View
229
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
1/22
1
Factors that drives Alumni Engagement
Prepared for:
Mr. S. BharadhwajInstructor of Marketing Research
Great Lakes Institute of Management
Prepared by:
Group A11
FT NUMBER NAMEFT151019 TANMOY BOSE
FT151031 ANAGHA
FT151018 ANUJ
FT151035 ATRAYEE BHATTACHARYA
FT151065 NAVRAJ
FT151083 VIDIT
FT151046 RANJEET MATHEW
FT151042 MANIKANDAN
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
2/22
2
Contents
Abstract: .................................................................................................................................................. 3
The Literature Review: ............................................................................................................................ 4
Research methodology: .......................................................................................................................... 5
Qualitative Research: .............................................................................................................................. 5
In-depth Interview .............................................................................................................................. 6
Focus Group Study ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Hypothesis............................................................................................................................................... 7
Quantitative Research: ........................................................................................................................... 7
Data Analysis ............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 19
Exhibits .................................................................................................................................................. 19
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
3/22
3
Abstract:
They are volunteers and partners. Ambassadors, advocates, and donors. Mentors to current studentsand lifelong learners. They live in different parts of the globe and work in every field imaginable.
They embody the values, the knowledge, and the passion of the University, and its commitment toserve the world. They are the Alumni. The alumni plays the role of a former student, an Institutional
Ambassador, Mentor and coach to new incoming students, Community representative, fundraiser andat many a times Business partner.
Alumni are truly the most important asset to any B-School as the very essence of business starts withbuilding network into networth and alumni represents an important connecting link in this. The more
older a B-School, the more stronger is its alumni base and all this is possible because of alumniengagement activities devised by the School. All the efforts in alumni engagement should yield
success stories and in the process increase the spirit of the B-School. The approach to alumniengagement is to promote a sense of continuing education by facilitating conversations about thework world, B-School, and work/life balance. The goal is to build an engagement programme such
that the dual role : (i) Value to the institution and (ii) Value to the alumni/alumnus can be achieved.
It is worth noting that not every alum believes that his/her School helped in the best possible way andmight not connect well during all alumni engagement activities. Thus it becomes a prime importanceto plan the alumni engagement programmes in such a way so as to bring together all the alumnus andthe current students on a common platform. An impressive alumni engagement programme should beable to overcome few barriers such as : Time, Distance, Commitments to job and family, Not knowinganyone, Value proposition, Fear of solicitation and lack of interest in the Institution.
There are a number of ways in which the alumni engagement can be increased and which are followedin most of the B-Schools. Few of them are :
Organizing Alumni meets in the College Alumni interaction with the prospective B-School students through portals like pagalguy
Maintenance of an Alumni database to track all the alumni and their organization
Assigning alumnus as mentor to a group of students.
Seeking alumni networking skills to get information on career services related activities of theB-School.
Official Online portals such as Facebook and Linkedin where alumni can have both formal aswell as informal conversation.
Guest lectures by alumni.
Alumni invitations to important events organized in the B-School.
Continuous career services to the alumni to help them search for new job opportunities.
The purpose of this study is to find out the important factors which result into better alumniengagement and also to find the most important amongst them. The methodology to study this isthrough qualitative research in which alums of different B-Schools will be contacted to getinformation on the ways their alma mater still maintains the bond with them and ways which thealumnus thinks it can be improved further.
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
4/22
4
The Literature Review:
The objectives of alumni engagement plan are to foster the network and connections of a B-School
across the globe. Alumni relation programs play a key role in getting the alumni engaged with their
Alma matter in a way that benefits both the alumni and the college.
There are specific drivers and motivators that cause alumni to become and/or not be engaged. By
closely identifying trends and attitudes towards these areas, institutions can be more targeted in their
outreach and better communicate the value of staying engaged and/or giving back to the institution.
