Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol.

1 No 1, December 2010

"SURVIVAL SKILLS OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT GRADUATES: A STUDY WITH

REFERENCE TO RETAIL AND BANKING"

Dr. Dileep Kumar. M.

Assistant Professor, College of Applied Sciences,
Ministry of Higher Education, Sultanate of Oman
E-mail: dr.dileepk@yahoo.co.in

Dr. Vishal Jain

Assistant Professor, College of Applied Sciences,
Ministry of Higher Education, Sultanate of Oman
E-mail: vishal.123.jain@gmail.com

Abstract

Management education is now under a confused stage of identifying what kind of approach that
may be adopted for more employability option. Whether the institutions should follow typical
knowledge based education or more skill based workability based education. The basic purpose
of any business school is to impart the business aptitude and skill that ensure better professional
skill development for employability. Getting employment after professional education is a must
for the young graduates. Here in this context, more than the students the institutions from where
the students graduated are more scrutinized and the reputation of the institutions get badly affect.
In order to clarify, what kind of management education need to be impart by the business school,
contemporarily it is, important to identify the expectations of the corporate on employability and
the major hard and soft skills expected for workability. These skills are termed as survival skills
for the students to get employment and retain the employment in the corporate. This particular
study concentrates the expectations of the HR managers’ on the survival skills, especially in the
retail and banking sector.

Keywords: Education, Management, Survivals Skills

Paper Type: Research Paper

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INTRODUCATION

Education is very important for an individual's success in life. Education provides pupils
teaching skills that prepare them physically, mentally and socially for the world of work in later
life. Education is the best investment for the people because well educated people have more
opportunities to get a job which gives them satisfaction. Main purpose of education is to educate
individuals within society, to prepare and qualify them for work in economy. But the debate
about whether education is an art or a science has gone on for a long time (Rusk, 1919).
Education especially higher education is facing many challenges from the skill development
point of view. The lack of necessary specialties, low-education, low-consciences, sciences and
technologies are extremely important problems in today’s societies. The high percentage of
societies’ population, especially poor societies, does not have access to education while the first
step for society’s development is specialty and skills. So, it is necessary for states to plan for
education development, consciousness-raising and technical as well as professional skills
development (Etaat, 1999; Mahmoodi, 1993; Zolfaghari, 2003). Major issue, still the colleges of
higher education across the globe faces is making provision of adequate vocational skills, with
which the student’s community get well better employability option from the corporate. This
particular research tries to study the expectations of corporate on skill development

Management Education

The current curriculum in management education does not teach students in facing the
challenges in business environment. How to manage uncertainty and complexity are not taught in
business schools. It merely teaches the concepts with case studies. It does not focus on the
challenges arising out of rapid growing technology and the challenges involved in running an
enterprise. (M S Rao, 2010)

Management education denotes those activities traditionally conducted by colleges and

universities that focus on developing a broad range of managerial knowledge and abilities.
Unquestionably, the major issue in management education is the curriculum offered in our
business schools and this concern has been labeled the competency movement (Wexley and
Baldwin 1986). The traditional management education curriculum, as presently constituted, may
not be adequately preparing individuals for the challenges they experience as professional
managers (Pfeffer, 1977). Today one fundamental question comes, whether the curriculum of a
business school can produce future leader of the corporation with required management skill to
meet contemporary challenges.

This research attempts to evaluate today’s management education standard to develop

management skill in the paradigm shift of managing business. The first section of the paper
evaluates the changing scenario of managing business organizations, the second section explains
the reshaping of management education with the emerging needs of the business management,
and finally the roles played by leading business school have been analyzed in the context of
changing situation. As such, the research aims at examining the changing need of management
education to produce future leaders of the corporation. The research question comes in the study
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

is whether the roles played by leading business schools can be considered as the ones according
to expectations of the corporate management generally. Specially, the question is, whether the
products of leading business school have got all the required management skills to meet the
contemporary challenge of business management.

LITERIATURE REVIEW

Employability

Employability is conceptualized as a form of work specific active adaptability that enables

workers to identify and realize career opportunities. As such, employability facilitates the
movement between jobs, both within and between organizations. Although employability does
not assure actual employment, we contend that it enhances an individual’s likelihood of gaining
employment. An individual is employable to the extent that he or she can parlay person factors
effectively to negotiate environmental demands (Chan, 2000).

Hillage and Pollard’s (1998) widely-cited definition of employability as an individual's ability to

gain initial employment, maintain employment, move between roles within the same
organization, obtain new employment if required and (ideally) secure suitable and sufficiently
fulfilling work.

Yorke and Knight (2004 a) suggest that it is: a set of achievements – skills, understandings and
personal attributes – that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in
their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the community and the economy . They
offer further options in their subsequent publication (2004 b), where they suggest that
employability is also: Getting a (graduate) job, a consequence of ‘having’ key skills, a likely
effect of having had good work experience, a mix of cognitive and non- cognitive achievements
and representations.

Employability is the acquisition of attributes (knowledge, skills, and abilities) that make
graduates more likely to be successful in their chosen occupations (whether paid employment or
not). Employability usually refers to the employment of graduates but this includes self-
employment. A broader definition includes any lifestyle choice, or refers to employability as the
development of abilities to ensure graduates are critical life-long learners. There is a narrow
alternative approach, once popular, especially with policy makers but now less used, which was
to define employability as the proportion of graduates, from an institution that were employed
within a specified period after graduation. Harvey (2003) notes: Employability is not just about
getting a job. Conversely, just because a student is on a vocational course does not mean that
somehow employability is automatic. Employability is more than about developing attributes,
techniques or experience just to enable a student to get a job, or to progress within a current
career. It is about learning and the emphasis is less on ‘employ’ and more on ‘ability’. In
essence, the emphasis is on developing critical, reflective abilities, with a view to empowering
and enhancing the learner.

