Do specialized MBA programs cultivate alumni relationships and donations?

Journal of Marketing for Higher Education Vol. 20, No. 1, January –June 2010, 119 –134

Do specialized MBA programs cultivate alumni relationships and donations? Jennifer Wiggins Johnsona∗ , Veronica Thomasa and Joann Peckb a

Kent State University, College of Business Administration, PO Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242-0001, USA; bUniversity of Wisconsin –Madison, 3114 Grainger Hall, 975 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, USA

A recent trend among universities shifts from traditional MBA programs to specialized MBA offerings. Specialized programs are believed to cultivate stronger relationships with students, which lead to stronger alumni relationships and increased donations. This research tests this empirically by examining relationship perceptions and donation behavior among alumni of both traditional and specialized MBA programs from a university. The findings suggest that graduates of specialized programs are more likely to perceive relationships with their MBA programs than their traditional program counterparts. These graduates are also more likely to donate to their universities and to direct their donations toward their specialized MBA programs. Keywords: alumi relationships; donation behavior; MBA programs

Introduction There has been a recent trend in universities across the United States to move away from traditional MBA programs to more specialized MBA offerings (Di Meglio, 2007; Levy, 2008; Mast, 2004). Schools such as the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, and the Wharton School have invested resources to restructure their programs and curricula (Levy, 2008). These redesigned programs offer specialized degrees in areas such as real estate, sports management, biosciences, electronic commerce, and health care, and focus on tailoring their curricula to fit the needs of the students within these programs rather than offering a one size fits all degree (Levy, 2008). This shift in program style has been attributed to many factors, including efforts to increase enrollment, reduce dropout rates, enhance socialization among peers, and increase student commitment (Baldwin, Bedell, & Johnson, 1997; Clandos, 2004). The underlying theme among these reasons is the recognition by universities of the need to develop relationships with their students. ∗

Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

ISSN 0884-1241 print/ISSN 1540-7144 online # 2010 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/08841241003788144 http://www.informaworld.com

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Recent research on consumer–organization relationships has found that these relationships can have positive benefits for organizations. Specifically, cultivating consumer–organization relationships has led to increased consumer helping behaviors, such as spreading positive word of mouth, participating in marketing research, and donating time and money to charitable organizations (Aggarwal, 2004; Gremler, Gwinner, & Brown, 2001; Johnson, Peck, & Thomas, 2009). By using specialized programs to foster relationships with MBA students, many of these universities are likely hoping to experience similar increased helping behaviors, encouraging student and alumni commitment to these programs to cultivate future alumni donations, word of mouth, and volunteerism. If specialized MBA programs are able to cultivate student and alumni helping behaviors, this would clearly increase their value to universities and provide a strong case for increased development of and support for these types of specialized programs. However, currently there is no empirical evidence to support a link between specialized programs and stronger student relationships or suggest that these student relationships will lead to strong alumni relationships and increases in alumni helping behavior. This paper addresses this gap by examining relationship perceptions and helping behavior among alumni of both traditional and specialized MBA programs from a large Midwestern university. The findings suggest that graduates of specialized MBA programs are more likely to perceive relationships with their MBA programs than their traditional MBA program counterparts, both while they were students and now that they are alumni. These relationship perceptions further lead to an increased willingness to donate to their MBA programs. An analysis of actual donation behavior confirms that a greater percentage of alumni of specialized MBA programs donate money to their university than alumni of traditional MBA programs and that specialized MBA alumni are more likely to direct these donations toward their specialized MBA program and not to the college of business or university as a whole.

Theoretical foundation Relationship perceptions Relationship perceptions are typically treated in the literature as a syndrome of relationalism made up of multiple constructs that together capture a higher-order construct of the perceived relationship (Noordewier, John, & Nevin, 1990). Each construct included in the syndrome acts as an indicator that the individual perceives himself or herself to be engaged in a relationship. This research takes the same approach to capturing alumni perceptions of relationships with their MBA programs. Since this study is concerned with the link between relationship perceptions and alumni helping behavior, this research focuses on constructs that have been directly linked to consumer helping behavior. Specifically, the relationalism syndrome includes an overall perception of being engaged in an

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ongoing relationship with the organization (Dwyer, Schurr, & Oh, 1987), perception of relational norms (Aggarwal, 2004; Gremler et al., 2001; Johnson et al., 2009), identification with the organization (Mael & Ashforth, 1992; Bhattacharya & Sen, 2003), and affective commitment to the organization (Gruen, Summers, & Acito, 2000; Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993). Perception of an ongoing relationship as students Research on consumer-organization relationships has found that not all consumers develop and perceive relationships with all of the organizations with which they interact (Dwyer et al., 1987; Fournier, 1998). Consumers will perceive some interactions with organizations to be in the form of discrete transactions, with no perceived history with the organization or expectation of future interactions with the organization (Dwyer et al., 1987). With some organizations, however, consumers will begin to develop a desire to continue to interact with the organization in the future and be willing to put forth effort to cultivate and maintain positive future interactions with the organization (Dwyer et al., 1987; Gruen et al., 2000). When this occurs, the consumer begins to see himself or herself as being engaged in an ongoing relationship with the organization (Fournier, 1998). Consumers are more likely to perceive themselves as engaged in an ongoing relationship when they feel a sense of connection, interdependence, and intimacy with an organization (Fournier, 1998). Specialized MBA programs tend to be smaller, more personalized programs that are focused on a particular area of interest shared by their students. This is likely to lead students to perceive a stronger connection to the program than students who are part of a larger, broader, more traditional MBA program, suggesting that they will be more likely to see themselves as engaged in an ongoing relationship with the program. This leads to Hypothesis 1: (H1) Individuals who graduate from specialized MBA programs will be more likely to perceive themselves as having had ongoing relationships with their programs as students than individuals who graduate from traditional MBA programs will perceive such relationships with their programs. Perception of relational norms as students Once an individual begins to perceive a relationship with an organization, he or she develops specific expectations about future interactions with the organization (Dwyer et al., 1987). As these expectations are confirmed and refined, the individual begins to perceive relational norms that are specific to his or her relationship with the organization (Macneil, 1980; Dwyer et al., 1987). While many different relational norms have been examined in the marketing literature, two specific relational norms that govern individuals’ expectations for consumer helping behavior are exchange and communal norms (Clark &

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Mills, 1979). The difference between exchange and communal norms lies in the circumstances under which one partner in the relationship is expected to help the other partner (Clark & Mills, 1993). Exchange norms dictate that help should be given with the expectation of receiving a comparable benefit in return, while communal norms dictate that help should be given in response to a need or to show caring for the relationship partner with no expectation of reciprocity (Clark & Mills, 1979, 1993). While individual–organization relationships have traditionally been viewed as operating under norms of reciprocal exchange (Bagozzi, 1975), recent research has found that individuals can develop relationships with organizations that are governed by communal norms (Aggarwal, 2004; Gremler et al., 2001; Johnson et al., 2009). Communal and exchange norms have traditionally been viewed in the interpersonal literature as mutually exclusive (Clark & Mills, 1979, 1993), implying that only one of the two norms may be present in a relationship at a time. However, researchers have always conceded that as relationships evolve over time, they often progress from being governed by exchange norms to being governed by communal norms (Mills et al., 2004). Recent research has suggested that this evolution of communal norms can also take place in consumer– organization relationships (Aggarwal, 2004; Johnson et al., 2009). Unlike interpersonal relationships, however, consumer–organization relationships nearly always maintain a component of reciprocal exchange that is inherent in their nature. Thus, current research suggests that the appropriate way to view communal and exchange norms in consumer–organization relationships is as separate constructs that each vary in strength within a particular relationship. If students in specialized MBA programs experience a stronger connection and a more intimate relationship with their programs than students in traditional MBA programs, it is more likely that they will experience the kind of caring for the program that is necessary to develop communal norms. Students who perceive their interactions with their programs as more transactional in nature are likely to perceive only exchange norms in their relationships. However, students who develop an emotional connection to their programs are more likely to perceive a combination of exchange and communal norms, still expecting some reciprocal transactions with their program but also caring enough to provide help to their program if it is needed. This leads to Hypothesis 2: (H2) Individuals who graduate from specialized MBA programs will be more likely to perceive communal norms with their programs as students than individuals who graduate from traditional MBA programs will with their programs. Perception of an ongoing relationship and relational norms as alumni Once students have graduated and are no longer interacting with their programs on a day-to-day basis, their perceived relationships with their programs are likely to

