HMEMS80 2013

ASSIGNMENT 01 FOR SEMESTER 1 (Unique

number 697716)

DUE DATE 11 MARCH 2013

SURNAME AND INITIALS: KNOPP L

(Indicate your name and initials above)

STUDENT NUMBER: 32521723

Note that there are two documents for this

Assignment.

1) An INSTRUCTION document that provides the

task and the information that you need to

correctly complete the assignment.

2) This TEMPLATE FILE (that you must RENAME

to indicate your own details) and on which you

will complete your answers. This is the ONLY

file that you will submit for this assignment

via the MyUnisa Assignment Submission

system.

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indicated all your answers on this file

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by the due date. It needs to be

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SECTION A: MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

See the INSTRUCTION document for the material

that you need to work through and the multiple choice

questions to complete this section.

Question number

Correct answer: Indicate

ONLY the letter for the

correct answer below for each

of the 10 questions.

Question 1 A

Question 2 C

Question 3 D

Question 4 A

Question 5 D

Question 6 B

Question 7 A

Question 8 A

Question 9 D

Question 10 C

SECTION B: LITERATURE REVIEW

Include your literature review below:

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

HPBUS80(The Research Proposal in Business Management)

How will the knowledge-based economy drive employability

opportunities for new graduates?

LAWRENCE KNOPP

Student no: 32521723

Telephone number: +27813505436

E-mail:LAWRENCEKNOPP@HOTMAIL.COM

Date of submission: 11-03-2013

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CONTENTS PAGE

1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................... 6

1.1 The statement of the problem and its setting ....... 6

1.2 The statement of the Sub Problems ...................... 6

1.3 The purpose of the study ....................................... 6

1.4 The objectives of the study .................................... 7

1.5 The research questions .......................................... 7

2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................... 8

LIST OF REFERENCES .................................................... 15

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1 INTRODUCTION

As Individuals and a society we strive for the highest realisation of our true inherent nature.

Maslow in his explanation of the need for self-actualisation, a term coined by Kurt Goldstein

(1939) described self-actualisation as the desire to become more and more what one is and to

become everything that one is capable of becoming (Maslow, 1943). This could be said to be

expressed by society’s trend towards a Knowledge-Based Economy. The way governments,

corporations and individuals are developing employability in this regard plays a vital role in our

self-actualisation and the future of our economy.

Knowledge is now recognised as the driver of productivity and economic growth, leading to a

new focus on the role of information, technology and learning in economic performance (OECD,

1996). A countries greatest asset in a knowledge based economy would then be highly

developed individuals with the pertinent knowledge, skills, character traits and abilities to drive

the economy. This would put graduates into a very valuable category for the future

development of our society and economy.

We see developing nations eagerly perusing the goal of a knowledge-based economy. For

example, South Africa has developed a Ten-Year Innovation Plan “to help drive transformation

towards a knowledge-based economy, in which the production and dissemination of knowledge

leads to economic benefits and enriches all fields of human endeavour”. (Department of

Science and Technology, Knowledge-Based Economy: Ten-year Plan for South Africa 2008 –

2018 (2007, p.iv))

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As a country develops into a modern technologically advanced society with a developed

economy, it requires a higher standard skill set than a simple workforce. A major factor to be

considered is how to impart the required skills necessary for advanced work force of a

technologically developed economy. The configuration of national innovation systems, which

consist of the flows and relationships among industry, government and academia in the

development of science and technology, is an important economic determinant (OECD, 1996).

Employment in the knowledge-based economy is characterised by increasing demand for more

highly-skilled workers (OECD, 1996). This is especially pertinent due to the fact that the

reduction of unemployment is not economically viable with menial labour jobs. As we see the

outsourcing of manufacturing and service work to lower labour cost economies has become a

global trend (McQuade and Maguire, 2010). This highlights the role that both public and private

sectors involvement should be in cultivating graduates and ensuring their ability to thrive in the

work place.

1.1 The statement of the problem and its setting

The approach to enhance employability of graduates in a knowledge based economy is

vital and has to be analyzed in order to find the most pragmatic approach to their

advancement of society.

1.2 The statement of the Sub Problems

There is a lack of allocation of roles that the government, educational institute and

private sector play in enhancing employability of the graduates. Graduates have a non

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realistic perception of the demands of the work place and the skills required for success

in their chosen career paths.

1.3 The purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to review work to date done on employability and highlight

the most pragmatic approach to enhance employability of graduates in a knowledge

based economy.

1.4 The objectives of the study

The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between government,

educational institutions and industry in regard to their roles of improving the

employability of graduates.

An analysis of the perceived roles of governments and institutions has been playing to

date and the lessons learnt. To demonstrated that with clear role parameters that a

symbiotic relationship between the three will bring out the most optimal result.

1.5 The research questions

What are the role parameters of government, educational institutions and private

industry for the optimization of employability of graduates in the knowledge based

economy?

Does the responsibility fall solely on a graduate or is this goal and endeavour for

government, educational institutions and the private sector alike?

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The challenge of bridging the gap between academic students and becoming productive

individuals in the workplace is a question facing many developed and developing nations. Some

might argue the onus falls on the employee to gain the knowledge, skills, abilities and other

characteristics valued by current and prospective employers (Fugate, 2004).

