walk students through the steps req~~ired to apply, directing
sludents to tlic appropriate resources such as the " g ~ ~ i d e tbr appraiscrs" (a document that
applicants can provide to the intlividuals thcq've selected as references).
Conversion rates by program are shonn in Table 3.9. Although information session
attendance emergcd as a significant driver of applications, generating applications through
information session attendance is not the ultimate goal. Further analysis revealed that 18% of
students who attended an infornlalion session declined the offer ol'admission to thc Segol
Graduate School of Business (compared with 22% of applicants who withdrew their application
after not attending an inrormation session).
The data also suggests that prospective GAWM and FRM students who have submitted
QAF inquiries are not being engaged through information sessions. Indeed, this trend continued
in the 2006-2007 recr~~iting season. This is no doubt a result of the high percentages of these
st~ldents who are from cities outside ot' Vancouver (precluding them from attending an
information session). Missing data may also be a factor here, but i t may be necessary to explore
means to target these prospective G A W M and FRM students in a way that is more meaningful to
them and that has a broader geographic reach.
Table 3.1 1: Conversion rates by program - information session attendance, application, and withdrawal rates
Total number of QAFs 8 Webform Inquiries I 3714 1 1 MOT I MOT Biotech
(47% from outside of Vancouver)
QAFs & Webform Inquiries 1174
Attended Information Sessions 165 14%
Applied & Attended Information session 28
Withdrew Application (after attending info session) 5
Applied without attending an info session 1 89 1 8 %
FRM
(75% from outside of Vancouver)
Withdrew application (no in forma tion session)
QAFs & Webform Inquiries I 1130 1
20
Withdrew Application (after attending info session) I 0 %
22%
Attended Information Sessions
Applied & Attended Information session
Applied without attending an info session 1
3
1
Withdrew application (no information session) 1 20%
GAWM
(72% from outside of Vancouver)
QAFs & Webform Inquiries I 704 / Attended Information Sessions
Applied without attending an info session I NA I
Applied & Attended Information session
Withdrew Application (after attending info session)
3
0
N A
3.3.6 Number of qualifications assessment inquiries
0%
Withdrew application (no in forma tion session
The number of QAF inquiries could proxy as an indication of overall demand for Segal
N A
Graduate School of Business offerings. although i t ignores other elements of the con~plcx MBA
S o w c e . Q ~ I U ~ ~ / ~ L U / ~ O I I S 0.s.sessn1et7t,/ot-tl1 cltrltr. D e w t d w r 2004 - F L J ~ I U L I I : ) . 2007 (SFU Blr.sinc.\.\).
product, the number of prospective student leads likely impacts the number of applications
rcceived in a given year. This analysis covers a single year only. A total of 3436 individuals
conipleted the qualifications asscssnicnt form between December 2004 and April 3006 (the time
frame analyzed for the majority of this report for predictive purposes and for analyzing the data
nith respect to applicants to SFU Business' graduate programs). Figure 3.2 illustrates the number
of qualiiications assessment inquiries per month from December 2004 to January 2007
Figure 3.2: Total number of QAF and webform inquiries by month (December 2004 -January 2007)
I Month / Year
At first glance, the downward slope of the graph is very alarming as i t seems to suggest a
significant decline in demand for Segal Graduate School of Business programs; however, i t is
important to keep in mind that the number of programs offered through the Segal Graduate
School of Business as well as the number of programs listed as options on the QAF changed over
time. The same data is reported in Figure 3.3, reporting the number of QAF inquiries as a rate
(total number of assessment inquiries per month divided by the number of programs listed). The
assessments s~~bmittecl by students who indicated that they were undecided ivith regards to the
program in which they were interested have not been considered here. Two programs, the MOT
and MOT Biotech, were also removed from the list of options on thc Q A F between March and
September 2006.
Figure 3.3: Total number of Q A F and webform inquiries by mo~itli (as a rate)
Month / Year
Even as a rate. the number of qualifications assessments and eniail webform inquiries has
declined significantly since December 2004. There are a number of possible reasons for this
decline. First, changes in program offerings may have impacted overall demand; the elimination
of the SMBA concentrations may have impacted the portfolio of program offerings as a whole.
Changes in advertising were discussed in the previous section (the big advertising spend in the
fall 01'2005 could have generated demand). Finally, administrative changes in the Segal Graduate
School of Business and a lapse in rccruitment activities between March 3006 and October 2006
could have caused a decline in mindshare of SFU Business offerings. The former executive
directors of the GAWM 1 FRM programs and MOT'! SMBA programs also participated in
numerous MBA fairs both nationally and internationally in the fall of 3005; because SFU
Business graduatc business programs werc no longer being represented at these fairs, it is likely
that fewer students considering an MBA would have included Segal Graduate School of Business
offerings in their consideration set.
The qualifications assessment form data was fi~rthcr analyzed to determine whether all
programs are fhcing equal declines in number of inquiries and whether the significant increase In
inquiries were generated as a result of parlicular prograni(s) or geographic areas.
As a business school offering a nuniber ofspecinlixd, industry-spccitic programs (MOT,
MOT Biotech, GAWM, and FRM), Segal Graduate School of Business administration must take
into consideration whether a11 programs offercd at the school are facing equal declines in terms of
number of inquiries or if particular programs within thc Segal portfolio are facing steeper declines
than others.
Demand for Seyal programs stands in contrast to clemand for MBA programs overall;
declines in numbers of GMAT exams reported between 2002-2005 are not consistent with the
spike in number of inquiries for Segal programs in 2005. GMAT has reported a recovery in
number of GMAT exams written in 2006, yet the demand for Segal programs (with OAF
inquiries aa a prosy) fell in this year.
Figure 3.4 presents a breakdown of number of QAF inquiries per program in the period
of January 2005 - February 2007. Generally, ,711 programs face similar rates of decline during this
period with little rccovery in November - January, when the number of inquiries for enrolment
the following September had peaked previously.
MOT and MOT Biotech programs would have seen greater-than-usual demand in latc
August and September 2005 owing to the fact that the program used to begin in January of each
year. The FRM program was launched in 2004, with the first intake in September 3005. Demand
may have peaked for this program as the risk managenlent developed as a career opportunity in
finance and programs catering specifically to individuals aspiring to becoming proficient in this
J emerging area entered the marketplace .
Figure 3.4: Number of QAF and webforrn inquiries by program (January 2005 - February 2007)
- GAWM - MOT FRi4
- Biotech - Undecided
-1 The lnstitutc li)r Mathematical Scicnccs at thc Inrperial College of London launched a program in quantitative financial risk managcmcnt in 2007; N Y U also launched an MSc in Mathematical Financc with its Iirst class starting in 2006. Other schools olTering programs in Mathernntical Finance include University of Waterloo and University of Toronto's liotman School of Management - Mostcr of Financial Economics.
This peak in qualifications assessnicnts inquiries is also explained by communications
from the respective programs to MBA Fair registrants before and after the MBA Fairs had taken
place. These m a i l s encouraged ME34 Fair registrants to complete the QAF - initiating the two-
way dialogue betbeen the program :tdniinistration and prospective students. Although this
activity was extremely time consuming, i t was likely successfi~l in terms of lead generation (data
does not exist to support whether this is definitely so). Participation in MBA Fairs abroad and the
number of inquiries generated from those countries is explored latcr in this section.
I t can be concluded that with a decreased nuniber of prospective student leads, efforts to
convert prospective students into enrolments become more critical as does an understanding
where those inquiries are being generated.
3.3.7 Regional demand for Segal Graduate School of Business offerings
QAF inquiries from Canadian residents have made up a steadily increasing proportion of
total inquiries. In 2005, 52% of' inquiries were generated from inside of Canada. This number has
increased to 55% and 63% in 2006 and 2007 respectively. But what countries generated the
greatest number of inquiry outside of Canada, and what trends are apparent in those regions'?
After Canada, India, China, the United States, and Pakistan have generated the greatest
nuniber of QAF inquiries. There has been decreasing demand for Segal Graduate School of
Business program offerings from overseas and the US over the past three years. The percentage
of inquiries generated froni countries from which the cumulative percentage of inquiries is over
10% iis reproduced in Table 3.13. Please see Appendix 5 for a more extensive overview of tlie
countries that are generating the most significant number of inquiries (over 5% of total inquiries).
