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This study analyses the process that an IT refurbishing organisation used to socialise 15 IT graduates to the norms of the working world. In addition, 5 IT industry and 2 governmental agency interviews were used, and 60 online job advertisements were analysed to develop a System Dynamic model. The main motivation for this study was to develop a system dynamics model of the graduate socialisation process, in an attempt to understand the cause and effect of practical exposure, to bridge the IT skill-expectations gap. The main source of data for the model was from a-priori coding and content analysis of job adverts, online blogs and reports created by the students, supported by a review of the existing literature. System dynamics modelling and simulation uses computer generated software to test the behaviour of real world cross discipline problems over time (Sterman 2000). System dynamic studies have been conducted in project management, education, engineering, geography, sustainable fuel development and agriculture, etcetera. System dynamics is a flexible approach, as it uses both qualitative and quantitative data to model and address a problem situation, gathering data from intellectual and observation experiences, as well as written and verbal databases. This research advises on the successful integration of IT graduates into industry by identifying the relevant casual relationships. It recognises that graduates are genuinely interested in a career in IT, despite initial difficulties of adapting to a new career. The study was further strengthened by showing that organisational and governmental requirements vary and that they occasionally recruit based on these varying requirements. Primary and secondary data was combined to model a casual loop diagram as well as a stock and flow diagram, which could benefit curriculum advisors in academia, professors, human resource managers in industry and most importantly recently graduated IT graduates. / Magister Commercii - MCom

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tesis handel oor die volgende: Hoofstuk 1 dek die agtergrond, probleemstelling en ‘n kort oorsig oor die vaardigheidsgapings wat opgemerk kan word binne die konteks van die kennis-ekonomie. Hoofstuk 2 handel oor kernkonsepte, naamlik “kritiese denkvaardighede”, die kenniskonomie en wersvaardighede. Hoofstuk 3 sit ‘n gevallestudie uiteen. Dit beskryf die metode wat gekies is, die monster asook die uitvoering van die projek. Hoofstuk 4 bied ‘n ontleding aan van die data. Die laaste hoofstuk bespreek die resultate en hulle implikasies. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The thesis covers the following chapters Chapter 1: Background and Research Objectives This chapter focuses on the background, the problem and its setting and also includes the overview of the knowledge economy and the existing gap in skills. Chapter 2: Critical thinking and Employability Skills The focus is on an introduction and definitions of key concepts, namely critical thinking skills, the knowledge economy, and employability skills. Chapter 3: The Case Study This chapter offers the chosen research method and design, as well as the reasons for selecting this design, and will describe the methods. The discussion will include the research approach, sampling and data management. Chapter 4: Presentation and Discussion of the Findings The discussion includes data interpretation, specific techniques employed and reasons for such strategies. Chapter 5: Aspects of the Skills Gap This is the final chapter and it discusses the findings, makes recommendations, and concludes the study.

Magister Commercii - MCom / This study analyses the process that an IT refurbishing organisation used to socialise 15 IT graduates to the norms of the working world. In addition, 5 IT industry and 2 governmental agency interviews were used, and 60 online job advertisements were analysed to develop a system dynamic model. The main motivation for this study was to develop a system dynamics model of the graduate socialisation process, in an attempt to understand the cause and effect of practical exposure, to bridge the IT skill-expectations gap. The main source of data for the model was from a-priori coding and content analysis of job adverts, online blogs and reports created by the students, supported by a review of the existing literature

The purpose of this study was to assess technology use, on-the-job technology training, education levels, and salary ranges of employees in low-, middle-, and high- skill jobs in a rural county in East Tennessee to create an example of a small town workforce. For this study, technology included computers, robotics, and mobile technology. A survey determined the technology used, training provided, salaries, and job skill levels based on education obtained and required by major employers. The study identified the level of jobs requiring more technology skills and salaries or training related to these job skill levels. Participants included 336 persons who completed an electronic survey. Participants represented twenty-eight different companies in healthcare, education, manufacturing, banking, and other small businesses in an East Tennessee rural county. The major findings of the study included: a) use of multiple forms of technology in all job skill levels; b) more time spent in on-the-job training for higher job skill levels; c) participants in lower job skill levels more likely to be overqualified for their position; d) participants in higher paying jobs used more types of technology; and e) participants in higher skill level jobs tend to have higher salaries. The study concluded that, while technology affected all skill levels, there was a significantly positive relationship between salary, technology use, technology training, and job skill level.

