Sanjay Gupta, Vinay Dawar, Amit Goyal
A large number of institutions are imparting professional education to the students, but the problem is that the majority of students do not get absorbed in the corporate world. Here, a question arises, that on whose part the problem lies? Is it on the part of the students or on the part of those institutions which are imparting professional education? There may be any problem on the both sides; on one side, the student may not be receptive or on the other side, the education which is being imparted by the institutions may not be industry oriented. However, the probability of placement of students can be enhanced by developing the competencies in the students which are required by the business organisations. This study is focused upon the qualities which should be inculcated amongst the students particularly of marketing area which will further enhance the value of the students in order to get them placed in the industry. In this study, a set of 10 qualities had been identified on the basis of available literature and discussions held with the HR managers and marketing personnel from different business houses. An AHP (Analytical Hierarchical Process) questionnaire was developed as an investigation tool to be used with 22 marketing and HR managers from different business organisations situated in different areas of Punjab (India). Then, the AHP analysis was applied and the relative importance of every hierarchical item (competence) was obtained. The findings presented in this paper could be utilised as a self-evaluation tool by the aspirants seeking jobs in marketing area, as well as the basis for training in professional institutions providing education particularly to marketing students.