Given the increased proportion of qualifications inquiries generated by residents of
Canada and overall decrease in inquiries coming froni tlie countries that had previously shown
significant interest in SFU Business' graduate programs, it may follow that SFU Business is
losing mindshare internationally and deniand f'or programs overall is falling as a result. I t is
possible that thc conipositioli of inquiries chaliges throughout the year, lioc\ever, so falling
international mindshare should bc qualilied by analysing the applications received from those
countries rather than the number of assessment inquiries alone.
Table 3.12: Percentage of QAF inquiries by country of residence
Bangladesh
United Kingdom 0.96 1.67
Taiwan 0.70 0.33
Singapore
United Arab Emirates ( 0.40 1 0.70 1 0.33 1
Thailand
Saudi Arabia
0.70
0.89
0.10
Turkey
Philippines
Is it possible that international MBA Fairs could have generated leads in these geographic
regions'? Because MBA Fairs were not attended in these areas in 2006. is the difference in the
numbcr of assessments generated from these regions statistically significant'?
1 .04
Germany
Hong Kong
0.67
0.70
0.69
0.40
0.30
0.67
1.67
0.80
0.40
0.52
0.52
0.67
1.67
0.09
0.52
0.67
0.33
The number o f Q A F inqiliries per week that originated from China and lndia during the
pcriod between January 2005 and February 2007, along with participation in M B A Fairs in those
countries, is outlined in Appendix 8. Regression analysis was conducted t o examine the
relationship betwccn number o f QAF and ivebforn~ inquiries per week and M B A Fairs attended in
China and India, the countries from which the largest number o f inquiries originated. The results
ot ' the regression analysis are shown in Table 3.13.
The difference in the number o f O A F inquiries generated from India and China and
participation in M B A Fairs is statistically significant at the 0.05 level; however, this relationship
was not present in Mexico, the third international destination o f an SFU Business represcntativc
in 2005 (only 7 prospective students from Mexico completed a Q A F between January 2005 and
February 2007) .
Table 3.13: Regression output - number of Q A F inquiries from prospective students living in China and lndia and participation in MBA fairs in those countries. Coefficients and significance levels are shown.
1 I MBA Fair (China) / MBA Fair (India) /
I Significance codes: 0= ***; 0.01= **; 0.05= *; O.l= .
Intercept
Number of QAFs / w e e k (China)
Number of QAFs / week India)
Multiple R-Squared
Adjusted R-Squared
p-val ue r
The importance o f representing S F U Business' programs - particularly in China and
India - was important in terms o f lead generation. As was previously mentioned, email
communication to M B A Fair registrations before and after the event supported generating Q A F
1 .1979 ***
7.4271 ***
NA
0.4544
0.449
4.40E-15
1.8958 **
N A
9.4792 ***
0. 1627
0.1545
2.1 8E-05
inquiries. I t is not known whether the same level of eniail communication with MBA Fair
attendees was conducted Ibr the IMBA Fair in Mexico.
The popular press has reported a surgc in demand for MBA education Sroni China.
Expanhion and impro\lcmcnt to state-owned busincss schools is not enough to nicet this demand
and thc country sees the lag behind Western Europe and the US in nuniber of MBA degrec
holders as a barrier to its objective of developing its science and technology program and
increasing its R&D-to-GDP ratio significantlj (Jianmao, 2006). Chinese managers are also keen
to learn about the competitive strategies employed by multinational companies who are stealing
their honie country market share. These managers' upbringing in a planned economy underlines
thc need to understand how Western companies do business and develop market strategies (Yuan,
2005). Recent surveys of corporate recruiters indicate that Chinese employers are dissatisfied
because the Chinese educational system, which tends to emphasise "rote memorization and
deference to authority doesn't turn out take-charge managers" (Roberts, 2006, 19).
An article in Newsweek reported that the strongest growth for IMBA courses worldwide
is corning from Asian students. GMAC reported that the number of GMAT exams taken in India
increased by 18% between 3001 and 2005. while the number of GMAT exanls taken in China
was steady over the same period (Tandukar, 3006). Because growth/recovery in these markets is
apparent, the decline in interest from these countries counters expectations (see Table 3.14).
These results a re limited by a number o f factors. First, according to SFU's Analytical
Table 3.14: Total numbers ol 'CMAT tests taken in China and India, 2001 - 2006
Studies department , there was a significant j ump in the number o f students who received their
first degree abroad (particularly from China). At the graduate level, there was 34% cumulative
Country
China
India
increase from Chinese graduate students and 61 % increase from India. Results for the 2006 intake
SO/IIYI~ PmfTie ofGrud/~u/v I V ( I I I ~ I ~ ~ I ~ L ~ I / / Ad1ni\\iot7 TCJAI C ' ~ I I ~ I ~ ( I I ~ . Y , Fiw- Ycwr S I I I H ~ ~ I ~ I ~ ~ (2006)
2001 -02
15,996
12,963
2002-03
13,606
13,825
have not yet been released. These increases could indicate an outlier in overall growth in demand
from these countries5.
There may also be other external factors causing decreased international demand. After
2003-04
9,555
12,210
9/1 1. the US Government restricted the nuniber of international students. However, an annual
report by the Institute o f International Education and the US Department o f State's Bureau of
2004-05
8,393
13,463
Educational and Cultural Affairs indicates that the number ot'international students enrolled in
US colleges and universities has remained steady from 2004 - 2006. Significant increase in
international enrolments in the US would have explained some o f the decline faced by SFU
Business' graduate programs from lndin and China, but this is not apparent (Chute, 2006).
2005-06
10,142
16, 541
Decreasing demand from two o f the largest emerging markets, China and India, is indeed
a significant concern. The growing middle class in these countries, demand for managers trained
in North America, and a relatively young population in lndia (combined with proficiency in
English) means that the Segal Graduate School o f Business is potentially losing ground in an
in~portant geographic segment if the downward trend in numbers of prospective students from
India in particular continues. In man) ways, India may represent a bctter overall market for SFU
Business' graduate programs since English is widely spoken and the level of fluency among
prospective students is high.
3.3.8 Overseas recruiting - applications and enrolments
But how important were these markets to Segal Graduate School of Business enrolments?
How many students from China and India applied to Segal Graduate School of Business
programs in 2006? How many were acceptcd'? And, more importantly, how many of those who
were admitted actually enrolled?
The student data was simplified by substituting the city name Vancouver for all
municipalities in the Greater Vancouver Regional district (West Vancouver, North Vancouver,
Richlnond, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port C'oquillam, Port Moody, Maple Ridge, and Surrcj ). An
earlier version of the QAF asked prospective students to indicate their country of citizenship and
status (eg: permanent resident). Where possible, city of residence and country of residence was
tilled in using telephone number / area code and citizenship data.
Cross-tabulation analysis on the Ihctors "Out~ideOf~anada" and "Applied" reveals that
o f thc students who applied for admission in 2006 (January and September intakes), 23% were
from outside of Canada. Similarly, cross-tabulation analysis rcvealed that students living in
Vancouver are more likely to apply. Students from Canada, and specitically the GVRD, are more
likely to apply for admission than students from elsewhere in Canada and beyond.
Percentages of students who applied for admission from China, India, and Canada are
givcn in Table 3.15. The total number of'QAF inquiries from thcse countries and the total number
of applications from stirdents who had previously completed a QAF are given.
Table 3.15: Number of QAF inquiries and applications from students living in Canada, China, India, Pakistan, and the U S
/ China I 162 1 1 8 1 1 1 % /
Country
Canada
Not surprisingly, st~ldents living in Canada at the time of application are more likely to
apply for aclniission than students from abroad. Greater mindshare or brand awareness within the
Total number of QAFs
1024
local and national market, easier access (in terms of both financing and the requirement to have a
student visa), and larger niacroeconomic factors are a priori reasons for this trend. A more
Number of applications
226
important analysis from a planning perspective is whether students from outside of Canada are
O/O
2 2 O/O
more likely to decline an offer of admission and at what rate are these offers declined.
As mentioned in the previous section, the city ol' residence data was simplified so that a11
municipalities in the GVRD were considered Vancouver. Cross-tabulation of the variables
"declincd" and "OutsideOfCanada", and using "applied" as a control variable revealcd that 43%
of students living in Canada declined the offer of admission to the Scgal Graduate School of
Business. Only 64% of students living outside of Canada declined their offer of admission. The
results of this analysis are shown in Table 3.16 (percentages are shown).
