3. 3
Executive Summary
Our project was conducted over the 2014 fall semester. We were asked to look at the
University’s study abroad program and see how it could be improved. Our main contact
was Professor Beekman who provided us with the organizational related information. The
problem that was very imminent was the retention rate of international business majors
dropping each year grade by a significant amount. As a result our primary objective was
to establish how this retention rate could be improved. We also had a few other objectives
that we looked into. One was to understand how effective the current marketing of the
study abroad program is. And since we had a limited time and knowledge on the area, we
seeked out help from current students to see what they new about the program, and what
trends we could establish in numerous different aspects of study abroad
About the Research- We conducted our own short questionnaire that covered an array of
different topics, as well as conducting a small focus group. As a class group we also had
a set of results from a proposed questionnaire that reached a larger number of people than
our own questionnaire.
Key Results- The key result was that the amount of information currently available is
inadequate. Almost every person we questioned with our survey and within our focus
groups agreed that not a good enough job is done at spreading information about study
abroad.
Recommendations- We would like to see advisors encouraging students to utilize the
program. As well as introducing it to gateways classes and having students who have
studied abroad talk to those who have not. And finally the advertising needs to be
improved and available all over the campus.
4. 4
Introduction
The University of Tampa study abroad program wanted a class of students to conduct
market research on the current running of the program. The program has been in place for
numerous years and has been expanding each passing year also. Study abroad is not
strictly for international business majors, but for the purpose of our project this is the
group that we focused on.
We met with Professor Beekman who is head of the study abroad program. During this
time we were able to ask him various things. Besides the background information, we
were also able to pursue further details about the program. Upon questioning, Professor
Beekman made it clear to us that his primary concern is with the amount of freshmen
who drop the international business major. This evidently became our management
decision problem; establish what needs to be done to improve the retention of
international business majors, particularly of freshmen.
Professor Beekman also voiced concerns about what could be a potential cause of this
issue, and these became things that we tried to focus on. It ranges from the student
advisors not being engaged with the program, to the current marketing methods simply
not being attractive enough, and also the attitude revolving around the cost of the
program.
5. 5
The following pages address the method that we used, detail the results of our analyses,
and offer recommendations based upon our conclusions.
Method
We mentioned previously what our management decision problem was. However to
address this issue we had a few research objectives that we focused on in particular.
These were:
Ø Establish how effective the current marketing of the program is
Ø Find out what significance cost, safety, culture shock, and information level have
on a students decision to study abroad or choose not to
We began by conducting a SWOT analysis that we thought would act as an exploratory
design to give us a basis of any obvious issues. This was done relatively swiftly and we
tried not to use this as a major resource since we created it ourselves. This was partially
compared to USF, as we believed they were the only potential threat to a program of this
sort. We also conducted a small focus group. This was aimed at both those who had and
hadn’t studied abroad yet. It was somewhat general and really we were trying to gain an
insight into the program and its image.
Our descriptive research was far more significant. We collected our own primary data
through a questionnaire that we designed and handed out. This was also aimed at both
those who have studied abroad and those who hadn’t. The questions were designed to
address all aspects of study abroad, from general awareness, to cost, to any possible
recommendations. It was somewhat similar to what was asked in the focus group but it
6. 6
allowed for more statistical answers. As a class group we also had a data set that had a
vast amount of responses to numerous other survey questions.
Results
SWOT Analysis
Our SWOT analysis was the first research that we carried out. We used it to provide us
with a broad overview of the study abroad program.
The
SWOT
analysis
that
we
did
is
relatively
self-‐explanatory.
From
it
we
were
able
to
narrow
down
the
program
in
a
manner
that
was
easier
for
us
to
see.
Of
course
the
weaknesses
and
threats
were
what
was
most
concerning
with
regards
to
this
project.
Particularly
the
lack
of
program
knowledge
was
very
evident,
and
the
fact
that
people
can
get
a
similar
degree
without
the
need
to
study
abroad
came
across
to
us
as
concerning.
However
the
opportunities
are
significant
as
well;
particularly
with
the
growing
student
population,
this
is
something
that
should
be
viewed
very
positively.
7. 7
Interest
Level
We
wanted
to
find
out
how
much
interest
there
was
in
the
study
abroad
program
firstly.
This
was
crucial
as
without
interest
our
whole
project
would
need
to
have
been
redirected
to
address
how
we
could
raise
the
interest
level.