<p>Broad access to healthcare services is a key factor of human development in any country. The current health care situation in South Africa can be diagnosed as critical. The hospitals are understaffed, over-occupied and the diseases like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) give health care workers additional challenges. The demand for management skills in the health sector including those for nurse managers is high. A recent World Health Organization (WHO) study of nurses working in maternal health services identified good management as more important than salary, unless the remuneration was dramatically higher. In South Africa, little empirical research exists about the management skills of nurse managers, even though proper management of human resources is vital to achieve better outcomes and access to health care around the world. In South Africa, a greater focus on human resource management in health care and more research is needed to develop new policies that will help to address the skills gap of nurse managers. The object of this research project was to identify the gaps between required and existing management skills of senior nurse managers in South Africa in private and public hospitals. Once identified, this skills gap assessment can be used by employers and policy-makers to define the management education that nurse managers require. The research is based on a survey of nurse managers in private and public hospitals using a questionnaire. The survey instrument was based on prior research of hospital managers&rsquo / competencies in South Africa, and a review of the related theoretical literature.</p>

<p>Broad access to healthcare services is a key factor of human development in any country. The current health care situation in South Africa can be diagnosed as critical. The hospitals are understaffed, over-occupied and the diseases like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) give health care workers additional challenges. The demand for management skills in the health sector including those for nurse managers is high. A recent World Health Organization (WHO) study of nurses working in maternal health services identified good management as more important than salary, unless the remuneration was dramatically higher. In South Africa, little empirical research exists about the management skills of nurse managers, even though proper management of human resources is vital to achieve better outcomes and access to health care around the world. In South Africa, a greater focus on human resource management in health care and more research is needed to develop new policies that will help to address the skills gap of nurse managers. The object of this research project was to identify the gaps between required and existing management skills of senior nurse managers in South Africa in private and public hospitals. Once identified, this skills gap assessment can be used by employers and policy-makers to define the management education that nurse managers require. The research is based on a survey of nurse managers in private and public hospitals using a questionnaire. The survey instrument was based on prior research of hospital managers&rsquo / competencies in South Africa, and a review of the related theoretical literature.</p>

The United States are facing a critical workforce challenge, even though current unemployment is around 6.7%, employers find it difficult to find applicants that can satisfy all job requirements. This problem is especially pronounced in the manufacturing sector where a critical skills gap has developed, a problem that is exasperated by workforce demographics. A large number of employees across the various manufacturing sub-disciplines are eligible to retire now or in the near future. This gray tsunami requires swift action as well as long lasting change resulting in a workforce pipeline that can provide Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors in sufficient quantity and quality to satisfy not only the needs of STEM industries, but also of those companies outside of the STEM sector that hire STEM graduates. The research shown here will identify overt symptoms describing the capability gap, will identify specific skills describing the gap, educational causes why the gaps has not yet been addressed or is difficult to address, and lastly educational remedies that can contribute to closing the capability gap. A significant body of literature focusing on engineering in higher education has been evaluated and findings will be presented here. A multidisciplinary, collaborative capstone program will be described which implements some of the findings from this study in an active learning environment for students working on distributed teams across the US. Preliminary findings regarding the impact of these measures on the quantity of engineers to the US economy will be evaluated.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Broad access to healthcare services is a key factor of human development in any country. The current health care situation in South Africa can be diagnosed as critical. The hospitals are understaffed, over-occupied and the diseases like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) give health care workers additional challenges. The demand for management skills in the health sector including those for nurse managers is high. A recent World Health Organization (WHO) study of nurses working in maternal health services identified good management as more important than salary, unless the remuneration was dramatically higher. In South Africa, little empirical research exists about the management skills of nurse managers, even though proper management of human resources is vital to achieve better outcomes and access to health care around the world. In South Africa, a greater focus on human resource management in health care and more research is needed to develop new policies that will help to address the skills gap of nurse managers. The object of this research project was to identify the gaps between required and existing management skills of senior nurse managers in South Africa in private and public hospitals. Once identified, this skills gap assessment can be used by employers and policy-makers to define the management education that nurse managers require. The research is based on a survey of nurse managers in private and public hospitals using a questionnaire. The survey instrument was based on prior research of hospital managers' competencies in South Africa, and a review of the related theoretical literature. / South Africa