Table 3.16: Cross tabulation output - students living in/outsicle Canada and percentage of declinetl offers of iidniission
/ Offer I Inside I Outside of ( Canada
A contingency table o f the variables "OutsideofVancouve~." and "Declined", using
"applied" as a control variable reveals that the percentage o f declined offers fiotn applicants
living outside o f Vancouver (63%) is larger than the number o f offers dcclined from students
living in V a n c o u ~ e r at thc time of application (39.5%) (see Table 3.15).
Canada (%)
Accepted
Table 3.1 7: Cross tabulation output - students living inloutside Vancouver and percentage of declined offers of admission
80 1 36
Table 3.17 outlines the percentages o f declined offers o f admission from students living
in Canada, China, India, Pakistan, and the United Stales. Although the rate o f dcclined offers o f
admission are significantly higher for China and India, thcse countries generated a reasonable
numbcr o f qualified applicants and enrolments.
Offer
Accepted
Declined
Som8c: t)r~r~/i/ic.c~/ioti.v ~ I . s . v c . s . v I ~ ~ c I ~ / , / ~ ) I ~ I ~ ~ I /LI /U. D L W I ~ ~ ~ C I . 2004 - . I ~ ~ I u I : ~ . 2007 (SFU Bu.vi,ic.s.s)
Inside Vancouver
("/.I 85
15
Outside of Vancouver (Oh)
36.6
63.4
Table 3.18: Percentage of declined offers of admission from stutlcnts living in Canada, China, lndia, Pakistan, ant1 the United States
Country Number of offers of
admission
Canada
Vancouver
China
Number of
declined offers
India
The rate of declined offers from a particular country is also important to understand from
a planning perspective; as there is a roughly a 50 percent chance that a student l'rom outside of
Canada will actually enrol if accepted, administrators and admissions committees should aim to
accept at least tit'[>. pcrcent niorc international students than desired for an ideal class mix. This
may suggest the need to generate more contacts in international markets in order to generate the
required number of acceptances.
174
134
15
Pakistan
United States
The factors influencing enrolment sho~lld be further explored to determine whether these
factors can be introduced to increase the likelihood of overseas students admitted to the program
will actually enrol. The decision tree including the variables Incl-Phone, ReceivedSchol,
PrcscreenMonth, AgeAtPrescreen, ESL, GMATatTime, Include-Res, NumberOtMonths,
Firstcontact, GradDegree, ManagementEsperience, WorkExperience is shown in Figure 3.18.
Although it is unknown whether students who included their telephone numbers were contacted
via phone, the data suggests that this level of involvement with the QAF indicates a certain level
of commitment on the student's part. Receiving fitnding in the form of a scholarship seems to be
the most important predictor of enrolment, however (indicated by the length of those branches on
the tree). Tree interpretation was discussed in in section 3.3.5.
% of declined
offers
11
% of declined offers among students who
attended an info session
34
2 1
6
So~rrce: Qutrl//ictrliotu ~r .s .se .ss~~~enl , /o~-~~~ tltrlrr. D e c w ~ d w 2004 - Jtrtiutn;\~ ,7007 (SFU L31i.sit~c.s.~)
0
2
7
20%
15%
40%
0
0
23%
100%
N A
64% N A
NA
0%
N A
N A
A significantly smaller nunlber ol'sludents from overseas received scholarships when
they applied to the Segal Graduate School o f Business. A b r e a k d o ~ n of number of scholarships
per country o f residence when the students applied follows: Canada, 23; China, I ; India, 0;
Pakistan, O ; United States; 0; Gcrmany, 2. If overseas recruitment activities are i~nctcrtaken by the
Segal Gracluate School of Business, fitnding in the form of scholarships must follow for qualified
applicants to increase the chances that those students will actually enrol. Of course. criteria for
evaluating those students' credentials are also required.
Figure 3.5: Decision tree with target variable "enrol"
lncl Phone
AgeAt Prescreen
Because overseas recruiting is considerably more costly than recruiting students within
Canada (both in terms of staff time away from the of f ce and additional travel expenses), i t is
important to deploy resources effectively and efficiently. The use of recruiting agents or
recruitment networks has been explored by SFU Business administration as a way to reach
qualified graduate business students. There is a wide range of options in this area, so i t can be
difticult to assess the best course of action.
Two such programs were reviewed between August 2006 and February 3007, the
StudyLink Solutions Network (http://~vww.stud~link~~~I~~tions.cornI), and the Canadian Education
Ccntre (CEC) Network. Al tho~~gh the St~ldyLink Solutions Network option is no longer viable
(they will only take on one partner in n given city and UBC opted to use their services), these two
options should be explored ~ i v e n thc factors that were most intluential in Segal graduates' choice
of school.
StudyLink Solutions offers listing and promotion opportunities on niajor international
portals such as Yahoo! Asia, Yahoo! India, Study Abroad Express (China), Sydney Morning
Herald (Australia) and the Guardian newspaper website (London). Through its proprietary
education program search engine, global educational institutions are connected to "hundreds o f
thousands of students" around the world. Banner adwrtising connects prospective students with
the StudyLink Network's propriety search engine to a database of global educational institutions
around the world. The database is searchable by program of'study and location (both country and
city). The cost to the Segal Graduate School of' Business Ibr using StudyLink would be roughly
$ 1 3 per day or about $5000 per year.
The C'EC Network is a "private. independent non-protit company that was founded in
1905 with s~lpport from the Government of Canada to promote and market Canada as a s t ~ ~ d y
destination for international students"". The CEC has 17 centres and 4 satellite offices in
Argentina, Australia. Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea. Malaysia, Mexico,
Norway, Russia, Singapore, Taiuan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. These centres provide
students with niaterials and application information for Canadian schools and provide counseling
to prospective students to help them select the institution that best meets their needs. Additional
services include pre-clepnrture workshops, Canadian Education Fairs, o~ltreach activities with
local schools and agents. and market intclligence. Every year, they host the International
Education conference - an industry forum for Canadian education marketing professionals as
well as an annual Agent Fair to bring international education agents and Canadian schools
together. Finally, thc CEC's website, StudyCanada.ca provides inhrmation to prospective
students in 15 languages along with hard-copy guides and magazines to support Canadian
education. Students are not charged for the use of C'EC Network services, and over 290
institutions (including community colleges and language schools) are currently part of the
network. The CEC Network has a Vancouver office.
Rates for the CEC Network vary on the basis of the size of the institution. The Segal
Graduate School of Business' decision to join the network would necessarily mean that Simon
Frascr University as a whole would Iiave membership privileges. The cost for an institution with
more than 10,000 students is $ 1 3,500 per year. Additional charges for participation in education
and agent fairs apply (although registration fees are lower for CEC Network partners). However,
given that SFU as a whole \\ants to increase its enrollment of international students, the Segal
Graduate School of Business should not bear the cost alone.
Earlier. we determined that the sfubusiness.ca website was influential in Segal Graduatc
Scliool of Business students' decision to apply, followed by personal recommendations and MBA
Fair representatives. The literature indicates that personal contact is important in students'
decision to pursue graduate business education at a particular institution. Because an MBA is
typically purchased only once and represents a significant investment in terms of' both tuition cost
and opportunity cost, students' access to knowledgeable advice is critical in terms of their
decision to apply to particular graduate business schools. Segal Graduate Scliool of Business data
supports this finding as attendance at an information session emerged as the most significant
driver of applications. The use of either partner agents or networks by the Segal Graduate School
of Business for recruitment purposes must address both the need to drive inquiries to the
sf'ubusiness.ca website and prospective students' need for personal counselling and advice.
4 RECOMMENDATIONS
The recruitment funnel model initially conceived and implemented in 2004 is s~~pported
by the eniail webforni and QAF inquiries on the sfubusiness.ca websitc. While this model is
usefid in terms of the fact that i t is results oriented, i t does not address several business school
activities that are critical for effective recruitment of bright and qualified students, that is, the
aspects of most relevance to prospective students' information search: personal contact through
friends, colleagues, or alumni; career statistics and career management support; financial aid and
funding options; and access to persons at the school who can provide advice and assistance
through the information search, application, and enrolment processes.
