ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Excellent academic performance does not ensure a job offer to the fresh graduates. Employers are now looking at the graduates’ competencies. There is a tense among undergraduates to compete in the battle of competencies, which are demanded by the industry. This study aimed to explore the competencies perceived by hospitality undergraduates in both public and private universities in Malaysia. The sample was selected using purposive and snowball sampling methods, where semi-structured interviews were conducted to the respondents. The findings of this study reveal eight core competencies perceived by the respondents: communication skill, lifelong learning and information management, teamwork skill, technical skill, moral and professional ethics, critical thinking and problem solving, leadership skill, and entrepreneurial skill. The most common skill delineated by the respondents was the communication skill, while the least was the entrepreneurial skill. This study is anticipated to give an understanding about the competencies obtained and possessed by the undergraduates, although there are various competencies infused in the curriculum. It is also expected by exploring the components of the skill, the effort to bridge the skill gap between university and industry will be less severe, which later enhance the quality of the fresh hospitality graduates.
Abdul Karim, A. M., Abdullah, N., Abdul Rahman, A. M., Noah, S. M., Wan Jaafar, W. M., Othman, J., Said, H. (2012). A nationwide comparative study between private and public university students’ soft skills. Asia Pacific Education Review, 13(3), 541–548.
AlBattat, A. R., Som, A. P. M., & Helalat, A. S. (2014). Higher Dissatisfaction Higher Turnover in the Hospitality Industry. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 4(2), 45–52.
Alistair, G., & Mohd Zahari, M. S. (1994). Hospitality education in Malaysia: Filling the skill gap. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 6(6), 27–31.
Assante, L. M., Huffman, L., & Harp, S. S. (2008). Conceptualization of quality indicators for US based four-year undergraduate hospitality management programs. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 7(2), 51-71.
Bakar, A. R., Mohamed, S., & Hanafi, I. (2007). Employability skills: Malaysian employers perspectives. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 2(1), 263–274.
Balakrishnan, N. (2017). Malaysian fresh grads can't get jobs because they have attitude problems. Retrieved from http://says.com/my/news/malaysian-fresh-grads-can-t-get-jobs-because-of-their-attitude.
Barry, O. G., & Sillitoe, J. F. (2001). Identifying the perceived barriers to participation in tertiary education among hospitality employees. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 13(1), 21-29.
Baum, T., Amoah, V., & Spivack, S. (1997). Policy dimensions of human resource management in the tourism and hospitality industries. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 9(5/6), 221-229.
Batt, R. (2004). Who benefits from teams? Comparing workers, supervisors, and managers. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 43(1), 183-212.
Bernama. (2017). Tourism sector to maintain a position as a 3rd largest contributor to the economy.Retreived from https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/09/284233/tourism-sector-maintain-position-3rd-largest-contributor-economy
Benders, J., & Van Veen, K. (2001). What's in a fashion? Interpretative viability and management fashions. The organization, 8(1), 33-53.
Bharwani, S., & Butt, N. (2012). Challenges for the global hospitality industry: An HR perspective. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 4(2), 150–162.
Breiter, D., & Dements, C. J. (1996). Hospitality management curricula for the 21st century. Hospitality & Tourism Educator, 8(1), 57-60.
Brungardt, C. (2011). The Intersection Between Soft Skill Development and Leadership Education. Journal of Leadership Education, 10(1), 1-22.
Chan, J. K. L. (2011). Enhancing the employability of and level of soft skills within tourism and hospitality graduates in Malaysia: The Issues and challenges. Journal of Tourism, 12(1), 1-16.
Cho, W., Schmelzer, C. D., & McMahon, P. S. (2002). Preparing hospitality managers for the 21st century: The merging of just-in-time education, critical thinking, and collaborative learning. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 26(1), 23-37.
Chung-Herrera, B. G., Enz, C. A., & Lankau, M. J. (2003). A competencies model: Grooming future hospitality leaders. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 44(3), 17-25.
Fisher, G. (2012). Effectuation, causation, and bricolage: A behavioral comparison of emerging theories in entrepreneurship research. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 36(5), 1019-1051.
Fischer, F. (2003). Reframing public policy: Discursive politics and deliberative practices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. (1994). Competing for the Future. Harvard business review, 72(4), 122-128.
Hamilton, B. H., Nickerson, J. A., & Owan, H. (2003). Team incentives and worker heterogeneity: An empirical analysis of the impact of teams on productivity and participation. Journal of Political Economy, 111(3), 465-497.
Hee, K. (2008). Career expectations and requirements of undergraduate
In-Text Citation: (Mohamad, Osman, & Ishak, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Mohamad, S. F., Osman, M. N., & Ishak, F. A. C. (2018). Exploring the Competencies Perceived by the Hospitality Undergraduates in Public and Private Universities. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(15), 331–349.
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode