English proficiency is crucial for Information Technology (IT) students as it plays a vital role in their academic and professional success. This study aims to analyze IT students’ perceptions of their English language skills, focusing on their self-assessed mastery levels, frequency of use, and perceived importance of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. The findings are intended to inform the development of an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) curriculum tailored to the linguistic demands of the IT field. A quantitative research design was employed, utilizing a survey method to collect data from IT students at Universitas Muhammadiyah Parepare. The data were gathered through a structured questionnaire distributed via Google Forms, encompassing Likert-scale items to measure students’ perceptions of their English proficiency. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to examine the frequency of language skill usage, self-assessed mastery levels, and the perceived importance of each skill in academic and professional contexts. The results reveal that IT students frequently use their listening and reading skills for engaging with multimedia content and academic materials, whereas speaking and writing skills are primarily used in informal settings such as daily conversations and social media. However, students report lower confidence in performing formal communication tasks, such as delivering presentations and writing business correspondence. Despite recognizing the importance of all four language skills, students perceive listening and reading as more critical for their academic performance, while speaking and writing are viewed as essential for career advancement. These findings highlight the need for an ESP curriculum that bridges the gap between academic preparation and professional language demands by integrating industry-relevant content and practice-oriented instructional strategies. The study concludes that enhancing IT students' English proficiency requires targeted interventions that emphasize professional communication skills and real-world applications. The findings provide valuable insights for curriculum developers and educators in designing effective ESP programs that align with the evolving needs of IT students. Future research should explore the integration of technology-enhanced learning approaches and industry collaborations to further refine ESP instruction.
Purpose This paper aims to examine the skills expected by employers and the skills demonstrated by accounting graduates with data from 160 employers of accounting graduates in Ghana. From the perspective of employers, the authors compare the expected skills to the skills demonstrated by accounting graduates and identify any significant gaps. Design/methodology/approach One-way analysis of variance, T-tests and factor analysis are used to test significant gaps that exist between expected and demonstrated skills by employers and accounting graduates using survey questionnaires and purposive sampling. Findings The results reveal that there are significant gaps between the expected skills of employers and the demonstrated skills of accounting graduates. The authors find generic skills to be more expected by employers, while technical skills are demonstrated most by accounting graduates. The top five skills expected by employers are: business ethics and integrity; problem solving and decision analysis; written communication skills; learning skills; and application of accounting principles. Research limitations/implications The study focuses only on organizations that use fresh accounting graduates in Ghana. Further studies may consider other business-related fields like finance, human resource management and marketing. Practical implications The study provides insights on standards that serve as benchmarks for the conduct of accounting graduates as well as the development of accounting curriculum in Ghana. Accounting education should incorporate work-integrated learning as part of their curriculum to enable accounting graduates to solve problems and make decisions through a practical application of accounting principles, standards and concepts, especially in conducting audit and writing reports. Originality/value This study fills the gap in the literature on accounting education from employers’ perspectives in a developing country. It conducts a comparative analysis between the most important skills required by employers and the ones demonstrated by accounting graduates to provide insights on standards that should serve as benchmarks for the development of the accounting curriculum from an emerging economy perspective.
Adeoye Taofik Aderamo, Henry Chukwuemeka, Olisakwe, Yetunde Adenike Adebayo
et al.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the critical need for robust health monitoring systems in offshore oil platforms, where isolation and operational continuity are paramount. Building on Adeoye’s experience in responding to the pandemic, this paper conceptualizes an AI-powered pandemic response framework designed specifically for offshore oil facilities. The proposed system leverages artificial intelligence to predict, manage, and mitigate health crises, ensuring both safety and business continuity during global pandemics. At the core of the framework is a predictive health monitoring system that utilizes real-time data from multiple sources, including personnel health records, environmental sensors, and global epidemiological reports. Machine learning algorithms process this data to identify patterns and trends, enabling early detection of potential outbreaks. Predictive analytics tools are deployed to forecast infection rates and the likely spread of diseases, allowing for proactive intervention measures such as isolation protocols, targeted testing, and remote medical support. The AI-driven system also incorporates automated resource management to optimize the availability of medical supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE), and personnel deployment. By continuously analyzing supply chain data, the system ensures the timely replenishment of critical resources, mitigating disruptions that could compromise safety and operational efficiency. Furthermore, the framework includes communication protocols that disseminate real-time health information to both onshore and offshore teams, promoting coordinated responses to emerging threats. This AI-based solution is designed to integrate with existing health and safety systems on offshore platforms, enhancing their ability to manage global health crises more effectively. The framework's emphasis on prediction, early intervention, and automated resource management ensures that offshore oil facilities can maintain operational continuity while prioritizing the health and safety of their workforce during pandemics.
This study explores how confidence levels in user prompts affect AI-generated resume text. Using six varied prompts for AI models ChatGPT-3.5, Gemini, and Perplexity, it examines how AI interprets and responds to different confidence levels. The findings reveal significant differences in AI-generated resumes based on prompt confidence, highlighting the need to adapt resume pedagogy for the AI age. Emphasizing the importance of teaching genre conventions and developing critical AI literacies, the study offers practical recommendations for integrating AI tools into resume writing instruction to better prepare students for an increasingly digital world.