Employability is a psycho-social construct that embodies individual characteristics that foster

adaptive cognition, behavior, and affect, and enhance the individual-work interface. This person-

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centered emphasis coincides with the major shift in responsibility for career management and
development from employers to employees (e.g., Hall & Mirvis, 1995). In short, the onus is on
employees to acquire the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) valued
by current and prospective employers. Accordingly, the component dimensions comprising the
construct of employability predispose individuals to improve their situations (pro)actively (cf.
Seibert, Kraimer, & Crant, 2001) and to be malleable over time—‘‘changeable’’—in order to
meet the demands of the environment (Chan, 2000).

To explicate further, employability influences the adaptation requirements delineated by Ashford

and Taylor (1990). Regarding the first requirement, the identification and realization of
opportunities necessitates that employable individuals procure information regarding the
environment and one’s personal qualifications (feedback). People attend to and act on
information that is relevant to salient career identities (Ashforth & Fugate, 2001; Berzonsky,
1990, 1992). As for the second requirement, employable people, by definition, possess a
collection of individual attributes necessary for effective adaptation—career identity, personal
adaptability, and social and human capital (each described later)—some of which subsume
individual characteristics suggested by Ashford and Taylor. For employable people, however,
career identities cognitively cohere these elements while providing energy and direction to their
influence. Pertaining to the third requirement, employability enhances alternatives, and facilitates
personal change and job changes. Employable people consider and pursue alternatives consistent
with their salient career identities (cf. Ashforth & Fugate, 2001), and are predisposed to personal
change (personal adaptability).

Figure 1. Heuristic model of employability

Employability has become a core part of the so-called “new deal” between employer and
employee, in which the promise of employment security is said to be replaced by employability
(e.g. Fugate & Kinicki, 2008; Hallier, 2009). This evolution is accompanied by a major shift in
responsibility for career development from employers to employees. Employees are considered
responsible for acquiring knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics valued by current
and prospective employers (Fugate & Kinicki, 2008; Fugate, et al., 2004; Van der Heijde & Van
der Heijden, 2006). For individuals this implies a broader meaning of career success by pursuing
lifetime employability (Forrier & Sels, 2003), i.e. the continuous fulfilling, acquiring or creating
of work through the optimal use of one’s competencies (Van der Heijde & Van der Heijden,
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

2006). Employability can hence be regarded as an important factor in understanding career

success in the contemporary career era (Hall, 2002).

As organizations are increasingly focusing on managing employability instead of employment

security and steady career advancement, there is a need for further elaborating the link between
employability-enhancing initiatives, employees’ employability, and career success. New career
concepts suggest that employability and career success depend on continuous learning and being
adaptable to new job demands or shifts in expertise (Scholarios, et al., 2008). For employers this
means that interventions are needed enabling employees to acquire these qualities. The
competency-based view on employability (Van der Heijde & Van der Heijden, 2006) offers a
relevant perspective for studying this relationship.

According to Winch and Clarke (2003) the problem with short-termist views of employability
lies in the failure to make a distinction between the tasks, firm and occupational understandings
of skill. Skill at a task is the ability to carry out that particular task. Skill in the context of a firm
is the ability to do a particular job as specified by the employer or by a contract to carry out a
commission. Skill at the level of an occupation, on the other hand, concerns that ability or
potential ability to fulfill all the tasks associated with or negotiated for an occupation. … skill in
an occupational sense entails significant transferability between different jobs. It is also generally
skill in this sense that is propagated by employees, it being in their interest to acquire skills of a
more long-term nature, to equip them over a working life, Employers on the other hand, is more
interested in skills in the task sense, for the immediate job in hand. (Winch and Clarke 2003:
240).

Brennan et al (2001) found that … graduates valued the following as employability skills:
working under pressure; oral communication skills; accuracy; time management; adaptability;
initiative; independent working skills; team working skills; taking responsibility and
organizational skills. Sometimes programs of study make these skills explicit, often however
they are left to float in the margins of what the module is about.

It is assumed by most policymakers that better working relationships between colleges and
employers will inevitably improve learner employability. In this vein, it is argued that “every
opportunity to get employer contact needs to be exploited.” (Lanning, Martin and Villeneuve-
Smith 2008: 6).

This particular study has build up the concept ‘employability and skill development and’ through
the reference of some models to arrive at fundamental base on the topic selected for the study.
These models lead us to develop prominent sub variable of employability variables that are
suggested for close scrutiny through pilot study and further need to be tested for the analysis and
interpretation.

Skill Development Models

First, there is a need to tie down what employability is construed to be. Bennett et al. (2000)
point out the terminological problems associated with ‘core’ and ‘generic’ skills, noting inter
alia that what might be considered ‘core’ in one disciplinary area might be considered to be

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generic in another. They settled for using the term ‘core’ for discipline specific skills, and
‘generic’ to represent ‘the so-called transferable skills that can support study in any discipline’
(ibid., p.23). Their choice of terms, therefore, differs from commonplace usage in higher
education. More important for this Guide is their identification of four management skills that
can be applied across a range of contexts:

 Management of self
 Management of others
 Management of information
 Management of task.

USEM: Employability Model (the academic view)

Yorke & Knight (2004) propounded USEM model. This model looks at what a graduate should
obtain from a degree course and take into the and generic abilities

 Efficacy beliefs — world of employment.

 Understanding — Appropriate subject knowledge, apprehension and applicability
 Skills — Subject-specific Awareness and understanding of one’s self and one’s
abilities
 Meta-cognition - The ability to reflect on and regulate one’s own learning and
behavior

Integrated approach:

Another model of employability attempts to incorporate elements from both DOTS and USEM:

 Career development learning — This covers the DOTS elements.

