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Abstract

A task of achieving academic success by business students becomes of paramount importance in our times, as globalization puts high pressures on our national priorities in education and workforce training. The projected shortage of skilled workers for the global economy elevates concerns about our economic growth and competitiveness in the world. This article is built upon research (Weisblat, 2010) that had achieved two objectives. First, through the reviewed literature, basic skills and global competencies required from business major graduates in the global economy were identified. Second, perspectives of college educators and business leaders on the required skills and competencies were captured. The researchers compared these perspectives in order to answer the question of whether business schools are successful in producing “knowledge workers” (Drucker, 1996) for the global economy. This purpose was achieved by utilizing a grounded theory outlined by Charmaz (2006).

Such comparison of educators’ and business leaders’ views shed light on the issues of effectiveness of business education and employers’ satisfaction with the business graduates’ academic preparation. The study revealed significant differences in educators’ and employers’ understanding of what skills make business graduates competitive in the 21st century, and what skills, accordingly, should educators teach. Implications for practice were recognized, based on the findings of this study, including the need for extensive collaboration and greater input from business leaders into the design of curriculum that fits the rapidly evolving global economy.

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