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change. It is logical to suggest that an alumnus would perceive less of a relationship with an MBA program than a current student. However, specialized MBA programs offer additional features that may lead their alumni to continue to perceive an ongoing relationship and relational norms after they have graduated. Many specialized MBA programs prepare students for careers in small, specialized fields in which they are likely to continue to interact with individuals who share a common interest and background. This continued connection to the field is likely to facilitate a continued connection to the program that prepared the individual for his or her career. The specialized nature of the field also increases the likelihood that graduates of a specialized program will interact with fellow alumni from the same program in their careers. Finally, due to their small size, specialized MBA programs are likely to have fewer alumni than traditional MBA programs, making it easier to facilitate interactions between the program and its alumni. These unique features of specialized MBA programs suggest that graduates of these programs are likely to continue to perceive stronger connections with their programs when they are alumni than graduates of traditional MBA programs, particularly if they also perceived ongoing relationships with their programs while they were students. Thus graduates’ perceptions of an ongoing relationship as alumni are expected to be influenced both by their program type and by the degree to which they perceived an ongoing relationship as students. Graduates of specialized MBA programs are also likely to perceive different relational norms than graduates of traditional MBA programs. As the day to day reciprocal transactions with the program disappear, both alumni of specialized and traditional MBA programs are likely to perceive fewer exchange norms in their relationships with their programs. However, alumni of specialized MBA programs, who have already developed communal norms in their relationships, are likely to continue to perceive communal norms, while alumni of traditional MBA programs, who did not develop communal norms as students, are less likely to perceive communal norms as alumni. Thus graduates’ perceived communal norms as alumni are expected to be influenced both by program type and by their perceived communal norms as students. This leads to Hypothesis 3: (H3) Individuals who graduate from specialized MBA programs will (H3a) be more likely to perceive themselves as being in ongoing relationships with their programs as alumni, and (H3b) be more likely to perceive communal norms with their programs as alumni than individuals who graduate from traditional MBA programs will perceive with their programs, and (H3c) the effect of program type on these perceptions as alumni will be mediated by the graduates’ perceptions as students.

Organizational identification Organizational identification is derived from the social identity literature, which suggests that individuals define their identity through their membership in

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groups (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Identification with a group is not a simple categorical variable of belonging to or not belonging to a group but rather the degree to which an individual recognizes himself or herself as part of that group (Mael & Ashforth, 1992). Organizational identification is defined as ‘the perception of oneness with or belongingness to an organization, where the individual defines him or herself in terms of the organization(s) in which he or she is a member’ (Mael & Ashforth, 1992, p. 104). Consumers identify with organizations as a means of deriving value and satisfying self-definitional needs, such as self-continuity, self-distinctiveness, and self-enhancement (Bhattacharya & Sen, 2003). By identifying with organizations that are similar to the consumer’s own identity, the consumer can experience selfcontinuity. If the organization is also unique or distinctive, the consumer can improve his or her own self-distinctiveness by identifying with the organization. Finally, if the organization is viewed as prestigious, identifying with the organization enables the individual to enhance his or her self-concept (Bhattacharya & Sen, 2003). Specialized MBA programs are likely to engender organizational identification because they provide their students and alumni with similarity, distinctiveness, and prestige. These programs focus on narrow, unique areas of interest and are tailored to meet the needs of a specific group of students. This suggests that alumni of specialized MBA programs are more likely to see themselves as similar to their programs than alumni of traditional MBA programs. Additionally, specialized programs provide consumers with unique curriculum and course designs that deviate from traditional MBA programs. This implies that alumni of specialized MBA programs are more likely to feel distinguished by their MBA degree than alumni of traditional MBA programs. Finally, specialized programs offer focused curriculum and deviate from the norms of traditional programs. Therefore, alumni of specialized MBA programs are also more likely to feel that their degree provides them with more prestige than alumni of traditional MBA programs. As a result of this increased attractiveness, alumni of specialized MBA programs are more likely to identify with their programs than alumni of traditional MBA programs. This leads to Hypothesis 4: (H4) Individuals who graduate from specialized MBA programs will perceive greater organizational identification with their programs than individuals who graduate from traditional MBA programs will perceive with their programs. Unlike relational norms, organizational identification is less directly linked to the individual’s perceptions about the exact nature of his or her relationship with the organization at the time. Therefore, unlike relational norms, organizational identification is not expected to change when the student graduates from the program.

