Are Our Students Ready to Become Successful Employees? A Comparative Analysis of Seven Countries

Yıl 2019, , 1 - 18, 24.04.2019

Vilmantė Kumpikaitė-valiūnienė İmran Aslan , Ewa Glinska Antonio Mihi Ramirez Ruth Alas

https://doi.org/10.2399/yod.18.026

Öz

The article focuses on students' attitudes towards their future job performance in relation to becoming successful employees. The level of employee success was measured using the attitudes toward future work performance of students from seven countries (Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Iran, Portugal and Estonia) through their assessment of skills, skill developing methods, motivation and environmental factors. A total of 1,355 students participated in the survey. In this study, the data analysis was performed using statistical methods including descriptive methods, comparison of means and Cronbach's alpha. Results of the study show that skills and especially training methods influence students' motivation to work more effectively regardless of the salary received. The results also demonstrate that most students regard basic and people-related skills as the most important factors, but cultural differences were also noticed. Lithuanian, Polish and Iranian participants ranked one-to-one training methods as having the most impact on their development, while Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish students preferred group training methods. Moreover, in comparison to the students from other countries, the Spanish participants considered environmental factors to be extremely important.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Cultural differences, development methods, environment, performance, students' motivation, students' skills

Öğrencilerimiz Başarılı Çalışan Olmaya Hazır mı? Yedi Ülkenin Karşılaştırmalı Analizi

Öz

Bu makale, başarılı çalışanlar olmak için öğrencilerin gelecekteki iş performanslarına yönelik tutumlarına odaklanmaktadır. İşteki başarı, yedi ülkenin (Litvanya, Polonya, İspanya, Türkiye, İran, Portekiz ve Estonya) öğrencilerinin gelecekteki çalışma performanslarına karşı tutumlarını; yetenekleri, becerilerini geliştiren yöntemler, motivasyon ve çevresel etkenleri kullanarak ölçülmüştür. Bu ankete toplamda 1355 öğrenci katılmıştır. Bu çalışmada, veri analizi için betimleyici yöntemler, ortalamaların karşılaştırılması ve Cronbach alfa gibi istatistiksel yöntemler kullanılmıştır. Sonuçlar, becerilerin ve özellikle eğitim yöntemlerinin, aldıkları maaşlara bakılmaksızın, öğrencilerin daha iyi çalışma motivasyonunu etkilediğini göstermiştir. Çalışmanın sonuçları, öğrencilerin temel becerilerini ve insanlarla ilgili becerilerini en önemli olarak gördüklerini göstermiştir. Ayrıca elde edilen sonuçlar öğrenciler arasında tutumları bakımından bazı kültürel farklılıklar bulunduğunu ortaya çıkarmıştır. Litvanyalılar, Polonyalı ve İranlılar bire bir eğitim yöntemlerini; Portekizliler, İspanyollar ve Türkiyeliler ise grup eğitim yöntemlerini en çok tercih ettikleri eğitim yöntemleri olarak sıralamışlardır. Ayrıca, diğer ülkelerle karşılaştırıldığında İspanyol öğrencilerin çevresel faktörlere çok daha fazla önem verdiği bulunmuştur.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Çevre, gelişim yöntemleri, kültürel farklılıklar, öğrencilerin becerileri, öğrencilerin motivasyonu, performans

