ความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างความรู้และทักษะทางธุรกิจเพื่อการทำงานและความสำเร็จตามการรับรู้ของบัณฑิตหลักสูตรบริหารธุรกิจมหาบัณฑิต มหาวิทยาลัยเชียงใหม่

Abstract

The objective of this independent study was to determine business knowledge and skills that had been applied in practical uses and contributed to the individual career success of graduates from Chiang Mai University’s Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) Program; and to determine, in the graduates’ opinions, the level of support of the M.B.A. courses provided. The results could be used to improve and redesign the curriculum in order to fulfill current market needs. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 136 samples of Chiang Mai University’s M.B.A. alumni that graduated between 2012-2017. Three fields of data were collected. This included (1) demographic information (including sex, age, grade, type of business at work, organization registered capital, managerial position, position duration at work, number of employees under supervision), (2) information on business knowledge and skills, and (3) information on career success. The information on business knowledge and skills could further be divided into 3 sub-fields including (1) the level of business knowledge and skills used in practices (2) the frequency of business knowledge and skills used in practices (3) the level of support the Chiang Mai University M.B.A. Program provided. The list of variables as follows. There were 9 business knowledge, namely (1) Strategic Management (2) Accounting & Finance (3) Marketing (4) Operations Management (5) Human Resource Management (6) Research Methodology (7) International Business (8) Economics (9) Management Information System. There were 18 business skills, namely (1) Self-Control & Stress Management (2) Time Management & Result Orientation (3) Interpersonal Skills (4) Self-Confidence (5) Teamwork (6) Creative Thinking (7) Initiation and Innovation (8) Leadership Skills (9) Delegation and Human Capital Management (10) Job Knowledge and Job Efficiency (11) Communication Skills (12) Rational Thinking & Decision Making (13) Ethics and Social Responsibility (14) Global Awareness & Global Adaptability (15) Risk Management (16) Strategic Planning and Administration (17) Framing and Integration to Solve Problem (18) Diverse and Multicultural Management. There were 8 dimensions of career success including (1) Recognition (2) Authenticity (3) Quality of Work (4) Meaningful Work (5) Growth and Development (6) Career Satisfaction Sense (7) Personal Life (8) Influence. Two statistical approaches were conducted. (1) Determination of business knowledge and skills which had high levels and frequencies of uses in practice was done using quadrant analysis (2) Determination of business knowledge and skills that positively correlated to dimension of career success was assessed using Pearson’s correlation. The combination of the two approaches thus yielded business knowledge and skills which had high levels and frequencies of uses in practice, and correlated to career success. A comparison between the level used in practices and the level of support from Chiang Mai University's M.B.A. Program of these business knowledge and skills then provided an answer to whether the M.B.A Program had provided adequate support to the development of essential business knowledge and skills for its graduates. Results showed that business knowledge and skills which had high levels and frequencies of uses in practice was the four knowledge of (1) Strategic Management (2) Management Information System (3) Marketing and (4) Operations Management, and the eight skills of (1) Self-Confidence (2) Job Knowledge & Job Efficiency (3) Communication Skills (4) Interpersonal Skills (5) Teamwork (6) Rational Thinking & Decision Making (7) Global Awareness & Global Adaptability and (8) Ethics and Social Responsibility. Pearson’s correlation analysis indicated that all business knowledge and skills, except for one skill of Ethics and Social Responsibility, significantly correlated to at least 1 of 8 dimensions of career success. Considering the two approaches, the results showed a total of 4 business knowledge and 7 business skills which had high levels and frequencies of uses in practice, as well as significantly correlated with career success. These included the four knowledge of (1) Strategic Management (2) Management Information System (3) Marketing and (4) Operations Management, and the seven skills of (1) Self-Confidence (2) Job Knowledge & Job Efficiency (3) Communication Skills (4) Interpersonal Skills (5) Teamwork (6) Rational Thinking & Decision Making and (7) Global Awareness & Global Adaptability. A comparison between the level of practical used and the level of support the M.B.A. Program provided suggested that the current M.B.A. Program at Chiang Mai University offered a level knowledge and skills sufficient for or beyond what was being used in practice.