We
asked
this
question
in
our
own
survey
and
the
results
are
outlined
below:
From
the
pie
chart
you
can
see
that
there
were
dramatically
more
people
interested
in
studying
abroad
than
not
interested.
80%
of
our
survey
respondents
responded
in
this
way.
This
was
very
positive
as
it
means
there
is
a
base
of
students
who
would
potentially
like
the
opportunity
to
use
the
program.
From
the
dataset
we
received
as
a
class
a
very
similar
question
was
asked.
However
the
response
was
made
on
a
scale
of
1-‐10
with
regards
to
how
interested
people
Are
you
interested
in
studying
abroad?
Are
interested
Not
interested
8. 8
would
be
in
studying
abroad.
These
results
actually
showed
an
even
spread
of
10%
of
respondents
choosing
each
number
between
the
range.
This
is
contradictory
to
our
survey
response.
However
the
class
dataset
was
randomly
generated
so
we
believe
that
this
is
not
to
be
trusted
because
of
this.
Cost
Issues
To
address
the
cost
issue
that
we
had
as
a
research
objective
we
took
the
result
from
the
class
data.
The
question
asked
how
influential
cost
was
on
the
student’s
decision
to
not
study
abroad.
The
results
showed
us
that
actually
cost
was
not
a
big
factor
in
the
decision
to
not
study
abroad.
You
can
see
that
significantly
more
people
disagreed
with
the
9. 9
statement
and
this
was
a
result
that
we
did
not
expect.
There
are
of
course
around
80
people
who
did
say
this
was
an
issue,
but
from
a
dataset
of
over
400
people
we
do
not
believe
that
this
is
a
significant
amount.
We
also
wanted
to
follow
this
up
with
a
question
from
our
focus
group.
Professor
Beekman
made
us
aware
that
there
are
numerous
scholarships
available
to
students
looking
to
study
abroad.
So
quite
simply
we
asked
whether
our
focus
group
was
aware
of
this.
This
data
shows
us
that
in
fact
10
out
of
12
students
in
our
study
group
did
not
know
about
study
abroad
scholarship
opportunities.
1
person
had
actually
applied,
and
1
person
knew
about
them
but
chose
not
to
apply.
This
was
interesting
as
this
potentially
is
a
huge
financial
assistance
that
students
simply
just
don’t
know
about.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Unaware
of
aid
Had
applied
for
aid
Knew
but
chose
not
to
apply
Were
you
aware
of
study
abroad
scholarships?
10. 10
Safety
Again
to
address
this
issue
we
used
a
question
taken
from
the
class
survey
and
corresponding
dataset.
The
question
asked
whether
safety
was
a
concern
for
students’
decisions
to
not
study
abroad.
The
bar
chart
actually
illustrates
a
very
mixed
response
to
the
question.
The
data
is
spread
evenly
and
it
is
difficult
to
make
any
real
assumptions
from
this.
What
you
can
take
note
of
is
the
fact
that
a
greater
number
of
people
either
disagreed
or
strongly
disagreed
that
those
who
agreed
or
strongly
agreed.
This
could
make
you
more
inclined
to
believe
that
safety
is
also
not
a
significant
factor.
11. 11
Culture
Issues
This
was
something
we
wanted
to
gain
insight
into
and
I
suppose
it
is
marginally
linked
with
safety.
In
order
to
establish
whether
adapting
to
a
new
culture
was
an
intimidating
factor
for
students
we
first
asked
our
focus
group
who
had
studied
abroad.
The
overwhelming
response
was
that
none
of
them
had
an
issue
with
adapting
to
a
new
way
of
life.
So
this
was
a
very
positive
result
We
also
asked
this
in
our
questionnaire
and
the
response
was
very
different.
45%
of
respondents
said
that
having
to
adapt
to
a
new
culture
was
something
that
would
concern
them.
Now
let
us
bear
in
mind
that
most
of
our
survey
respondents
had
not
studied
abroad.
This
very
much
shows
the
difference
between
those
who
have
and
have
not
been
abroad.
So
perhaps
the
issue
of
culture
change
is
something
psychological,
and
according
to
our
focus
group
once
you
have
been
abroad
you
realize
that
it
is
not
an
issue
at
all.
Information
Awareness
This
was
the
most
notable
concern
that
we
had.
We
really
wanted
to
see
how
students
felt
about
the
amount
of
available
information
out
there,
and
how
useful
the
school
was
at
promoting
the
study
abroad
program.
Firstly
we
took
a
result
from
the
class
questionnaire.