The secretive conduct of entrepreneurs regarding their business success undermines the principles of openness, transparency, and honesty, which are essential in entrepreneurship as they foster accountability, responsible business practices, and ethical behaviour. The research seeks to examine the degree to which entrepreneurs reveal information regarding their business success to various stakeholders. The research employed an interpretative perspective and a qualitative methodology. Purposive sampling was employed to choose entrepreneurs managing SMMEs in the Limpopo Province. An inductive methodology was employed to obtain comprehensive data regarding the communication of entrepreneurial success by firm owners. ATLAS.ti 8 was employed for data analysis. The findings indicated that entrepreneurs convey their success to diverse stakeholders, including relatives, friends, and business networks, by sharing best practices and inspiring others to pursue entrepreneurial endeavours. This study has discovered that the disclosure of success primarily occurs when entrepreneurs seek funding or loans from banks and the government. Standard communication with authorities was identified as another method by which entrepreneurs report their success to the South African Revenue Services during tax return submissions. This study found that entrepreneurs' perceptions of success vary in their communications with different stakeholders. The work offered significant contributions to the existing literature and future research from a theoretical standpoint.
In a company's financial reporting, the chief executive officer's (CEO) facial expressions can positively or negatively affect company performance. CEO facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication that can convey a wealth of information, including emotions such as confidence, concentration, joy, anxiety, stress, and worry. With the development of emotional intelligence and leadership research, more and more scholars have begun to focus on the relationship between leaders' facial expressions and company performance. It is of importance and significance to study the impact of CEO facial expressions on firm performance. Although some preliminary studies are exploring the relationship between leaders' facial expressions and firm performance, there are still many gaps in this area. This paper uses Face Reader and AFEA Facial Expression Automated Analysis System to propose a set of quantitative data on the relationship between the CEO's facial expression and the queried data on the company's net profit interact with each other to verify that the CEO's facial expression when he/she is speaking in the company's financial report has an important impact on the company's performance over the next period. Finally, this paper reveals the mechanism of the impact of leaders' emotional expressions on firm performance, providing practical suggestions and guidance for business management. In addition, the findings can provide new ideas and directions for future leadership research.
Purpose This study aims to help nonprofit organizations (NPOs) implement business excellence models (BEMs). The authors identify and rank critical success factors and barriers to implementing BEMs among NPOs in Saudi Arabia and investigate the impact of human resources availability on BEM implementation in these organizations. Design/methodology/approach Based on the review of relevant literature, the authors designed a questionnaire completed by 138 NPOs. Factor analysis was used to measure and rank the criticality of success factors and barriers to BEM implementation. A Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric test was conducted to compare answers across groups classified by the number of full-time employees in the organization. Findings The study identifies the five most critical success factors for implementing BEMs in Saudi NPOs: data analysis and reporting capabilities, effective organizational communication, implementation strategy and approach, use of benchmarking and adoption of a clear governance framework. The five most critical barriers to implementing BEMs are the lack of a culture of continuous improvement, organizational strategy, qualified employees, customer orientation and clear organizational roles and responsibilities. The number of full-time employees in Saudi NPOs does not significantly impact the success or failure of implementing BEMs. Originality/value This paper is a continuation of research that aims to increase BEM adoption among NPOs, including micro-NPOs, in Saudi Arabia and, by extension, other countries.
Denise D. Quigley, Kerry A. Reynolds, Stephanie Dellva
et al.
Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hospitals, physician groups, and other healthcare providers are investing in improved patient care experiences. Prior reviews have concluded that better patient care experiences are associated with less healthcare utilization and better adherence to recommended prevention and treatment, clinical outcomes, and patient safety within hospitals. No comprehensive review has examined the business case for investing in patient experiences. This article reviews the literature on associations between patient experience—measured from the perspective of patients and families—and business outcomes, including patient allegiance and retention, complaints, lawsuits, provider job satisfaction, and profitability. We searched U.S. English-language peer-reviewed articles from January 1990 to July 2019. We followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines and undertook a full-text review of 564 articles, yielding the inclusion of 40 articles. Our review found that patients with positive care experiences are more likely to return to the same hospital and ambulatory settings for future healthcare needs, retain their health plan, and voice fewer complaints. Associations between patient experiences and profitability or provider job satisfaction were limited/mixed. This suggests that providers can pursue better patient care experiences for the intrinsic value to patients, while also recognizing it is good for intermediate business outcomes: specifically increased recommendations, better patient retention, and fewer complaints. Nursing and physician care, broadly defined, are the only specific aspects of patient experience consistently associated with retention, with evidence pointing to communication and trust as parts of care linked to the intent to return. These aspects of patient experience are also the largest contributors to the overall ratings of a provider or facility.