Having data from the institutions most valuable stakeholders (alumni) can and should be important to
all departments on campus. Alumni professionals have the ability to enhance their relationship with
other departments across campus and create a more cooperative and unified effort to provide the best
possible outreach and communications to alumni.
The study explores factors affecting alumni relationship- its beginning, maturing and sustenance overtime in a positive engagement between alumni and the B-School
Alumni engagement with B-school could be attributed to the overall experiences of an individualduring his time with B-school. It is also observed that that a B-School which makes it a habit to valueits alumni from start sets up a trend for the upcoming batches to develop relationships with thestudents and campus.There is a mutual interest for both Alumni and B-schools for establishing a relationship. Looking
form B-Schools of the factors they perceive are important for alumni interactions could be thatan alumni doing well in his career may provide referrals for hiring students from Campus, donating
funds to institution. Similarly an alumni just passed out may vouch for B-schools contact in industry
for switching jobs.
Various issues highlighted in the studies are Equity of Degree matters, Career issues percolate to the
top, enhanced opportunities to branding association on campus , more effective communications
, underlying issues regarding alumni events.
These studies suggested that various factors on which affect engagement of Alumni with its Alma
Mater is due to the Career opportunities provided by B-schools i.e. information about new job
openings with the companies they are connected to or referring the Alumni to those companies. The
Networking Platform that B-schools provides to interact with the seniors and with the current batch
also is a major reason why Alumni wants to stay connected with their Alma Mater. Events/Reunions
organized and the location and timings of these meets also decide the participation of Alumni in
Alumni engagement activities. It is also observed that the interest of the alumni to participate is
enhanced by his emotional attachment with the college. Meeting with their friends, cherishing old
memories of their time in the college also trigger Alumni association with the B-school.
B-schools try to increase the interactions by inviting Alumni for the guest lecture of the individuals.
An Alumni of a B-school who goes on to become CEO/CFO of a company is also a good pick for
college to be the Chief guest or guest lecture of the B-Schools event. Such associations build
emotional relationships between Alumni and its Alma Mater.
These studies highlight the fact that Alumni are also interested in telling their success stories to theworld. B-schools judge the level of Alumni engagement by number of new students introduced to the
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
5/22
5
B-school through alumni, number of alumni volunteers on campus, percentage of Alumni
supportingthe B-school for placement and referrals or providing career guidance to the new students,
percentage of bad addresses for alumni, annual survey measuring the impact of activities on alumni
attitudes.
Certain factors that prove bottlenecks in the Alumni engagement programs are Time and busyschedule of the Alumnis. Similarly location problem as to where the alumni activities are organizes is
also considered important for Alumni to attend those events. Similarly the subjectivity of the event is
also important for the Alumnis as some perceive Alumni events to have fun and enjoy while for
others learning opportunities and associations with peers or distinguished industry professionals is a
major factor.
Research methodology:
Data type : Primary Data
Research tool : Questionnaire, Literature Survey, Social network, people interactions (In
Depth Interview)
Sample Units : Individual, Friends and Family members
Sampling Method : Stratified Sampling
Assumptions:
Samples collected are a representative of the entire population
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
6/22
6
Qualitative Research:
In-depth Interview
For Qualitative Analysis we implemented the method of In-depth interview. We got in touch witharound 7 Alumni across different B-Schools including IIM-A, Great lakes, Army Institute ofManagement, SCIT, SIMC. Each interview lasts around 15-30 minutes. Through these interviews wecould get insights on what could be the possible factors of which would drive the Alumni engagementin B-School
Based on the literature review and in-depth interview, our finding is that below are the reasons for the
alumni to participate:
1. Career opportunities
A lot of alumni respondents keep in touch with the b-school for career opportunities and
services, guidance and prospects to them.2. Networking platform
The events conducted by the alumni stakeholder group increase network opportunities with
and for the group. This creates solid platform for forming business partnership and mutually
beneficial relationship with each other.