This section draws on findings from the literature and popular press as well as
comparisons bctwcen the recruitment activities at the Segal Graduate School of Business and
those at \videly recognized Canadian Universities, which are examined as benchmarks in this area
(Rotman School of Management, Queen's School of Business, and Western University's Richard
Iveq School of Business).
4.1 Personal recommendation, student involvement, and alumni referrals
The fifth P present in the services marketing mix, people, has been identified as a crucial
factor in educational products. Personal contact through friends, colleagues and/or alumni of SFU
Business has emerged in the graduate exit surveys as an integral component in students' decision
to enrol in a graduate program at the Segal Graduate School of Business. The literature reports
similar findings. The student recruiter presently draws on appropriate alumni to speak with
prospective st~ldents on a case-by-case basis, but prospective students' access to alumni or current
students could be improved through programs similar to that of Rotnian's Student Ambassador
program and more detailed proliles of current s t~~den t s and al~lmni on the sfubusiness.ca nebsite.
One m d e n t graduating from the Segal Graduate School ol'Business in 2006 wanted to
see :I "Segal School Family"; a network of current studenls and alumni as well as faculty and
staff. One of SFU Business' competitive advantages relative to its most signilicant competitor,
URC's Sauder School of Business, is its relatively small c l a s sizes and the level ol'intimacy that
the Scgal building affords. I t is recommended that the Segal Graduate School of Business
investigate ways in which the small. boutique nature of the school and level of personal
involvement by recruitment and prograni staff, faculty, and current students be promoted on the
website and other marketing materials. Several opportunities for ~ncreased personal ~nvolvement
could easily be implemented.
I t is recommended that appropriate students enrolled at the Segal Graduate School of
Business be in\4Ied to participate in a program siniilar to Rotman's Student Ambassador
Program. These students would volunteer to let qualified prospective students contact them for an
"insider's perspective" on their program and student life at the Segal Ciraduatc School of
Business. These students could opt to become alumni ambassadors when they graduate. Student
ambassadors c o ~ ~ l d be recognized for their involvement wilh branded Segal Graduate School of
B~lsincss merchandise. These students would also be given special consideration to attend evcnts
in the local business cornmunit) and could be recognized at the annual MBA Alumni dinner or
Dean's Wclcome reception at the Segal Graduate School of Business.
Alumni could be invited to attend MBA Fairs along with the student recruiter, and when
possible, other members of the Segal Graduate School of Business administration (such as an
Associate Director of the Career Management Centre, Academic Chairs, or other faculty
members). Engaging alumni through the recruitment of Suture generations ol'MRA students is
one way in which they coulcl make an important contribution to the school (especially if they are
not in a position to offer financial support). I t is reconimended that alumni be provided with
inl'ornmation regarding the s~i i te of programs currently being offered at the Segal Graduate School
of Business prior to the event as they may be Sarniliar with only the program Srorn which they
eraduated. and programs may have changed since their graduation. "
Personal referrals from advisory c o ~ ~ n c i l members to the Segal Graduate School of
Business could also be an important source of lead generation. The ~Managernent of Technolog)
Business Council, Global Asset and Wealth Management Program B~isiness Council. and the
Dean's External Advisory Board are composed of established members of the business
comniunity who would carry considerable clout within their organizations. Moreover, these
individuals are committed to the Segal Graduate School of Business and have an intere5t in the
school's product: graduates qualified to manage and lead organizations. I t is recommended that
advisory council members be provided with an overview of Segal Graduate School of Busincss
program offerings as well as the student recruiter's contact information.
4.2 Long-term contact with prospective graduate business school students
Analysis of the QAF inquiry and webform data in section 3.3.4. revealecl that prospective
students may inquire years before their intended start date. Measuring the likelihood that a
particular student inquiring ),ears in advance of hislher intended start date is not possible using
the current data set: the programs that were originally included as options on the QAF form are
no longer offered at the Segal Ciraduate School of Business (specializations in Marketing,
Leadership and Organizational Change. and International Business). However, the data suggests
that inlormation session attendees (as well 3.4 those students ~ 1 1 0 registered and did not attend), a5
well as qualified students who submitted an assessment form lor the subseq~~ent intake should be
cultivated for recruitment over the long term.
Attendance at an information session \vas shown to be an important predictor of
applications through the classification regression tree in section 3.3.5. Because students who
attend information sessions in September, October. and November are more likely to apply for
the following semester's intake, i t is important to maintain contact with those s t~~den t s for the
remaindcr of the recruitment season until the application date. While i t is still possible that
prospective studcnts attending information sessions in January. February and March will apply,
marketing efforts to recruit them for the subsequent intake should be undertaken if they don't
apply Tor the following fall. A longitudinal study is required to determine if'the students who
attended information scssions early in the new year subsecluently applied for the following intake
in 3007. Anecdotally, this has been the case, but deeper analysis is required to draw a conclusion
around this issue.
I t is recommended that cultivation activities include invitations to audit classes, to attend
the MBA tune-up event andlor reception that follows, and speaker events relevant to a particular
student's intended program of study. This recommendation stems from the fact that the MBA
product is highly people-based, so students' interaction with staff, faculty, and current students
could establish their connection with the school early and presumably reduce the rate of declined
offers.
4.3 Career Management Centre Services
The European Foundation for Management Development's 2006 survey found that over
80% of MBA students enrolled in business school to increase their earning potential. Career
advancement is a significant motivator for prospective graduate business students, so providing
information relevant to this motivation is critical in the recruitment process.
Survey data collected from students graduating from the MOT I MOT Biotech, FRM and
GAWM programs suggests that Career Management Centre services are an important factor
influencing students' level of satisfaction with their program of study. Of the 53 respondents to
thc exit surveys from students graduating from the FRM, MOT, and GAWM programs in 3006,
15 reported that the C'MC was the weakest area of the program (28% overall; 15% of FKM
students; 3 1% of GAWIM students; and 55% of MOT students). Given that a large majority ol'
MBA students report increased salary and career opportunities as their reason for pursuing
graduate business education, this aspect of the business school product is critical.
It is recommended that the SFU Career Management Centre staff be engaged in
recruiting activities in the following ways:
Provide post-graduation employment statistics on the CMC' website and in information session kits.
Outline CMC services on information session handouts
CMC' staff deliver information session presentations
In addition to these activities strictly related to recruitment, it is recommended that CMC'
staff participate as advisors in the student selection process. By helping to recruit students that
will be employable after graduation. the SFU Business CMC would be better able to achieve its
mandate of helping employers arid graduates connect. By accomplishing this goal, employment
statistics would be enhanced and thereby addressing students' stated goal of increasing their
earning potential.
4.4 Scholarships and awards
The competitive landscape Ibr business schools means th~it top students are recruited to
scliools offering scholarships and other incentives. Funding in the form of scholarships and
awards emerged as a signiticant predictor of enrolment. Consequently, available funds and
rclevant financial information be highlighted through the recruitment process:
Include scholarship, awards, and financial aid information on program websites and in infornmation session kits.
Add relevant inl'ormation to the wcbsitc including use of RRSPs or RESPs for educational purposes, tuition costs including Canadian tuition refimds in various brackets, and tuition costs per senicster (for both f i ~ l l - and part-time students).
In t e r m of awarding scholarships to students from outside of Canada, i t is recommended
that nietrics be uscd to evaluate grade point averages from other countries. Students Srom top
universities in India, for cxample, achieve first class honours if their percentage marks are over
60%, while this same grade would be close to failing at most Canadian institutions.
Consequently, metrics must be developed to ensure that students from other countries are givcn
fair consideration for scholarships and awards disbursed on the basis of academic merit. Further
analysis would need to be conducted to determine whether scholarships w u l d increase the rate of
enrolment from students living outside of Canada at the time of application (very few students
from outside of C'anada received scholarships during tlie period under consideration).
Because students are more likely enrol if they receive a scholarship, i t is reconimcnded
that funding be increased for future years in order to increase the rate of enrolment across
programs - particularly in tlie form of external scholarships. Internally funded scholarships have a
dual impact on the school's revenues as only 60% of tuition paid returns as operating funds, so
increased access to endowment funds and annual awards sponsored by companies. alumni. and
individual donors are preferable means to attract students through financing.
