Syllabus Market Research:
Summary for Participants
January 17, 2011
Harvard Business Publishing
Higher Education Group
HBP Syllabus Market Research Project
2
HE Syllabus Project: Participant Demographics
•Diverse, International Faculty Participation
3
•
Final database includes 771 course syllabi submitted by 601 faculty
•
35% of the syllabi are international (including Canada)
•
457 universities in 48 countries participated
•
Participating regions: Western Europe (14 countries), Australasia (11),
Central/South America (11), Africa/Middle East (7), Eastern Europe (2), and
North America (3 countries).
•
By tenure: 33% full professors, 28% adjuncts, 22% assistant professors, and
17% associate professors.
•
By educational level: 52% MBA, 28% undergrad, 9% Exec Ed, and 11% other.
•
By discipline (largest): Marketing (23%), Technology & Operations Management
(17%), Finance (12%), Organizational Behavior (11%).
Total Syllabi Analyzed: Product Type Share
Total Syllabi Analyzed
Percent
Share of
Syllabus
Data set: 771 syllabi (all educational levels / disciplines)
100% = 20,180 readings / assignments from all publishers
4
Note: Percentage totals in some charts will not sum to 100 due to rounding.
Trends in Course Format and Product Type Use
•
Teaching format: 97% classroom and 3% online
•
Season: 51% winter/spring, 22% fall, and 10% summer
•
Course length:
•
5

15 sessions in 12 weeks (average of all 771 syllabi)

14 sessions in 10 weeks (MBA syllabi)

21 sessions in 13 weeks (undergrad syllabi)
Required reading types: (How many syllabi assigned at least one mandatory
reading/homework from this product type?)

Cases/Notes:
95% all
(97% MBA vs. 92% undergrad)

Book Chapters:
75% all
(77% MBA vs. 74% undergrad)

Articles:
67% all
(73% MBA vs. 54% undergrad)

Textbooks (Entire): 66% all
(64% MBA vs. 71% undergrad)

Multimedia:
(same)
23% all
MBA vs. Undergraduate Courses —
Product Type Allocation in Syllabus
MBA vs. Undergraduate Courses —Product Type Allocation in Syllabus
Percent
Share of
Syllabus
MBA 100% = 11,386 readings (424 syllabi)
Undergraduate 100% = 5,312 readings (218 syllabi)
6
“Typical” No. Readings: MBA vs. Undergraduate
Average course
syllabus
7
Entire Dataset
(771 syllabi)
MBA courses
(424 syllabi)
Undergrad
courses
(218 syllabi)
Chapters (Book)
11.4
9.4
13.8
Cases / Notes
7.9
8.5
8.2
Articles
6.5
7.5
4.4
Multimedia
0.5
0.5
0.5
Total Required
Readings per
Course
26.3
25.9
26.9
Required
Readings per
Session
1.75
1.90
1.2
MBA Courses: Product Type Allocation
U.S. vs. International
U.S. MBA vs. Int’l MBA Programs — Product Type Allocation in Syllabus
Percent
Share of
Syllabus
100% = 261 U.S. syllabi vs. 163 int’l syllabi
(MBA market)
8
Undergrad Courses: Product Type Allocation
U.S. vs. International
U.S. Undergrad vs. Int’l Undergrad Programs —Product Type Allocation in Syllabus
Percent
Share of
Syllabus
100% = 166 U.S. syllabi vs. 52 int’l syllabi
(Undergrad market)
9
Entrepreneurship vs. General Management Disciplines
ENT — All Data
GM — All Data
100% = 1,179 Readings
from 49 Syllabi
100% = 2,330 Readings
from 79 Syllabi
Percent of
Share in
Syllabus
10
Note: Discipline- and educational level- analyses included only if minimum sample size of 45 syllabi received.
Finance Discipline: All vs. MBA Syllabi
FIN — All Data
FIN — MBA
Percent of
Share in
Syllabus
100% = 1,989 Readings
from 89 Syllabi
11
100%: = 732 Readings
From 49 Syllabi
Marketing Discipline: All vs. Undergraduate Syllabi
MKT — All Data
MKT — Undergraduates
100% = 4,828 Readings
from 180 Syllabi
100% = 1,170 Readings
from 51 Syllabi
Percent of
Share in
Syllabus
12
Marketing Discipline: U.S. vs. Int’l MBA Courses
U.S. MBA Marketing vs. International MBA Marketing Course Syllabi —
Product Type Allocation in Syllabus
Percent
Share of
Syllabus
100% = 64 U.S. syllabi vs. 47 international syllabi
(MBA-level courses in Marketing)
13
Organizational Behavior: All vs. MBA Syllabi
OB / HRM — All Data
OB / HRM — MBA
100% = 2,157 Readings
from 87 Syllabi
100% = 1,216 Readings
from 47 Syllabi
Percent of
Share in
Syllabus
14
Strategy Discipline: All vs. MBA Syllabi
STRAT — All Data
STRAT — MBA
100% = 2,084 Readings
from 75 Syllabi
100% = 1,405 Readings
from 47 Syllabi
Percent of
Share in
Syllabus
15
Technology / Operations Mgmt: All vs. MBA Syllabi
TOM — All Data
TOM — MBA
100% = 2,939 Readings
from 127 Syllabi
100% = 1,794 Readings
from 62 Syllabi
Percent of
Share in
Syllabus
16