Gauging Business Acumen Level of Technical Students from Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS: Views from the Malaysian Industry

AbstractProducing university graduates who are well-rounded has been and will continue to be Malaysia's education forte. Recently, in addition to technical competence and soft skills, graduates’ business acumen has also been identified as crucial to their well- roundedness. In realizing this initiative, Malaysian institutions of higher learning are now working towards incorporating elements of business acumen in their curriculums. Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, the higher learning institution in which this research had been undertaken, is one such educational establishment that inculcates business acumen skills in its graduates. This study aims to gauge the level of business acumen skills the students demonstrated during their seven month internship period. A 37-statement questionnaire using a 4 point Likert scale was developed and distributed to the industrial internship supervisors to rate their interns’ business acumen skills. Findings from the study have been used to further develop and strengthen teaching and learning initiatives of business acumen skills at the university