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Academic Performance of Business

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Article in Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education · May 2011

DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4609.2011.00305.x

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Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education 
C 2011, Decision Sciences Institute

Volume 9 Number 2 Journal compilation 

C 2011, Decision Sciences Institute

May 2011
Printed in the U.S.A.

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Academic Performance of Business Students

in Quantitative Courses: A Study in the
Faculty of Business and Economics at the
UAE University
Darwish Abdulrahman Yousef
Department of Business Administration, United Arab Emirates University, P.O.Box:17555,
Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates, e-mail: dayousef@uaeu.ac.ae

ABSTRACT
This article aims to investigate the academic performance (measured by quality points)
of the business students in quantitative courses. It also explores the impact of a number
of factors on the academic performance of business students in these courses. A random
sample of 750 third- and fourth-level business students at the United Arab Emirates
University (UAEU) Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) was chosen. The col-
lected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, t test, and
correlation. The results indicated that the academic performance of the business students
in quantitative courses differs across the fields of study (Accounting, Finance, Manage-
ment, Marketing, Management Information Systems, Economics, and Statistics), the
nationality (Emirati or non-Emirati), the type of high school (private or public), the
major track in high school (science or art), the gender (except for Business Stat 1 and
Production and Operations Management courses), and the age (except for Quantitative
Methods for Business and Operations Research courses). The study has a number of
implications for both administrators and instructors. For administrators, it will make
them aware of the impacts of the factors under investigation on business students’
performance in quantitative courses. Therefore, this will improve the administrators’
ability to design more effective plans to enhance students’ learning experience and in
turn their performance in those courses and accordingly their overall performance. For
instructors, this study will indicate which students might perform poorly in quantitative
courses and in turn lead to taking the necessary actions to enhance their performance
in these courses. Instructors should organize separate classes for management and mar-
keting students on one hand, and students of other fields of study on the other. Different
teaching strategies, course contents, assessment approaches could be used for different
groups. Similarly, students could be classified according to grade point average and ma-
jor track in the high school. Once again, different teaching strategies, course contents,
assessment approaches could be used for different groups.
Subject Areas: Academic Performance, Business Education, Higher Educa-
tion, Quantitative Courses, Student Performance, UAE, and Undergraduate

255
256 Academic Performance of Business Students in Quantitative Courses

INTRODUCTION
Quantitative courses account for a significant portion of business schools’ curricula.
According to AACSB standards, business schools’ curricula should contain a
number of quantitative courses, such as decision science, management science,
and statistics (AACSB International, 2010).
The Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) at the United Arab Emirates
University (UAEU)—accredited by AACSB—requires that its students complete
a number of quantitative courses, such as Statistics for Business 1 and 2, Quanti-
tative Methods for Business, Production & Operations Management (POM), and
Operations Research (OR) (for certain fields of study).
The majority of business students consider quantitative courses as the most
difficult courses in the business curricula. However, such a negative attitude toward
quantitative courses is not confined to UAEU business students but it is a common
attitude worldwide. Brookshire and Palcosay (2005) argued that the introductory
management science course is recognized as one of the most difficult core courses
in business school curriculum. Furthermore, Mukherjee (2000) believed that the
quantitative courses are considered as challenging by most, if not all, students in
business colleges.
An extensive review of published literature revealed a lack of research in
the area of academic performance of business students in quantitative courses, and
the factors that may affect their performance in those courses, particularly in the
developing countries.
The present study is designed to investigate the academic performance (mea-
sured by quality points) of business students in such quantitative courses as Statis-
tics for Business 1 and 2, Quantitative Methods for Business, POM, and OR at the
UAEU FBE. Furthermore, it intends to find out whether academic performance
of business students in those courses differs across the fields of study (Account-
ing, Finance, Management, Marketing, Management Information Systems (MIS),
Economics, and Statistics), the major track in high school (science or art), the age,
the nationality (Emirati or non-Emirati), the gender, grade point average (GPA),
and the type of high school (private or public).
The article is organized as follows. The first section presents a literature
review of previous researches that are related to the present study. This is followed
by a presentation of the research methodology and the process of data gathering.
The results are then presented and discussed. The article concludes with a summary
of the main implications, limitations, and identification of potential lines for further
research.

