Student Competencies in Supply Chain Management: Expectations and Reality

Abstract

The ever-changing competency expectations and human resource shortages in the Supply Chain (SC) field underpin the relevance of our research. Both issues require the attention of all stakeholders (students and universities at the supply side, and employers at the demand side). Therefore, the aim of this study is to use an inductive approach to help students wanting to enter the field of Supply Chain Management (SCM) to increase their preparedness by mapping the employer experiences and competency expectations. In 2021 in Hungary, 64 corporate middle managers participated in the online questionnaire and shared their experiences of the competencies of recent graduates. Using quantitative research, the results shed light on the most expected competencies, the increasingly important role of soft skills, the significant differences between the expected and the experienced traits, such as complex mindset, systems approach, humility and conflict management. With the revealed results, this study contributes to the professional literature in two ways. On the one hand, it provides up-to-date data about employers’ opinion of graduated students, which is rare in the literature. On the other hand, it helps to see the possible causes of the discrepancy between supply and demand in the SC labour market.