Changing Competency Requirement of Management Graduates in the 21st Century Business Environment
Keywords:
Industry Perspective, Employability Skills, Management Graduate, Competency MappingAbstract
The emerging innovative business models of the 21st century knowledge economies are creating new markets, impacting the way work is delivered, customers are engaged and the kind of talent required for succeeding in the global business world. Industry demands job-ready management graduates who are expected to become productive the day they join an organization. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the competencies in terms of skills, abilities, expertise and knowledge perceived as important by the industry from entry level employees. Employability competencies are those personal attributes, workplace skills, applied and core knowledge skills management graduates should possess for securing and retaining a job. The research adopts both qualitative and quantitative methods to measure relative importance of skills linked to employability. Competency Mapping of skills as assessed by industry and those possessed by management graduates is ascertained using Independent Sample t-test with Cohn’s d effect size test. The research findings indicate that a gap exists between the employability skills expected by industry and those possessed by management graduates. The paper has recommendations from industry on key areas to be focused on by management students for enhancing employability.
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