LITERATURE REVIEW
A few studies have investigated the academic performance of the business students
in quantitative courses, and the factors affecting their performance in these courses
in the developing countries, in general, and in the UAE in particular. However,
Yousef (1991) investigated the effects of demographic and academic factors of the
business students, such as age, gender, nationality, GPA (excluding the OR course),
major track in the high school (science or art), the high school scores, completing
Yousef 257

prerequisite prior to taking the OR course, grades in the prerequisite, fields of

study in addition to other factors on students’ performance in the OR course at
the UAEU. The results suggested that the major track in the high school, the high
school scores, completing the prerequisite, the grades in the prerequisite, and the
fields of study affect the performance of business students in the OR course.
Yousef (1993) also investigated the attitudes of the UAEU business students
toward quantitative courses. The results showed that the major track in the high
school (science or art), the fields of study (accounting, business administration,
economics, finance, and insurance), GPA, and the high school scores have signifi-
cant impacts on the attitudes of business students toward the quantitative courses.
Yousef (2009) investigated as well the factors that may contribute to the suc-
cess in an introductory OR course at the UAEU. The results showed the significant
correlations existed between OR grades and GPA, maths I grades, maths II grades,
and stat 105 grades. The results also showed that there was a statistically signifi-
cant difference between the performance (measured by grades) in OR of male and
female students. There was also statistically significant difference in performance
in OR between students majoring in arts and those majoring in science in the high
school. Regression analysis indicated that GPA was the most significant predictor
of students’ performance in the OR course.
Harb and El-Shaarawi (2007) attempted to identify the factors affecting stu-
dents’ performance (measured by GPA) in the UAEU FBE. The results suggested
that the most important factor that affected students’ performance was their com-
petence in speaking English.
Alfan and Othman (2005) attempted to determine the undergraduates’ per-
formance in the Faculty of Business and Accountancy at University of Malaya,
and the factors influencing their performance. The results showed that the demo-
graphic profile, entry qualifications, and the subjects taken by the students in the
preuniversity level explained the variance in the students’ final cumulative GPA.
The authors also found that knowledge prior to entering the university, such as
economics, mathematics, and accounting was crucial in assisting the students in
undertaking the courses in both business and accounting programs. Furthermore, it
was found that female students perform better than male students, whilst Chinese
students perform better than Malay and Indian students.
Brookshire and Palcosay (2005) investigated the factors contributing to
success in a management science course using a sample of 310 students in an
American university. The results revealed that GPA was the strongest predictive
factor of students’ performance in this course.
Lebcir, Wells, and Bond (2008) investigated factors that may affect the aca-
demic performance of international students in project management courses in a
British university. The results revealed that level of details given in the lectures,
speed of the lectures, academic internet sources, English language skills, group
or individual assessment, the qualitative/quantitative content of assessment were
important predictors for the academic performance of international students in
project management courses.
Kaighobadi and Allen (2008) attempted to understand the factors affecting
the academic success for the business students by examining gender, age, ethnicity,
and performance in two required core knowledge courses (operation management
258 Academic Performance of Business Students in Quantitative Courses