4.5 Qualifications assessment form
An unexpected result ol'this analysis has been the findings related to the ease of use of
the QAF for student recruitment purposes. The QAF has been an excellent recruitment tool in
terms ol'establishing two-way communications with probpective students. but modifications to
the entry lields could improve the student recruiter's ability to identitji student5 for which Segal
Graduate School of Business offerings would be suitable. Certain fields that are seldom used can
be omitted. Finally, QAF could be promoted on other using other marketing collateral, such as
information session kits and MBA Fair niatcrials as i t provides a concrete call to action that can
begin thc sense of association with Segal.
I t is recommended that the QAF fields "Work Exper~ise" and "Recent Position" be
niotliticd to increase their effectiveness in terms ofthe student recruiter's ability to identify the
most suitable program for prospective students who are undecided with regards to the program
they would like to join or ability to suggest alternative programs if that student is not suitable for
their program of choice. Given the large number of prospective students who are undecided with
regards to the program they would like to join, the student recruiter'sjob is con~plicated if the
prospective student opts not lo include hislher resume or personal profile. The recr~~iter must then
recl~~est the student's resume.
I t is also recommended that the ficld asking prospective students for their area of
expertise bc modified. The assessment form should ask prospective students about their career
goals or field of choice rather than their current area of expertise. The recent addition the FRM
and SFU MBA programs to the suite of Segal Ciraduate School of Business program offerings has
changed what information is most relevant to collect fro1-11 the quali tications asbessment form.
Reca~lse work experience ib not required for these programs. i t would be more useful to uncovcr
studcntb' aspirations rather than their current expertise. Ifthe student's choice of program would
not prepare hirnlhcr for that field the recruiter would be able to suggest alternatives. Moreover, if
a student is interested in developing skills in a particular area (eg: Accounting, a program not
offercd at the masters level at SFU), the recruiter would be able to provide suitable Scedback and
spend less time recruiting that student.
The ranges covering number of years of work expcrience should also be modified. Less
than 1 % of students who complete the qualifications assessment form selcct the option of 5-6
years of work experience, making this variable of little use. I t is recommended that the ranges of
data should be modified: 0-2 years, 2-5 years, 6-10 years, more than I0 years. The addition of thc
Esecutive MBA to the list of options available for prospective students completing the
qualifications assessment form underlines the need to include the last range of data.
Marketing comni~~nications through the website have been very effective in terms of
enhancing our understanding of interested students through the use of the clualifications
assessment form and the email webform. However, little qualifications data has been collected
about information session attendees. Because local students are more likely to apply for and enrol
in programs at the Segal Graduate School of Business, and information session attendees hosted
at the school are very likely attended by local prospective students, i t is important to be able to
draw basic information from those students to identifj; qualified candidates and to cultivate them
more aclively. There are several possible ways of encouraging information session attendees to
complete a qualifications assessment form:
Direct them to the form mhen they are sent email reminders about the upcoming information session, or thank-you follow-up email after the session takes place.
Promoting the form on the information session packages (eg: a sticker on the front cover of each student's folder).
Having laptop computers available to registered prospective students when they arrive at the session (laptops set to the QAF page located in the Vancouver Sun Rending Room at the Segal Graduate School of Business).
From a recruitment perspective, having information session attendees complete the QAF
before the day of the session would enable the recruitment officer, career management centre
representatives, and faculty to spend time with qualified prospective students, ensuring that their
questions and concerns are adequately addressed while basically avoiding thosc students who are
not qualified for admission. Qualified candidates could also be recruited more activelj following
the session
4.6 International recruitment and MBA fairs
MBA Fair participation was shown to be an effective lead generation tool in the case of
India and China, while in Mexico the effect or'MBA Fair participation on number of qualification
assessment or webform inquiries was not statistically signilicant. I t is recommended that MBA
Fairs be attended in countries that have a proven track record of generating a significant number
of leads from qualified prospective students or in countries from which a significant number of
leads are already being generated. China and India are two such countries; participation in MBA
fairs in other countries should be evaluated on the following bases:
Past and projected MBA Fair attcndance
Numbers of GMAT tests written as vvell as average scores
Englishproticiencq
Macroeconomic factors (ie: GDP growth)
This recommendation stems from the fact that a larger number of applications (and by
extension a large number of leads) from overseas are required to generate the desired number of
international students in the class. The country-specific risk of the baby-bust generation, which is
now impacting undergraduate enrolments in the University, could affect demand for graduate
programs in the future. The increasing proportion of students inquiring from in Canada could be a
concern going forward. Although the likelihood that a student living overseas at the time ol'
inquiry applies is significantly less, the rate of enroln~ent for overseas applicants is greater than
one third. International recruitment could reduce country-specific risk and bolster number of
applications for programs with declining demand within the Canadian market (ie: GAWM).
I t is recommended that the Segal Graduate School of Busincss (and SFU) join the
Canadian Education Centre Network. The C'EC Network offers country-specific service in the
form of translated websites and a network of offices around the world that offer educational
counselling (which maintains an appropriate level of personal contact with prospective students).
As was previously mentioned, personal contact is an important part of the services marketing mix
relevant to educational institutions. The CEC Network has offices in major cities in both India
and China; countries that have been and should continue to be targeted with recruitment
activities. Finally, because most Segal Ciraduate School of Business students indicated that the
other institutions in their consideration set were C'anadian, and specifically in Vancoilver, i t is
reasonable to assume that a network representing Canadian educational institutions would target
appropriate students. The University's participation must be negotiated through Simon Fraser
University Student Services as membership in the network means that the entire ~lniversity is a
part of it, and n~enibersliip pricing is based on the size of the institution.
4.7 Advertising and promotions
Analysis of infbrniation session registrations and number ol'quali~ications assessments
and advertising in newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and on the radio was LBirly
inconclusive. Small nunibers of observations within particular variables and the limited time
frame considered makes it difficult to draw absolute conclusions regarding the efti-ctiveness of
ads in a given publication. Although this data is limited by the fact that the periods of timc being
analyzed overlap only slightly, furthcr experimentation and analysis with the types of advertising
or content of the ads may reveal deeper relationships that could guide future advertising
placements.
Nevertheless, the analysis provided some insight with regards to the marketing efforts
that have been shown to be significant in terms of generating QAF/nebforni inquiries and
information session registrations. The medin o~ltlets that emerged as significant drivers on
number of Q A F inquiries (both total number of QAFs and QAFs for specific programs) and
information session registrations could continue to be used along with efforts to capture the effect
of'advertising.
Ea5tlack and Rao ( 1 989) ran controlled esperiments to evaluate the impact ol'different
versions of advertising copy, different (and sometimes ~~nconventional) media. and differences in
advertising weight and budget level tests. Indeed, these controlled experiments would likely be
recl~~ircd to conclusively identify the advertising media that impact information session
registrations and numbers of QAF inquiries. Eastlack and Rao's research indicated that greater
emphasis on stratcgic development and evaluation of advertising copy; eval~~atiiig response to
diffcrent media placements via different calls to action in each placement; evaluating the impact
ol'ndvertising by increasing / decreasing spends by as much as 100% and as little as 0%; and the
use of technology to acliie\,e higher levels of precision in these tests resulted in increased profits
for Canipbells. Conscious experimentation with advertising spending may help to inform the
overall strategy of SFU Business' marketing.
Because information session registration for the GAWM and F R M programs is vcry low
i n comparison with the other programs, i t is recommended that the placements impacting number
of QAFs for these programs be used to promote the sessions as well as the qualifications
assessment tool on the sfi~business.ca website (eg: AQ Magazine. BUZZ, Business in Vancouver,
Campus publications, Career insider, and Investment Executive). To promote these programs in
the local market, SFU representatives should promote information session dates nt local MBA
Fairs (Canadian MBA tour and Top MBA tours). Promotion could be in the form of a simple
llyer listing information session dates and registration instructions.
Table 4.1: Advertising placements shown to have a significant impact on QAF inquiries and/or information session registrations
1 ( Information ( QAF Inquiries ' ( Session
Registrations
I AQ Magazine 1 1 X 1
1 Business in Vancouver
BC Business
BUZZ
CKWX X X
1 Campus Publications
-
X
/ Canadian Business
X
Career Insider X
Financial Post
( GAWM-Specific Ads
I Globe & Mail (National)
/ Globe & Mail (Regional)
/ Georgia Straight
Investment Executive X X
Jack FM
MBA Fairs N A X
National Post
I New Scientist I 1 News 11 30 N A
Sounding Board X
Toronto Star
Vancouver Province
Indicates whether advertisement placcrnents influenced the total number of QAF inquiries or QAF for a particular program.
