IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/abk/jajeba/ajebasp.2012.23.39.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Satisfaction with Knowledge and Competencies: A Multi-Country Study of Employers and Business Graduates

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Azevedo
  • Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
  • Jane Andrews
  • Helen Higson
  • Antonio Caballero
  • Bernadette Frech

Abstract

Problem statement: This study critically discusses findings from a research project involving four European countries. The project had two main aims. The first was to develop a systematic procedure for assessing the balance between knowledge and competencies acquired in higher, further and vocational education and the specific needs of the labor market. The second aim was to develop and test a set of meta-level quality indicators aimed at evaluating the linkages between education and employment. The project was designed to address the lack of employer input concerning the requirements of business graduates for successful workplace performance and the need for more specific industry-driven feedback to guide administrative heads at universities and personnel at quality assurance agencies in curriculum development and revision. Approach: The project was distinctive in that it combined different partners from higher education, vocational training, industry and quality assurance. Project partners designed and implemented an innovative approach, based on literature review, qualitative interviews and surveys in the four countries, in order to identify and confirm key knowledge and competency requirements. This study presents this step-by-step approach, as well as survey findings from a sample of 900 business graduates and employers. In addition, it introduces two Partial Least Squares (PLS) path models for predicting satisfaction with work performance and satisfaction with business education. Results: Survey findings revealed that employers were not very confident regarding business graduates’ abilities in key knowledge areas and in key generic competencies. In subsequent analysis, these graduate abilities were tested and identified as important predictors of employers’ satisfaction with graduates’ work performance. Conclusion: The industry-driven approach introduced in this study can serve as a guide to assist different types of educational institutions to better align study programs with changing labor market requirements. Recommendations for curriculum improvement are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Azevedo & Doris Gomezelj Omerzel & Jane Andrews & Helen Higson & Antonio Caballero & Bernadette Frech, 2012. "Satisfaction with Knowledge and Competencies: A Multi-Country Study of Employers and Business Graduates," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 4(1), pages 23-39, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:abk:jajeba:ajebasp.2012.23.39
    DOI: 10.3844/ajebasp.2012.23.39
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://thescipub.com/pdf/ajebasp.2012.23.39.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://thescipub.com/abstract/ajebasp.2012.23.39
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3844/ajebasp.2012.23.39?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Borghans, Lex & Green, Francis & Mayhew, Ken, 2001. "Skills Measurement and Economic Analysis: An Introduction," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 375-384, July.
    2. Pierre–André Julien & Charles Ramangalahy, 2003. "Competitive Strategy and Performance of Exporting SMEs: An Empirical Investigation of the Impact of Their Export Information Search and Competencies," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(3), pages 227-245, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ildikó Kovács & Éva Réka Keresztes, 2022. "Young Employees’ Perceptions about Employability Skills for E-Commerce," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-28, December.
    2. Liliana Gherghina, 2021. "The Opinion of Business Administration Graduates on the Skills Acquired During Undergraduate Studies," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 728-736, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abiodun Tope Samson, 2015. "The Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Reconfiguring Capability and Moderation of Environmental Turbulence on Export Performance of SMEs in Nigeria," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 7(3), pages 76-87.
    2. Gutiérrez-Villar, Belén & Montero-Simó, María José & Araque-Padilla, Rafael Ángel & Castro-González, Pilar, 2014. "Intensidad exportadora e interacción entre fortalezas del marketing mix: un análisis basado en redes neuronales artificiales || Export Intensity and Interaction between Marketing Mix: An Analysis base," Revista de Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa = Journal of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, vol. 18(1), pages 88-111, December.
    3. Jiasi Fan, 2021. "Managerial Attention and Export Performance: A Comparison between mMNEs and Pure SME Exporters," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, September.
    4. Shahram Azad & Hamed Hemmati, 2013. "Marketing Status in SMEs, Industrial versus Consumer Companies," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 9(3), pages 37-48, June.
    5. Rosalia Castellano & Gaetano Musella & Gennaro Punzo, 2023. "Does context matter? Exploring the effects of productive structures on the relationship between innovation and workforce skills’ complementarity," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1991-2011, June.
    6. Sipos, Norbert & Lukovszki, Lívia & Rideg, András & Varga, Anna Róza, 2023. "A magyar családi mikro-, kis- és középvállalatok erőforrás- és képességkonfigurációi [Resource and capability configurations of Hungarian family-owned micro, small and medium-sized enterprises]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1389-1413.
    7. Huang, Tseng-Lung, 2019. "Psychological mechanisms of brand love and information technology identity in virtual retail environments," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 251-264.
    8. Casillas, José C. & Acedo, Francisco J. & Barbero, José L., 2010. "Learning, unlearning and internationalisation: Evidence from the pre-export phase," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 162-173.
    9. Sabien Dobbelaere & Mark Vancauteren, 2014. "Market imperfections, skills and total factor productivity : Firm-level evidence on Belgium and the Netherlands," Working Paper Research 267, National Bank of Belgium.
    10. Alexander Kalita & Alexander Chepurenko, 2020. "Competitiveness of Small and Medium Businesses and Competitive Pressure in the Manufacturing Industry," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 36-50.
    11. Lucia Mateos & Ines Murillo & Maria del Mar Salinas, 2014. "Desajuste educativo y competencias cognitivas: efectos sobre los salarios," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 210(3), pages 85-108, September.
    12. Mateos Romero, Lucía & Murillo Huertas, Inés P. & Salinas Jiménez, Mª del Mar, 2017. "Wage effects of cognitive skills and educational mismatch in Europe," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 909-927.
    13. Uwizeyemungu, Sylvestre & Poba-Nzaou, Placide & St-Pierre, Josée, 2022. "Back-end information technology resources and manufacturing SMEs’ export commitment: An empirical investigation," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5).
    14. Sinkovics, Rudolf R. & Kurt, Yusuf & Sinkovics, Noemi, 2018. "The effect of matching on perceived export barriers and performance in an era of globalization discontents: Empirical evidence from UK SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1065-1079.
    15. Bel Hadj Tarek & Ghodbane Adel & Aouadi Sami, 2016. "Business Intelligence Versus Competitive Intelligence in the Case of North African SMEs," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(04), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Borgmans, Lex & Weel, Bas ter, 2000. "How computerization changes the UK labour market: The facts viewed from a new perspective," Research Memorandum 025, Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    17. Seifried, Mareike, 2021. "Transitions from offline to online labor markets: The relationship between freelancers' prior offline and online work experience," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-101, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    18. Lee-Kwun Chan & Phooi-Yee Lau, 2018. "Investigating the Impact of System Quality on Service-Oriented Business Intelligence Architecture," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(4), pages 21582440188, October.
    19. Ludger Wößmann, 2003. "Specifying Human Capital," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 239-270, July.
    20. Nguyen, Thang V. & Le, Ngoc T.B. & Bryant, Scott E., 2013. "Sub-national institutions, firm strategies, and firm performance: A multilevel study of private manufacturing firms in Vietnam," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 68-76.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:abk:jajeba:ajebasp.2012.23.39. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jeffery Daniels (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://thescipub.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.