3. Invitation to B-School Events
Alumni attending B-school events will increase the face-to-face networking opportunities
with and for this group, thereby creating a solid foundation for the implementation of a
relationship.
4. B-School reputation
It has been observed that alumni of reputed B-schools take pride in keeping in touch with
their B-schools.
5. Experience in college as a student
Those who had good memories about the B-school show tendency to engage more with the B-
school later.
6. Location and Timing of Alumni meets
Location and timing of alumni meet plays important role in alumni attending B-school alumni
events. It could be due to factors like work, family etc.
Independent Variable:
Certain factors that influence alumni engagement identified are-
Nostalgia
Career Opportunities
Networking
College Communication
Career Opportunities
Alumni meets
College Reputation
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
7/22
7
Dependent Variable:
Alumni Engagement
Hypothesis:
Based on the above mentioned independent and dependent variables, we have formed the
following hypothesis which we would test in our scope of study:
Hypothesis 1: Relationship between Alumni engagement and career opportunities
H0: Alumni Engagement is not affected by career opportunities provided by the b-school
Ha: Alumni Engagement is affected by career opportunities provided by b-schools
Hypothesis 2: Relationship between Alumni engagement and Networking platform
H0: Alumni Engagement is not affected by career opportunities provided by b-schools
Ha: Alumni Engagement is affected by networking platform provided by the b-schools
Hypothesis 3: Relationship between Alumni engagement and Communication by college
H0: Alumni Engagement is not improved by quality of college communication
Ha: Alumni Engagement is improved by quality of college communication
Hypothesis 4: Relationship between Alumni engagement and reputation of the collegeH0: Alumni Engagement is not affected by the reputation of the college
Ha: Alumni Engagement is affected by the reputation of the college
Hypothesis 5: Relationship between Alumni engagement and college-life experience of
alumni(nostalgia)
H0: Alumnus are less engaged if they do not Have a good college life experience
Ha: Alumnus are more engaged if they Have a good college life experience
Hypothesis 6: Relationship between Alumni engagement and location and timing of alumni
meets
H0: Alumni engagements is not affected by the location and timing of alumni meets
Ha: Alumni engagements is affected by the location and timing of alumni meets
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
8/22
8
Quantitative Research:
Methodology:
The factors identified based on the Qualitative research and the literature survey, was used as an
input to the quantitative research. We rolled out our questionnaire a week before we started our
analysis on the data. We had a total of 23 questions.
We have used the 5-point Likert scalefor the survey. The format of scale was from
Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5).
In a weeks time we could collect more than 150 responses. We used the survey data and SPSS tool
for further analysis. Also we performed the following steps in the below mentioned order to test the
data-
1. Test of reliability (Cronbach alpha)
To check the validity of internal consistency, that is, how closely related a set of items are as
a group we calculated Cronbach Alpha.The responses which required reverse scoring,
were reverse scored After collecting the first 40 responses the Cronbach alphas were
calculated for all constructs to check the reliability of the questions and scales.We
used the value of alpha at 0.6 as the threshold value and rejected any variable which had ascore below that.
2. Test of Multicollinearity
For further analysis of the data we performed a test of multi-collinearity was performed on
each of the variables using SPSS.
3. Factor Analysis
As we found multi-co linearity amongst the independent variables, we performed a Factor
analysis to extract components for further analysis
4. Regression Analysis
After extracting the factors we finally performed a regression analysis to test the
relationship between the DV and the IVs. We also calculated interaction terms between the
IVs and applied Mean-centring Theoremsremove co linearity between the interaction
terms
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
9/22
9
Results:
1. Test of reliability (Cronbach alpha)
After performing the Cronbach alpha test we found the following results:
Dependent Variable-Amluni Engagement
Independent Variable 1- Nostalgia
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.745 4
Independent Variable 2- Career Opportunities
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.750 4
Independent Variable 3- Networking
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.713 3
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.714 4
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
10/22
10
Independent Variable 4- Alumni Meets
Independent Variable 5- College Reputation
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.732 4
Independent Variable 6-Communication from College
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.879 3
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.696 4
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
11/22
11
2. Test of multi collinearity
The final data for each construct was generated by taking the mean of the responses for
the questions of that construct.
