Background/Problematization: The audit profession and its credibility have been threatenedby audit failures and corporate collapses, and the inability to detect and deter fraud has beenproven costly to audit firms. Regarding the complexity of detection and deterrence of fraud,researchers have suggested the brainstorming session as a fundamental assignment. Where ithas been shown that the brainstorming session seldom is a function of one single individual;it is rather a team effort. Prior researchers within audit team research have investigated teamcomposition in terms of demographic factors whereas other domains of research have movedbeyond this small and narrow view and are now investigating team composition regardingdiversity in soft and hard skills. This is yet to be explored within the audit profession and theresearchers hope to fill this void and provide useful insights through this dissertation. Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to explain how a diverse set of soft skills and adiverse set of hard skills affect the efficiency in the brainstorming session and how thisrelationship is contingent on a tall organizational hierarchy. Methodology: The researchers have adopted a positivist research philosophy together with adeductive research approach. The quantitative method has been used to collect data where theresearchers applied the use of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent out to individualswithin the audit profession where the authors aimed for audit associates and senior associates.The response rate was 20 %. The data were further analysed through a Spearman CorrelationMatrix, component principal analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, and hierarchicalmoderated multiple regression analysis. Findings: The findings indicate a positive correlation between diversity in soft skills andefficiency in the brainstorming session where the tall organizational hierarchy has amoderating effect on this relationship.

Nach erfolgreicher Antragstellung wurde zum 1. Juli 2010 die Kompetenzschule ELSYS (Employability and Leadership Skills for Young Saxon Researchers) an der Research Academy Leipzig eingerichtet. Die Finanzierung der Kompetenzschule erfolgte zu 100 Prozent aus Mitteln des Europäischen Sozialfonds (ESF) gemäß der Richtlinie ESF Hochschule und Forschung des Sächsischen Staatsministeriums für Wissenschaft und Kunst (SMWK). Hierbei sollte das Ziel einer nachhaltigen Verstetigung des Projekts an der Universität verfolgt werden. Die Mittelzuweisung und Ausgabenprüfung gemäß der Förderrichtlinie erfolgten durch die Sächsische Aufbaubank (SAB). Der Bericht umfasst die Aktivitäten und Ergebnisse des ersten Förderzeitraumes vom 1. Juli 2010 bis zum 30. Juni 2013. Es wird dargestellt, wie die Lern- und Weiterbildungsinhalte und -strategien der Kompetenzschule dazu beigetragen haben, ein umfangreiches Angebot für den Erwerb von (überfachlichen) Handlungskompetenzen für Promovierende und Postdocs nachhaltig zu entwickeln. Ergebnisse und Alleinstellungsmerkmale werden anhand des Konzepts und der Struktur der Kompetenzschule ELSYS herausgearbeitet und bewertet. Ein Konzept für den Förderzeitraum bis 2014 und darüber hinausreichende Entwicklungsstrategien werden skizziert.

Soft skills include communication skills and personality traits that are important when choosing a dentist, but other factors within the dental office also seem to be important for patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate factors that are important to people in a dentist as well as characteristics of the ideal dentist and to evaluate possible age-, gender-, and residence of living specific differences. A telephone survey with participants aged 35 years or older (ag—age group: ag 1: 35–50 years, ag 2: 70–84 years, ag 3: >85 years) in three German cities was conducted. Data were analyzed with respect to gender and age. Most of the participants (n = 298, 64.2%), regardless of their own gender, age, or place of residence did not care about the gender of the dentist. In general, the price of the treatment does not play a role in choosing the ideal dentist. Women differ significantly from men in their choice of dentist (ANOVA p < 0.001 (preference of non-smoker), ANOVA p < 0.001 (preference, that the dentist does not smell of smoke, importance of appearance (ANOVA p < 0.001) and psycho-social skills, etc.). As age increases, professional experience and psycho-social competencies are rated as important. With the increase in age, the mean value of the desired years of professional experience increases without significant differences between age groups. The importance of advanced training (ANOVA p < 0.001; Bonferoni correction: significant difference between ag 1 and ag 2 p < 0.001, and ag 1 and ag 3 p < 0.001) decreases with age. Especially for participants aged 70 to 84 years, a relationship of trust is important. Between the places of residence, statistical differences for almost all surveyed items were found (e.g., importance that the dentist speaks the patients’ native language ANOVA p < 0.001, Bonferoni correction: significant difference between Berlin and Leipzig, Berlin and Mainz, and Leipzig and Mainz (each p < 0.001), dentist has a specialization ANOVA p < 0.001, Bonferoni correction: significant difference between Berlin and Leipzig and Berlin and Mainz (each p < 0.001), etc.). Dentists should be trained to develop psycho-social skills to meet the special demands of the increasing older population.