 Experience — Reflecting the fact that having some form of work or life
experience is likely to help a graduate develop a wider range of skills and make
them more attractive to prospective employers.
 Degree subject knowledge, understanding and skills — A similar element to
Understanding in USEM
 Generic skills — Again, this is similar to the Skills element in USEM
 Emotional intelligence — “the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and
those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in
ourselves and in our relationships” (Goleman, 1998)

A Psycho-Social Model

A model that goes some way to addressing these issues has been developed by Fugate et al.
(2004).

The elements are:

Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

Career identity — This includes the components of self-awareness and career decision making
from DOTS, but goes much further. It relates to an individual’s ability to reflect on their past
experiences in order to determine who they are and who they want to be. This inclusion of past,
present and future identity formation includes some aspects of the learning and development
approach of USEM.

Personal adaptability — This theme of development is continued here. To stay employable an

individual must be willing and able to transform themselves in response to changes in their
environment. This could include the willingness to learn new skills, to adapt one’s job hunting
strategy to prevailing job market conditions, or even to reconsider one’s goals in the face of
barriers.

Social and human capital — This element incorporates the impact of an individual’s social
background and access to supportive networks. It also encompasses one’s ability to successfully
develop and utilize working relationships through factors such as emotional intelligence.

The model emphasizes the interactions between these three elements. For example, social capital
will have an impact on career identity as your social network will shape and filter your career
choices. At the same time changing your career identity will involve changing the social
networks in which you operate

Instructional Design

The Employment Training Specialist (ETS) Series is a competency-based instructional program

for supported employment personnel. The series addresses eight skill areas: (1) Job
Development, (2) Employer Agreements; (3) Performance Measurement; (4) Job/Worker Match,
(5) Task Analysis; (6) Data Collection; (7) Skill Training; and (8) Follow Along Services. These
eight skill areas were identified as pertinent to Supported Employment through a review of
exemplary supported employment programs and a needs assessment of facilities and programs
offering Supported Employment services (Pankowski, 1985; McDaniel & Flippo, 1986).

Employability skills

The 2002 report, Employability Skills for the Future, published by the Business Council of
Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, outlined an ‘Employability
Skills Framework’ which identifies eight employability skills. They are:

 Communication skills, which contribute to productive and harmonious relations

between employees and customers
 Teamwork skills, which contribute to productive working relationships and
outcomes
 Problem-solving skills, which contribute to productive outcomes
 Initiative and enterprise skills, which contribute to innovative outcomes
 Planning and organising skills, which contribute to long-term and short-term
strategic planning
 Self-management skills, which contribute to employee satisfaction and growth

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 Learning skills, which contribute to ongoing improvement and expansion in

employee and company operations and outcomes
 Technology skills, which contribute to effective execution of tasks.

Retail and Management Development Need

The retail sector is a significant economic sector, with global retailing sales reaching over
US$9.4 trillion in 2006 (Euromonitor International, 2009). As retailing has evolved to meet the
challenges of globalization and increased use of technology, so too has the scope of retail
management (Levy & Weitz, 2009). The very structure of the retail industry is unique in the
breadth and depth of its reach. Retailers function in every part of the world and their businesses
are characterized by a wide diversity of types, sizes, ownership and geographic locations. The
retail population is diverse and characterized by concentrations of both large retailers and small
and medium enterprise (SME) businesses. This diversity is also apparent in a wide range of retail
management roles, responsibilities, and skills (Levy & Weitz, 2009).

Several ongoing issues present ongoing management challenges in the retailing sector. Employee
turnover remains a major challenge for retailers, as turnover rates are higher in the retail sector
than any other sector (Conference Board, 2008). Turnover in retailing is particularly problematic
because of the conditions endemic with the environment, including long hours and blurring of
work-life balance (Good et al., 1988; Peterson, 2007, Zeynep & Huckman, 2008). As a result of
these conditions, Rhoads et al., 2002 reported that managers are disposed to high turnover. It is
important, therefore, that retailers are able to not only appropriately identify and attract potential
high performers for management positions, they also need to have in place programs for
developing the skills of managers, recognizing managers’ career development needs, as well as
preventing the loss of talented managers (Booth & Hamer, 2007; Broadbridge, 2002, Rhoads et
al., 2002, Peterson, 2007).

Kathryn Aten, (2006), on an answer to the question, “What practice relevant knowledge can be
developed in a university setting?” indicates that ‘it is the ability to learn and to negotiate
changing and often conflicting perceptions of reality. Prospective managers must learn to
develop and test their own theories and negotiate agreement on what is and what should be done
about it. While we cannot provide context specific knowledge and experience, we can prepare
students of management for the experiences they will have and teach them how to learn
interactively from these experiences. General academic theories provide both a model of how to
theorize and a starting place for learning. However, management education cannot stop with
imparting general theories. Students of management need concrete experience from which to
hone their skills in developing their own theories and negotiating reality. However, this
experience does not have to be in an industry context in order to develop practice relevant
knowledge. The challenge facing management educators is to provide learning experiences
through which management students can practice developing theories, negotiating realities, and
applying what they learn to a variety of contexts. Given the advantages of university
environments discussed above, with careful design of learning experiences, this is a challenge
universities should be able to meet.”

Banking Skills
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

Anuj Dev (2010) indicates that Rising requirements in the Banking sector is creating more Bank
vacancies with more people Retiring and Banks Involving in activities like mutual funds, credit
cards, securitization business, consumer and housing loans and trading in gold and Forex
activities, More Opportunities for Bank jobs in India are expected to arrive Banking is one of the
most important career choices for students because of its high status career, Good Salaries and
security. Though it may appear at first that Bank jobs are meant only for commerce or economics
students but the real fact is that majority of bank officers are from different streams of education
like Arts, Science and others Because working in a bank requires a handful of qualities like time
and resource management, Managing wide personnel and huge record books Etc. A good banker
is supposed to have Good communication skills (verbal and written) that are needed in effective
interaction with the clients as well as the staff. In fact good communication skills have become
an important aspect in most of the Job arenas today. But in Banks it's a matter of Centralized
Importance and is a matter basic underline importance for a candidate who wishes to get entry
into any of the private or public sector banks of the country.