It
asked
to
what
degree
a
student’s
advisor
assisted
them
with
the
decision
to
study
abroad.
12. 12
The
bar
chart
indicates
again
that
the
data
is
fairly
evenly
spread.
Just
over
40%
responded
saying
that
they
agreed
or
strongly
agreed
with
the
statement.
However
that
still
leaves
almost
60%
suggesting
that
this
was
not
the
case
or
they
were
unsure.
As
an
advisor
should
be
a
very
significant
person
to
every
student,
perhaps
the
low
percentage
of
agreement
is
something
to
cause
concern.
We
also
followed
this
up
from
our
focus
group.
We
asked
them
whether
they
believed
that
the
school
did
a
good
job
at
informing
students
and
promoting
the
study
abroad
program.
There
was
again
an
overwhelming
response
to
this.
Everybody
claimed
that
the
school
did
not
do
a
good
enough
job
at
providing
the
necessary
information.
Those
who
had
studied
abroad
said
that
they
had
to
do
all
of
13. 13
the
various
research
themselves
and
set
up
the
meetings
and
appointments
off
of
their
own
back.
This
ultimately
becomes
very
time
consuming
and
certainly
is
an
added
stress
that
would
definitely
deter
a
lot
of
people.
Conclusions
There
are
several
things
that
we
were
able
to
conclude
relating
to
our
research
objectives.
Firstly
there
is
sufficient
interest
in
the
program
for
it
to
be
successful.
This
is
vital
in
every
operation
whether
it
be
business
related
or
not.
By
having
students
who
are
interested,
it
makes
the
job
slightly
easier
to
try
and
get
them
on
board
with
the
program.
The
next
major
result
showed
us
that
in
fact
cost
was
not
an
issue
for
these
students.
We
anticipated
that
people
would
respond
in
a
manner
that
would
suggest
cost
was
an
issue.
However
upon
reflection
we
need
to
realize
that
we
are
at
a
private
school
now,
and
many
study
abroad
options
will
more
than
likely
be
less
expensive
than
spending
a
semester
here
at
UT.
We
also
established
that
safety
is
not
a
major
concern
affecting
a
students
decision
to
study
abroad
and
nor
is
culture
change.
This
is
interesting
as
for
some
students
it
may
be
the
first
time
they
have
left
the
US,
and
we
would
have
thought
that
safety
would
bear
some
significance.
However
this
is
perhaps
more
of
a
parent
view,
students
just
want
the
experience
and
don’t
look
at
this
aspect
as
much.
Culture
became
more
understandable
to
us
because
with
most
of
the
programs
you
actually
14. 14
travel
with
fellow
American
students
and
they
become
your
primary
friend
base.
You
could
say
this
prevents
you
from
really
experiencing
a
new
culture
but
at
the
same
time
it
offers
a
security
of
having
similar
people
around
you.
The
final
and
major
conclusion
we
could
draw
was
that
the
amount
of
available
information
is
insufficient.
This
is
a
huge
concern,
as
students
cannot
be
expected
to
know
about
the
program
if
they
never
hear
about
it.
For
example
nobody
knew
about
the
financial
aid
opportunities
as
we
mentioned
earlier.
This
is
a
huge
incentive
to
study
abroad
and
we
have
to
believe
that
if
people
knew
this
they
would
be
significantly
more
interested.
It
is
a
school
wide
problem
though.
Sure
it
stems
from
the
study
abroad
program
but
the
advisors
don’t
recommend
it,
we
don’t
have
lectures
or
seminars
about
the
program.
To
be
quite
honest
it
is
incredible
how
many
students
actually
do
study
abroad
with
the
way
the
program
is
currently
portrayed.
Recommendations
Our
recommendations
relate
to
our
management
decision
problem.
So
everything
we
mention
will
be
relating
to
how
the
retention
rate
of
international
business
majors
can
be
improved.
We
first
of
all
want
to
see
the
advisors
being
used
as
a
gateway
to
the
program.
They
help
create
schedules
and
four
year
plans,
if
they
also
feel
comfortable
advising
students
about
study
abroad
opportunities
then
this
will
be
very
positive.
If
the
15. 15
students
have
an
advisor
that
they
trust
and
feel
comfortable
talking
to,
then
they
will
be
a
great
influence
upon
their
decision
to
study
abroad
if
this
is
something
they
wish
to
do.
We
also
want
to
see
the
program
covered
and
spoken
about
in
some
detail
within
the
gateways
classes.
These
are
informative
classes
that
educate
new
students
about
the
school
and
facilities.