Rollen som projektledare kräver att denne ska ha flera kompletterande kompetenser inom många olika områden för att driva projekt och att hitta rätt person till projektledartjänsten kan därför ses som en stor utmaning ur rekryterarens perspektiv. Projektledaren bör ha en kombination av både hård och mjuk kompetens, samt förståelse för organisationsmiljön som denne ska vara verksam i. Syftet med studien är att beskriva och skapa djupare förståelse kring hur ett fåtal rekryterare utvärderar, fastställer befattningskraven och värderar projektledarens kompetens i en rekryteringsprocess samt hur urvalet av de mest intressanta ansökande till tjänsten görs. Forskarna till studien har valt en kvalitativ metod med semi-strukturerade intervjuer för att samla in resultat från fyra rekryterare. Forskarna har använt fallstudie som undersökningsdesign för att få djupare förståelse kring rekryterares perspektiv och hur de arbetar i de olika stegen i rekryteringsprocessen. De hårda kompetenserna är projektledarens grundförutsättningar för att kunna driva ett projekt och kliva in i projektrollen. Resultatet visar att projektledarens hårda kompetens fastställs och utreds tidigt i rekryteringsprocessen. Projektledarens mjuka kompetens anses vara svårare att definiera, mäta och utvärdera, ur ett subjektivt synsätt och därmed är det bra att använda flera bedömningsmetoder för att utvärdera dessa. Oftast sker detta i ett senare skede i rekryteringsprocessen, efter granskning av CV och personligt brev. Rekryterarna anser att det är viktigt att projektledaren har förståelse och insikt i den organisation som projektledare ska vara verksam i. Denna kunskap och förståelse ställs inte alltid som ett krav utan det ses mer som en fördel om projektledaren besitter viss branscherfarenhet till visa typer av projekt. Projektledarens fokus ska ligga på att driva projektet framåt och fungera som en samordnare. / The role as the project manager requires several complementary skills in many different areas to pursue projects and finding the right person for the project management position can therefore be seen as a major challenge from the recruiters perspective. The project manager should have a combination of both hard and soft skills,and an understanding of organizational environment which the person will be working in. The purpose of the study is to describe and create a deeper understanding of how a few recruiters evaluate establish job requirements and evaluate the project manager's competence in the recruitment process and how the selection is made for the most interesting candidate for the post. The writers of the study have chosen to use a qualitative method of semi-structured interviews to collect results from four recruiters. The writers of the study used a case study research design in order to get deeper understanding of recruiters’generalperspective and how they work in the various stages of the recruitment process. The hard skills can be seen as the project manager’s prerequisites to run a project and stepping into the project role. The results show that the project manager's hard skills are set and investigated early in the recruitment process. The soft skills are considered more difficult to define, measure and evaluate, from a subjective approach and therefore it is good to use multiple methods to evaluate these. Usually this is done at a later stage in the recruitment process, after reviewing the resume and personal letter. Recruiters believe it is important that the project manager has earned anunderstanding and insight into the organization that the project manager will be working in. This knowledge and understanding is not always a requirement, but can be seenmore as an advantage if the project is set in a specific industry which requirea specific knowledge. The project manager's focus will be to drive the project forward and act as a coordinator

