Essential employable skill sets in management graduates for finance job roles in India

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shruti Srinivasan ◽  
Ravikumar Thangaraj

PurposeThere has been an increase in the number of highly qualified management graduates specialized in finance from various esteemed universities in India, thus increasing the competition for finance job roles in the country. This, therefore, brings in the need for the employees or the prospective candidates to mold their soft skills so as to make them desirable by the companies and hence employable. The purpose of this paper is to provide a list of skills required by management graduates to become employable for finance job roles from the perspective of corporate executives. This list will enable prospective candidates to prepare themselves for a career in the field of finance.Design/methodology/approachThe research was carried out through the collection of data from 117 finance professionals with a minimum work experience of 5 years with the help of structured questionnaires. This was then analyzed through factor analysis and the list of 15 factors was obtained.FindingsA list of 15 essential factors was obtained through the analysis of the data. The essential skills included empathetic and judicious behavior, professional etiquette and employee well-being, ethical behavior, conflict management, change analysis and prediction; practicality and organizational presence of mind; social and moral presence of mind; self-confidence and effective written communication; effective interpersonal communication and employee value systems; responsibility and self-awareness; problem diagnosis and problem-solving; real-time work and activity experience; professional development and advancement; technology rationalization and effective information generation. The findings also included that a candidate should be able to effectively present crucial information and should possess practical advisory skills.Originality/valueThe study will be highly beneficial for management graduates who have specialized in finance to secure finance job roles in India. This paper will enable the students to prepare themselves in the essential soft skills required for these job roles apart from technical knowledge and hard skills.

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis M. Elder

Purpose This paper aims to survey the moral psychology of emoji, time-restricted messaging and other non-verbal elements of nominally textual computer-mediated communication (CMC). These features are increasingly common in interpersonal communication. Effects on both individual well-being and quality of intimate relationships are assessed. Results of this assessment are used to support ethical conclusions about these elements of digital communication. Design/methodology/approach Assessment of these non-verbal elements of CMC is framed in light of relevant literature from a variety of fields, including neuroscience, behavioral economics and social psychology. The resulting ethical analysis is informed by both Aristotelian and Buddhist virtue ethics. Findings This paper finds that emoji and other nonverbal elements of CMC have positive potential for individual well-being and interpersonal communication. They can be used to focus and direct attention, express and acknowledge difficult emotions and increase altruistic tendencies. Research limitations/implications This paper is conceptual, extrapolating from existing literature to investigate possibilities rather than reporting on novel experiments. It is not intended to substitute for empirical research on use patterns and their effects. But by identifying positive potential, it can help both users and designers to support individual and relational well-being. Practical implications The positive effects identified here can be incorporated into both design and use strategies for CMC. Social implications Situating ethical analysis of these trending technologies within literature from the social sciences on the effects of stylized faces, disappearing messages and directed attention can help us both understand their appeal to users and best practices for using them to enrich our social lives. Originality/value The paper uses empirically informed moral psychology to understand a deceptively trivial-looking phenomenon with wide-ranging impacts on human psychology and relationships.


Kybernetes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Živa Veingerl Čič ◽  
Matjaž Mulej ◽  
Simona Šarotar Žižek

Purpose This paper aims to present the findings of the research about the role of different intelligences in overcoming the differences in employee value system as a source of success. Design/methodology/approach Based on their previous research, the authors used desk and informal field research, the Dialectical Systems Theory and its Law of Requisite Holism. Findings The integration of one’s personal development with one’s individual intelligence influences human value systems. Knowledge and developing of various types of intelligence matter: it lets individuals develop faster, in the long run. The higher one’s level of intelligence is, the easier one finds it to face problems or experience. Thus, one is becoming a mature personality, who can overcome extreme alternatives to the briefed human values. This process can also receive meaningful support from the exercise of social responsibility, which is one’s responsibility for one’s impacts on society, i.e. people and nature. Success of the process depends on “personal requisite holism”. The top managers need significantly more emotional and social competences than the others. Research limitations/implications The topic is researched with qualitative analysis in desk and informal field research. Quantitative methodological approach took place in the authors’ cited previous publications. Practical implications Work distribution makes the leaders and subordinates differ in prevailing values, too. Mastering of these differences will support business success, survival of jobs included and well-being of coworkers from both groups. Application of the cognitive, emotional and spiritual intelligences might help the organization meet this need. The fourth – physical intelligence – supports ensuring the psychological well-being at work; from this, other mentioned intelligences have been developed. Mastering of these differences can also receive support from methods of creative cooperation, social responsibility and personal requisite holism; the authors have reported about these elsewhere, and only point to these in this study. Social implications The more holistic intelligences system generates a more socially responsible society. Originality/value No similar concept is offered in the available literature.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 887-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Sheikh ◽  
Ming Lim