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Affective commitment In addition to identification with an organization, individuals can also become committed to an organization, perceiving their interactions with the organization as part of a long-term relationship and exhibiting a desire to continue that relationship in the future (Dwyer et al., 1987). Allen and Meyer (1990) identify three different forms of commitment that an individual can experience with an organization: affective commitment – an emotional connection to the organization that leads to a desire to maintain a relationship, continuance commitment – an assessment that the costs of maintaining the relationship are less than the costs of ending it, and normative commitment – a sense of obligation to maintain the relationship. Of these three types, affective commitment has been considered to be the most likely to occur in consumer – organization relationships (Evanschitzky, Iyer, Plassmann, Niessing, & Meffert, 2006; Gruen et al., 2000; N’Goala, 2007). Consumers are more likely to develop affective commitment toward an organization when they experience positive and satisfying interactions with the organization (Gruen et al., 2000), feel a personal connection to the organization (Fournier, 1998), and perceive a strong fit between their own personalities, values, and self-concepts and the organization (Bloemer & Odekerken-Schro¨der, 2007; Van Vianen, Nijstad, & Voskuijl, 2008). Consumers’ affective commitment toward organizations has been associated with increased loyalty to the organization (Evanschitzky et al., 2006; Gruen et al., 2000; Verhoef, 2003) and stronger perceived relationships with the organization (Fournier, 1998). Since specialized MBA programs are tailored to the needs of their students and are designed to be more flexible than traditional MBA programs, it is likely that students in specialized MBA programs will experience more positive interactions and be more satisfied with their programs than students in traditional MBA programs. In addition, since specialized MBA programs tend to be smaller and more personalized than traditional MBA programs, students in specialized MBA programs are more likely to feel a personal connection with their programs than students in traditional MBA programs. Finally, since specialized MBA programs offer more specific programs of study than traditional MBA programs, students in specialized MBA programs are more likely to experience a strong fit between their programs and their own personalities, interests, and values than students in traditional MBA programs. This leads to Hypothesis 5: (H5) Individuals who graduate from specialized MBA programs will perceive greater affective commitment to their programs than individuals who graduate from traditional MBA programs will perceive with their programs. Similar to organizational identification, affective commitment is not directly linked to the individual’s perceptions about the exact nature of his or her relationship with the organization at the time. Therefore, like organizational

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identification, affective commitment is not expected to change when the student graduates from the program. Alumni helping behavior As discussed earlier, these specific relationalism constructs were selected because research has repeatedly shown that they are linked to helping behavior. Consumers who perceive communal norms in their consumer–organization relationships are more likely to spread positive word of mouth (Gremler et al., 2001), participate in marketing research (Aggarwal, 2004), and donate money to the organization (Johnson et al., 2009). Consumers who identify strongly with an organization have been found to: be more loyal (Adler & Adler, 1988), promote the company by word of mouth (Ahearne, Bhattacharya, & Gruen, 2005; Brown, Barry, Dacin, & Gunst, 2005; Mael & Ashforth, 1992), volunteer more time (Tidwell, 2005), and donate more money (Bhattacharya et al., 1995; Mael & Ashforth, 1992; Tidwell, 2005) than individuals who do not identify strongly with the organization. Consumers’ affective commitment to an organization has also been found to increase loyalty (Evanschitzky et al., 2006; Johnson et al., 2006), positive word of mouth (Bhattacharya & Sen, 2004; Bloemer & OdekerkenSchro¨der, 2007; Brown et al., 2005; Gremler et al., 2001), participation in marketing research (Aggarwal, 2004), and volunteerism (Sargeant & Lee, 2004). Thus, if specialized MBA programs are able to cultivate alumni relationships that exhibit communal norms, organizational identification, and affective commitment, they should succeed in increasing alumni helping behaviors such as donation behavior. However, if the relationships that the specialized MBA programs cultivate are specifically with the programs and not with the overall college of business or university, the increased donation behavior is expected to be in the form of donations to the specialized MBA program itself. This leads to Hypothesis 6: (H6) Individuals who graduate from specialized MBA programs will (H6a) express a greater willingness to donate to their programs, (H6b) express a greater likelihood of donating in response to a request from their programs, (H6c) be more likely to make a donation, and (H6d) allocate more donations to their programs rather than their college or university than individuals who graduate from traditional MBA programs. Methodology Research context In order to test these hypotheses, a survey was conducted of full-time MBA alumni from a large Midwestern university. Until recently, this university had offered both traditional MBA programs and specialized MBA programs. The alumni that were surveyed all attended the school during the period that both