The employers who were surveyed in The Skills Bill: Analysis of skills needs in UK financial
services (FSSC 2007) and the Skills Review of UK Wholesale Financial Services (FSSC 2007)
highlighted that within the banking sector, employers are looking for people with the following
skills:

Numeracy and maths skills

Some roles in banking require people to be mathematical and some roles require people to
numerate. Being mathematical involves applying maths formulas and processes. Being numerate
means having an awareness of numbers and being able to complete simple sums.

Languages and cultural awareness

Working in banking can involve working with international organisations and clients. An ability
to speak another language and / or having a cultural awareness is a useful skill to be able to offer
employers.

Understanding client needs and relationship management skills

Banking professionals work with clients that may have complex financial goals and
requirements. It is imperative that the banking professional can fully understand the needs of the
client and present services that match their requirements.

IT

IT here refers not to the operational element of using IT (although always essential), but to the IT
infrastructure of banks, particularly in sales and trading.

Industry and product knowledge

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There is a demand for new entrants, school leavers and graduates to have a better awareness of
financial services and specifically the banking sector. An understanding of how the sector
operates and an awareness of the products that the sector works with is required by employers.
The extent of product knowledge required will depend on the actual job that people are applying
for.

Interpersonal skills

Being able to interact on a professional level with clients and with colleagues is very important.
The need for good communication skills, behaving appropriately in business situations and
addressing situations in a professional manner are skills that banking employers are looking for.

Entrepreneurial skills

According to Drucker (1985: 143), ‘most of what you hear about entrepreneurship is all wrong.
It is magic; it is not mysterious; and has nothing to do with genes. It is a discipline and, like any
discipline, it can be learned.’ Basu (2004:28) suggests that entrepreneurs often had aspirations
different to those of common people. Other personal characteristics that supposedly differentiate
entrepreneurship from business owner manager include initiative, a willingness to take risks,
self-confidence, perseverance, resourcefulness, independence, persuasiveness, tolerance for
uncertainty and ambiguity (i.e. seeing ambiguous situations as challenges rather than as
problems), imagination, high need for achievement, and a strong belief in being in control of
one’s own destiny (Ibrahim & Soufani, 2002:22) ; Llewellyn & Wilson, 2003:16); and Deamer
& Earle 2004:24).

According to Rae (1997: 199) “while students still need to develop their business skills and
understanding, more attention needs to be paid to the development of their entrepreneurial skills,
attributes and behaviors, introducing modules and courses specifically designed to develop the
awareness and characteristics of the entrepreneur”; these include, amongst others communication
skills, especially persuasion; creativity skills; critical thinking and assessment skills; leadership
skills; negotiation skills; problem-solving skills; social networking skills and time management
skills.

Managerial skills

Being manager is not an easy task due to the work with the people. From all production factors
people are the most intricate to manage. Not everybody feels at ease in managing people.
Nonetheless, there are certain personal abilities, which can predict the future efficiency and
success of manager. Scholars from Faculty of management in Slovakia tried to identify necessary
abilities, roles and skills managers should possessed: (Papula, 1995):

 creativity – ability to search and find new solutions

 intuition – be able to predict future development from own experience without
analysis
 goal-oriented – be able to set real goals and respect the goal’s hierarchy
 responsibility – sense for achieving set goals and objectives
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

 self-confidence – belief in own strength and ability to achieve goals

 initiative – an effort to look for new possibilities and solutions for reaching set
goals
 independence – the courage to make decision based on own judgment
 cautiousness – be able to make decision under stress and unsure conditions
 scrupulosity - support social values and norms
 discipline – self-control and regulation of own behavior
 persistence – tenacity needed to overcome barrier when achieving goals
 optimism – orientation towards positive goals and things in connection with faith
in success
 fantasy – creation of visions and imaginations about future
 Every man has hidden potential of certain kind inside. It is important how one can
utilize this potential.

Manager needs to use and influence behavior of people around to reach the goals of the
enterprise. In doing so manager use the managerial functions – planning, organizing, leading and
control; while “playing” the following roles in the enterprise (Papula, 1995):

 interpersonal roles – Figurehead, Leader, Liaison

 information roles – Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson
 decision making role – Entrepreneur, Disturbance handler, Resource Allocator,
Negotiator

In fulfilling their duties managers use managerial skills. These skills directly affect the results of
the manager, but they can be learned and gained by training. The criteria for dividing the skills
can vary but these are considered to be the basic managerial skills, which are needed for an
effective managerial work (Piš kanin, Rudy et al., 2006):

 Technical – ability of manager to use specific methods and techniques in doing

the managerial work. However these technical skills are not related to technology,
such as skills of engineer. The technical skills for managers represent the usage of
methods like break even analysis in planning or ability to prepare for and conduct
a structured interview.
 Interpersonal – people are most valuable resource of any enterprise and manager
needs to know how to lead people. Abilities include motivation of workers,
solving work conflicts, communication and working with people. Therefore
interpersonal skills are essential on every level of management.
 Conceptual – these skills are must for middle or top manager. This is the ability to
“grasp the whole picture”. See the organization as one whole intertwined with the
surrounding environment with the relevant priorities and important issues.
Communication – manager needs information for decision making. Ability to
disseminate and receive information is thus important tools for manager. It is not
only verbal communication, but the manager should be able to distinguish non
verbal signals, mood and feelings to filter the right information.

