Developing the Future Workforce: An Approach for Integrating Interpersonal Skills Into the MBA Classroom

    Authors

    W. L. Bedwell; S. M. Fiore;E. Salas

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Acad. Manag. Learn. Educ.

    Keywords

    BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATION SCALES; JOB-PERFORMANCE; SOCIAL SKILL; TRAINING; EVALUATION; LEARNING OUTCOMES; TEAM; SCIENCE; ABILITY; PERSONALITY; VALIDATION; Education & Educational Research; Management

    Abstract

    Interpersonal skills (IPS) are crucial in today's business environment. As collaboration is the foundation of business operations, executives consistently rank interpersonal skills as a critical competency for a successful workforce. Yet, relying on training and development efforts after hiring is not enough-especially when funding for "soft skills" training is being cut across work domains. Because organizations need to select interpersonally competent individuals who can successfully engage in interactions immediately upon hire, students must acquire effective interpersonal skills before entering the workforce. To help achieve this goal, we utilize a taxonomy of interpersonal skills derived from a comprehensive review of the literature to recommend educational techniques that instructors can use to add interpersonal skills training in their teaching. The overarching goal of our work here is to use the science of training as a stepping-stone to facilitate instructors' integration of interpersonal skills into existing MBA courses.

    Journal Title

    Academy of Management Learning & Education

    Volume

    13

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    171

    Last Page

    186

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000340856300003

    ISSN

    1537-260X

    Share

    COinS