In light of university business English pedagogical innovation, this study reports an empirical study with 66 English major participants.,The study uses online survey and participant observation to investigate their practice-oriented motivation and needs, the perceptions of using vocational education and training pedagogy in business English teaching and the learning outcomes in a Chinese university context.,The study found participants with motivations to learn business and trade knowledge, develop practice-oriented abilities and the preferences of learning flexibly and autonomously. For the perceptions of using vocational education and training pedagogy, simulations of meetings and negotiations were recommended and the job-based competency development model was useful. Workplace simulation was also particularly suggested to bridge the gap between classroom and workplace. For learning outcomes, writing practices and workplace simulation were considered particularly useful. The learning gains were found in international trade correspondence writing. While the intention of continuing learning business English correspondence writing was identified, more opportunities should be created for more practice-oriented activities, such as internship or corporate visit.,Informed by vocational education and training theory, the study has important pedagogical, theoretical and policy implications for business English teaching in both China and worldwide contexts.
The article identifies the determinants of the dividend policy of unlisted Colombian companies and considers liquidity and profitability as the main variables. This issue has not been sufficiently investigated in the Colombian context, since the focus has been concentrated on stock market organizations. For this study, 3,518 data were analyzed using an ordinary least squares regression model (OLS - OLS) for the years 2017 and 2018. This information was obtained from the PIE (Portal de Información Empresarial) database of the Colombian Superintendence of Companies for firms reporting financial statements under IFRS. The study revealed that profitability presents a negative and significant relationship with the dividend policy and that, in the case of liquidity, the relationship is positive. The research opens the way to the study of financial aspects that have not been analyzed much in the Colombian literature, thus providing a reference that allows expanding the empirical evidence on financial issues that have a high academic and practical incidence.
Business communication. Including business report writing, business correspondence
This paper provides an analysis of the overall investment in listed companies made by a sample of 30 sovereign wealth funds. The first part of this paper comprises a theoretical description of sovereign wealth funds, while the second part covers the analysis of the investment made at both the aggregate and individual levels. The results achieved from this analysis lead to the conclusion that Europe, Asia and North America attract more than two-thirds of total investment, with the financial sector being the one that attracts more funds. Another result indicates that more than 80% of total investment in listed companies comes from five sovereign wealth funds. Finally, the results also show that there is a group of sovereign wealth funds from Southeast Asia and the Middle East that have a high concentration and percentage of control over the investments they made, which could be an indicator of strategic positions.
Finance, Business communication. Including business report writing, business correspondence
Gys-Walt van Egdom, Kalle Konttinen, Sonia Vandepitte,
et al.
This paper reviews entrepreneurial activities that take place within the simulated translation bureaus of member institutions of the INSTB network and establishes a link between entrepreneurism, self-efficacy and perceived competence. Reusing pre-test and post-test data of a student survey, a first attempt is made to design and test a survey instrument for gauging the impact of a simulated translation bureau on perceived entrepreneurial competence and self-efficacy for planning, setting up, and managing a translating organisation in pedagogical translation company simulations. Tentative results suggest a positive effect of participation in translation company simulation modules on students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy and perceived competence. Because of the anonymity of the data, pre-test and post-test responses could not be paired. As a consequence, the statistical significance of the results could not be confirmed.
Business communication. Including business report writing, business correspondence
The aim of this article of reflection is to unveil and analyze some conceptual particularities of intangible assets, using the qualitative research methodologies of content analysis, discourse and critical discourse analysis. Specifically, it seeks to know what can be critically observed in the accounting discourse on the treatment of intangible assets according to Regulatory Decree 2649 (1993) and International Accounting Standard 38 (2014), and, specifically, what is disclosed about the treatment of the intangible asset generated internally. The object of observation in this study is constituted by the regulatory characteristics that are available in intangible assets in these two regulatory frameworks. In the end, brief conclusions derived from the analysis are presented and an invitation to the potentialization and reflective deepening of the qualitative studies is extended, using qualitative research tools such as the Atlas T.I., among others
Business communication. Including business report writing, business correspondence
For more than seven decades, dubbing has been the dominant professional modality for overcoming language barriers in foreign movies and TV series in Iran and has been revered as a national art. Although limited, some recent work has explored Persian dubbing reception and to continue this endeavor, this study attempts to offer further insights into how the Iranian viewers perceive dubbing, translation for dubbing and what they expect from dubbing. More precisely, the study aims at examining how the Iranian audiences view dubbing and particularly its agents and translation. To these ends, a questionnaire including open and closed items was designed. The overall results revealed that translation quality was considered considerably less important than the technical issues related to the dubbing production, such as voice-acting and synchronization. The findings also suggested that the performance of dubbing actors and dubbing directors was regarded more important than the contribution of translators. Overall, these findings seemed to indicate that the Iranian viewers’ appreciation of a dubbed program is mainly guided by non-translation issues including the performance of the dubbing actors and the accuracy of the relevant synchronizations.
Business communication. Including business report writing, business correspondence