A Review of Business Students' Readiness for the Modern Workplace

This report analyzes multiple research papers to assess the workplace readiness of business graduates. The studies utilize questionnaires and surveys to gather employer perspectives on essential competencies, including teamwork, analytical thinking, and willingness to learn. The research indicates that while theoretical knowledge is important, practical experience and specific skill sets are crucial for success. The findings reveal a gap between the skills possessed by graduates and the demands of the job market, emphasizing the need for students to develop practical skills and a positive work ethic. The research also highlights the importance of social implications, such as graduates seeking excellent jobs and developing the skill set within them to get adaptive to the organization in which they are working. Overall, the report provides insights into the competencies required for business graduates to succeed in the workplace and suggests areas for improvement in business education to better prepare students for employment.

Running Head: ARE BUSINESS STUDENTS READY FOR WORK?
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ARE BUSINESS STUDENTS
READY FOR WORK?
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Pang, Elvy, Michael Wong, C. H. Leung, and John Coombes. "Competencies for fresh
graduates’ success at work: Perspectives of employers." Industry and Higher Education 33,
no. 1 (2019): 55-65.
The aim of the research conducted is to evaluate the competencies that help to facilitate the
graduate’ success in the work place. The method used for conducting the research is the use of
questionnaires for collecting the responses from business employers. The participants of the
research are the employees working full-time and the quantitative approach was used for the
research conduct. The number of participants were 289 the sample used was MBA sample with
descriptive analysis, the potential participants were 289 out of which those who actually took
part were 260. The results of the study show that 26 competencies were recognized for playing a
significant role in the success of the fresher graduates in the working of the organization, the 5
most important competencies were teamwork and cooperation hard working and willingness, self
and willingness to learn and analytical thinking. The least important skills were the impact &
influence and developing others while directing. The reasons behind considering these as least
important for graduates is that they are mostly hired for the entry level stage at the initial level.
The research concludes that the fresher graduates are also considered at the work place but the
only thing that employer’s desire is the competencies required for the work. Consequently article
was helpful regarding to fulfill the primary aim of the research as it provided the evidences that
the supported the working of the fresher graduates in the organizations.
Khan, Sania. "Demystifying the impact of university graduate’s core competencies on work
performance: A Saudi industrial perspective." International Journal of Engineering
Business Management 10 (2018): 1847979018810043.
The research aims to check whether the graduates are fairly capable of getting the required
employed position in the organization with the set of skills that they have or carry with
themselves and also to recognize or discover the other competencies that are required to fill up
the vacancies. The research was conducted in the private companies through questionnaire being
the primary source for conducting the research. The survey received the successful 235 complete
responses out of the sample size of 260 participants and the qualitative approach was adopted
and also interviews were also conducted to get the possible value added feedback along with the

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same the quantitative approach was also implied in the research. As the primary aim of the
research was to evaluate the ESs of the fresher graduates in the Saudi but as per the findings and
the results the graduates didn’t prove to possessing those skills required for the same. The
findings also show that the just theoretical is not enough to get those in practical life one needs to
work on that throughout to develop those required for the organization. The conclusion of the
research says that it did help in answering the research question but unfortunately, the results
came out to be negative.
McMurray, Stephen, Matthew Dutton, Ronald McQuaid, and Alec Richard. "Employer
demands from business graduates." Education+ Training 58, no. 1 (2016): 112-132.
The primary aim of the research was to determine the business management skills required for
the workforce of the organization. The research method used for the primary source of the
questionnaires which hold the total responses of the 71 employees, the findings of the research
shows that the there is a certain skill set which is ultimately the desired requirement of the
employers expected from the candidates listed for the hiring purpose. Also the attitude towards is
considered the most for the fulfillment of the organizational goals and objectives. The social
implications of the same include the graduates searching for the excellent jobs and developing
the skill set within them to get adaptive to the organization in which they are working. The
conclusion of the research says that the fresher graduates do require certain skill set required
according to the job they have applied for in the organization and also the developing the
positive attitude towards the work they do for their organization or the company.

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Jackson, Denise. "Testing a model of undergraduate competence in employability skills
and its implications for stakeholders." Journal of Education and Work 27, no. 2 (2014):
220-242.
The research paper presents and tests the model for the competencies of the undergraduates with
Regarding the employability skills the collection data was done by gathering the responses from
the 1008 out of 1232, business undergraduates the analysis of the collected data was done by the
method regression. The research had questions on the demographics of every individual and the
results & findings depicted that there were very little or minor impacts of age regarding the
preference of the competencies, and the survey responses were different countries as the business
students answering the same were from different countries also considering the impact of the
major done by student in different subjects does not have any impact on the required
competencies employment skills desired by the business firm. The conclusion of the research
says that most of the participants were not capable enough for the job position and the demands
of the job position and also work experience perceived from working in different organizations
actually plays a significant role in acquiring those competencies.
Wilton, Nick. "Do employability skills really matter in the UK graduate labour market?
The case of business and management graduates." Work, employment and society 25, no. 1
(2011): 85-100.
The primary aim of the research was to evaluate the employability skills of the UK graduates and
8571 responses were considered and 1060 were from B&M graduates. As the article sought the
own assessment of the employability skills required for the job position being a fresher graduate
as per the results of the article the graduates were not capable to be offered those kind of roles in
the organizations as desired skills of employers were primary requirement for the roles to be
offered to the graduate employees and the development of those skill sets is only possible with
the help of perceived experience in any of the organization. The conclusion of the article says
that this was helpful enough to get the answer of the article despite the outcomes or the results of
the survey conducted being negative.

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References
Jackson, Denise. "Testing a model of undergraduate competence in employability skills and its
implications for stakeholders." Journal of Education and Work 27, no. 2 (2014): 220-242.
Khan, Sania. "Demystifying the impact of university graduate’s core competencies on work
performance: A Saudi industrial perspective." International Journal of Engineering
Business Management 10 (2018): 1847979018810043.
McMurray, Stephen, Matthew Dutton, Ronald McQuaid, and Alec Richard. "Employer demands
from business graduates." Education+ Training 58, no. 1 (2016): 112-132.
Pang, Elvy, Michael Wong, C. H. Leung, and John Coombes. "Competencies for fresh
graduates’ success at work: Perspectives of employers." Industry and Higher Education
33, no. 1 (2019): 55-65.
Wilton, Nick. "Do employability skills really matter in the UK graduate labour market? The case
of business and management graduates." Work, employment and society 25, no. 1 (2011):
85-100.