The programming committee for the 78th Annual SAM International Business Conference is pleased to announce the acceptance of the presentation Changing Generation Impact on Curriculum to meet Workforce Demand by Mayur Desai and Richard Taylor from Texas Southern University.
Presentation Abstract: It is a norm in higher education to continue to study the workforce demand and revise the curriculum to meet the demand. With the accelerated development in the information technology, specifically after the 80’s the workforce skillset demand has been changing at a faster pace than usual. It is a challenge for the management to train their employees to effectively use technology to maintain the profit and competitive margin. As a result, the company management reach out to the academia to fill the skills needed to manage the changes in the business processes caused by the constant changes in the technology. This study proposes a model to understand the implications of different generations on their ability to learn and use new technology and its subsequent impact on meeting the workforce skillset demand. The basic premise of the model is shift in the generations and their level of familiarity and competency with the information technology. Just over a decade ago, it became apparent that a new generation was about to commence and there was no name for them. 1 Hence, the need to come up with a different naming nomenclature considering that we have just finished the last century’s naming convention with Generation Z. A label like Generation X, Generation Z, or Generation Alpha provides a blank canvas on which a generation can create their own identity rather than have a descriptive label – like baby boomers- relevant for just a segment of the cohort or for a period pinned on them. It’s a whole new generation and a new millennium, in a whole new era. Hence Generation Alpha. (1)
For example, Alpha generation children are those born from 2010 and after. It is during this period that the iPad and Instagram were launched. With 2.5 million Alphas born around each week, they will be the most diverse and tech-savvy generation yet. While millennial parents have been learning how to use the latest phones and tablets since their teenage years, the oldest among Generation Alpha have had these devices even before they could talk. In addition, the model includes the differences between the generations along other characteristics as shown in the model. The study will discuss these differences for each characteristic with real world examples.
Join us online or in person at SAMIBC 2023 and see this great presentation and many more March 13 – March 18, 2023. For registration information visit www.samnational.org/conference.