Abstract:
As business academics try to ensure that students gain a solid understanding
of the theory which is applicable to various business situations, while
maintaining "academic standards", there is criticism that Universities teach
theory that is irrelevant to business practice, do not equip future employees
with skills that are applicable to jobs in the marketplace, and ignore the various
stakeholders. This study analyses the results of a survey of an important
stakeholder, undergraduate and postgraduate business students, to determine
what skills and attributes they perceive would be important for their future work.
It was found that Oral Communication was perceived as the most important
skill, while as a factor Communication was ranked third after Collaboration and
Problem-solving skills. From these results a number of factors emerged which
can assist business academics in understanding the expectations of students.
