Business Administration Education and Skills Formation for Competitiveness in the Digital Economy

The increasing digitalization of economic activity has led to the emergence of demand for advanced managerial skills, which keep organizations competitive in our dynamic and technology-led business environment. With evolving business models, the industries of today expect higher education institutions to help create and shape talent specifically in accordance with its needs, aligned and catering better towards the demands of the digital economy. This paper attempts to integrate a research agenda on digital skills with the field's literature, focusing specifically on how business administration education may contribute to long-term competitiveness in this area.

This paper investigates the extent to which business administration education provides graduates with integrative managerial capabilities that are valuable in digitally intensive contexts so as to enhance their competitiveness. It uses a conceptual research design that builds on an integrative literature review and analytic synthesis of contributions across disciplines, such as digital transformation, human capital development, and educational crucial fields. This analysis is framed using the triple-helix framework, which guides exploration of interactions between universities and industry public policy.

The findings reveal three major insights. To start, competencies for competing in the digital economy reach far beyond technical abilities to include analytical reasoning skills, strategic thinking ability and adaptive capacity. Second, business administration education serves as an institutional mediator between technological change and organizational value. Third, in order for skill formation to work effectively, governance needs to be collective across educational, economic and regulatory systems.

This paper contributes to the bridge between education, digital skills and competitiveness through proposing a theoretical framework and provides implications for curriculum design, institutional strategic choices as well as policy making.