Volume 1, Issue 1, 2007

Different Skill-Set Views: A Four-Year Study of Marketing Students, Practitioners and Educators


James W. Bovinet
Monmouth College, Monmouth, IL
jbovinet@monm.edu



Ab st r a ct
Marketing educators realize business schools need to maintain a level of practitioner relevance in order to
attract students to their major. In other words, the skills and competencies learned by marketing majors
need to match the skills and competencies desired by industry. This exploratory research seeks to compare
skill-set perceptions between students, marketing educators, and marketing practitioners.
I nt r od uct i on
The transition from an academic structure to the demands of the working world is often confusing if not
traumatic. Hiring firms see their personnel decisions as an expensive investment in recruiting, selecting,
and training new employees. For students, at the end of a process requiring years of dedication and often
sacrifice, the job-search scenario represents the culmination of a significant long-term goal. For educators,
this process reflects a need to understand both the employers and the students perception of the process
and the skills desired by hiring firms (Tomkovick, Erffmeyer and Hietpas 1996).
Universities that produce students with viable marketplace skills hold an advantage over their competition.
Business academicians with shrinking department budgets and larger class sizes due to increased
enrollment must strive to meet the needs and wants of their two primary target markets the business
community and the students (Borin and Watkins 1998).
As marketing educators, we acknowledge ourselves to be accountable to two primary customer groups.
First, we are responsible for providing well-educated and skilled employees for business and organizations
in the employer marketplace. However, we are also responsible to a second group of customers those
students who pay tuition to our institutions to receive the education expected to prepare them for productive
and successful careers. (McCorkle et al. 2003).
This research represents an effort to see if marketing students perception of what is desirable in the
business world is the same, similar, or completely different from the perception of industry
executives/recruiters and marketing educators. It should be noted that this survey is exploratory in nature
and does not intend to imply a causal relationship. In addition, the author, by necessity, needed to make
qualitative judgments on the similarity of responses to the survey instrument. This research is presented as
a vehicle to suggest potential areas of further research and investigation.
This research is based on a preliminary study made in 1997 by a group of authors (Bovinet et al. 1997)
with the addition of the educators point of view.
Pa st Rese a r ch
During the past two decades, a number of research efforts have explored the question of the recruiting and
selection process of marketing major graduates. Authors have focused on identifying the factors used by
students when seeking marketing and sales positions (Castleberry 1990; Peterson and Devlin 1994), a list
of 50 different attributes relating to the recruiting process (Weilbaker and Merritt 1992), an assessment of
students attitudes and perceptions toward personal selling as a career (Swenson, Swimyard, Langrehr and
Smith 1993), their effectiveness in building relationships (Felson 2001), what skills and abilities are
communicated by students rsums (Barr and McNeilly 2002), how prepared marketing students are for
the job search (McCorkle, Alexander, Reardon and Kling 2003), and teaching marketing students the skills
that will make them competitive in the marketplace (Taylor 2003).

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Another area of research concentration embraced industry selection decisions. Specifically, these efforts
concentrated on attributes critical to business students (Hafer and Hoth 1981), attributes critical to
marketing students (Ursic & Hegstrom 1985; Boatwright and Stamps 1988), attribute ratings compiled by
high-level executives (Goldgehn 1989; Kelley and Gaideke 1990; McDaniel and White 1993; Borin and
Waktins 1998), agreement between practitioners and educators concerning the content of marketing
research courses (Stern and Tseng 2002), using employer input to assess marketing education
effectiveness (Ellen and Pilling 2002), and preparing marketing students for constantly changing business
landscapes (Ackerman, Gross and Perner 2003).
The findings from previous research have allowed educators to focus on the attributes and skills desired by
recruiters and executive decision makers in the job marketplace. These are the skills and abilities they
would like to see marketing majors bring with them to the employment scene. However, education is often a
self-fulfilling prophecy. Students tend to learn and retain what they think is important (selective
comprehension and selective retention). Therefore, an important question would be to find out if the
students perceptions of the skills and abilities they will need for the working world match what recruiters
and executives desire and what educators are providing.