Not every project deserving of success achieves it. Conversely, not every project heading for the scrap heap arrives. The journey to project success is long and hard and does not happen overnight. To understand the journey to project success we need to understand what makes a project successful. A successful project can be classified as a Project of which the costs did not exceed 25% of the agreed capital approved with a less than 25% schedule slip and with all the operational problems being sorted out in less than a year. Project success potential, can be increased by focusing on the critical factors listed in this study, namely: Project Front End Loading (FEL), high calibre project teams, and people skills/soft skills of project management. The success of a project can be increased when the project has high calibre project teams starting the project with very effective Front End Loading (FEL) and keep project team members continuity based on the fact that the project is managed by a project manager understanding people who have the soft skill to lead and influence the project team, rather than managing the team. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The literature study documents the critical factors for project success. Knowledge gained from the literature study formed the basis for the empirical study to test critical factors for project success in practice and the recommendations can be read in chapter four. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Throughout time organizations have adapted and implemented different technological solutions to streamline their operation. With the adaption of new technology, employees will have to change their current routines. This readjustment is challenging for organizations because of people’s dislike towards changes. Studies in recent years within organizational change has highlighted soft skills value in this situation. A consulting company in Scandinavia (IT-consulting firm AB) has recently invested in soft skills to manage organizational change. The aim of this study is to investigate how significant soft skills are within IT-related organizational changes, for IT-consulting firm AB and their customers. Our investigation was a qualitative case study involving six semi-structured interviews with employees on IT-consulting firm AB. The results showed that soft skills are hard to define but involves intrapersonal skills like flexibility, adaptation and communication. Soft skills are essential both for IT-consulting firm AB and its customers. Its value creation within IT-related organizational change is interconnected to human activity like relationship building and understanding human needs.

La thèse étudie les relations entre science et politique à travers l’émergence d’un nouveau concept, celui de « soft skills ». Examinant comment ce motif cognitif se construit et se diffuse à l’échelle internationale en l’espace d’une décennie, elle met en évidence le rôle essentiel d’experts et d’organisations internationales, mais aussi d’entrepreneurs et de réseaux privés. Ces circulations mènent à la convergence progressive des acteurs sociaux autour d’un même raisonnement qui se décline au sein du monde de l’éducation et du monde de l’emploi. Menée en France, la seconde partie de la recherche replace ces évolutions dans une dynamique de recomposition de l’action publique et d’émergence de nouveaux cadres, intimement liés à l’implication croissante de nouveaux acteurs issus de la philanthropie et de l’entrepreneuriat social. Articulée à la promotion du capital humain et de l’économie de la connaissance, justifiée par la stratégie européenne d’éducation tout au long de la vie et d’investissement social, soutenue par la responsabilité sociale revendiquée par certaines entreprises, la valorisation des compétences sociales mène à l’hybridation progressive des politiques et de leurs acteurs. Ces arrangements sont étudiés dans la troisième partie de la thèse, consacrée à l’étude de plusieurs dispositifs éducatifs. / This doctoral thesis studies the relationships between science and policy through the emergence of the new concept of “soft skills”. Examining how this cognitive motive is built and disseminated at a global level over the last decade, this research shows the essential roles played by experts and international organizations, as well as by entrepreneurs and private networks. These circulations lead to a gradual convergence of actors upon a shared reasoning in the field of education and employment policies. Conducted in France, the second part of the research shows how these dynamics fit in the context of public policies’ reconfigurations. New frames emerge, tightly linked to the growing influence of new actors coming from the fields of philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. Nested in the promotion of human capital and the knowledge economy, justified by the European strategy of lifelong learning and social investment, and by corporate social responsibility claimed by companies, soft skills are growingly promoted. This leads to a gradual hybridization of policies and their actors, studied in the last part of the research which based upon study cases of educational programs.