It
would
be
a
great
opportunity
to
be
able
to
talk
to
every
incoming
student
about
study
abroad.
Undoubtedly
some
will
be
very
interested
and
quite
simply
the
fact
that
every
student
will
have
some
information
on
the
program
would
be
hugely
positive.
Similarly
we
would
like
to
see
some
students
who
have
completed
a
study
abroad
actually
come
and
talk
to
current
students.
This
could
be
through
a
scheduled
seminar
or
even
through
a
gateways
class.
We
believe
it
would
be
great
for
current
students
to
see
studying
abroad
from
the
view
of
another
student.
They
will
be
able
to
relate
better,
and
answer
questions
that
perhaps
the
program
organizers
are
unable
to
do.
This
would
not
take
much
effort
but
the
benefits
potentially
could
be
huge.
Finally
the
study
abroad
program
must
be
advertised
better.
Currently
they
have
the
study
abroad
fair
but
other
than
that
not
much
promotion
occurs.
We
want
to
see
flyers
located
all
over
campus.
Things
that
will
catch
your
eye
make
students
take
a
few
seconds
to
read.
This
is
the
basic
concept
of
advertising
and
currently
it
is
not
16. 16
done.
More
events
should
be
held
similar
to
the
study
abroad
fair
as
of
course
not
everyone
will
be
able
to
make
the
current
one
fair
per
semester.
It
really
is
crucial
to
have
the
information
readily
available
all
over
campus.
People
respond
to
visual
things
and
anything
of
this
sort
will
be
so
much
better
than
the
current
scenario
of
nothing.
17. 17
Appendices
Focus group script for students who did not go abroad
Hello, My name is Jonathan Todino. I am Business Management Major at the
University of Tampa. Aj Pagan Is my partner for our group project we have for our
Marketing Research class and he will be taking notes and recording some of the
responses you give to our questions. The main point of the focus groups that we are
holding is to find the problems and solutions for the reasons why there is a decrease in
students studying abroad.
What we are going to do today is talk about your experiences of studying abroad
and the resources, tools, and services you used that helped you study abroad. The main
goal of this activity is to gather students’ opinions and point of view of studying abroad
and whether it was easy to do so that we may improve that experience for students who
have not gone abroad. I will be asking you 6 questions on the tools, services that helped
you go abroad and whether or not it was useful. You can say whatever you want while
answering these questions. Some of you may have the same opinions and different
opinions but we hope to hear everything you have to say about this topic.
Before we start I would like you to introduce yourself and your major and
anything else that would help to get to know you better.
1) Would you go study abroad?
2) If you said no what are your reasons for not going?
3) If going to study abroad was mandatory for your major would you still keep the
same major?
4) If you said no to going abroad is cost one of the issues?
18. 18
5) If money is the problem, are you aware of the study abroad scholarships and
different locations?
1) Do you think the school does a good job in letting students know about the study
abroad program?
Focus group Verbatim responses from students who did no go abroad
1) * yes
• no
• yes
• yes
• no
2) (Response to the students who said no)
• I was afraid to go to another country and study there
• By the time I found out how the program really was I felt like it was too late
to go and study abroad
3) * Yes, it is one of the reasons why I chose my major
• No, I would change my major if it was mandatory
• Yes, I would still keep my major it would give me an extra reason to go study
abroad
• Yes, I would have still gone either way if it was mandatory or not
• Yes, I would consider going but if I really didn’t want to go I would change my
major
4) * For me and my family money isn’t a problem so no
• Money is a problem and would have to see our financial situation
19. 19
• No, money was not a deciding factor for going abroad for me
• Not really, I would just have to decide on a cheap place to go
• Yes, it would be kind of a problem for me if anywhere I went was expensive I
would decide to stay here
5) (Responses given from the people who had money issue)
• I am aware of them but I feel like they would be hard to obtain
• No, I had no idea they even had those to help us out with the cost of the
program
6)* No, I do not think the school did a good job of that at all I actually found out from
my friend who had already gone abroad before I even came to this school
* I think it did an ok job of that but I feel like they could do a lot more for this
program
*Yes, I think with the people I came into contact with help inform me about the
program
* No, they could do a better job with reaching out to the students about this
program
* I think they did a pretty good job with I felt you had to do a lot of work to find
out all the information though
Focus Group Script for students who went abroad
Hello, My name is Jonathan Todino. I am a Business Management Major at the
University of Tampa. Aj Pagan Is my partner for our group project we have for our
Marketing Research class and he will be taking notes and recording some of the
responses you give to our questions. The Main point of the focus groups that we are
20. 20
holding is to find the problems and solutions for the reasons why the retention rate is low
with International Business majors.