Ba ckgr ou nd
Chonko and Roberts (1996) wrote a research paper detailing a specific business course and its attending
structure. This course was developed in answer to concerns expressed by the business community in an
earlier study (Chonko and Caballero, 1991) (these comments are not in any specific order):
1. Business graduates do not perform adequately in the areas of oral and written communication.
2. Business school curricula are falling farther behind in including new technologies, production methods,
global competition strategies, and the like.
3. Business school curricula are too tools oriented at the expense of qualitative thinking.
4. Business school graduates are not people-sensitive and therefore find it difficult to get along with others
who have different needs, goals, and work styles.
5. Business school faculty members do too little research and that which is done fails the test of relevance
and applicability to management.
6. Business school graduates do not know how to recognize common themes in business situations.
7. Business school graduates have not learned how to see the relationships among things that seem very
different.
8. Business school graduates cannot tolerate ambiguity and bring order out of seeming confusion.
9. Business school graduates are not capable of the type of thinking that comes from the many ways to look
at the world.
In short, potential employers would like to see these skills and competencies be foremost in a students skill
set:
1. Critical thinking
2. Cross-functional competence
3. Communication skills
4. Global and cultural awareness
5. Full competence in a discipline
6. Technological competence.
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The Chonko and Caballero (1991) study focused on a more generalized perception of business
undergraduates skills. In reality, for a majority of marketing students, their first entry-level position is
usually in sales or customer service (College Placement Council 2001). A study by Tomkovick, Erffmeyer
and Hietpas (1996) posits that entry-level sales candidates need to be aware of specific attributes
recruiters are looking for in graduates. They presented fourteen variables and asked both a recruiter
(industry) group and a student group to rate the characteristics from most important to least important (the
exact methodological procedure is available in the article). The final attribute list and corresponding Beta
values are listed below (rankings of each response in parentheses):

Recruiter Student
Oral Communication Skills .310 (1) .323 (1)
Energy/ Enthusiasm .192 (2) .151 (5)
Self-Confidence .185 (3) .184 (3)
Grade Point Average .183 (4) .196 (2)
Professionalism .183 (5) .122 (8)
Work Experience .158 (6) .148 (6)
Organizational Involvement .143 (7) .084
Relocation Flexibility .127 (8) .056
Appearance .121 (9) .146 (7)
Sincerity .121 (10) .164 (4)
Entrepreneurship .089 .102
Writing Skills .087 .122 (9)
Firm Familiarity .086 .094
Computer Skills .028 .117 (10)
Defined Career Goals .018 .074

In this survey, the students accurately predicted the skills that could be important to the recruiters, even
nailing four out of the first five (otherwise obviously hoping that a modicum of sincerity would make up for
any perceived deficiencies). While studying these results, the author wondered if the results would be
similar if the students were not prompted; e.g., given a list of static responses and then asked to rate them.
M e t hodol ogy
Business students at six small- to medium-size liberal arts colleges were surveyed for this research. They
were instructed to take out a piece of paper and write down the answers to the following question:
In your opinion, what are the three most important skills (no order necessary) a
marketing major should develop in college to facilitate their initial performance
in the working world?
The question was posed in upper-level marketing classes during the fall terms of 2001, 2002, and the
spring terms of 2003 and 2004. Most of the students were marketing majors (95%) and the rest were
business students of varying majors. The four surveys yielded 482 usable questionnaires with a total of
1446 usable responses. The first survey yielded 122 usable questionnaires and 367 total responses
(usable defined as readable or appropriate). Over 90%of the participants were juniors, seniors, or
graduate students. No designation as to gender or age was made. Naturally, some editing of answers was
necessary. Again, the students were not requested to indicate the relative importance of their answers.
In all cases, as much as feasible, the original nature of the student response was retained. If the response
did not fit a specific category, a new category was established. The students were not aware beforehand
that they were going to be asked this question.
