Developing the Skills for International Business Management—The Implications of the Management Education Opportunity Grid

Abstract

This exploratory study addresses two issues: (1) how firms select applicants for positions in international management and, subsequently, evaluate the performance of international business education in Taiwan; and (2) what the important skills for international management professionals are, and how well university graduates are equipped with these skills. By surveying 108 executives and constructing a Management Education Opportunity Grid, this exploratory study has the following findings and suggestions: (1) firms tend to fill positions requiring international management skills by putting greater emphasis on international expertise, foreign language ability, and knowledge related to international business; (2) educational institutions are not able to fully satisfy the demands of the business community; (3) the top seven important skills for international managers are communications skills, initiative, business ethics, foreign language ability, overall learning ability, adaptive ability, and self-control; (4) in terms of offering the business community the highest degree of satisfaction, the top seven skills are computer skills, overall learning ability, teamwork, foreign language ability, initiative, word processing ability, and business ethics; and (5) educational institutions evidently should devote more resources to the areas identified as “urgent to improve” and “continuously improving.”