4.8 Additional support
Results from the QAF and weblorni database reveal that the vast ma.jority of applicants to
the Segal Graduate School of Business complete a QAF between 6 - 20 months prior to their
intended start date. The intensity oSQAF inquiries between September and February and the vital
need to provide those prospective students with the level of personal contact required to convert
those students into applicants, suggests that additional support may be needed in the recruitment
oftice during this period.
4.9 Recruitment funnel, revised
Until now, we have reviewed market conditions facing providers oS graduate business
education, best practices at Canadian universities, and the recruitment activities influencing
students' choice of Simon Fraser University's Segal Graduate School of Business. While the
recruitment funnel put forward in the 2005 - 2006 marketing plan enabled the administration to
visualize the application and enrolment process for graduate business students, it did not address
the many activities and roles that are integral to supporting this t'unnel atid to ensure that qualitied
students enrol.
Participation in MBA rairs has been shown to impact the number of QAF inquiries in
China and India. Eniail communications to registered attendees before and after fairs directing
prospective students to the QAF likely generated interest in this tool. Going forward. marketing
materials at the MBA Fair (program brochures and program comparison information) should
direct students to the QAF and MBA t'air representatives should consider taking a laptop
computer and loading the QAF page at the fair (where Internet access is possible). This would
build awareness for the form itself and enable keen students to complete the QAF immediately.
As was previously discussed, advisory council members should bc encouragcd to refer
contacts to the gaduate business programs, including employees in their organizations and
indivicluals in their nctworks. Advisory council members should be provided with marketing
materials that give an overview of Segal Graduate School of Business offerings and contact
information Ihr the Student Recruiter, Graduate Business Programs.
Alumni were identitied in SFU Business graduate student exit survej s as an important
[actor influencing students' choice of the Scgal Graduate School of Business. Program offerings
should be promotcd at MBA and BBA alumni events including the annual general meeting, MBA
Tune-up went , and MBA Alumni dinner. Alumni should continue to be called on a case-by-case
basis to speak with prospective students a b o ~ ~ t their program; particularly where there are
similarities between the prospective student's background and the alumnus' background. I t is
rccomniended that the Student Recruiter and S F U Business Alumni Affairs Officer develop a list
of alumni in citieb where gratluate business programs will be represented at MBA fairs or
education fairs. These alumni can be drawn upon on an as-needed basis.
I t is recommended that changes outlined above be made to the QAF form in order to
increase its efficiency in terms of the Stndent Recruiter's ability to identiSy appropriate
program(s) for students who are undecided with regards to the program they woulcl like to join.
These changes include modifjling the field "area of expertise" to reflect the student's career
ambitions. This is particularly important as thc number oSQAF inq~~ir ies from "undecided"
students increased significantly compared with the other programs listed on thc form.
The QAF should be promoted among information registrants and attendees. 1dentil)ing
qualified students from the list of registrants would enable the Student Recruiter, Academic
Chair, and Career Management Centre staff to address those s t~~den t s with a greater amount of
attention than those students who would not meet the programs' minimum admission
requirements. Promoting the use of the QAF is also an important supporting element to the
prospect qualification step in thc recruitment funnel.
Othcr activities that support the prospect qualification stcp include Career Management
C'entrc feedback regarding the candidates' suit:ibilit~ for their career of choice and individual
interviews wit11 thc Student Recruiter. Capturing the names and contact details for these qualified
students, and maintaining contact with those prospective students in the medium and long term is
important as i t will enable follow up closer to the application deadlines, and, ifnccessary, through
to the ncxt recruitment season if application is deferred.
It is hoped that at this stage there is a critical mass orstudents willing to apply for
admission to programs for which they are qualified and that will help them achieve their stated
career goals.
Since the adoption of a centralized, online application systeni by the Dean of Graduate
Studies, the application process for prospective graduate students has changed radically. As
expected, there were a number of hiccups with the adoption ofthis system in 2007. Guiding
students through the application process is important in the recruitment-to-enrolment funnel.
Detailed instructions with regards to the documents required are currently available on the
sfubusiness.ca website; however, little guidance is offered to students in terms of navigating the
online application system, the timeline they ~Iioi~lcl expect, and information regarding the GMAT.
I t is recommended that an application instruclion booklet be added to the SFU Business website,
including access to the paper-based application form if the online system is inaccessible or in
cases where the applicant does not have access to either Visa or MasterC'ard.
Students who attended information scssions in January, February, and March were shown
to be far less likely to apply than students who attended information sesbions in the September -
November period. I t is recommended that mechanisms be put in place to increase this conversion
rate. Short, 30-minute application workshops. wherc inforniation session attendees can learn more
specific information about the GMAT exam, be provided with the University's "Guide for
Appraisers" and the application instruction booklet would provide students with the tools they
need to take the steps needed to apply for graduate study. A student's decision to apply to the
Segal Graduate School of Business may take years, however. Contact must be maintained with
qualified students who do not apply for admission to the following intake. Further research could
examinc the length of the sales cycle over a longer time period.
Once a qualified student applies and is admitted to onc ofthe Segal Graduate School of
Business programs, the student recruiter, program staff, and SFU Business administration need to
take steps to cnsure that these studcnts actually enrol. Scholarships and awards emerged as a
motivating factor for enrolment. Providing funding to students from overseas (and having
mechanisms in place to equitably evaluate students' credentials) \vould likely improve the
conversion rate of admission to enrolment. I t is recommended that increased funding from
external sources be sought to provide scholarships and awards to the best applicants.
As coon as a student is admitted to a graduate program at SFU, i t is recommended that
they be made to feel that they are a part of the "Segnl School Family". Members of the Segal
Student Ambassador program could contact newly admitted students either by phone or email to
see if those students have an! questions about attending the University. The admissions period
should act as a confirmation that that student nude the right choice in applying to the Segal
Graduate School 01'Business and a reinforcement of the idea that the school is a small, boutique
community to which they have been admitted. Students should have immediate access to thc
sharepoint site, which contains information about their class schedule, the courses scheduled at
the beginning of their program, and access to the Career Management Centre portal.
This last item, the Career Management Centre portal is critical as engaging students in
the CMC program from the outset is a direct acknowledgement of the benefits graduate business
students seek.
Studcnt life begins with the first day of classes. but classes need not be the central pillar
of student life. The CMC program and activities beyond the classroom do as much to shape and
inllucnce the student experience as time spent in the policy rooms of the Segal Graduate School
of Business. The CMC emerged as an important component of the school that affects students'
overall satisfaction with their program of study. Recent additions to CMC staff, including
dedicated associate dircctors who assist students with resume and interview preparation, job
search, and career coaching have already had a positive impact. While internships are part of the
MRA program and in GAWM, i t is recommended that an internship be added to the FRM
program, as the students who are inquiring about the program and are atlmitted to the program are
generally leas cxperienced. Students' level of satisfaction with CMC services should continue to
be nionitorecl.
Student lifc and activities beyond the classroom are pron~oted on the websites of leading
business schools. Although GAWM and FRM students participate in managing the SlAS fund.
students in the Management of Technology program and new MBA program have limited
opportunities to engage with their fellow students outside of class and assigned group work.
Unfortunately, students cannot necessarily be counted on to create these opporlunities
then~selves. The BBA or undergraduate business program benefited enormously with the addition
of a student afhirs officer, who assisted students in establishing clubs, participating in case
competitions, and ensuring that they had the resources to be involved at a deeper level. I t is
recomnlended that a similar position be created at the graduate level to enhance students'
experience while studying at the Segal Graduate School of Business.