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Graduate attributes

While defining the term Graduate attributes (Bowden et al. 2002) indicates its as …the qualities,
skills and understandings a university community agrees its students should develop during their
time with the university’. Three major factors are seen to have an influence on the value placed
on graduate attributes; the popular perspective that education is a life-long process; a greater
focus on the relationship between education and employment outcomes of graduates; and the
development of outcomes measures as part of the quality movement (Cummings 1998). Graduate
attributes, as they are conceptualised in Australia, had their synthesis in the West Review in
1998, which provided a framework of generic attributes that ideally every graduate should have:

 The capacity for critical, conceptual and reflective thinking in all aspects of
intellectual and practical activity
 Technical competence and an understanding of the broad conceptual and
theoretical elements of his or her fields of specialisation
 Intellectual openness and curiosity, and an appreciation of the interconnectedness,
and areas of uncertainty, in current human knowledge
 Effective communication skills in all domains (reading, writing, speaking and
listening)
 Research, discovery, and information retrieval skills and a general capacity to use
information
 Multifaceted problem solving skills and the capacity for team work
 High ethical standards in personal and professional life, underpinned by a
capacity for self-directed activity. (DEETYA 1998, p. 47.)

Critiques of Business Management Education

Business schools have come under attack in recent years for the poor job they do of providing
relevant training and skills for their students (e.g., Hambrick 1994; Jorgensen 1992; Linder and
Smith 1992; Porter and McKibbon 1988; Spender 1995). There is growing corporate demand for
pedagogical techniques that focus on their immediate problems rather than on lofty theories or
even case studies (Raelin 2000). Business speakers at a recent international Association for
Management Education (AACSB) symposium on continuous learning continued to make this
plea as they challenged business schools to “be more proactive and partner with business leaders
in their communities…and to make their curricula more relevant” (AACSB 1999).

More recently, Mintzberg argued that as a craft, management cannot be taught in a classroom
setting to those with little or no experience and that therefore traditional MBA programs are
doomed to failure (2004). In his literary review from various authors interpretation on
management education Kathryn Aten, (2006) report that at one extreme, management is viewed
as a set of skills and methods which can be applied to identify and implement the correct
management solutions—correct being consistent across environments. At the other extreme,
management is a craft based on judgment enacted in and specific to a unique, messy and
constantly changing environment. These assumptions support differing views of the value and
role of theory and experience in teaching and learning management. The first view suggests
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

aspiring managers master a body of general theories and best practices which can then be applied
in a variety of settings, while the second suggests that management must be learned in situ.

The business curriculum has to be changed remarkably to address the issues raised as challenges
before the organizational management today. The business organizations those have been
increasingly trying to cope with the changing demands of the environment looking for
managerial expertise with required skills. So, an emphasis on skill development has transformed
the curriculum debate. The discussion has moved away from determining the appropriate balance
of content, which is a discussion rooted in traditional functional areas, to a determination of
effective methods for developing softer skills, self directed learning, an a holistic understanding
of the internal and external environment of organizations(Hamilton, Diane et.al. 2000).

If business schools are to survive and prosper in the future, they will need to be structured around
five core integrated subject areas: (a) leadership skills that capitalize on knowledge of (b)
strategy, (c) finance and (d) information technology (IT) within the context of and influenced by
a (e) global economy. To understand the financial drives of a business, one must have a
command of basic accounting principles (Brealey and Myres 1996); to craft a business strategy,
one must understand market dynamics (Porter 1998); to meet market imperatives for high quality
as low cost with minimal delay, IT competencies is crucial (Mitchell and Zmud 1999); to
exercise leadership, one must be aware of global and cultural influences (Yukl 1998). It follows
from this reasoning that the core competencies Management Education for Contemporary
Challenges: The Role of Business School delivered by a leading business school should be
fivefold, namely, the (1) leadership capability to build a team that will implement (2) competitive
strategies that will enable an organization to be (3) financially healthy in a (4) global market
place, through effective use of (5) information technology (Lathem et. al. 2004).

“Managers …wade into the ocean of events that surround the organization and actively try to
make sense of them” by collecting data, interpreting or attributing meaning, and learning or
taking action. (Daft and Weick, 1984: 286). Success in much of management today is dependent
on the ability to adapt to and master constantly changing environments. This requires the ability
to learn (Kolb, 1976, Argyris, 1995) and construct, or negotiate, reality as managers’ interactions
construct their social environment and appropriate actions in it. (Berger and Lukeman, 19662).
Prospective managers need to learn how to learn from and make sense of varied and changing
environments (Schwandt, 2005).

The literature cited above has discussed many skills which are required by the corporate in
order to get better employment options.. Contemporarily, it is necessary to understand how far
the corporate, especially retail and banking sector, especially the major business firms in
Middle East Countries, expects from the young graduates in order to absorb them and take up
higher responsibilities in corporate career. It is necessary to understand those expectations of
the corporate so that the educational institutions can design and redesign the present curriculum
with more skill development modules and there by bridge the gap between industry institute
expectations.

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PROBLEM FORMULATION

Modern education is witnessing wide changes in the wake of globalization of economy.

Traditional educational ways are paving way to modern means of tools and techniques to
enhance the capabilities and attitude of young graduates. Traditional way of learning and
development is gradually shifting towards skill development and pragmatic learning modules.
In addition to knowledge acquisition now a day’s business and operational heads of various
industries and firms are giving more importance to skill acquisition. It is widely acknowledged
by various researches that there is big gap between what the kind of education imparted by the
educational institutions and the kind of graduates with right aptitude and attitude expects by the
corporate. The ‘gap’ which is identified by the researchers in this particular research is termed
as ‘survival skills’, which indicates the young graduates required skills that to be acquired
during their learning and development period from educational institutions, which support
them to survive in industry as best performers with absolute contributions. It is less researched
in the cross country context, especially in Middle East, that how far the heads of corporate in
various sectors perceive the required skills for the young graduates those can be absorbed in
corporate. The countries selected for this research has more of retail and baking business more
than manufacturing and engineering sectors. These sectors require more young graduates to
take up the higher responsibilities in operations. Hence, it is necessary to understand what are
the major skills expected by the retail and banking sector among the young graduates which
facilitate them to the get better employability option.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

Hence, this particular research identifies its topic of research as "SURVIVAL SKILLS OF
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT GRADUATES: A STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO RETAIL AND
BANKING"

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To understand the major skills (Survival skills) the corporate expected from
students in retail and banking sector in the Middle East.
2. To analyze the relationship between survival skills and employability options in
retail and baking sector in Middle East.
3. To analysis the socio demographic variations in relation to survival skills of
students and employability options in retail and baking sector in Middle East.

HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

1. There may be significant relationship between survival skills and employability

options in retail and baking sector in Middle East.
2. There may have socio demographic variations in relation to survival skills and
employability options in retail and baking sector in Middle East.
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

Operational Definitions

Employability

Hillage and Pollard’s (1998) widely-cited definition of employability as an individual's ability to

gain initial employment, maintain employment, move between roles within the same
organization, obtain new employment if required and (ideally) secure suitable and sufficiently
fulfilling work.

Survival skills: Survival skills is conceptualized in this research as the skills required for a
graduate to gain initial employment, maintain employment, move between roles within the same
organization, obtain new employment in banking and retail sector.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The population selected for the study consists of retail malls and banks in various countries in
Middle East. The study considered 10n retail shops and 10 banks from 6 countries in M idle
East.

Research Design

This particular study focuses mainly to analyze the relationship between survival skills and
employability options for the graduate students who are perusing professional courses in various
college of in the Middle East, by analyzing the corporate expectations.. Hence this study follows
descriptive study design as its plan of action.

Sampling

Major Middle East countries selected for the study include Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qutar,
UAE and Kuwait. Among all these countries the retail and banking firms are running plenty and
there is huge requirement of educated graduates to engage in the business and operations. The
HR managers of these firms are approached to identify the survival skills which are important to
get employment for the young graduate students. 10 retail shops and 10 banks from each country
has selected further considering the homogeneity in size, population, and other socio
demographic factors, thereby ensuring the representative sample size of the population selected
for the study. The study thus finalized a targeted sample size of 120 HR Managers. To arrive at
the representative sample size the study considered simple random sampling method.

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Table 1: Customer sample size

Sl. No Countries Students Total

Retail Sector Banking sector
1 Oman 10 10 20
2 Saudi Arabia 10 10 20
3 UAE 10 10 20
4 Kuwait 10 10 20
5 Qatar 10 10 20
6 Bahrain 10 10 20
Total 120

TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION:-

The study considered following tools to collect the response from HR managers of retail and
banking sectors

1. Questionnaire of Survival Skills

2. Questionnaire on Employability
3. Questionnaire on Socio-Demographic Factors

Factor Analysis of e-CRM features

The information about the survival skill has been collected from the formal source with the prior
permission and discussion with the Heads of retail and banking firms. The Operational Heads of
Manpower of each retail and banking firms were contacted through online and phone by the
researchers and their perception regarding the survival skills are identified and categorized based
on employability perspective. A principal component factor analysis with Varimax rotation was
then applied for clustering the wide list of skills into lesser number of skills. The results of the
factor analytical skills (table 2) and clustered the skill factors into a 10 factor model explaining
81.6% of the total variance.

Table: 2 Measuring and categorizing Survival skills

Factors Sub Factors Values

Communication 1. Using language (oral
and written communication)
2. an ability to work with
numbers and understand
mathematical concepts
3. Information and
communication technology use
4. Organizes ideas and
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

presents them logically and

clearly
5. Able to understand &
follow
6. Instructions
7. Communicates
confidently
8. Interpersonal
relationship

% of variance explained 0.231

Cronbach α 0.812
Working with groups 1. Active participation
2. Positive cooperation
3. Supporting team
members
4. Contributing positive
team dynamics
5. Understanding one’s
relationship and accountability
to other team members.
6. Working with people
who vary in their age, gender,
race, religion or political
persuasion.
7. Working autonomously
in the interest of shared team
goals and objectives
8. Ability to lead

% of variance explained 0.239

Cronbach α 0.822
Adaptability 1. Coping with job
description and profile
2. Coping with all work
situations
3. Coping will challenges
4. Coping with all people
5. Coping with changes in
schedules;
6. Coping with new or
difficult job assignments
7. Being adaptable and
help others adaptable

% of variance explained 0.230

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Cronbach α 0.811
Responsibility 1. Responsible towards
work
2. Responsible towards
people
3. Responsible towards all
company resources
4. Responsible towards
company growth
5. Showing lead in
responsible behavior

% of variance explained 0.241

Cronbach α 0.801
Interaction skill (network) 1. Tracking business leads
2. Getting into quality
contact
3. Create a best impression
4. Ability to place yourself
in others good list
5. Maintaining contacts
6. Conversion of contacts
in to business
7. Relevant follow up
8. Keep the contacts live
and remarkable

% of variance explained 0.242

Cronbach α 0.819
Proactive / initiation 1. finds work to do without
being told;
2. self motivated
3. initiative for change
management
4. engaging colleagues
5. encourage team
members to improve the work
practices
6. Leading by example

% of variance explained 0.233

Cronbach α 0.800
Customer orientation 1. Rapport building
2. Building trust
3. Ability to b friendly
with customers
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

4. Meeting customer
expectations
5. Enhance customer
satisfaction
6. Creating value to the
purchase decision
7. Retention of customers
8. Ensure customer delight

% of variance explained 0.230

Cronbach α 0.822
Appearance 1. grooming and dress
appropriate for the situation;
2. recognizes the
importance of first impressions
3. take ahead the visibility
of organization through
dressing
4. Business Etiquette

