Competency development in business graduates: An industry-driven approach for examining the alignment of undergraduate business education with industry requirements

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2012.02.002Get rights and content

Abstract

The paper proposes a conceptual framework and industry-driven approach to measure required competencies of business graduates. The suggested approach was designed and tested within a project implemented in Austria, the UK, Slovenia and Romania. Evidence from this multi-country study of employers and business graduates suggests that it is possible to investigate industry requirements with a cluster of eight key generic competencies. Competencies were selected following a detailed analysis of academic literature and 39 semi-structured qualitative interviews. A survey was conducted with 900 business graduates and employers in four European countries. The survey confirmed that the eight key competencies selected were both valuable for business graduates' current job performance as well as relevant for future career development. Survey results showed that employers were not very confident in the level of capability of business graduates in the eight competencies investigated in this study. Results are consistent with other empirical evidence concerned with graduates' level of key generic skills and highlight the need to strengthen competency development within undergraduate business education. Implications for future research and curriculum improvement are discussed.

Introduction

The topic of Quality in Higher Education has received significant attention over the past two decades, with many contributions suggesting how quality should be defined and measured within an educational, service-oriented context (Finnie & Usher, 2005; Garvin, 1984; Harvey & Green, 1993; Van Kemenade, Pupius, & Hardjono, 2008). Regardless of progress made, questions remain as to how well institutions of Higher Education prepare graduates to meet the challenges, in constantly evolving and demanding work environments (Hills, Robertson, Walker, Adey, & Nixon, 2003; Rubin & Dierdorff, 2009). Some suggest that undergraduate business education is failing to adequately prepare graduates for today's workplaces (e.g., Andrews & Higson, 2008; Jackson, 2009b; Washer, 2007).

Many societies, since the 1980s have embraced the notion of graduates' ‘work-readiness’ (i.e., graduate employability) as a means to promote national competitiveness in the global economy. However, concerns remain that undergraduate programmes may not be equipping students with the key skills needed to gain and maintain employment (Cranmer, 2006; De La Harpe, Radloff, & Wyber, 2000). One reason for the perceived lack of graduate employability appears rooted in the degree of mismatch between skills acquired in higher education versus those required for employment (Mason, Williams, Cranmer, & Guile, 2003; Wilton, 2008).

We intend to provide insights into the important and growing concern of graduate employability. While there is significant debate as to the exact nature and extent of graduates' skills gaps, empirical evidence suggests that employers around the world continue to be concerned about new graduates' ability to meet current and future workplace requirements (McQuaid & Lindsay, 2005; Jackson, 2009b).

This empirical paper addresses the lack of alignment between the competencies developed in business education programmes versus those needed in early industry jobs. Graduates and their employers were asked to provide insights on the required competencies identified for industry jobs within a large EU-funded project (Azevedo, Gomezelj, Andrews, Higson, & Caballero, 2008).

The initial list of competencies was created through literature review and then refined through qualitative interviews with a small sample of graduates and employers. A larger sample of employers and recent business graduates were then surveyed (i.e., those who completed an undergraduate business management programme or a vocational training/further education programme within the past five years) in order to validate the key competency cluster. The survey asked undergraduate business alumni and their employers to comment on what they believed to be the most important competency requirements for effective work performance at early career stages (i.e., competency profiling – a process through which the competencies needed to perform a job or career effectively are identified; Armstrong, 2000; Kagaari & Munene, 2007). Respondents were asked to comment on how valuable or useful they found the cluster of key generic competencies to be for predicting recent graduates' performance in early career job activities, as well as how relevant such competencies were for future career development.

Study results offer some interesting insights at the juncture of two sets of ideas not well addressed in literature, i.e., competency assessment of alumni who have recently completed undergraduate business management programmes and investigation of industry requirements related to entry-level positions for the management profession (Jackson, 2009a). It is our contention that information regarding how capable business graduates are perceived to be in each of the competencies identified, if studied systematically (every two to three years), could significantly assist Higher Education institutions in identifying issues, adjusting and aligning curriculum to address existing competency gaps in early stages of employment. The conceptual framework of value, relevance and capability proposed herein promises both theoretical and practical benefits on the topic of graduate employability (Azevedo, Gomezelj et al., 2008). Further, subsequent research on competency development using this conceptual model with a longitudinal design will enhance our insights on where and how individuals develop competencies that align with industry expectations and in doing so, close the value, relevancy and capability gap.

