Abstract:

The innovation of higher education is assuming a larger role in national economic development which has significant contributions to private and public sectors. Open and distance learning education (ODL) is receiving good feedback from many people who aim to pursue postgraduate studies. However, many graduates are found to have difficulty in fulfilling the industry expectation and societies are concerned about marketability of industry-focused doctoral studies. There is an educational dissonance whereby the quality of graduates is getting lower and they have no industrial needed knowledge to enhance business and organization performance. Data is collected from 100 employers based at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Findings from this study are important to provide guideline and vision for education provider to design a better industry focused educational system.

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