Finally, no attempt was made to separate determinant attributes (what skills students think are important)
from important attributes (what skills students think will set them apart from other job applicants). The
thrust of this research was to determine whether more detailed investigation into the differences is
warranted.
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For the marketing educator survey, each page of the Marketing Management Association (MMA) member
guidebook for the corresponding year was copied (20 pages of names and work addresses and e-mail
addresses). Every third name was utilized and crossed off until 240 (60 per year) addresses were
identified. The educators were sent an e-mail with the same question (see above) and instructions on how
to send the answer back in an e-mail. The e-mailing produced 39 wrong addresses and 124 usable
answers (return rate: 61.7%of correct addresses). There is some room here for further research on the
efficacy of e-mail research vs. standard direct mail.
Using the American Marketing Associations International Member and Marketing Services Guide, every
10
th
name that was a practitioner and not an educator provided an e-mail address until 240 (60 per year)
addresses were reached. Again, the same question was proposed. Wrong addresses counted for 34
returns, and 111 usable questionnaires were received (return rate of correct addresses: 53.9%).
Table 1: Total Responses
Column 1 Column
2
Column
3
Column
4
Work experience/ background/ specific job
knowledge
195
Interpersonal communication skills/ work with
people
126 25 16
Hard working/ job enthusiasm/work ethic 101 1
Positive attitude/ goal setting/ faces challenges 92 1
Education 91
Ability to work in group setting/team skills 86 7 10
Computer Skills/ software knowledge/technology 62 18 8
Foreign language skills/ international
experience/travel
61
Ability to adapt to different situations/open-minded 57 1
Reliability/ dependability/responsibility 48 1
Quick learner/ intelligent 44 1 3
Versatility/flexibility/ cross-trained 36 3 13
Personal presentation/ appearance/ dress 34
Leadership/delegation abilities 34 1 4
Analytic abilities/ critical or higher-order thinking 31 42 21
Assertiveness/aggressiveness/ self-confidence 30 1 1
Time management skills/ organized 26 5 8
Oral communication/presentation skills 25 60 29
Honesty/ethical approach 25 1
Emotionally stable/ maturity 23
Taking initiative/ self-starter 22 1 3
Ability to handle stress/ stress management 21 1
Professionalism 20 1
Grades/educational performance/gpa 20
Creativeness 16 3 3
Specific company knowledge 16
Charm and wit/winning personality 12
Willingness to relocate 12
Ability in written communication 10 64 26
Ability to motivate others 9
Ability to stay focused on job 8
Willingness to help 8
Excellent rsum 7
Charitable/volunteer work 5
English-speaking skill 5
Loyalty 5
Ability to see customer viewpoint/ empathy 5 5 20
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Inquisitiveness/ curiosity 4 1 1
Research skills/ analysis abilities/ decision making 3 34 49
Good handshake 3
Punctuality 3
Race/sex difference 3
Handwriting skills 1
Unique family background 1
Fraternity/ sorority member 1
Telephone/ e-mail etiquette 5
Know marketing concept/ marketing principles 14 4
Know marketing segmentation 4 8
Know consumer behavior 3 1
Ability to work with financial data/numbers 10 18
Specific selling/ persuasion skills 8
Perception of emerging opportunities 8 7
Ability to market self 1
Socialization into working world 1
Listening skills 5 8
Target market knowledge/ psychographics 4 1
Product knowledge 5 8
Distribution channel knowledge 1 3
Using constructive criticism to advantage 1 3
Importance of marketing in all business 5 18
Write and understand a marketing plan 7
Ability to do SWOT analysis 1
A fascination with the world 1
Database management 3
Direct marketing skill 1
Negotiation skills 1 3
Forgiveness 1
Patience 1
Broad general education 1 1
Attention to detail 7
Broader world/economic view 13
Marketing services vs. tangible products 1
Know advertising 3
Healthy dose of skepticism 1
Tolerance for different people 5
Social skills and poise 1
Column 1: Identified skill
Column 2: Total number of responses student survey 2001-04 school years
Column 3: Total number of responses marketing educator survey 2001-04 school years
Column 4: Total number of responses marketing practitioner survey 2001-04 school years
Comp a ri son wi t h Pr e vi ous Re sea rch
Looking again at the Chonko and Roberts (1996) study and trying to match the list with the student survey
answers above, it is obvious that the desires of the business world and the intent of business students (in
parentheses) are strongly divergent.
