Title: Malaysian graduates' employability skills enhancement: an application of the importance performance analysis

Authors: Mohamad Shukri Abdul Hamid; Rafikul Islam; Abd Manaf Noor Hazilah

Addresses: School of Quantitative Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia ' Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Malaysia, 53100 Gombak, Malaysia ' Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Malaysia, 53100 Gombak, Malaysia

Abstract: In an era of globalisation and competitiveness, employers are looking for versatile graduates who are able to drive their organisations to compete successfully in the market place. Now-a-days, obtaining a good degree is no longer sufficient to get a job. Graduates should equip themselves, not only with technical skills, but more importantly, with soft skills. The main objectives of this study are to identify Malaysian graduates' employability skills, to identify the priority of each skill and to highlight the gap between the importance of graduates' employability skills to employers and their level of satisfaction on those skills. In general, the results of the gap analysis showed that employers perceive graduates' employability skills performance as being lower than the importance assigned to those skills. The widest gap was found in communication skills, especially the skill of the English language usage. Using the importance-performance analysis (IPA), 13 attributes fell into the improvement quadrant.

Keywords: employability skills; IPA; importance performance analysis; job matching theory; higher education; Malaysia; graduate employability; skills enhancement; communication skills; English language usage.

DOI: 10.1504/JGBA.2014.064078

Journal for Global Business Advancement, 2014 Vol.7 No.3, pp.181 - 197

Published online: 30 Apr 2015 *

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