% of variance explained 0.238

Cronbach α 0.803
Task Perseverance 1. strong determination
2. attends to task;
3. continues until
completed
4. ability to steady pursue
a goal
5. strong link to optimism

% of variance explained 0.236

Cronbach α 0.824
Operational skill 1. Work knowledge
2. Work skill
3. Work aptitude
4. Ability to tackle work
challenges
5. Make co-workers to be
engaged
6. Target oriented

% of variance explained 0.232

Cronbach α 0.809
Creativity and problem 1. Problem orientation
solving skills
2. Reasoning an logical

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skills
3. Systematic and
methodological approach
4. Analytical and
troubleshooting skills
5. Producing many
solutions
6. Producing uncommon
solutions
7. Planning, strategy and
resource allocation

% of variance explained 0.239

Cronbach α 0.812
Work performance 1. Target orientation
2. Focus and
concentration
3. Contributions to the
target
4. Quality performance
5. Continues improvement

% of variance explained 0.242

Cronbach α 0.800
Techno savvy 1. IT/computer literacy
2. Technology knowledge
3. Troubleshooting
machinery
4. Technology
management

% of variance explained 0.244

Cronbach α 0.830

All the 13 factors (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, and F13) that included in
factor analysis were found most vital in survival skills explaining 0.231, 0.239, 0.220, 0.241,
0.242, 0.233, 0.230, 0.238, 0.236, 0.232, 0.239, 0.242, and 0.244 of the variance respectively.
Thus all the factors then considered for further analysis.

Measurement of Validity and Reliability of Employability

The study did the content analysis by making use of extensive literature and previously validated
constructs. It establishes further the incorporation of the representativeness of the items in the
questionnaire, for adequate data collection. The questionnaire was pilot tested with 24 HR
mangers from retail and banking firms of all the six countries to arrive at the reliability of the
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

construct. The Cronbach Standardized Alpha was estimated to assess the reliability of the items
selected for the study. As the relationship varied from 0.80 to 0.85 the reliability test passed. All
the 4 items in the questionnaire have secured a reliability score above .80 and thus all the 5 items
were considered for the study.

Table 3: Validity and Reliability of Employability

Construct Construct M α % of Var. Factor

explained Loading
Getting employment Well equipped hard skills 6.39 0.85 71.9 0.81

Well imbibed soft skills 0.80

Maintain Emotional maturity 6.31 0.80 72.3 0.80
Employment
Task and role maintenance 0.83
Move between roles Required knowledge and skill to 6.30 0.82 71.4 0.80
move between roles

Multi skilled for job rotation

0.81
Fulfill job Job requirement capability match 6.71 0.82 75.8 0.84
requirement
Meeting job responsibilities 0.83
Meeting Employer Meeting employer expectation 6.81 0.84 70.2 0.82
expectation
Meeting business expectation 0.80

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

The results of the study were analyzed on the basis of descriptive statistics and regression. The
First hypothesis stated was “There may be significant relationship between survival skills and
employability options in retail and baking sector in Middle East” (H1). To test this hypothesis,
regression analysis was done and the summarized result is presented below.

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Table 4: Regression analysis

Regression
Multiple R 0.77
R Square 0.51
Adjusted R Square 0.54
Standard Error 0.50
Observations 120

Table 4a

df SS MS F Significance
Regression 2 71.12 37.12 99.38 0.00
Residual 119.00 63.21 0.38
Total 120.00 133.81

Table 4b

Coefficients Standard t Stat P-value Lower Upper

Error
Intercept 1.20 0.18 5.39 0.00 0.00 1.51
E- Learning 0.52 0.06 6.33 0.00 0.40 0.56
facility
Blackboard

The determinant used in this study for measuring satisfaction of student is survival skills. The
multiple regression analysis indicates that the affect of the independent variable on dependent
variable i.e., Survival skills on HR managers perception toward employability, is strong with R2
being 0.51. This indicates that 51% variation in dependent variables is because of the effect of
the predictor variables survival skills. The P values for the predictor variable survival skills is
less than zero that indicates that the predictor variable individually have relationships with the
dependent variable employability. Thus the first hypothesis, “There may be significant
relationship between survival skills and employability options in retail and baking sector in
Middle East” (H1) is supported. It means that the survival skills provide employability to the
students in special sectors like retail and banking.

DISCUSSION

The study clearly indicates that all the 13 sub variables of independent variable survival skills are
significantly related to the expectations of HR managers on student’s employability. The HR
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

managers in the in every industry has the keen responsibility that to get right quantity and quality
of graduates from institutions which take ahead the business towards growth and development.
The manpower of the organization decided the business performance. It is the responsibility of
the institutions to fine tune the skills expected by the HR managers of the industry which ensure
better job prospects the students in industry. Hence thre should be a mutual understanding
between the institutions in designing the curriculum and that in tune with the employability
expectations of the HR managers in industry. This particular study focuses in the survival skills
(most important hard and soft skills) expected by the industry for employability.

In Middle East, majority academic institutions has well equipped infrastructure that cater the
need of technology based student development. But academic institutions are all in its way
towards improving the academic process which enhances the skill development of students
towards employability. The traditional way of teaching and learning process is gradually
changing from class room teaching and learning to skill enhancement programs which ensure the
employability options of young graduates. Every sector required separate skills that provide
adequate employment opportunities to the students. Especially in business management
education, the both theoretical and skill based education to be integrated to ensure more
employability option to the business graduates. It has been well pointed out by Hamilton, Diane
et.al. (2000) that the business curriculum has to be changed remarkably to address the issues rose
as challenges before the organizational management today. The business organizations those
have been increasingly trying to cope with the changing demands of the environment looking for
managerial expertise with required skills. So, an emphasis on skill development has transformed
the curriculum debate. The discussion has moved away from determining the appropriate balance
of content, which is a discussion rooted in traditional functional areas, to a determination of
effective methods for developing softer skills, self directed learning, an a holistic understanding
of the internal and external environment of organizations(Hamilton, Diane et.al. 2000). The
professional development curriculum expects more of skill enhancement courses with the
fundamental courses which provide better understanding of the operations of each functional
area.