1. Critical thinking (15)
2. Cross-functional competence (12)
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3. Communication skills (18, 29)
4. Global and cultural awareness
5. Full competence in a discipline
6. Technological competence (7)
Naturally, semantics plays a role in some of the differences. Most students are not likely to use the words
critical thinking when describing individual abilities. Taking that into consideration, only approximately
11.4%of the student responses could be grouped within the top six categories listed by Chonko and
Roberts (1996) as important attributes for potential employers. The business people are focusing on
distinct capabilities. The students are generally focusing on their own individual work background (work
experience, specific job knowledge) and their individual working style (hard working, perseverance, job
enthusiasm, positive attitude, determination, etc.).
Again, the entry-level sales typology (Tomkovick et al. 1996) lists the following characteristics as important
to a recruiter for a sales position:
Oral Communication Skills (2, 18)
Energy/ Enthusiasm (3, 4, 10, 21, 23, 38)
Self-Confidence (16)
Grade Point Average (5, 11, 24)
Professionalism (10, 23, 37, 41)
Work Experience (1, 3, 4, 6, 12, 14, 15, 21)
Organizational Involvement (9, 14, 17, 26, 37)
Relocation Flexibility (28)
Appearance (13)
Sincerity (10, 19, 20, 23, 36)
Entrepreneurship (9, 21, 25, 37)
Writing Skills (29)
Firm Familiarity (26)
Computer Skills (7)
Defined Career Goals (4)
These characteristics are much more aligned with the student responses. This result may go a long way to
explain why a majority of marketing students are placed in sales or customer service as an entry-level
position (College Placement Council 2004). This result indicates marketing students are consciously or
unconsciously training themselves for these positions and limiting their employment options.
Table 2: Fractional responses greater than .033
Column 1 Column
2
Column
3
Column
4
Work experience/ background/ specific job
knowledge
.135
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Interpersonal communication skills/ work with
people
.087 .067 .047
Hard working/ job enthusiasm/work ethic .070
Positive attitude/ goal setting/ faces challenges .064
Education .063
Ability to work in group setting/team skills .059
Computer skills/ software knowledge/technology .043 .049
Foreign language skills/ international
experience/travel
.042
Ability to adapt to different situations/open-minded .040
Reliability/ dependability/responsibility .033
Ability in written communication .172 .078
Oral communication/presentation skills .161 .086
Analytic abilities/ critical or higher-order thinking .116 .063
Research skills/ analysis abilities/ decision making .091 .149
Know marketing concept/ marketing principles .039
Ability to see customer viewpoint/ empathy .059
Ability to work with financial data/numbers .055
Importance of marketing in all businesses .055
Versatility/flexibility/ cross-trained .039
Broader world/economic view .039
Column 1: Responses
Column 2: Student survey fraction of total responses
Column 3: Marketing educator survey fraction of total responses
Column 2: Marketing practitioner survey fraction of total responses

Table 3: Comparison of top 4 responses
Column 1 Column
2
Column
3
Column
4
Work experience/ background/ specific job
knowledge
.135
Interpersonal communication skills/ work with
people
.087
Hard working/ job enthusiasm/work ethic .070
Positive attitude/ goal setting/ faces challenges .064
Ability in written communication .172 .078
Oral communication/presentation skills .161 .086
Analytic abilities/ critical or higher-order thinking .116 .063
Research skills/ analysis abilities/ decision making .091 .149
Column 1: Responses
Column 2: Student survey fraction of total responses
Column 3: Marketing educator survey fraction of total responses
Column 2: Marketing practitioner survey fraction of total responses
The results are fairly dramatic. Taking only the top four responses (Table 3), there is exact agreement
between marketing educators and practitioners concerning the skills they would like to see marketing
students develop. Again, the practitioners and educators are focusing on distinct capabilities. The
students are generally focusing on their own individual work background (work experience, specific job
knowledge) and their individual working style (hard working, perseverance, job enthusiasm, positive
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attitude, determination, etc.).
