An identification of the factors that influence graduate satisfaction with a management development training program

Many organizations, both public and private are implementing total quality management processes and procedures to ensure customer satisfaction, promote effective leadership, and enhance productivity. The sudden emphasis on customer satisfaction is observable governmentwide as federal agencies respond to the President’s Executive Order to create a government that works better and costs less. Finding ways to improve customer satisfaction is now a high priority of these service-oriented organizations. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence graduate satisfaction with a management development training program. In order to fulfill this purpose, data were collected from a respondent population of the United States Department of the Interior graduates of the Women’s Executive Leadership Program. Two surveys were used in this study to identify the factors and determine the level of importance of the factors. Based on the objectives of the research, in addition to demographic data, survey one contained open-ended questions designed to assess the graduates’ perceptual fields relative to their expectations, strengths and weaknesses of the management development training program. Twenty-eight items were identified from the qualitative data obtained from survey one and using a Likert-type scale, graduates were asked to rate the level of importance of each item in survey two. Graduate responses to survey two were subjected to standard statistical procedures. Results of these procedures led to the following conclusions: 1) Graduate satisfaction is influenced by professional advancement, personal growth and career development opportunities, program instruction, and program administration and management; 2) Graduates of the Women’s Executive Leadership Program are overwhelmingly satisfied with the training they received in the program; 3) Expectations of the Department of the Interior graduates are met; and 4) Further research is needed to determine the relationship between trainee satisfaction/dissatisfaction and expectations as well as the relationship between satisfaction and certain demographic and biographical characteristics.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Administration

Department dc:contributor.department

Educational Administration

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1994

Author dc:creator

• Tucker, Mollie Janet

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• McKeen, Ronald L.
• Fortune, Jimmie C.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Hall, Libby
• Miles, Johnnie H.
• Richards, Robert R.
• Conley, Houston

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-10212005-123022

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/40083