Kaynakça

• Analoui, F. (1993). Skills of management. In J. W. Cusworth, & T. R. Franks (Eds.), Managing projects in developing countries (pp. 68–83). London: Pearson Education Ltd.
• Analoui, F. (1998). Human resource management issues in developing countries. Aldershot: Ashgate Pub Co.
• Beitler, M. (2005). Strategic organizational learning. A practitioner’s guide for managers and consultants. Chapter 2, Motivation, learning, & development (pp. 7–21). Greensboro, NC: Practitioner Press International.
• Blanchard, P. N., & Thacker, J. W. (2004). Effective training: Systems, strategies, and practices (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
• Business Dictionary. (2016). Accessed through <http://www.businessdictionary.com/article/> on December 5th, 2016.
• Bye, D., Pushkar, D., & Conway, M. (2007). Undergraduate students motivation, interest, and positive affect in traditional and nontraditional. Adult Education Quarterly, 57(2), 141–158.
• Danis, W. M., & Shipilov, A. V. (2002). A comparison of entrepreneurship development in two post-communist countries: The cases of Hungary and Ukraine. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 7(1), 67–94.
• Daft, L. R., & Weick, K. E. (1984). Toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems. Academy Management Review, 9(2), 284–295.
• Dearden, L., Reed, H., & Van Reenen, J. (2000). Who gains when workers train? Training and corporate productivity in a panel of British industries (IFS Working Papers W00/04). London, UK: Institute for Fiscal Studies.
• Debnath, S., Tandon, L. V., & Pointer, L. V. (2007). Designing business school courses to promote student motivation: An application of the job characteristics model. Journal of Management Education, 31(8), 812–835.
• EUROSTAT 2015. Unemployment statistics. Accessed through <http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics> on December 12th, 2016.
• Finaccord (2014). Global expatriates: Size, segmentation and forecast for the worldwide market. Accessed through <http://www.finaccord.com/ press-release_2014_global-expatriates_-size-segmentation-andforecast-for-the-worldwide-market.htm> on October 15th, 2017.
• Geller, L. (1982). The failure of self-actualization theory: A critique of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 22(2), 56–73.
• Giles, L., & Campbell, M. (2003). The productivity and skills challenge. Industrial and Commercial Training, 35(3), 99–103.
• Gliem, J. A., & Gliem, R. R. (2003). Calculating, interpreting, and reporting Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for Likert-type scales. Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, October 8–10, 2003, Columbus, OH, USA.
• Goodman, S. A., & Svyantek, D. J. (1999). Person-organization fit and contextual performance: Do shared values matter. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 55(2), 254–275.
• Green, K., Medlin, B., & Whitten, D. (2004). Developing optimism to improve performance: An approach for the manufacturing sector. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 104(2), 106–114.
• Griffin, M. D., Jones, B. A. P., & Spann, M. S. (2008). Knowledge vs. certification: Which is the premier emphasis for gen y business students? International Journal of Business Research, 8(4), 61–69.
• Guinipero, L., Handfield, B. R., & Eltantawy, R. (2006). Supply management evolution: Key skill sets for supply manager of the future. International journal of Operations and Production Management, 26(7), 822–844.
• Hancock, D. R. (2007). Effects of performance assessment on the achievement and motivation of graduate students. Active Learning in Higher Education, 8(219), 219–231.
• Hatch, M. J., & Cunliffe, A. L. (2006). Organization theory. Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Hofstede, G., & Bond, M. H. (1984). Hofstede’s culture dimensions an independent validation using Rokeach’s value survey. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15(4), 417–433.
• Hofstede, G. (2016). Geert and Gert Jan Hofstede’s site. Accessed through <http://geert-hofstede.com/> on December 5th, 2016.
• Katz, R. L. (1974). Skills of an effective administrator. Harvard Business Review, September-October, 90–102.
• Kazlauskaite, R., & Buciuniene, I. (2008). The role of human resources and their management in the establishment of sustainable competitive advantage. Inzinerine Ekonomika - Engineering Economics, 5(60), 78–84.
• Kumpikaite, V., & Ciarniene, R. (2008). New training technologies and their use in training and development activities: Survey evidence from Lithuania. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 9(2), 155–159.
• Kumpikaite, V. (2009). Human resource training and development importance in post communist countries in cross-cultural context. Transformations in Business & Economics, 8(3), 131–144.
• Kumpikaite, V., & Alas, R. (2009). Students’ attitudes to work and studies: Practical case. Economics and Management, (14), 582–588.
• Kumpikaite-Valiuniene, V., Glinska, E., Aslan, I., & Ramirez, A. M. (2016a). Students’ attitude to job performance: Intercultural study. Engineering Economics, 27(2), 195–204.
• Kumpikaite–Valiuniene, V., Rollnik-Sadowska, E., & Glinska, E. (2016b). Education and future work attitudes of students in Poland and Lithuania: A comparative analysis. May 27–28, 2016. In Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, 4, 345–354.
• Labbaf, H., Analoui, F., & Cusworth, J. W. (1996). Senior managers’ effectiveness: The case of the steel industry in Iran. Journal of Management Development, 15(9), 47–63.
• Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). Work motivation and satisfaction: Light at the end of the tunnel. American Psychological Science, 1(4), 240–246.
• Mankin, D. (2009). Human resource development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Maslow, A. H. (1967). A theory of metamotivation: The biological rooting of the value-life. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 7(2), 93–127.
• McGorry, S. Y. (2000). Measurement in a cross-cultural environment: Survey translation issues. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 3(2), 74–81.
• Noe, R. A. (2005). Employee training & development (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
• Nowicka, M. (2007). Mobile locations: Construction of home in a group of mobile transnational professionals. Global Networks, 7(1), 69–86.
• Peterson, T. O., & Van Fleet, D. D. (2004). The ongoing legacy of R. L. Katz: An updated typology of management skills. Management Decision, 42(10), 1297–1308.
• Ruban, L. M., McCoach, D. B., McGuire, J. M., & Reis, S. M. (2003). The differential impact of academic self-regulatory methods on academic achievement among university students with and without learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(3), 268–284.
• Savaneviciene, A, Stukaite, D., & Silingiene, V. (2008). Development of strategic individual competences. Inzinerine Ekonomika - Engineering Economics, 3(58), 81–88.
• Shoura, M. M., & Singh, A. (1999). Motivation parameters for engineering managers using Maslow’s theory. Journal of Management in Engineering, 15(5), 44–55.
• Stelter, N. Z. (2002). Gender differences in leadership: Current social issues and future organizational implications. Journal of Leadership Studies, 8(4), 88–99.
• Stretton, S. (1994). Maslow and the modern public servant: A lateral approach to performance and integrity in the public sector work environment. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 53(2), 144–151.
• Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 53–55.
• Trading Economics (2017). Portugal unemployment rate. Accessed through <https://tradingeconomics.com/portugal/unemployment-rate> & <https://tradingeconomics.com/portugal/youth-unemployment-rate> on October 12th, 2017.
• Trank, C. Q., & Rynes, S. L. (2003). Who moved our cheese? Reclaiming professionalism in business education. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2(2), 189–205.
• Wahba, M. A., & Bridwell, L. G. (1976). Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory. Organisational Behaviour and Human Performance, 15(2), 212–240.
• Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2002). Developing management skills (5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Zakarevicius, P., & Zuperkiene, E. (2008). Improving the development of managers’ personal and professional skills. Inzinerine Ekonomika - Engineering Economics, 5(60), 104–113.