Interaction among Network and Alumni Variables were supposedly assumed. An
interaction term AlumniNetworkis created.
The output of the bivariate- co-linearity test was the following:-
Correlations
Nostalgi
a-Var1
Carrer
Opportuniti
es- Var2
College
Reputatio
n- Var5
College
Communicati
on- Var6
Alum
ni
Meet
s-
Var4
Networkin
g- Var3
AlumniNetw
ork
Nostalgia-
Var1
Pearson
Correlati
on
1 .502** .608
** .329
** .470
** .431
** .484
**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
Carrer
Opportunities
- Var2
Pearson
Correlati
on
.502** 1 .592
** .640
** .602
** .664
** .714
**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
College
Reputation-
Var5
Pearson
Correlati
on
.608** .592
** 1 .560
** .636
** .633
** .682
**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
12/22
12
College
Communicati
on- Var6
Pearson
Correlati
on
.329** .640
** .560
** 1 .641
** .579
** .681
**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
Alumni
Meets-Var4
Pearson
Correlati
on
.470** .602
** .636
** .641
** 1 .623
** .881
**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
Networking-
Var3
Pearson
Correlati
on
.431** .664
** .633
** .579
** .623
** 1 .900
**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
AlumniNetwor
k
Pearson
Correlati
on
.484** .714
** .682
** .681
** .881
** .900
** 1
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
13/22
13
We find that there is significant correlation between interaction variable AlumniNetwork
and independent variables.
Thus we perform Mean Centering of the given data and we try to remove the multi
collinearity due to the interaction term. But even after performing Mean Centring of the
data for Alumni Network we find that the Correlation due to the interaction variable is still
significant.
Correlations
Nostalg
ia-Var1
Carrer
Opportuniti
es- Var2
College
Reputati
on- Var5
College
Communicat
ion- Var6
MCNetw
ork
MCAlu
mni
MCAlumniNet
work
Nostalgia-
Var1
Pearson
Correlati
on
1 .502** .608
** .329
** .430
** .470
** -.284
**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .002
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
Carrer
Opportunities-
Var2
Pearson
Correlati
on
.502** 1 .592
** .640
** .664
** .602
** -.220
*
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .017
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
College
Reputation-
Var5
Pearson
Correlation
.608
**
.592
**
1 .560
**
.633
**
.636
**
-.411
**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
College
Communicatio
n- Var6
Pearson
Correlati
on
.329** .640
** .560
** 1 .579
** .641
** -.229
*
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
14/22
14
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .013
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
MCNetwork
Pearson
Correlati
on
.430** .664
** .633
** .579
** 1 .623
** -.418
**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
MCAlumni
Pearson
Correlati
on
.470**
.602**
.636**
.641**
.623**
1 -.407**
Sig. (2-
tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
MCAlumniNet
work
Pearson
Correlati
on
-.284** -.220
* -.411
** -.229
* -.418
** -.407
** 1
Sig. (2-
tailed).002 .017 .000 .013 .000 .000
N 116 116 116 116 116 116 116
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
From above table we find Multi Collinearity due to interaction term and independent
variable still exists. Thus we avoid using the mean centred data and interaction terms for
factor and regression analysis
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
15/22
15
3. Factor Analysis:
The result of the factor analysis as performed in SPSS was following:
Communalities
Initial Extraction
College Communication-
Var61.000 .795
Alumni Meets-Var4 1.000 .977
Networking- Var3 1.000 .732
Nostalgia-Var1 1.000 .922
Carrer Opportunities- Var2 1.000 .794
College Reputation- Var5 1.000 .746
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Total Variance Explained
Compon
ent
Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared
Loadings
Rotation Sums of Squared
Loadings
Total % of
Variance
Cumulativ
e %
Total % of
Variance
Cumulativ
e %
Total % of
Variance
Cumulativ
e %
1 3.730 58.172 58.172 3.730 58.172 58.172 2.323 38.722 38.722
2 1.727 14.119 72.291 1.727 14.119 72.291 1.527 25.447 64.168
3 1.508 10.461 82.752 1.508 10.461 82.752 1.115 18.583 82.752
4 .406 6.760 89.512
5 .370 6.162 95.674
6 .260 4.326 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
As seen in the component matrix a total of 3 factors (Principal components) wereextracted based on the criteria of Eigen value > 1. Based on the component matrix,
we identified the high loading (having magnitude of more than 0.6) and medium
loading (having magnitude between 0.45 and 0.59) variables for each factor:
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
16/22
16
Component Matrixa
Component
1 2 3
College Communication-
Var6.769 -.451 .028
Alumni Meets-Var4 .760 .097 .625
Networking- Var3 .820 -.206 -.130
Nostalgia-Var1 .697 .638 -.172
Carrer Opportunities- Var2 .833 -.184 -.257
College Reputation- Var5 .842 .179 -.067
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
a. 3 components extracted.
Since the factor nostalgia was contributing to both the components we performed a factor rotation
which resulted in the following rotated matrix:
Rotated Component Matrixa
Component
1 2 3
College Communication-
Var6.829 .036 .327
Alumni Meets-Var4 .307 .278 .898
Networking- Var3 .766 .307 .225
Nostalgia-Var1 .178 .924 .192
Carrer Opportunities- Var2 .801 .371 .118College Reputation- Var5 .530 .603 .318
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 5 iterations.
Based on these results, we named the 3 factors as follows:
1) to be filled
2) to be filled
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
17/22
17
3) to be filled
4. Regression Analysis:
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
18/22
18
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
19/22
19
Conclusion
Exhibits
Exhibit 1: Questionnaire for Survey
1) How often do you go to Alumni Meets?
Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never
2) How often do you refer alumni of your college to your organization?
Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never
3) Are you Updated with the Current Activities of your the Alma Matter?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
4) Would you be willing or are already mentoring the current students of your college?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
5) You highly rate your college experience?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
6) When you think of your college you feel nostalgic?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
7) If given a chance would you like revisit your college for reviving memories?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
20/22
20
8) Graduation ceremony conducted by your college was satisfactory?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
9) Does college's alumni portal update you with the current events, job opportunities etc?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
10) You are satisfied with your college's Placement office in providing you your desired job?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
11) You find opportunities of getting referred by the Alumni of your college?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
12) Your college facilitates entrepreneurship ventures that you wish to carry?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
13) You agree that your college has contributed to your professional network?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
14) Alumni groups on college Portals allow you to be in regular touch with friends and seniors?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
15) Alumni groups on Social Networking sites(Facebook,linkedIn,etc) allows you to be in regular
touch with your batch-mates and Seniors/juniors?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
16) College organizes alumni meets as per your convenience?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
21/22
21
17) Your college organizes enough alumni meets so as to result into higher engagement?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
18) You agree there is any positive outcome from the alumni meets?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
19) You agree the college takes enough steps to ensure that most of the alumni are present in the
meets?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
20) You rate the reputation of your college highly?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
21) You feel proud being associated to your college?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
22) You will be more participative if your college was ranked higher?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
23) Do you agree that your college hosts topnotch events(Cultural,technical,etc), which adds to your
college reputation?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
24) You get regular mailer from your college?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
25) You get timely invites from your college for guest lectures and events?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagre
8/10/2019 Group1 Sec1 MR Project
22/22
22
26) Your College regularly updates the contact details of the alumni?
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
Recommended