What we are going to do today is talk about your experiences of going abroad and
the resources, tools, and services you used that helped you go abroad. The main goal of
this activity is to gather students’ opinions and point of view of studying abroad. Whether
it was easy to do so that we may improve the experience for students who have not gone
abroad. I will be asking you 7 questions on the tools and services that helped you go
abroad and whether or not it was useful. You can say whatever you want while answering
these questions. Some of you may have varying opinions and we hope to hear everything
you have to say about this topic.
Before we start I would like you to introduce yourself and your major and anything else
that would help to get to know you better.
Questions
1) How did you find out about the study abroad program?
2) What were some of the resources and tools you used to help you go abroad?
3) Were these tools useful to you when you wanted to go abroad?
4) Was money ever an issue when you were considering going abroad?
5) Were you also aware or informed of the study abroad scholarships?
6) Were you guided correctly when making the decision to go abroad and the
country you were going to go abroad to?
7) Do you think the school does a good job in letting students know about the study
abroad program?
End of session
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Thank you for your time
Focus group Verbatim responses From students who went abroad
1) * I found out from my friend who went abroad
* I also found out from my friend who had gone last semester
• My Advisor suggest going abroad for credit and said it would be fun
• I always wanted to go abroad so I went out of my way to find out how (looks
like it was difficult for this student the way he said it to go abroad)
• It was briefly explain when going on the campus tour before I came
2)* I did some online research of my own
* To be honest I didn’t know there were many tools I could use I just followed the
steps
* My advisor help my out in getting the process started and I briefly read some of
the booklets
* I did everything on my own and ask the advisor of the study abroad program for
little help
* The people at the office helped me most of what I needed to get done in order to
study abroad
3)* Eh, not really I kinda felt like I was going in blind studying abroad
• Yes but I feel like there could have done more to help me out
• No not at all ( seem kinda disappointed/ aggravated)
• No they did not I did everything on my own basically
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• Yes they did help but only to an extent I feel like there could have been more
help given
4) * No money wasn’t an issue
* Neither for me I didn’t have to worry about money
* Not really parents were ok with it so didn’t think money was an issue
* Yea it was a little issue not to big of a problem though
* It was not that expensive
5) * I had no clue about them
* It was mentioned a little but didn’t need them nor did I qualify
* I didn’t really know how to get one and felt like it was too much work
* I knew about them since money was kind of tight I had to apply for one
* I also had no clue about them and wished I did could have help me out
6) * nope but I wished I went somewhere tropical
* yea I didn’t think I chose the right place I had fun but wasn’t what I was looking
for
* yes I feel like was misguided completely I did not have as much fun as I thought
* yea but like what he said before thinking about it now though I did have fun
* no not at all I had a lot of fun and it was a great experience
7) * no you have to go out of your way to go find out more about this program
* no I think Greek life does a better job in informing you about them then the study
abroad program
* not really but at the same time its not that hard to get information for it
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* since I did everything myself I don’t know if they did a good or bad job on
letting students know
* I think they did an ok job but definitely need to put more effort in informing
students about this program and how to go about things
Focus group Procedures/analysis
For our set of procedures we first started from the interview we had from
Dr.Beekman, from there we started to form possible questions that we could ask the
students. Then we analyzed the information Dr.Beekman gave to us (graphs) and formed
a SWOT analysis. From The SWOT analysis we formed two focus groups one with
students who studied abroad and the other with students who didn’t study abroad. We
carefully wrote the responses from both focus group and were able to analyze and pin
point some of the problems as to why there is a decrease in the number of students
studying abroad.
Materials used
We did not use many Materials at all. The only Materials we used was the book
and questionnaire we created to asked the students and find out information.
Questionnaire
1) Have you ever studied abroad?
2) If you said yes, did you like it?
3) Would you advise other students to go?
4) Would you go study abroad?
5) If you said no to the first question, what would your reasons be for not going?
6) If going to study abroad was mandatory for your major would you go?
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7) If you said no to the question before this would you then change your major to
something else?
8) If you do not want to go abroad is cost the issue?
9) If money is a problem, are you aware of the study abroad scholarships?
10) Do you think the school does a good job in letting students know about the study
abroad program and its benefits?
11) Do you have any suggestions that would connect potential students in going to
study abroad?