Figure 4.1: Recomn~ended revisions to recruitment funnel, Segal Graduate School of Business
s- I o MBA Fairs ', Lead generation
Prospect I quali tication
Application and admission
Maintenance and Enrolment
Student life and graduation
Graduation and alumni
involvement
' Advisory council member referrals Alunini referrals QAF, webform, direct inquiries Information session attendance
QAF responses from Stirdent Recruiter Individual interviews with prospective students Career Management Centre resume feedback
studies admissions) sfubusiness.ca website
services website (course registration, etc)
Student services website Career Managenlent Centre website
Executive Edge Newsletter Event invitations ( M B A Alumni dinner. MBA tune-up and reception)
In conclusion, the literature and overview or recruitment activities at leading Canadian
business schools provided insight into the means by which these institutions attract prospective
students. Data from exit surveys, the QAF inquiry database, and the SFU Business marketing
plan provided the basis for understanding what influenced students who chose to apply and enrol
in a graduate business program at Segal. The MBA marketplace is changing. As a mature market
evolving towards a student-based model affected by globalization and disruptive technologies, b-
schools are challenged to stay apace and to market themselves to their many customers
(prospective students, employers, parents, and donors). Because graduates equipped to lead
competitive organizations can be considered the product of any b-school, an institution's ability
to attract bright, qualified students is integral to its survival.
The recruitment funnel must be supported by a number of activities (including
information sessions and access to relevant information) and grounded in an understanding of
what media influence the number of prospective students, the length of students' decision-making
process, and rates of enrolment and declined offers of admission.
Scgal Graduate School of Business students were influenced by the website and personal
contact (alumni and colleagues or employers). The research suggests that Canadian (and
specitically Vancouver) universities were dominant members of their considcration set. B-school
rankings did not appear to influence students' choices. Although the measured effects of
advertising activities on prospective student responses in the form of QAF inquiries and
inforniation session registration are inconclusive. advertising placements in a variety of media
(including radio. newspapers, online sources, and nlonthly publications) were found to infucnce
response rates.
Prospective s t ~ ~ d e n t s who attend information sessions in January - March are less likely
to nppli\ and enrol for the Sollowing term. This variable involvcs lags, which limits the results of
this study. However, we can conclude that a student's decision to attend the Segal Graduatc
School of Business can take years. Consequently, methods to maintain contact with these students
while providing should be explored. Becai~se most applicants were Sound to either inquire via the
Q A F o r through attending an information session in the fall, additional support map b e needed in
the recruitment area during this period.
Demand from overseas (using Q A F inquiries a s a p rosy ) I'ell in 2006. M B A fairs \\/ere
not attended in China o r India in this recruitment season, s o these results a re not surprising. Whilc
the likelihood o f an international student applying to Segal after completing a Q A F is low,
enrolnxnt rates are typically 30%. This finding supports the need to target a larger number o f
leads from overseas, and to admit more international students than expected.
The recruitment funnel was revised to reflect the s ~ ~ p p o r t i n g activities needed to fill
c l a s s roo~ns with bright, qualified students. These revisions stem from students' need for
information relevant to their decision (funding, career management services, and personal
contacts) and elements o f the relationship selling process model. The recruitment funnel does not
end when student5 enrol. As students, and after graduation a s alumni, these individuals will
become an active part o f the recruitment and even hiring process. Through participation in the
Segal School Ambassador program, referrals to potential students, and representatives at
information sessions and M B A fairs, the recruitment funnel need not be finite. Rather, i t is a
relationship tra.jec[ory that acknowledges the ongoing role o f each student from inquiry until long
after graduation.
5 LIMITATIONS AND AREAS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
5.1 Limitations
Primary data, including the results of the QAF database. exit survey. and registrants for
SFU Business information sessions was used to generate the findings in this analysis. Limitations
and possible flaws are identified in the following sections.
5.1. I Qualifications assessment form
Although the data was examined to eliminate false qualifications assessment form entries
(ie: from Universitj staff testing the form or fake entries generated by web crawlers or fraud
detectors). i t is possible that any remaining entries from non-prospective students may skew
results slightly.
The questions posed to prospective students on the qualifications assessment form
evolved over time. For example, students were initially asked for their nationality and status in
Canada; later. students were asked where they were living (country and city of residence). This
data was made consistent where possible: count~y of residence was gleaned using telephone
numbers (country codes and area codes) and nationality where possible. Missing data in these
fields is an important constraint to fully understanding from whence prospective inquired,
particularly in 2004 and early 2005.
C'learly. a large number of prospective students inquiring about SFU Business' graduate
programs have endeavoured to coniplcte the qualilications assessment Sorm: however, traffic to
the SFU Business website is not measured, and not all visitors are tracked. IS students are
confident that the). meet thc school's minimuni requirements, they may not feel a need to
communicate with recruitment advisors through thc assessment form. Therefore, profiles of
studcnts inquiring about a particular program (consisting of average age, average number of years
of work ctperiencc, and nationality), may not be entirely accurate.
Analyzing numbers of quali ficatiens assessments is filrther complicated by the fact that
the number of programs offered by thc Segal Graduate Scliool of Business as well as the
programs listed as options on the qualifications assessment form website changed over time. In
3006 thc SMBA options of Leadership and Organizational Change, Marketing, and Intern,itional
Business wcre discontinued as SFU Business offerings. The MOT and MOT Biotech programs
were delisted as an option on the qualifications assessment form in February 2206. C'onsequcntly.
this data is \orncwhat skcwed.
Although prospective sti~dents are asked to include information regarding their
undergraduate and, if applicable, their graduate CGPA (cumulative grade point average), this
information has little use as these averages are seldom consistent internationally. For example, a
3.33 avcragc (60%) from India is considered first class standing in that country and meets the
mininium requirements set out by the Dean of Ciraduate Studies. Students' CCiPAs were not
included in the analysis because they are nut valuable in terms of our ability to assess students'
eligibility for the program except on a case-by-case basis.
Due to the low numbers of GAWM and FRM information session registrants, it is
suspected that missing data is a factor limiting the validity of conversion rates of information
session attendees and prospective students conipleting a QAF inquiry. C'on\~ersation rates for
these programs were included due to the high number of prospective students inquiring from
outside of Vancouver (which would preclude then1 from attending an inforniation session under
most circumstances). and the fact that lower nunlbers of prospective students for GAWM and
FRM attended information sessions in the 200(~3007 recruiting season as well.
5.1.2 Information session registrations
During the recruitment period examined, inrormation session registrations were not
broken down according to program ol'intcrest. Since the Executive MBA and GDBA programs
were not considered a part of this analysis, the conversion of information session attendees to
program applications is v e q likely lower than in reality. Moreover, i t is very likely that a stuclent
who attends an inlormation session in one year waits for a ycar - or even several years - before
act~~ally applying to the program.
No data was collected from information session attendees with rcgards to demographic
variables or their qualifications; tliereforc, their suitabilitj as candidates for Scgal Graduate
School of Business' programs cannot be assumed. This constraint also effects our ability to rely
on the conversion rate from information session attendance to applic a t ' ton.
Finally, no records were kept during the period in question regarding information
attendees' program of interest. Consequently, EMBA and GDBA students rnay have been
included among those who attended information sessions. which would lower the conversion rate
of information attendees to applicants.
5.1.3 Exit surveys
Data collected using surveys of students graduating from the MOT / MOT Biotech, FRM,
and CiAWM programs in 2006 was used to capture the most important sources of information
s t~den t s used in making the decision to attend the Segal Graduate School of Business. There are a
number of limitations to this data:
Students may not have ren~en~bered what most strongly influenced their decision to attend the Segal Graduate School of Business.
Response rates for these survcys ranged from 60% of'the class (FRM) to 100% of the class (GAWIM). Some of the options listed \\ere not consistent across programs (eg: MBA Fair Representative and the generic term "other" were not listed as options on the FRM exit survey.
Students were also asked to report what competing business schools or programs they
considered while applying to the Segal Graduate School oFBusiness. While students may have
considered these schools and indeed applied, we do not know whether they were offered
admission (or would have been deemed qualitied) to these programs or how serious the students
were about these other options.
Students reported being influenced by SFU representatives at MBA Fairs, alumni, friends
andlor colleagues in their decision to attend the Segal Graduate School of Business. For example,
some students may have opted to meet individually with executive directors of particular
programs rather than complete a QAF or attend an information session. These contacts are not
captured by this analysis.
5.1.4 Advertising
Earlier we d isc~~ssed that regression analysis does not establish causality between the
variables included and the response variable. Regression analysis was used to determine the level
to which numbers of qualifications assessments per week can be explained by certain marketing
activities. Regression analysis was also ~ ~ s e d to assess the impact of advertising on information
session attendance. I t is important to note that SFU Business also participated in a number of
sponsorship activities such as the BC Technology Industries Association and Biotechnology
Students Network events. The impact of these activities has not been included in this analysis.