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types of programs were available. While many specialized MBA programs are recent additions to curricula, the oldest specialized MBA program at this university is over 40 years old, providing a large sample of alumni who had participated in specialized programs. Using this university and their alumni thus allowed for the examination of differences in relationships between alumni who had participated in the specialized MBA programs and those who had participated in traditional MBA programs. The university also has several part-time MBA programs. However, all of the specialized MBA programs are full-time, and it is expected that part-time MBA students may develop different relationships with their programs and school than full-time MBA students, regardless of the nature of their program. Therefore, it was decided that the best comparison would be between alumni of full-time specialized MBA programs and full-time traditional MBA programs. The population for this study included all alumni from the MBA programs at this university for whom contact information was available. A list of 3298 individuals was provided by the university’s School of Business Alumni Relations Office. An e-mail was sent to each of these individuals requesting their participation in a study being conducted by a group of academic researchers. The e-mail indicated that the purpose of the study was to better understand the donation behavior of alumni and included a link to an online survey. Individuals who had attended a specialized MBA program received a survey that asked them to respond in regard to their program (e.g., real estate, entrepreneurship, marketing research, arts administration), while individuals who had attended a traditional MBA program were asked to respond to questions in regard to their department (e.g., marketing, management, accounting, finance). Measurement Participants’ perceptions of an ongoing relationship with their programs or departments were assessed both while they were graduate students and now that they were alumni. This was measured using the question, ‘To what extent do you consider yourself to have had a relationship with the [center/ department] that you were a part of [when you were a graduate student/now that you are an alum]?’ followed by a seven-point scale with endpoints of ‘not at all’ and ‘very much.’ Perceived exchange and communal relational norms were measured separately, consistent with their conceptualization as independent constructs that can simultaneously occur within the same consumer –organization relationship. Participants were provided with the definitions of exchange and communal relational norms and asked two questions measuring to what extent they perceived their relationships with their programs or departments to be consistent with the definition of exchange norms and the definition of communal norms (Johnson et al., 2009). Each question was followed by a seven-point scale with endpoints of ‘not at all’ and ‘very much.’ These questions were repeated for both

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participants’ perceived relationships when they were graduate students and now that they are alumni. Organizational identification was measured using Bhattacharya, Rao, and Glynn’s (1995) Organizational Identification Scale, and affective commitment was measured using Gruen, Summers, and Acito’s (2000) adaptation of Allen and Meyer’s (1990) Affective Commitment Scale. Both were measured using seven-point, Likert-type scales. The scales exhibited acceptable reliability (Cronbach’s alpha ¼ 0.91 and 0.96, respectively). Both scales were summed to create composite scores. Willingness to help was first measured by asking participants how willing they are to help their center or department when asked. Participants responded on a seven-point scale with endpoints of ‘not at all willing’ and ‘very willing.’ Participants were then given a sample request for donations and asked how likely they would be to donate in response to the request, using a seven-point scale with endpoints of ‘not at all likely’ and ‘very likely.’ Donation behavior was captured through actual donation records provided by the university’s School of Business Alumni Relations Office. Finally, participants were also asked several questions to capture descriptive information, including their age, gender, and year of graduation from their MBA programs. Results Sample description Three hundred and eighty-four usable surveys were received for a response rate of 11.6%. Of those alumni who responded, 53.6% had graduated from a specialized MBA program. The range of graduation years represented spanned from 1965 to 2008, with a median graduation year of 1993. The sample was 59% male, with 55.9% of participants between the ages of 35 and 54, and 93.1% of participants between the ages of 25 and 64. Perceptions of an ongoing relationship and perceived relational norms It was expected that there might be a correlation between participants’ perceptions of an ongoing relationship with their program and their perceived relational norms. Therefore, Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested using a one-way MANOVA with program type as the independent variable and perceived ongoing relationship, exchange norms, and communal norms as a student as the dependent variables. The multivariate analysis on perceived relationship as a student revealed a significant effect of program type (F (3, 343) ¼ 106.64, p , .001). Univariate analyses found a significant effect of program type on perceived ongoing relationship (F (1, 345) ¼ 314.36, p , .001). Participants who graduated from specialized MBA programs were more likely to perceive an ongoing

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Table 1. Summary of findings by program type. Program Type

Dependent Variable Perceived ongoing relationship as a student (1–7) Perceived communal norms as a student (1 –7) Perceived exchange norms as a student (1–7) Perceived ongoing relationship as an alumnus (1 –7) Perceived communal norms as an alumnus (1–7) Perceived exchange norms as an alumnus (1–7) Organizational identification (6 –42) Affective commitment (6 –42) Willingness to help (1 –7) Likelihood of donating (1–7) Percent of alumni who donated Percent of alumni who donated to their programs Percent of alumni who donated to the college

Specialized MBA Program Means and (Standard Deviations)

Traditional MBA Program Means and (Standard Deviations)

6.52 (0.93) 5.19 (1.54) 5.27 (1.57) 4.92 (1.34) 4.98 (1.54) 3.63 (1.62) 27.90 (7.85) 29.30 (8.20) 5.28 (1.56) 4.75 (1.69) 81.5% 69.5% 10.0%

4.09 (1.61) 3.54 (1.62) 4.30 (1.73) 3.52 (1.53) 3.90 (1.97) 2.25 (1.48) 21.47 (8.59) 18.45 (8.57) 3.93 (1.75) 3.26 (1.85) 68.0% 3.4% 56.7%

Note: Means/percentages in the same row are significantly different at p , .001 except for percent of alumni who donated, which is significantly different at p , .005.

relationship with their programs than participants who graduated from traditional MBA programs (see Table 1 for means), supporting Hypothesis 1. Participants from specialized MBA programs were also more likely to perceive communal norms in their relationships than participants from traditional MBA programs (F (1, 345) ¼ 92.79, p , .001, see Table 1), supporting Hypothesis 2. Interestingly, while no significant differences were hypothesized about perceived exchange norms, participants from specialized MBA programs were also more likely to perceive exchange norms than participants from traditional programs (F (1, 345) ¼ 29.74, p , .001). Taken together, this suggests that specialized MBA programs foster stronger relationships overall with their students than traditional MBA programs. Hypothesis 3 was also tested using a MANOVA with program type as the independent variable and perceived ongoing relationship, exchange norms, and communal norms as an alumni as the dependent variables, and parallel results were found. The multivariate analysis again revealed a significant effect of program type (F (3, 274) ¼ 26.89, p , .001). Univariate analyses found significant effects of program type on perceived ongoing relationship

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(F (1, 276) ¼ 59.53, p , .001, see Table 1) and perceived communal norms (F (1, 276) ¼ 24.93, p , .001), supporting Hypotheses 3a and 3b. Once again, alumni of specialized MBA programs were more likely to perceive exchange norms than alumni of traditional programs (F (1, 276) ¼ 45.66, p , .001). As expected, these means are lower than participants’ perceived exchange norms for their student relationships, but the difference between program types still applies to alumni relationships. Hypothesis 3c predicted that the perceived relationship as a student would mediate the effect of program type on perceived relationship as an alumnus. Since effects were found on all three dependent variables (perceived ongoing relationship, perceived communal norms, and perceived exchange norms), tests of mediation were performed on all three variables. First, a univariate ANOVA on perceived ongoing relationship as an alumnus was performed with program type as the independent variable and perceived ongoing relationship as a student as a covariate. The analysis revealed a significant effect of perceived ongoing relationship as a student (F (1, 384) ¼ 107.36, p , .001) and of program type (F (1, 384) ¼ 24.68, p , .001). The significance of program type decreased when perceived ongoing relationship as a student was included in the model, suggesting a partial mediation of the effect of program type. Parallel effects were found for perceived communal norms (perceived communal norms as a student F (1, 276) ¼ 17.21, p , .001, program type F (1, 276) ¼ 10.22, p , .005) but not for perceived exchange norms, which exhibited significant effects for both variables but no decrease in the significance of the effect of program type (perceived exchange norms as a student F (1, 276) ¼ 29.42, p , .001, program type F (1, 276) ¼ 34.88, p , .001). Thus, H3c is supported, but the effect did not also hold for perceived exchange norms. Organizational identification and affective commitment Hypotheses 4 and 5 were tested using one-way ANOVAs with program type as the independent variable and the composite measures of organizational identification and affective commitment as dependent variables. As predicted, participants from specialized MBA programs identified more with their programs than participants from traditional MBA programs (F (1, 380) ¼ 58.28, p , .001, see Table 1), supporting Hypothesis 4. Participants from specialized MBA programs also exhibited more affective commitment toward their programs than participants from traditional MBA programs (F (1, 380) ¼ 159.43, p , .001), supporting Hypothesis 5. Willingness to help and donation behavior Hypotheses 6a and 6b were tested using a one-way MANOVA with program type as the independent variable and willingness to help and likelihood of