and financial management) as predictors of the academic success for a large sample
of undergraduate students at an AACSB-accredited American business school. The
results suggested that the average grades earned in the two core knowledge courses
were positively related to students’ final GPA. The results also indicated that both
older and female students tend to earn higher GPA than younger and male students.
Moreover, African American, Hispanic, and Asian students tend to have lower GPA
at graduation than White students.
Blaylock and Hollandsworth (2008) used data acquired from three identi-
cal junior level, Quantitative Analysis classes taught by the same instructor at a
medium-sized university to determine the role of enjoyment, mental focus, and
expectations on student performance in quantitative classes. The results from a
structured equations analysis showed that enjoyment does influence mental focus
which in turn influences expectations and performance.
Mondejar-Jemenaz and Vargas-Vargas (2010) tested the covariance structure
of the affective (degree of interest in the subject and degree of anxiety and ner-
vousness when studying the subject) and evaluative (utility students perceive for
their current studies and the utility for their future professional career) factors that
influence students’ attitude toward statistics using a sample of 408 (122 males and
286 females) full-time students from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain).
These students enrolled in a unit with statistical content for the first time during
their university studies. The results indicated that no significant difference exists
between male and female students in the relation between the evaluative variables
and interest. On the other hand, the results showed that a highly significant dif-
ference exists between male and female students in the relation between utility in
studies and anxiety. The response is much stronger for male students. A significant
difference also exists between male and female students for the relation between
the level of interest in the subject and the level of anxiety. The response is much
stronger for female students. Finally, a significant difference also exists between
male and female students for the relation between utility in the career and utility
in the studies. The response is much stronger for male students.
Zimmer and Fuller (1996) conducted a literature review on the factors that
affect the performance of undergraduate students in the courses of statistics for the
social sciences. They found that anxiety, attitude, and computer experience were
linked to student performance in those courses.
Richter (2007) examined the impacts of high school grades on the academic
grade performance of students enrolled in a business-administration program at a
German university. The results showed that, among the factors taken into account,
high school grades were the most important predictors of the performance of
business administration students.
A number of studies have investigated factors that may affect the perfor-
mance of the students in other business courses, such as introductory marketing
(Borde, 1998; Reardon, Payan, Miller, & Alexander, 2008), introductory college
level information system (Kruck & Lending, 2003), finance (e.g., Borde, Byrd, &
Modani, 1996; Grover, Heck, & Heck, 2010; Sachdeva & Sterk, 1982; Schaffer
& Calkins, 1980; Simpson & Sumrall, 1979), accounting (e.g., Al-Twaijry, 2010;
Anakwe, 2008;Baldwin & Howe, 1982; Brown, 1964, 1966; Doran, Bouillon, &
Smith , 1991; Eckel & Johnson, 1983; Fox, Stevenson, Connelly, Duff, & Dunlop,
Yousef 259

Figure 1: Conceptual framework of the study.

Field of Study
Age

Academic Performance
High School in Quantitative Courses
Major
Gender

Type of High
School

Nationality

GPA

2010; Gurney, 2009; Ingram & Peterson, 1987; Keller, Hassell, Webber, & John-
son, 2009; Monem, 2007), and economics (e.g., Bellico, 1972,1974; Cohn, 1972;
Kelley, 1975).
Based on the previous review, it could be assumed that students majoring in
Accounting, Finance, MIS, and Statistics will perform better in quantitative courses
than those majoring in Economics, Management, and Marketing. Students who are
majoring in science in the high school will perform better than those majoring in
arts. Furthermore, it could be assumed that students who attended private high
schools will perform better in quantitative courses than those who attended public
high schools. Students with high GPA will do better in quantitative courses than
those with low GPA. It is also expected that younger students will perform better
than older students, and that female students will do better in quantitative courses
than male students. Non-Emirati students will perform better than Emirati students
in quantitative courses. Figure 1 shows a conceptual framework of the study.

METHODOLOGY
Sample and Data Collection
The population of this study consists of all third and fourth level business students
at the UAEU FBE. The total number of third and fourth level business students as of
fall 2008 was 1,000. The reason for choosing third and fourth level students was that
those students have already completed the required quantitative courses. A random
sample of 750 students was chosen. Out of the 750 questionnaires distributed, 600
questionnaires were returned (80% response rate), while 581 questionnaires were
usable in this study.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents were female, 58% majoring in science
in the high school, and 80% were Emirati. Ninety percent attended public high
schools, 69% had GPA between 2.5 and 3.5, and 26% had finance as a field of
260 Academic Performance of Business Students in Quantitative Courses

Table 1-a: The main characteristics of participants.