We present our ideas in the following four sections. We begin with background literature to identify the research problem. Second, we provide a detailed overview of the study methodology including design and implementation within the context of a larger 2-year, EU-funded project with nine partner institutions in four European Countries (Austria, England, Slovenia and Romania). Third, we discuss key study findings and interpretations in the Analysis section. We conclude the paper with important recommendations for future research and curriculum improvement.

Section snippets

Graduate employability

Institutions of Higher Education continue to face growing demands for accountability, transparency and comparability, due in part to external factors (e.g., tougher global competition, changing customer needs) and internal factors (e.g., quality management initiatives, internationalization efforts). Over the past two decades, these pressures have contributed to a major paradigm shift in quality assessment efforts in many OECD countries putting more emphasis on outputs and learning outcomes,

Project overview and purpose

Our industry-driven approach to measuring required competencies of business graduates was developed and tested within the context of a two-year EU-funded project on the topic of Quality in Higher Education. The project, entitled MISLEM, included nine partners from four European countries (Austria, the UK, Slovenia and Romania) and it was implemented between 2005 and 2007. A diverse group of project partners was composed of four Higher Education institutions, two Institutions of Further

Analysis

We begin this section with a short explanation of our decision to combine graduate and employer groups in the data analysis. We then discuss key survey findings and interpretations derived from the last phase of the project (i.e., critical/analytical).

Conclusion

In spite of growing concern from employers around the world regarding business graduates' ability to meet current and future workplace demands, there has been little research addressing competency development within the context of undergraduate business education (e.g., Casner & Benner, 2006; Jackson, 2009a; McQuaid & Lindsay, 2005; Washer, 2007). Although a few conceptual frameworks have been proposed for the development of competencies within MBA programmes (e.g., Boyatzis, 2009; Dierdorff

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the European Commission (Leonardo Da Vinci Programme) for the financial grant and technical assistance provided for the design and implementation of this project.

Ana Azevedo is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Business at Athabasca University, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Prior to her relocation to Canada, Dr. Azevedo taught at Florida International University (during her doctoral studies), the University of Texas in El Paso, Florida A&M University and the University of Applied Sciences FH Joanneum (in Austria). Dr. Azevedo's research interests include management education, international entrepreneurship, cross-cultural

References (87)

  • L.K. Baartman et al.

    Evaluating assessment quality in competence-based education: a qualitative comparison of two frameworks

    Educational Research Review

    (2007)
  • AACSB

    AACSB assurance of learning standards: An interpretation

    (2007)
  • P.O. Aamodt et al.

    Factors affecting professional job mastery: quality of study or work experience?

    Quality in Higher Education

    (2008)
  • J. Andrews et al.

    The MISLEM project: education, employment and graduate employability (project manual)

    (2007)
  • J. Andrews et al.

    Graduate employability, ‘Soft skills’ versus ‘Hard’ business knowledge: a European study

    Higher Education in Europe

    (2008)
  • M. Armstrong

    Performance management: Key strategies and practical guidelines

    (2000)
  • A. Azevedo et al.

    The role of business competencies as supplementing business knowledge: theoretical framework and empirical evidence from a pan-European study of business graduates and employers

  • A. Azevedo et al.

    The impact of learning outcomes in business education: assessing value, relevance and graduate ability in a multi-country study of employers and business graduates.

    Paper presented at the IMHE general conference of the OECD, Paris, September 2008

    (2008)
  • A. Azevedo et al.

    MISLEM's final technical report

    (2008)
  • A. Bandura

    Social foundations of thought and action

    (1986)
  • A. Belasen et al.

    Building a competency-based MBA from the ground up: curriculum design and programme delivery

  • Z. Berge et al.

    The increasing scope of training and development competency

    Benchmarking

    (2002)
  • J. Berman et al.

    Competencies of undergraduate business students

    Journal of Education for Business

    (March/April 2006)
  • R. Boden et al.

    Employing discourse: universities and graduate ‘employability’

    Journal of Education Policy

    (2010)
  • R. Boyatzis

    The competent manager

    (1982)
  • R.E. Boyatzis

    Competencies in the 21st century

    Journal of Management Development

    (2008)
  • R.E. Boyatzis

    Competencies as behavioural approach to emotional intelligence

    Journal of Management Development

    (2009)
  • R.E. Boyatzis et al.

    A 2-year view of trying to develop emotional, social and cognitive intelligence competencies in graduate management education

    Journal of Management Development

    (2008)
  • R.E. Boyatzis et al.

    Learning cognitive and emotional intelligence through graduate management education

    Academy of Management Journal on Learning and Education

    (2002)
  • D. Bridges

    Competence-based education and training: progress or villainy?