Another area that has not been addressed is the role of the website and in particular how
students find the site - whether they go to SFU or SFU Business directlj,. or come via links from
MRA websites that help st~ldents select a program or via search engine. SFU Business doesn't
sho~v up on the first page of a Google search of Vancouver MBA.
5.1.5 Other
Conversion rates of students from the qualifications assessment inquiries to information
session to application (and withdrawal if applicable) disregard the impact of individual interviews
with former executive directors of the programs. who likely would have had one-on-one meetings
with a number of prospective students. This data is not available.
Pricing was briefly discussed in section 1.2. The effect of price o n student's demand of
Segal Graduate School of Business programs is outside the scope of this analysis. An
understanding of how price affects student's demand for graduate busincss program offerings as
well as employers' willingness to sponsor such programs is an important factor inflc~encing
students' choice of MBA program.
This study involves a limited time frame and investigates programs in flux. Decreasing
demand for programs could be a consequence of a program's need to be redesigned or from new
programs not having acquired a critical mindshare. The elimination the SMBA offering may have
reduced the number of QAF inquiries by virtue of the fact that the graduate school of business
offered an unbalanced portfolio of programs. The use of the number of OAF inquiries as a proxy
for ovcrall demand is limited in its ability to inform strategy. I t is also difficult to generalize about
the period as a \vhole as certain variables contain lags (eg: number of months between QAF
inquiry and intended start date).
Finally. these findings can enhance the Segal administration's understanding of \\hat
recruitment activities influence students' choice o f the Segal Graduate School of Business;
however, they should not dictate the school's policy on ovcrseas recruitment, for example, or
program strategy.
5.2 Areas for further research
The 2007 recruitment season \\as not included in this analysis. A longit~~dinnl btudy of'
sevcral years and across all programs would bc beneficial in terms of furthering S F U Business'
imdcrstanding of several key factors: the length of the recruitment sales process, trends in the
number ol'qualitications assessments, and shilis in the demographic make up of sti~dents
submitting inquiries through the qualifications asscssnient form.
While a particular student may attend an information session or complete the
qualifications assessment tbrm in one year, that student may not inimedintely apply to the Segal
Graduate School o1'Rusiness or even attend an information session in that year. This work
addresses the sales process over a two-year period, but further investigation could track the
inquiry to application timeline over a longer period and by program. This analysis would assist
the graduate school in developing mechanisms to maintain contact with prospective students over
a certain period with updates and changes to program structure. The length oftime between a
student's coniplction of the Q A F and hislher intended start date suggests that contact must be
maintained with prospective students over several years ~mless helshe advises that hislher plans
have changed (eg: has selected another institution).
Trends in ternis of number of inquiries through the qualifications assessment form,
information session attendance, and numbcr of applications could be measured. These trends nay
signal a need to increase or clccrease marketing and recruitment efforts at particular times of the
year if the number of prospective students is lower than expected.
The literature reports that certain subgroups of students benefit differently from graduate
business education, and that creating markcting mnterials and recruitment activities that cater to
thesc subgroups increases the effectiveness of those marketing activities. Consequently, shifts in
the demographic segments inquiring / applying to the programs could be obserked. Any changes
with regards to the prospective students inquiring or applying to the graduate programs \\fould
alr'cct the marketing strategy used by the Segal Ciraduate School of Business. For instance,
increased nunlbers of inquiries from a particillar region could signal a need to attend an MBA
Fair in that city or country; at the same time, decreases in important geographic areas or among
certain age groups should be monitored. Shifting demographics could also suggest a need to
modify the images and branding of a particular program -- providing better, more relevant
information to the t~ pes of prospective sti~denrs or subgroups considering applying.
Whcn SFU Business moved into the Segal Graduate School of Business, the marketing
plan called for com~nunications and brand advertising that would increase website traffic. While
mechanisms were not in place at that time to track hits on the www.sfi~bi~siness.ca website,
fi~rther investigations regarding the impact of marketing could also measure hits on the site as a
whole and broken down by program area.
More conclusive findings \vould result from analyzing the effect of advertising on
ni~nibers of QAFs and information session registrations over longer periods of time, and also
taking into account numbers of telephone inquiries. Testing the impact of advertising more
con~ciously - running information session advertisements in the Georgia Straight one week.
followed by the same ad in 24 Hours niaga/ine the next week, for example, would also be
beneficial. Whether the difference in information session registrations or OAF inquiries is
statistically significant from one week to the next should further inform advertising activities.
Finally, exploring tile factors influencing students' decision to attend Simon Fraser
University's Segal Graduate Scliool of Business enhances the administration's understanding of
how marketing activities can be used more effectively to attract prospective students through lead
generation, qualification assessnicnt, application. and enrolment. However. i t is just as important
to understand what makes students decline an offer of admission or defer the offer until the
following year (greatly reducing the chances of enrolment). Further research could surve)
students \vho decline or defer their offer of admission; thereby improving the rate of admission to
enrolment. An important aspect of this survey \vould be an assessment ofcompetitors' marketing
activities and a more detailed analysis of the macroecononlic factors driving the number of
prospective MBA students.
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 : Overview of Management Education Value Chain
Knowledge
/ C~or ; te 1 1 Faculty based
1 (pre 1950s) 1 1 (1950 - 1999)
Creation business Theoretical I
Expanded mgmt. physical books I journals libraries
Regional 1 national
Key Events Ford Media rankings Foundation
Student based
(2000 and beyond)
Modular units
Mixed faculty
Digital libraries
Global
Internet proliferation
Appendix 2: How students became aware of MBA programs
How found out about MBA Attended Full-time (%) Part-time i i%) Personal recommendation by: I
Someone who had done the course
Someone from another school
Someone else
23
15
Enquiring direct
Own boss
26
8
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Management development department
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8
27 27
4
AMBA directory
14
Company sponsoring MBAs
Press I media I 1
1 2
Advertisement
Article
I I
(Multiple replies permitted) em^/, / 99 /
Other answers
6
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15
5
42 21
Appendix 3: Relationship selling trajectories: a conceptual model and empirical investigation
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ndon
Bus
ines
s S
choo
l U
nive
rsity
of W
este
rn O
ntar
io (
Ivey
)
Thu
nder
bird
(G
arvi
n)
Mas
sach
uset
ts In
stitu
te o
f Tec
hnol
ogy
(Slo
an)
INS
EA
D
INC
AE
Appendix 6: Number of QAF inquiries per week from China & India, and MBA Fair participation by SFU Business representatives (January 2005 - February 2007)~
Month Week China China lndia lndia year 1 1 1 QAF; 1 !::o 1 QAF; 1 MBA0
Fair 2005 Sept
2005 Sept 4 7 0 13 0
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
Nov
Nov Nov Nov Dec
Dec
2006
2006
Dec
Dec
2006
2006
1 2006 1 Feb 1 4 1 2 1 0 1 I I 0
1
2
3 4
1
2
Jan Jan
2006
2006
2006
3 4
Jan
Jan
" No OAF inquiries camc rrom China or lndia between January 2005 - Scptcmbcr 2005.
5
17
4
15
5
7
1
2
Feb
Feb Feb
2006
2006
2006
2006
3 4
3 4
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
3
1
2
3
Mar Mar Mar
Mar
0
0
2
2
3 2 1
60
8
6
0
0
3 0
2
1
2
3 4
1
'I
1
1
1
1
7
4
0
0
13
0
8
8
0
0
0
0
1
0
4
13
0 4
4
0
0
1
5
2
0
0
0
0
(3
0
0
3
5
2
1
0
0 0
13
1 Year 1 Month 1 Week China China lndia lndia QAF; 1 !zo 1 QAF; 1 MBAo 1
Fair
2006 1 July 2
2006 July 3
2006 Julv 4
2006 Aug 2006 Aug
2006 Aug 2006 Aug 2006 Sept
1 2006 1 Sept 1 2 2006 Sept
2006 Sept
2006 Oct
2006 Oct
2006 Oct
2006 Oct 4
2006 Nov 1
2006 Nov 2
2006 Nov 3 2006 Nov 4
2006 Dec 1
2006 Dec 2
2006 Dec 3
1 2007 1 Feb / 3 1 2007 1 Feb 4
Soraw: SFU B I I S ~ ~ I ~ S S
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