Datum: 2023-05-29  Nivå: Magisteruppsats Företagsekonomi, 15 hp   Akademi: Akademin för Ekonomi, Samhälle och Teknik, Mälardalens Universitet  Författare: Hennström Moa (99/02/24)      Ohrlander David (97/08/10)  Titel: Jakten på kompetens - En fallstudie om det strategiska HRM-arbetet i el-och energibranschen.  Handledare: Magnus Linderström  Nyckelord: Talent Management, Talang, HRM system, Strategisk HRM, Kompetensförsörjning, Kompetensutveckling, Skills gap.   Forskningsfrågor: Hur arbetar cheferna strategiskt med HRM-system och Talent Managementpå enheten “Elnät” på Eskilstuna/Strängnäs Energi och Miljö, och hur upplever medarbetarna detta arbete? Vilka möjligheter och utmaningar upplever chefer och medarbetare att det finns med kompetensförsörjning och kompetensutveckling? Hur arbetar cheferna på affärsområdet “Elnät“ för att förebygga och hantera skills gap?   Syfte: Syftet med denna fallstudie är att med utgångspunkt i ett managementperspektiv undersöka hur arbetet med HRM-system genom TM gestaltar sig i praktiken, för att få en ökad förståelse och djupare inblick i fenomenens tillämpning och praktiska utövande. Detta kommer att efterforskas med hjälp av en mixad metod, genom att explorativt undersöka förhållandet mellan chefers och medarbetares syn på utövandet av HRM-system och TM. Vidare ämnar studien att undersöka om det finns ett skills gap och i sådant fall generera en förståelse för hur det hanteras och förebyggs i praktiken.   Metod: I denna studie användes en fallstudie där den empiriska datan samlades in genom en mixad metod. Den kvalitativa datan har insamlats genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med cheferna medan den kvantitativa datan innefattas av ett enkätformulär som chefernas medarbetare gavs möjlighet att besvara. Tillvägagångssättet har varit abduktivt med en explorativ ansats, i syfte att åstadkomma nya upptäckter och perspektiv på fenomenen som undersökts, där det abduktiva förhållningssättet tillåter att ändra inriktning och bygga vidare på den teoretiska referensramen baserat på den empiriska insamlingen. Detta valdes för att uppnå högsta möjliga anpassningsbarhet under studiens genomförande.  Slutsats: ESEM arbetar med deras HRM-system i fyra steg: handledning av nyanställda, utvecklingssamtal, utbildning och individuella utvecklingsplaner för varje anställd. Möjligheterna kring utvecklingssamtalen är också för medarbetarna att uttrycka deras önskan att antingen vidareutveckla sig och sin kompetens inom deras valda arbetsområde, för att uppnå en spetskompetens eller bredda sin kompetens genom att arbeta på en annan avdelning. Detta är menat att öka chanserna för de anställda att avancera i karriären. Utmaningarna för ESEM är bristen på teoretisk och praktisk överlappning på utbildningssystemen och det faktiska arbetet. Den största utmaningen har dock visat sig vara bristen på människor som innefattar rätt kompetens inom branschen. Detta kan temporärt men kostsamt bryggas genom att kortsiktigt hyra in konsulter för att utföra det nödvändiga arbetet. För att förebygga skills gap arbetar ESEM aktivt med att attrahera potentiella medarbetare genom att marknadsföra branschen. Soft skills prioriteras genom ESEM:s kärnvärden: schyssta, pålitliga, modiga och nära. / Date: 2023-05-29   Level: Master thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr  Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University  Authors: Hennström Moa (99/02/24)          Ohrlander David (97/08/10)  Title: The Hunt for Competence - A case study of the strategic HRM work in the electric-energy industry   Supervisor: Magnus Linderström   Keywords: Talent Management, Talen, HRM-system, Strategic HRM, Competence provision, Competence development, Skills gap. Research questions: How do the company leaders work strategically with the HRM-system andTalent Management within “Elnät” at Eskilstuna/Strängnäs Energi och Miljö, and how do the employees experience this work? What opportunities and challenges do company leaders and employees experience concerning competence provision and competence development? How do the company leaders at the business department “Elnät” work to prohibit and manage skills gaps? Purpose: The purpose of this case study is to through a management perspective investigate how the work with an HRM-system through TM is carried out in practice, in order to create an enhanced understanding and deeper insight in the application of both of these phenomena and its practical performance. This will be researched and presented through mixed methods, by exploratively investigating the relationship between company leaders and employees' outlook at the practical performance of an HRM-system and TM. The study will also look to figure out whether there’s a skills gap and if so, how it’s dealt with and prohibited in company practice.   Method: This paper was carried out through a case study where the empirical data was collected through mixed methods. The qualitative data was collected through semi structured interviews with company leaders, while the quantitative data was collected through questionnaires sent out to the company leaders’ employees. The course of action for this study has been abductive with an explorative approach, with the purpose of discovering and creating a perspective of the researched phenomena, where it is allowed to switch directions of and altering the theoretical framework, even after the empirical data has been gathered. This was favored in order to acquire the highest possible ability to adapt during the conducted research.   Conclusion: ESEM work through their HRM system with supervision from company leaders for newly employed, formal meetings with company leaders and their employees, further education that is negotiated through these formal meetings and through creating an individual development plan for each employee. The possibilities regarding the formal meetings are also for the employee to express their wishes to either further enhance their competence within their chosen field, to acquire a talent, or to broaden their competence by working with another department. This is meant to enhance chances to advance in the career of the employees. The challenges for ESEM and its HRM-system is the lack of theoretical and practical overlapping between education systems and the actual line of work. The biggest challenge however is the lack of people who are competent within the field altogether. This can be temporarily but costly bridged by acquiring short term consultants to perform the necessary work. To prevent the skills gap, ESEM are active in attracting potential employees through marketing the line of work. Soft skills are prioritized through ESEM:s core values: Agreeable, reliable, brave and approachable.