Cross-functional integration skills: Are business schools delivering what organizations need?

Abstract

Practitioner surveys suggest that despite well-intentioned efforts, undergraduate business programs could better equip students with “soft skills.” This research study focuses on the soft skills associated with cross-functional integration (CFI), where skill gaps are believed to exist but have not been confirmed. As the first study to specifically characterize and measure CFI skills, we argue that even in the best-case scenario, a small CFI-skills gap could persist, and that the primary goal of business programs is to minimize, not eliminate, the gap. We assert that an instrument that measures CFI skills on three dimensions (cross-functional collaboration, cross-functional coordination, and cross-functional communication) provides a critical starting point in the identification and management of the CFI skills gap. We adapt and validate such an instrument, test it with a sample of 160 business students and 160 hiring managers, and find statistically significant gaps at the construct and dimensional level. However, the magnitude of the gaps is not large, suggesting that business schools may be doing a good job of managing the CFI skills gap. Our assessment instrument is a valuable tool for companies that wish to diagnose and address CFI skills challenges.