Characteristics Frequency % Characteristics Frequency %
Field of study Age
Accounting 130 22 Less than 20 15 2
Finance 151 26 20–less than 22 334 58
Management 130 22 22 and over 232 40
Marketing 38 7 Gender
MIS 54 9 Male 188 32
Economics 47 8 Female 393 68
Statistics 31 6 GPA
High School Major Less than 2.5 106 18
Art 244 42 2.5–less than 3.5 399 69
Science 337 58 3.5–4.0 76 13
Nationality Type of high school
National 466 80 Public 525 90
Non-National 115 20 Private 56 10

study. Fifty-eight percent were between 20 and 22 years of age. Table 1a presents
the main characteristics of the participants.
Twenty-one percent of the students who successfully completed Businesses
Stat 1 have obtained grade C and below, whereas 79% obtained grade C+ and
above. Thirty-six percent of the students who successfully completed Business
Stat 2 have obtained grade C and below, whereas 64% obtained grade C+ and
above. Fifteen percent of the students who successfully completed Quantitative
Methods for Business have obtained C and below, whereas 85% obtained C+ and
above. Twenty-two percent of the students who successfully completed POM have
obtained grade C and below, whereas 78% obtained grade C+ and above. Thirty-
two percent of the students who successfully completed OR have obtained C and
below, whereas 68% obtained C+ and above. Table 1b shows grades distribution
for quantitative courses.

Measures
The academic performance in the quantitative courses was measured using quality
points obtained in each course. To gather the required data, the author designed
a questionnaire, which consists of two parts. The first part asks participants to
indicate which quantitative courses they have completed successfully, and their
grades in respective courses. The second part consists of general information,
such as the fields of study (Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing, MIS,
Economics, and Statistics), the major track in the high school (science or art), age,
nationality (Emirati or non-Emirati), gender, GPA, and type of the high school
(private or public).

Analysis
We used descriptive statistical analysis to present the main characteristics of the
survey sample. In addition, means, standard deviations, intercorrelations, one-way
ANOVA, and t-test were calculated.
Yousef 261

Table 1-b: Grades distribution for quantitative courses.

Course Frequency Course Frequency
Business Stat 1 Gradea N = 415 % POM Grade∗ N = 337 %
D 23 6 D 16 5
D+ 19 4 D+ 16 5
C 47 11 C 40 12
C+ 86 21 C+ 69 20
B 88 21 B 56 17
B+ 77 19 B+ 71 21
A 75 18 A 69 20
Business Stat 2 N = 366
D 36 10 OR N = 132
D+ 35 10 D 8 6
C 59 16 D+ 23 18
C+ 48 13 C 11 8
B 64 17 C+ 26 20
B+ 48 13 B 16 12
A 76 21 B+ 29 22
A 19 14
QM for business N = 368
D 19 5
D+ 13 4
C 24 6
C+ 45 12
B 47 13
B+ 63 17
A 157 43
a
D = 1; D+ = 1.5; C = 2; C+ = 2.5; B = 3; B+ = 3.5; and A = 4.

Table 2: Means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations of the variables of

interest.
No. Variable 2 3 4 5 6 M SD Min Max N
∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
1 Business stat 1 .52 .42 .41 .29 .58 2.88 .839 1 4 415
2 Business stat 2 - .39∗ .41∗ .44∗ .58∗ 2.71 .980 1 4 366
3 QM for business - - .39∗ .40∗ .52∗ 3.23 .895 1 4 368
4 POM - - - .53∗ .58∗ 2.92 .849 1 4 337
5 OR - - - - .57∗ 2.69 .936 1 4 132
6 GPA - - - - - 2.85 .457 1.9 4 579
∗
p < .01

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 2 presents means, standard deviations, and intercorrelation for the variable
of interest.
As shown in Table 2, means of quality points for Business Stat1 (2.88),
Business Stat 2 (2.71), POM (2.92), and OR (2.69) were slightly below 3, whereas
the mean for Quantitative Methods for Business course (3.23) was slightly above 3.
262 Academic Performance of Business Students in Quantitative Courses

Table 3: Results of one-way ANOVA and t-test.

