Developing management skills during undergraduate studies: The case of Kosovo and Turkey

Some scholars state that management skills can be developed in classroom, while others state that business schools unmeet this goal. This research aims to assess management skills of undergraduate business student to find their level of management skills according to the year of studies, GPA, work experience, trainings, gender and country. A quantitative study using internet survey was used to find the relationships among these variables. The population used was students currently or recently graduated in Management or Business Administration departments, and the sample frame was students that met these criteria and attended universities in Kosovo or Turkey that teach in English Language. The results of the research indicated that students develop management skills significantly after they complete second year. Moreover, there is a positive relationship between management skills development and GPA, work experience, and training. However, results indicate that there is still space for developing management skills more. The findings of this survey support previous research done about MBA degree indicating that both programs develop management skills. The research was done only with student from Kosovo and Turkey what is a limitation of this study. The research is a step to fill the gap that exist in management undergraduate researches. The finding of this study may be useful for business school to design programs that would help to develop skills more, students to be aware about ways to use to enhance their skills, and human resources to have more confidence on management graduates and to help them to apply and upgrade at workplace.