Developing successful employees: perceptions of industry leaders and academicians

This study was designed to discover what is believed to be important for a student to be successful in the retailing field, graduating from a four‐year college program. The research design was Q‐methodology, utilizing 47 statements on a Lickert scale sorted by 23 representatives of both the academy and retailing industry. The study found a distinct gap in the perceptions of industry respondents versus the academics included in the study. While industry believes that strong affective skills, such as “leadership” and “decision making” were the most desirable characteristics for future executives, the academy favors more interpersonal affective competencies and overall ranked cognitive skills higher than the other group. Further, the study found academicians believed that their opinions would mirror those of the industry. However, this was clearly not supported.