Many have tried to define employability with a variety of results. Lee Harvey (2001) in defining

and measuring employability examines three possible outlooks. The definitions he uses are as

follows.

1) Employability is the ability to gain and retain fulfilling employment (Hillage & Pollard, 1998).

2) Employability is the propensity of the graduate to exhibit attributes that employers

anticipate will be necessary for the future effective functioning of their organisation (Harvey,

1999).

3) Employability is the ability of the graduate to get a satisfying job.

He goes on to reject the concept of relying on employment rates as an indication of graduate’s

preparedness for the workplace and would prefer to see the relative improvement of the

graduates skill set as the correct measure of how educational institutions are succeeding.

Graduate’s perception of their own required skills for employability may be a valid benchmark

for educational institutions to consider. Robinson and Garton (2008) analyzed the agricultural

education graduates perspective of employability by surveying 141 graduates and assessing

how they perceived employability skills and their competence in those skills. In conclusion they

found the most pertinent need was that graduates lacked employability skills that deal with

defining and solving problems and analyzing information in making decisions and so, curriculum

enhancement was needed in those areas. This approach although helpful does not integrate

graduates into real life work environment.

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Michael Tomlinson (2007) studied the perception of the labour market for graduates and their

understanding of their future careers, drawing on interviews of 53 final year students in a UK

university, from the responses he categorised them into three groups; careerist, ritualist and

the retreatist. In the study he points out that most of the respondents were concerned about

how hard it would be to enter the work force as a graduate even amongst the careerist who

were characterised as optimistic.

In order to apply these concepts to educational institutional setting it is vital to properly

understand the concept of employability as seen from the graduate’s perspective as well as the

company’s perspective.

The central goal is for the cultivation of knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics by

'investment in human capital and strategies for lifelong learning.' (McQuaid & Lindsay, 2005).

As has been suggested by the UN’s Youth Employment Network “All countries need to review,

re-think and re-orient their education, vocational training and labour market policies to

facilitate the school to work to transition and to give young people . . . a head start in working

life” (UN, 2001, p. 4). Although pragmatic, policy-driven approaches to measuring

`employability’, such as using statistics on employment rates, subverts the ‘operationalisation’

process at the heart of any good quantitative research (Harvey 2001 p.99). As expressed by

McQuaid and Lindsay (2005, p.205) “The employability skills or individual assets possessed by

workers and job seekers, and the extent to which these tie in with the immediate needs of

employers, have come to define many policy-makers' identification of skills gaps and

understanding of the concept of employability.”

It has to be recognised by governments that the concept of improving employability is not just

one of social welfare for the disabled and the unemployed but is vital for a countries

development and competiveness in general. We also see that industry also recognise the great

benefits that can be achieved by enhancing employability of graduates. We find companies

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struggling to find suitable candidates for skilled positions and as such, spend additional funds

on employee training.

In Ireland a positive relationship has been established between government, private sector and

educational institution as seen from The Programme for University-Industry Interface (PUII).

They found that university training needs are likely to be very closely aligned to the strategic

needs of the company and that there is an urgent need to work with industry in developing in-

company training programmes (McQuade & Maguire, 2005). We also see positive relationships

in research and development where roles of higher education and science councils were found

to be particularly important as collaboration partners with the business sector (Gastrow M,

2008).

This type of partnership could be an ideal platform for further enhancement of employability

skills in graduates. Government should further invest in partnerships between educational

institutions and industry as a tool in enhancing the employability of graduates.

LIST OF REFERENCES

Department of Science and Technology (2007). Innovation towards a knowledge-based

economy: Ten-year plan for South Africa (2008 –2018) Department of Science and Technology

2007 Nr 114538

Fugate, M. (2004). Employability: a psycho-social construct, its dimensions and applications. Journal of

Vocational Behavior, 65, 14-38.

Goldstein, K. The organism. New York: American Book Co., 1939

Harvey, L., (1999). Employability audit toolkit, Birmingham, Centre for Research into Quality

Harvey, L. (2001). Defining and measuring employability. Quality in Higher Education, 7(2) 97-

109.

McQuade, E. (2005). Individuals and their employability. Journal of European Industrial

Training, 29(6), 447-456.

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Maslow, A.H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396

Gastrow M, (2008). Great expectations: The state of biotechnology research and development

in South Africa, African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 7 (4), pp. 342-348

Michael Tomlinson (2007). Graduate employability and student attitudes and orientations to

the labour market, Journal of Education and Work, 20:4, 285-304

OECD (1996). The Knowledge-Based Economy, Paris.

Tomlinson, M. T. (2007). Graduate employability and student attitudes and orientations to the

labor market. Journal of Education and Work, 20(4), 285-304

Robinson, J. S. and Garton B.L. (2008). An assessment of the employability skills needed by

graduates in the collage of agriculture, food and natural resources at the University of Missouri.

Journal of Agricultural Education 49 (4)

UNITED NATIONS (2001). Recommendations of the High Level Panel of the Youth Employment

Network. New York: United Nations.