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into how engineering employees perceive the functional, ethical and political dimensions of the corporate brand and its meaning(s) for other stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores brand meaning and brand attachment in the case of employees in an engineering consultancy firm operating within the defense and artillery systems sector. In-depth interviews with managers and consultants at a cross-section of organizational levels along with thematic and reflexive interpretation of qualitative data have been carried out. Findings – Identity-based definitions of the brand, the definitions of a “strong engineering brand”, associations of the corporate brand with engineers’ personal brands, brand essence and integration and the meanings of a military brand have all been raised, explored and discussed from the engineer’s perspective. Research limitations/implications – This paper is among the first of its kind to pursue brand research in an engineering-intensive firm with military and defense brand associations. Future research is encouraged to add further detail and verification to the themes and findings of this paper. Practical implications – The military context is enmeshed with high levels of sensitivity and difficult research access particularly upon brand-related academic research. This has led in part to very limited marketing and branding knowledge into this setting despite its significance. Social implications – Given that the engineering consulting sectors are among the top drivers of employment and knowledge advancement, and given that brand associations have considerable impacts on employees’ identification, self-awareness and emotional well-being, understanding the dynamism and complexities of employee-brand associations is inevitable in these settings. Originality/value – The defense context has unique characteristics and has hitherto remained an under-researched context with respect to branding. This is despite that the defense sector deserves to be in the spotlight because professionals’ voices are rarely heard and acknowledged within the branding literature.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 635-663
Author(s):  
Zejiang Zhou ◽  
Haoran Wang ◽  
Xiaoyan Cheng

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether the presence of returnees serving on the audit committee affects auditor choice in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachUsing a logistic model, this study tests the relationship between the presence of returnees in the audit committee and auditor selection and how this relationship varies with the level of agency costs. The authors also perform several other additional analyses to ensure the robustness of the results, including propensity score matching, Heckman’s two-stage model and change analysis.FindingsUsing A-share listed companies in China from 2008 to 2016, the authors find a positive association between the presence of audit committee returnees and a demand for high-quality auditors and such association is strengthened in firms with a higher level of agency costs. The authors further find that discretionary accruals and the incidence of financial restatements are lower in firms with audit committee returnees.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this study focuses on audit committee members with foreign study or foreign work experience, it remains to be seen if similar effects could be achieved through foreign ownership or work experience with foreign customers or suppliers.Originality/valueThis study provides evidence on a new channel of international knowledge spillover through which the emigration of talent increases board monitoring by demanding high-quality auditors in an emerging economy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 610-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Sutton ◽  
Helen M Williams ◽  
Christopher W Allinson

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate whether self-awareness, which is associated with general well-being and positive life outcomes, is also of specific benefit in the workplace. The authors tested the relationship between self-awareness and job-related well-being, and evaluated two different interventions designed to improve dispositional self-awareness at work. Design/methodology/approach – Full-time employees took part in these training interventions and completed questionnaires using a switching-replications design. Questionnaires measured dispositional self-attentiveness (reflection and rumination) and job well-being (satisfaction, enthusiasm and contentment) at three time points over a period of six weeks. Statistical analyses were complemented with qualitative analysis of reported impacts. Findings – Self-awareness was positively associated with job-related well-being and was improved by training. Employees reported gaining a greater appreciation of diversity, improved communication with colleagues and increased confidence. Research limitations/implications – Sample size limited the extent to which the relatively weak relationships between the concepts could be identified. Practical implications – Self-awareness is demonstrated to be of value at work, associated with higher well-being and improvements in several positive occupational outcomes. The self-awareness training is more likely to result in active work-based improvements than in reflective changes. Originality/value – Dispositional self-awareness is shown to be subject to change through training. The study demonstrates the value of self-awareness at work and identifies a range of related work outcomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-377
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Tsirkas ◽  
Alexandra-Paraskevi Chytiri ◽  
Nancy Bouranta

PurposePrevious studies have shown that soft skills play a significant role in applicants' employability and in the job search, recruitment, selection and hiring process. However, past research indicates a gap in perceptions of soft skills, between employees and employers. The present empirical research aims to explore this gap in perceptions and to suggest effective ways to resolve any mismatch. Demographical factors affecting these perceptions are also taken into consideration for the analysis.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research design has been applied. The survey undertaken, covers all three main sectors of employment (manufacturing, retail and services), with 151 employee–employer dyads around Greece participating in the survey. Paired sample t-test, independent t-test and One-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data.FindingsThe results show a gap between employees' and their subsequent employers' perceptions of employees' soft skills. Employees seem to regard their skills more highly than do their employers, whereas employers seem to consider employees as not properly equipped with the necessary soft skills. These findings are a worrying sign for business operations and suggest that difficulties in manager–employee co-operation can arise.Practical implicationsThis study has both theoretical and practical implications. It adds to the literature in human resources appraisal process by identifying soft skills perceived differently by employees and employers. It also highlights the reasons for that gap and makes suggestions for the enhancement of required skills.Originality/valueThe majority of previous studies in the field focus either on employees' or employers' perceptions, without comparing them. In addition, the few former studies attempt a comparison focused on students as employees or trainees, with no previous work experience. The current study focuses on employees whose work experience has already shaped perceptions of their skills and employability.


Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Self-awareness was positively associated with job-related well-being and was improved by training. Employees reported gaining a greater appreciation of diversity, improved communication with colleagues and increased confidence. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 602-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Mahfouz

Purpose Based on a need to utilize strategies and develop social-emotional competency skills of school administrators, the purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE), a mindfulness-based professional development program, on the leadership and well-being of 13 school administrators. Design/methodology/approach The empirical data consist of in-depth interviews with 13 administrators before and after the implementation of CARE program, observation notes from shadowing their activities during school time and attending the CARE program as a participant observer. Employing the pro-social classroom model (Jennings and Greenberg, 2009) as a theoretical foundation, the paper is based on an ongoing, iterative data analysis process, following the coding and interpretive techniques of grounded theory. Findings The positive outcomes that emerged from the data relate to improved leadership skills, such as increased self-reflection, better relationships and attendance to self-care. These skills are tied to increased self-awareness, self-management and self-compassion. Participants also reported an improved ability to recognize their emotional reactions, which enabled them to better understand their leadership roles in shaping their school climates. Research limitations/implications The findings reveal significant insights about the implementation of social-emotional, mindfulness-based professional development with school administrators and potential outcomes. Implications for professional development that fosters school administrators’ social-emotional competencies are discussed. Originality/value As a study of one of the first implementations of mindfulness-based professional development programs among school principals, this research illuminates the specific benefits of such programs for school leaders and how mindfulness could be integral in their lives and education. Specifically, this study is one of the first to reveal how the CARE professional development program influences principals’ well-being and leadership.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alcione Moreira Marques ◽  
Adriana Queiroz Botelho Fóz ◽  
Eduardo Guedes Queiroz Lopes ◽  
Luiza Hiromi Tanaka

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of a program to develop socioemotional competence (SEC) focused on self-awareness and emotional self-management as a resource for the well-being and stress relief of teachers at a Brazilian public school in a socially vulnerable region.Design/methodology/approachEighteen (18) teachers took part in a participatory action research approach. The data collection techniques used were: conversation wheel, individual interview, participant observation and focus group. The emotional education program (PEEP) was conducted in ten 90-min meetings. The data were analyzed using thematic content analysis.FindingsThere were two categories identified: an increase in the teachers' self-awareness and emotional self-management skills. These findings yielded reports of improvements in their ability to deal with their own emotions, better management of the emotional demands of daily school life and positive reflexes on their well-being and teaching practice.Research limitations/implicationsDealing better with emotions involves several skills that need time to be developed and assimilated and PEEP has been applied in a relatively short time. In addition, its application in a wider range of situations has not been evaluated.Originality/valueThis study is linked to a few others that were carried out on the effects that intervention programs had on a teacher's SEC. It was evident that following the steps of the action research enhanced the researcher's connection with the teachers, and it provided a genuine understanding of what it means to be studied. Because of this, it was possible to get a deeper understanding of teachers' emotional states, and the actions and results were legitimized by the participants.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 860-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Musrrat Parveen ◽  
Iman Adeinat

Purpose Most studies focusing on the transformational leadership style present the conclusion that compared with other leadership styles tends to be associated with a lower level of workplace stress experienced by employees. Yet, the literature is by no means extensive enough to put the issue of the relationship between this style of leadership and employee stress to rest. Given that this is the case, the purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between the transformational leadership style and the work stress (WS) of employees in the banking industry. The extent to which this relationship leads to employee burnout and the extent to which WS correlates with multiple factors, such as demographic characteristics (gender, work experience and marital status), are examined in this context. Design/methodology/approach In total, 600 questionnaires were distributed to employees of government and non-government banks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in late 2017. The final sample comprised 250 complete sets, which were used in the analysis. The questionnaire consisted of four sections: transformational dimensions, WS, burnout and demographic profile. Before the authors proceeded to test the hypotheses developed in this study, the authors performed an exploratory factor analysis on the items designed to measure transformational dimensions, WS and burnout. Next, the authors performed confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicate that bank managers who use the transformational leadership style significantly increased the job-related stress of employees, indicating that bank managers who use a transformational leadership style increase the job-related stress of subordinate employees. However, the results in regard to the transformational leadership style show a significant though small positive effect on employee burnout, indicating that this type of leadership decreases employee burnout. Furthermore, job-related stress has a significant mediating effect in relation to the transformational leadership style and subordinate employees’ burnout. Finally, the results indicate that married status and a high level of work experience are each associated with lower job stress compared with unmarried status and a low level of work experience. Originality/value This research paper contributes to the literature by investigating transformational leadership in the banking industry – an industry of fundamental economic importance in Saudi Arabia and globally. The research results, unlike those reported in most other studies to date, strongly suggest that the transformational leadership style can be associated with a high level of workplace stress, thereby pointing to new conclusions about this style and its effects on the health and well-being of the majority of employees. The results of this paper should be carried forward in this research direction, as doing so has the potential to challenge and even override what have become assumptions about the positive effects of the transformational leadership style. The insights derived from this research paper, therefore, should benefit academics and practitioners who can reference the outcomes in designing programs to support the recruitment, selection and development of effective leaders in the banking sector – especially given the broader ramifications both for overall firm performance and for the well-being of the majority of the country’s employees.


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