Educators and practitioners align on issues of written communication, oral communication (including
presentation skills), and analytical, critical, or higher order thinking. As one educator succinctly listed his
three answers:
1. Learn to think.
2. Learn to write.
3. Learn to speak.
Practitioners consistently commented on recent graduates inability to take a problem and follow it through.
The students have learned the mechanics of research and analysis, but do not know how to apply the
results to the marketplace. This transfer from research to decision making was the most common
complaint of marketing businesspeople.
In addition, the practitioners point out some interesting areas where work is needed. Many said new
employees were not able to see the marketing process from the viewpoint of the customer (empathy). They
also lamented the students lack of a world view and the place of the U.S. economy in it. A number of
people felt recent graduates did not have enough financial background and that their number-crunching
ability was poor at best.
Con cl u si on
There is much here to suggest further research. The efficacy of presenting to the students a set list of
attributes (Tomkovick et al. 1996) or utilizing an open-ended question is debatable and needs to be
examined in a more isomorphic test sequence. The open-ended questions produce a great deal of
outrider results, but these answers are just as valid as the prepared ones. In addition, future studies
should be more stringent in terms of correlation between student answers and variables like gender, major,
age, GPA, etc. to see if there are more subtle differences to the results.
In terms of future research, a direct pairing of response formats would be more efficient (using both
open-ended or close-ended responses together). As suggested by reviewers, this data could be utilized in
conjunction with campus recruiters to develop an instrument that might be used by recruiters, students,
and faculty to formally compare their perspectives.
Marketing educators need to show current and prospective students a definitive match between what
industry leaders want in graduates and what their curriculum is addressing. Universities and the public are
asking if the schools and departments are delivering full value for the dollars (tax and otherwise) spent. In
addition, parents and students are questioning whether their investment will directly impact employment
decisions upon graduation (Abernethy and Gray 1995). It is not enough to accept the canard that sales
and customer service are the natural entry-level position for marketing majors. For the marketing
curriculum to be its most vibrant, it must show its students the skills and attributes which will give them the
highest career flexibility possible.
Students are consumers. It is important to be able to show them and their parents a practical end-product:
a degree in marketing which is relevant to the pursuit of a rewarding career in the field.
While the issue of how to attract majors is important it is also necessary to deal
with the question of retaining students. While there does not appear to be a
problem with majors leaving marketing once they have committed, perhaps the
best long-term means of attracting majors is through the word-of-mouth
promotion which comes from the satisfied consumer/ student. (Keillor, Bush &
Bush, 1993; 128)
The marketing concept (consumer first) dictates that educators and institutions of higher learning meet
their customers needs (be a service provider) prior to fulfilling the institutions needs (Nonis, Hudson, Ford
and Logan 1995; Kamvounias 1999). This research suggests that one way to accomplish this goal is to
make marketing majors aware of the skills and competencies that are desirable in the working world before
they are too far along in their degree pursuit and have little opportunity to change their focus. A student
armed with this knowledge can then reasonably (or with advisor or mentor assistance) assess his/ her
program in this light.
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Students expectations are the key to their satisfaction with their higher education experience. Any
discrepancy between actual performance (educational attainments) and perceived performance (skills and
abilities needed in the workplace) will produce the dreaded cognitive dissonance. It behooves marketing
educators to inform their current majors and potential majors, as soon as possible in their college career,
that no matter how gifted with charm and wit and a hardy handshake, there are other skills that
practitioners see as more important.
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