Understanding the practical implications related to experiential learning is complex. It is important to first view experiential learning as an umbrella term under which work-based learning (WBL) is housed. To further particularize, there are different avenues for students to pursue work-based learning opportunities (WBLOs), with internships and cooperative education being two. Although these are not new learning environments, understanding and clearly defining them (to both internal and external bodies) is increasingly necessary. In Kentucky, WBLOs are part of the political discourse on postsecondary education. The Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and local economic development agencies have incorporated strengthening and growing WBLOs into their strategic plans. This demand is echoed by students and parents. By interviewing faculty with varying enrollments in their WBLOs, this study set out to explore influences on the development and implementation of these experiences from their perspective. The dissertation is written in three manuscripts, including a companion piece written in collaboration with Robert Boone that examines WBLOs from a complementary faculty (McCrary) and student perspective (Boone). It situates the problem of practice (WBLOs) in the current landscape of Kentucky Community and Technical College System. The second manuscript describes anticipated and unanticipated findings related to the development and implementation of WBLOs drawn from my interviews with WBLO coordinators across the state. Selected examples include the role of the advisory board and faculty background on the development of WBLOs and stakeholder preparation and conveying benefits to the community during implementation. The third manuscript explores obstacles encountered and offers potential avenues to circumvent or overcome said obstacles based on information collected through the interviews of this qualitative, exploratory study. This dissertation will be of use to both senior administrators interested in increasing WBLOs at their institution and to faculty who are interested in offering the opportunities to their students. This study offers insight to current practices related to WBLO development and implementation and offers potential avenues to overcome obstacles.

Strategies for Developing Interpersonal Communication Skills for Business Students by Sharon A. Pope M.B.A., Cleveland State University, 1995 M.S.H.P/A., University of Cincinnati, 1983 B.Ed., University of Toledo, 1981 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University December 2015 Research has shown that interpersonal communication skills (ICS) are important for employment success, particularly if they are learned by students during college. A private university in Ohio identified the need to enhance students' ICS; however, the university's faculty lacked strategies to teach those required skills. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate perceptions of key administrative staff (KAS), faculty, and alumni about the implementation of ICS instruction to foster students' work-ready skills. Guided by the social skill component of Goleman's emotional intelligence theory and related research, this study examined key applications of ICS including communication, collaboration, conflict management, and cross cultural awareness. Three KAS with extensive knowledge of university practices were purposefully sampled to take part in a focus group addressing current and recommended ICS instructional strategies. Network sampling, informed by the KAS, identified 23 faculty members who completed an open-ended online questionnaire and 4 alumni who participated in semi-structured interviews targeting their perceptions of ICS in the classroom. In addition to these sources of data, the researcher's reflective journal was analyzed to examine implementation and perceptions of current and alternate ICS instructional strategies. Data were transcribed, reviewed, then coded inductively without a prior list of codes resulting themes of presenting, self-branding, group/team work, networking, global awareness, and diversity. These findings were used to create a faculty professional development series on effective ICS instruction that can be used to promote positive social change for the university, students, and community by preparing graduates ready for success in the workforce.

Not every project deserving of success achieves it. Conversely, not every project heading for the scrap heap arrives. The journey to project success is long and hard and does not happen overnight. To understand the journey to project success we need to understand what makes a project successful. A successful project can be classified as a Project of which the costs did not exceed 25% of the agreed capital approved with a less than 25% schedule slip and with all the operational problems being sorted out in less than a year. Project success potential, can be increased by focusing on the critical factors listed in this study, namely: Project Front End Loading (FEL), high calibre project teams, and people skills/soft skills of project management. The success of a project can be increased when the project has high calibre project teams starting the project with very effective Front End Loading (FEL) and keep project team members continuity based on the fact that the project is managed by a project manager understanding people who have the soft skill to lead and influence the project team, rather than managing the team. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The literature study documents the critical factors for project success. Knowledge gained from the literature study formed the basis for the empirical study to test critical factors for project success in practice and the recommendations can be read in chapter four. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.