The retail and banking sectors are the major business professions which required more graduates
every year to meet the need of business expansion and growth. The present study finding
indicates that the 13 survival skills identified by the present research are well accepted by the HR
managers, for employability options for the young graduates in Middle East. The major skills
identified by the HR managers for the new entrants includes; communication skill, working with
group, adaptability, responsibility, interaction skill, proactive and initiation skill, customer
orientation, appearance, task perseverance, operational skill, creativity and problem solving,
work performance and technology skills.

It has been pointed out in many studies that communication skill is the crux of every
employability opportunity as the major survival skill. Middle East academic institutions are
facing big challenge in enhancement of communication skills in their young graduates. A
transition from the Arabic languages application to English language acceptance and application
is happening gradually across all institution. By appointing the native teachers the institutions are
on its way towards communication skill enhancement among young graduates. Especially in
retail and banking sector the written and verbal communication skill is having higher

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significance. A good banker is supposed to have Good communication skills (verbal and written)
that are needed in effective interaction with the clients as well as the staff. In fact good
communication skills have become an important aspect in most of the Job arenas today. Banking
is a sector where the executive has to interact with lot of customers. Many skills like good
interpersonal relationship skills, group working skills, technical skills, customers relationship
management skills, operational understanding, analytical and problem solving skills are well
acknowledged.

The situation of retail industry is also not making much difference. The retail industry is running
with customer relationship skills, communication skill interaction skills, appearance skills and
operational understanding skills. In addition these routine survival skills the present study
suggests entrepreneurial skills among the young graduates that is well accepted beyond the
sectors. It has been well pointed out by Rae (1997) that “while students still need to develop their
business skills and understanding, more attention needs to be paid to the development of their
entrepreneurial skills, attributes and behaviors, introducing modules and courses specifically
designed to develop the awareness and characteristics of the entrepreneur”; these include,
amongst others communication skills, especially persuasion; creativity skills; critical thinking
and assessment skills; leadership skills; negotiation skills; problem-solving skills; social
networking skills and time management skills. The graduate programs should equip more skill
development program in order to ensure these survival skills with which better employability can
be ensured. Getting a job required a set of survival skills which meet the expectations of the HR
managers. Meeting the expectations of the HR managers indicates that meeting the task needs.
The HR managers are under pressure to get the right skilled graduated who can take ahead the
business firm to growth and success. Task oriented skill development in the educational
institutions can meet the expectations of the HR managers by ensuring day one task engagement.
Employers are more interested in skills in the task sense, for the immediate job in hand. (Winch
and Clarke 2003). Ability to perform the task is the more important attribute expected by the HR
managers now days.

It is observed that employability skill enhancement program must ensure both employment
opportunity and ‘ability’ enhancement modules in the academic curriculum. The ability
enhancement program which includes the survival skills, both hard and soft skills that are to be
induced through integrated curriculum. Especially in retail ad banking sectors both soft and hard
skills are equally important to extend the business needs. It is rightly pointed out by the Harvey
(2003) that employability is not just about getting a job. Conversely, just because a student is on
a vocational course does not mean that somehow employability is automatic. Employability is
more than about developing attributes, techniques or experience just to enable a student to get a
job, or to progress within a current career. It is about learning and the emphasis is less on
‘employ’ and more on ‘ability’. In essence, the emphasis is on developing critical, reflective
abilities, with a view to empowering and enhancing the learner.

It has been well defined by Hillage and Pollard’s (1998) that employability as an individual's
ability to gain initial employment, maintain employment, move between roles within the same
organization, obtain new employment if required and (ideally) secure suitable and sufficiently
fulfilling work. In this context the major expectations of the HR managers include the student’s
ability to get a job, maintain a job, and move between the roles and successful accomplishment
Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

of tasks. The HR managers are having greater concern on the multi-skills. A person having multi
skills meet the expectations of the HR managers more compared to others. The objective behind
such multi skilled selection is to rotate the person to different roles and responsibilities so that
the work do not get affected due to manpower inadequacy. More over one can take better and
higher responsibilities in the later days. The management education in business schools should
ensure the design of a curriculum which meets the survival skills suggested by the HR managers
of the industries. If business schools are to survive and prosper in the future, they will need to be
structured around 13 core integrated survival skills like; communication skill, working with
group, adaptability, responsibility, interaction skill, proactive and initiation skill, customer
orientation, appearance, task perseverance, operational skill, creativity and problem solving,
work performance and technology skills. Though debate about whether education is an art or a
science is going on (Rusk, 1919) this particular paper thus envisage a paradigm shift in the
educational approach from traditional knowledge based one to skill and aptitude based approach
which ensure more employment opportunity to the young graduates in Middle East, especially in
retail and banking sector.

CONCLUSION

The present research try to made an analysis employability skills, viz.,m the survival skills, for
the young business gradates who may pursue their professional life in retail and banking sector.
The study tries to answer a few questions like 1) What is the role of business schools in
producing useful graduates for recruiting organizations with employability skills (survival skills
)and, 2) How can classroom knowledge be integrated with workplace knowledge in the
education process. It is well understood from the research that there is significant relationship
between survival skills imparted by the educational institutions, during their academic tenure and
employability options, especially in retail and baking sector in Middle East. The analysis and
findings indicate that management education could play a vital role in synergizing the efforts of
industry and institute in grooming young graduates towards better employability options in
management professions. The role of business schools has to be reinforced with skill based
academic curriculum and have to adapt themselves and be able to make a positive contribution
towards employability. The business schools will have to re-think their program, curriculum,
approach and training in order to develop future generations with industry expected professional
skills.

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