Bridging the Gap between University Curriculum and Industrial Needs: A Case Study of Teaching Interpersonal Skills

Effective interpersonal skills represent a major success factor in almost every aspect of the business world today. To have a competitive advantage, new graduates must master those skills with limited or even non-existing experience – an area where most business schools face severe breach between their curriculum and company expectations. This article looks at bridging the interpersonal skill gap through the implementation of relevant internship experience for students. Some of the skills been looked at are negotiation skills, effective communication skills, leadership skills, training and development. The approach incorporates collaborated final assessment of student knowledge and skills from both educational institution and business entity. The result of the research aims at creating an objective tool of assessment criteria for evaluating the adaptivity of interpersonal skills, acquired by students in their Business Administration Program.

Keywords:

Interpersonal skills , Negotiation skills , Effective communication skills , Leadership skills , Training and development