Business Business QM for
Variable Stat 1 Stat 2 Business POM OR
Field of study F = 6.011∗ F = 2.538∗∗ F = 6.196 ∗ F = 4.933∗ F = 3.477∗∗
Age F = 7.730∗ F = 8.815∗ F = 1.815 F = 3.704∗∗ F = 1.222
High school t = 4.946∗ t = 1.756∗∗∗ t = 5.167∗∗ t = 1.775∗∗∗ t = 1.710∗∗∗
major
Nationality t = 5.525∗ t = 3.402∗ t = 2.118∗∗ t = 1.967∗∗ t = 2.376∗∗
Gender t = .112 t = 2.987∗ t = 3.467∗ t = .103 t = 2.714∗
Type of t = 3.986∗ t = 2.403∗∗ t = 2.867∗ t = 4.022∗ t = 1.937∗∗∗
high school
∗
p < .01; ∗∗ p < .05; ∗∗∗ p < .10.

The results also show significant correlations among the quality points and GPA
of the quantitative courses.
The low means of quality points for four out of five quantitative courses might
indicate poor performance of the business students in these courses. However, such
poor performance of the business students in quantitative courses is a common issue
not only in the UAE but also in many other countries. For example, Brookshire
and Palcosay (2005) studied a sample of 310 students from an American business
school. They found that the mean quality points for the management science course
were 2.6, while for the statistics course were 2.73 and 2.58 for the calculus course.
Significant correlations among the quality points and GPA of the quantitative
courses might point out that a low performance in one quantitative course usually
leads to a low performance in other quantitative courses, and the students with low
GPA usually perform poorly in quantitative courses. These results are consistent
with the findings of Brookshire and Palcosay (2005) who found significant corre-
lations between GPA and quality points for management science (.64), statistics
(.54), and calculus (.48) courses.
Table 3 presents the results of one-way ANOVA and t-test.
The results of one-way ANOVA and t-test, as shown in Table 3, suggest
that the academic performance of business students in quantitative courses differ
across the fields of study (Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing, MIS,
Economics, and Statistics), nationality (Emirati or non-Emirati), type of the high
school (private or public), major track in the high school (science or art), gender
(except for Business Stat 1 and POM), and the age (except for Quantitative Methods
for business and OR).
It was found that statistics and MIS students performed better in Business
Stat 1 course while management and marketing students performed worst in this
course. The students of all fields of the study performed almost the same in Business
Stat 2. MIS students performed better in QM for business, while management and
marketing students performed the least in this course. Once again, MIS students
performed the best in POM course, whereas statistics students performed the least
in this course. Furthermore, it was found that those majoring in science in the
high school performed better in Business Stat 1 and QM for business courses than
those majoring in arts, but both performed the same in Business Stat 2, POM,
Yousef 263