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donating as the dependent variables. The multivariate analysis revealed a significant effect of program type (F (3, 375) ¼ 2966.99, p , .001). The univariate analyses found a significant effect of program type on both willingness to help (F (1, 377) ¼ 62.88, p , .001, see Table 1), supporting Hypothesis 6a, and likelihood of donating (F (1, 377) ¼ 66.85, p , .001), supporting Hypothesis 6b. Hypotheses 6c and 6d predicted that this increased willingness to donate would be evident in participants’ donation behavior. A cross-tabulation revealed that a greater percentage of alumni from specialized MBA programs had made a donation to the university in some form than alumni from traditional programs (x2 (1, 378) ¼ 9.22, p , .005), supporting H6c. Participants who graduated from specialized MBA programs were significantly more likely to allocate their donations to their specific programs (x2 (1, 378) ¼ 174.18, p , .001), while participants who graduated from traditional MBA programs were significantly more likely to allocate their donations to the college of business as a whole (x2 (1, 378) ¼ 94.54, p , .001), supporting H6d. Discussion This study finds that alumni of specialized MBA programs do perceive stronger relationships with their programs both while they are students and after they graduate. Alumni of specialized MBA programs are more connected, more committed, and identify more strongly with their programs than alumni of traditional MBA programs. These relationship perceptions further lead to increased alumni donation behavior and willingness to help the program. This supports the assumption that having specialized MBA programs will foster stronger alumni relationships and ultimately benefit universities in the form of alumni donations. The investment in specialized MBA programs does translate to benefits for the university once students from these programs graduate. It is interesting to note, however, that the relationships that are cultivated are with the specialized MBA program and not with the school of business or the university. Alumni from specialized MBA programs were more likely to allocate their donations to their specific MBA program and to respond to requests from their specific MBA program. In contrast, alumni from traditional MBA programs were more likely to contribute to the school of business or to the university as opposed to their specific major departments. This suggests that if universities are to benefit from having specialized MBA programs, they need to maintain their relationships with specialized MBA alumni at the program level and not at the university or college level. If the specialized program is not able to maintain relationships with its alumni, or if the specialized program does not continue at the university, the university is likely to lose these alumni relationships. It is important to reiterate that these findings were based solely on alumni from full-time MBA programs. This research did not include responses from part-time

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MBA alumni or alumni from undergraduate or PhD programs in business. These alumni may have very different relationships with their programs or departments, colleges of business, and universities, and they may donate for very different reasons than alumni of full-time MBA programs. Future research should examine relationships and donation behavior among a broader range of business school alumni to determine the effectiveness of these different programs at building and maintaining student and alumni relationships. These results should not be interpreted to suggest that universities should develop or offer specialized MBA programs solely for the purpose of increasing alumni donations. The specialized MBA programs examined in this study all involve significant costs to the university in the form of specialized coursework, expert faculty, and assistantships, and they often have lower enrollments than traditional MBA programs. The decision to develop a specialized MBA program should be based on curriculum goals and market needs, not on anticipated alumni giving. However, the development of stronger alumni relationships and increased alumni donation behavior can be seen as a benefit to the university of offering specialized MBA programs that may help to offset the additional costs involved in these programs and justify their inclusion alongside or in place of traditional MBA programs.

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