    Journal of Philosophy of Education

    (1996)
  • R. Bridgstock

    The graduate attributes we've overlooked: enhancing graduate employability through career management skills

    Higher Education Research & Development

    (2009)
  • D.R. Byrkit

    Statistics today: A comprehensive introduction

    (1987)
  • A. Camuffo et al.

    An integrated competency-based approach to management education: an Italian MBA case study

    International Journal of Training and Development

    (2004)
  • J. Casner-Lotto et al.

    Are they really ready to work? Employers' perspectives on the basic knowledge and applied skills of new entrants to the 21st century U.S. Workforce

    (2006)
  • Cedefop

    The shift to learning outcomes: Conceptual, political and practical developments in Europe

    (2008)
  • S. Cranmer

    Enhancing graduate employability: best intentions and mixed outcomes

    Studies in Higher Education

    (2006)
  • R. Davis et al.

    A gap analysis approach to marketing curriculum assessment: a study of skills and knowledge

    Journal of Marketing Education

    (2002)
  • B. De La Harpe et al.

    Quality and generic professional skills

    Quality in Higher Education

    (2000)
  • E.C. Dierdorff et al.

    The milieu of managerial work: an Integrative framework linking work context to role requirements

    Journal of Applied Psychology

    (2009)
  • N. Entwistle

    The use of research on student learning in quality assessment

  • N.J. Entwistle et al.

    Contrasting forms of understanding for degree examinations: the student experience and its implications

    Higher Education

    (1991)
  • M. Eraut

    Developing professional knowledge and competence

    (1994)
  • European Commission

    Proposal for a recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the European qualifications framework for lifelong learning

    (2006)
  • R. Finnie et al.

    Measuring the quality of post-secondary education: concepts, current practices and a strategic plan

    (2005)
  • D.A. Garvin

    What does product quality really mean?

    The Sloan Management Review System

    (1984)
  • S. Gillard et al.

    The competencies of effective project managers: a conceptual analysis

    International Journal of Management

    (2005)
  • D. Goleman

    Working with emotional intelligence

    (1998)
  • D. Goleman et al.

    Primal leadership: Realizing the power of emotional intelligence

    (2002)
  • L. Gracia

    Employability and higher education: contextualising female students' workplace experiences to enhance understanding of employability development

    Journal of Education and Work

    (2009)
  • M.M. Grzeda

    In competence we trust? Addressing conceptual ambiguity

    Journal of Management Development

    (2005)
  • D. Guile et al.

    Learning through work experience

    Journal of Education and Work

    (2001)
  • L. Harvey

    Defining and measuring employability

    Quality in Higher Education

    (2001)
  • L. Harvey

    Embedding and integrating employability

    New Directions for Institutional Research

    (2005)
  • Cited by (130)

    • Does MBA's paradigm transformation follow business education's philosophy? A comparison of academic and job-performance and SES among five types of MBAian

      2022, Journal of Business Research
      Citation Excerpt :

      Thus, students’ job-ready performance is examined through primary data collected using standardised tools developed by professional bodies. Azevedo et al. (2012) also used similar types of tools to compare between the conditions of pre- and post-MBA award using the same group of students while this research compares five different groups of MBAian with the same kinds of tools, i.e., the results of ‘experimental tests’ and ‘apprenticeship scores’. The following sub-section explains the instrument development process to examine the job-readiness performance.

    • Cross-Cultural comparison of digital natives in flipped classrooms

      2021, International Journal of Management Education
    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Ana Azevedo is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Business at Athabasca University, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Prior to her relocation to Canada, Dr. Azevedo taught at Florida International University (during her doctoral studies), the University of Texas in El Paso, Florida A&M University and the University of Applied Sciences FH Joanneum (in Austria). Dr. Azevedo's research interests include management education, international entrepreneurship, cross-cultural management issues, migration, and narrative research.

    Gerhard Apfelthaler is a Professor in International Business and Associate Dean for Graduate Programs at the School of Business at California Lutheran University. Prior to that, he chaired the Department of International Management at FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences and the Department of International Business Studies at FHS Kufstein, both in Austria. Before joining academia, Dr. Apfelthaler was a diplomat in Austria's Foreign Commercial Service with postings in the United States and in Singapore. He has published several books and numerous articles.

    Deborah Hurst is an Associate Professor – Work and Organization Studies and Associate Dean, Faculty of Business, Athabasca University, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Deborah's research interests include management education, the development and transfer of knowledge and soft skills in online environments, leadership development, institutional entrepreneurship, and cultural organization change.

    1

    Tel.: +1 805 493 3352.

    2

    Tel.: +1 780 418 7566.

    View full text