and OR courses. Non-Emirati students performed better than Emirati students in

all courses except in POM. Female students performed better than male students
in Business Stat 2 and QM for business courses, while male students performed
better than female students in OR course. Female and male students performed
the same in Business Stat 1 and POM courses. Students who attended private high
schools outperformed their counterparts who attended public high schools in the
five quantitative courses.
The results of this study with respect to the effects of gender, nationality, and
type of high school on students’ performance are consistent with the findings of
Harb and El-Shaarawi (2007) who found that the overall performance (measured
by GPA) of the female students was higher than those of male students. The
performance of non-Emirati students was higher than the Emirati students, and the
performance of the students who attended private schools was higher than those
who attended public schools, and with the findings of Alfan and Othman (2005)
who concluded that female students performed better than male students.
The findings regarding the effects of gender on the performance of the
business students in quantitative courses are consistent with those of Yousef (2009)
who found difference between male and female students in OR course grades, and
is also consistent with the findings of Kaighobadi and Allen (2008) who found
that student’s performance is significantly related to demographic variables, such
as gender, age, and ethnicity. Contrary to the results of this study, Brookshire
and Palcosay (2005) found no significant difference in mean quality points for
management science course between male and female students.
The results concerning the effects of the high school major on the perfor-
mance of the business students in quantitative courses are consistent with those
of Yousef (1991) who concluded that the major in the high school affected the
performance of business students in the OR course, and also with those of Yousef
(2009) who found a statistically significant difference between arts and science as
high school major in terms of the grades in the OR course.
The results with respect to the effects of the fields of study on performance
of the business students in quantitative courses are consistent with those of Yousef
(1991) who concluded that the fields of study affect the performance of the business
students in the OR course.
It is worth noting that students, both Emiratis and non-Emiratis, in the present
study belong to the Arabic culture, which differs from any other similar studies,
which used students belonging to other cultures. However, the findings of this
study are in agreement with some of those studies (e.g., Alfan & Othman, 2005;
Kaighobadi & Allen, 2008) in certain issues, and in disagreement with others (e.g.,
Brookshire & Palcosay, 2005) in certain issues. This might indicate that cultural
differences might not be responsible for the differences in the findings of studies
carried out in different cultural environments.

CONCLUSION
The present study is aimed at investigating academic performance of the business
students in quantitative courses in the FBE at the UAEU. Moreover, it explores to
what extent academic performance in those courses differs across students’ field
264 Academic Performance of Business Students in Quantitative Courses

of study, major in the high school (science or art), age, nationality, gender, GPA,
and type of the high school (private or public).
This study investigates academic performance of business students in a num-
ber of quantitative courses and the factors that may influence their performance in
these courses in the developing countries in general and in the UAE in particular.
Therefore, it is expected that the present study will serve as a base for future
in-depth studies in this area of research, where little has been published.
The study has a number of implications for both administrators and instruc-
tors. For administrators, it will make them aware of the impacts of the factors
under investigation on business students’ performance in quantitative courses.
Therefore, this will improve the administrators’ ability to design more effective
plans to enhance students’ learning experience and in turn their performance
in those courses and accordingly their overall performance. For instructors, this
study will indicate which students might perform poorly in quantitative courses
and in turn lead to taking the necessary actions to enhance their performance in
these courses. Instructors should organize separate classes for management and
marketing students on one hand, and students of other fields of study on the
other. Different teaching strategies, course contents, and assessment approaches
could be used for different groups. Similarly, students could be classified accord-
ing to GPA and major track in the high school. Once again, different teaching
strategies, course contents, and assessment approaches could be used for different
groups.
This study has certain limitations. First, the sample for this study represents
only a single university in the UAE, therefore, the generalization of the results
might be questionable. Second, this study focuses on business students and in
turn it excludes students of other colleges who also take quantitative courses and
who might have different experiences. Third, the sample of the study consists
of undergraduate students and in turn it excludes graduate students who might
have different experiences. Finally, this study used grades that were obtained via a
questionnaire, therefore reported grades may not be accurate.
Based on the analysis of this study, several lines of research suggest them-
selves. For instance, a study that uses a sample of nonbusiness students would be
of interest. Moreover, a study that covers the majority of the universities in the
UAE to determine the universal prevalence of the present study’s findings would
be highly valuable. In addition, a study that compares academic performance in
quantitative courses between undergraduate and graduate students would be of
interest. Finally, a comparison of academic performance in quantitative courses
between business and nonbusiness students would be worthwhile.

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Yousef 265

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Darwish Abdulrahman Yousef is a professor of management science/

management at UAE University, UAE. He did his PhD from the University of
Kent at Canterbury, UK. His research interests include operations research in
developing countries, yield management, international management, business ed-
ucation, and data envelopment analysis. He was a member of the editorial board
of journals such as the International Journal of Technology and Educational Mar-
keting, African Journal of Business Management, and International Journal of
Workplace Management. His scholarly research work appears in the International
Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of Business and Public Affairs,
International Journal of Educational Management, among others.

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