Advancing People Skills for 21st Century Business Education in Chile

Abstract

In the 20th century business schools in Chile played an important role in the deep transition from a centralized economy to a free market system that propelled the country to become the 13th most competitive economy in the world. But the competiveness of the Chilean economy has decreased more recently, and this is a national concern for a broadly open economy. In the 21st century, Chilean business schools, although ranked among the best in Latin America, confront new challenges. Evidence shows a mismatch between the supply of business schools, in terms of the hard business skills graduates acquire and the demand for people or soft skills that labor markets seek in graduates. We propose a curricular change to advance from the traditional objective based business curriculum to a student competence centered curriculum that balances hard skills with the people skills graduates need to fuel innovation and entrepreneurship thus increasing employability and success in business careers.