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39Russian Journal of Logistics and Transport Management, Vol.2, No.2, 2015
© Yulia Panova and Elvira Shishkina
Petersburg State Transport University
REQUIREMENTS OF THE MODERN LABOR MARKET TO THE EDUCATION OF LOGISTICIANS
Abstract
The reformation of the education systems in response to the labor market and European educational space has brought focus on the competencies that determine the results of the development of basic educational training programs. The article concerns general competencies that have corresponded to hierarchical levels of education and organizational hierarchical management levels. Additionally, an analysis of 100 advertisements on the two most famous Russian job sites (HeadHunter.ru and Rabota.ru) allowed identifying key competencies required from experts in the field of logistics. The opinions of the personnel from JSC 'Russian Railways', which is one of the leading employer companies of the students from Petersburg State Transport University, have been also considered.
Keywords: education qualifications, competencies, logistics, hierarchical management levels. 1. Introduction
Nowadays, logistics plays an important role in the globalization of the world economy. Its importance is confirmed every year. In order for the process of the development and improvement of logistics was not disrupted or slowed down, the skilled personnel should be well advanced. Position of logistician is honorable and useful, and, at the same, implies a high level of responsibility. The reason behind is that logistician is a specialist who plans, organizes and coordinates the efficient and effective movement of goods, services and related information from the point origin to the point of destination of the final consumer for the purpose of meeting the customer requirements at an acceptable competitive price. To find competent professionals in the field of logistics is becoming increasingly difficult, despite the fact that training is conducted both on the basis of high school, as well as business education, and corporate training.
The education of logisticians in Russia was started in high school since 2000. Those were seven leading economic universities of Russia, including St. Petersburg State Engineering and Economic University and St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. At that time, the education of logisticians in high school was conducted in accordance with the standards of the second generation, which substituted the first generation standards, existing since 1993.
In 2006, a new specialty 080506 'Logistics and Supply Chain Management' was introduced. In St. Petersburg, the education on this specialty
was started in Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and National Mineral Resources University. On the whole, the education in this specialty was opened in more than 40 technical universities (Vende, 2015). Specialty 080506 'Logistics and Supply Chain Management' with qualified logistician was in demand for transport sphere and industrial production.
With the adoption of the educational standards of the third generation in 2009-2011, this specially was abolished. Instead, the education program called 'Management' was formulated, which encapsulated along with other major subjects also 'Logistics'. The education on major subject 'Logistics' within the educational program 'Management' was opened in many universities in the North-West Federal District, among which was Petersburg State Transport University.
Over 12 years, in the North-West Federal District was about 1000 graduates with the qualification of logisticians (Lukinskiy and Noskova, 2013). However, this figure is ten times less than the real needs of the labor market in the area of Logistics and Purchasing in the North-West Federal District. The primary demand for logistics in the North-West region of the Russian Federation is formulated in St. Petersburg (Lukinskiy and Noskova, 2013). Growth in demand and interest in logistics as a 'tool' of business can be considered as a natural consequence of the development of the theoretical foundations of the logistics in high education in Russia.
2. The response of the education system to the labor market
Changing of the standard of education has created conditions for the formation of the leveled high professional education in Russia, e.g., bachelor and master degree, in compliance with the European educational space. Exceptions have been made for technical areas of education, in which the diploma specialists, as well as sub-levels of education, such as bachelor-engineers, were preserved. According to the new wording of the Education Act, the postgraduate program became the third level in the high professional education system. Previously, postgraduate studies were not related to the high professional education system, and was considered as the post-graduate additional education. Nowadays, in the high school, there are three levels: the first level is the bachelor degree programs, the second is specialist and master degree programs, and the third is post-graduate studies (State Duma, 2012). Thus, specialists and master ceased to be a full professional higher education, while the concept of 'post-doctorate research' started to belong to the science sphere (Table 1).
Table 1
Descriptors defining levels in the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) in correspondence with the Russian Education system.
Level Qualification (in the EQR called knowledge) Number of Years to Study Former Russian Education System Market oriented Education System Skills Competence
6 Knowledge in an advanced mode in a field of learning, knowledge of methods and principles and critical reflection (Bachelor) 1 Specialty (engineer- logistician) Knowledge in an advanced mode in a field of learning, knowledge of methods and principles and critical reflection (Bachelor) Advanced skills, demonstrating mastery and innovation, required to solve complex and unpredictable problems in a specialised field of work or study Manage complex technical or professional activities or projects, taking responsibility for decision-making in unpredictable work or study contexts Take responsibility for managing professional development of individuals and groups
2
3
4
7 Highly specialized knowledge in a field of learning. Knowledge in new insights and academical research (Master) 5 Highly specialized knowledge in a field of learning. Knowledge in new insights and academical research (Master) Specialised problem-solving skills required in research and/or innovation in order to develop new knowledge and procedures and to integrate knowledge from different fields Manage and transform work or study contexts that are complex, unpredictable and require new strategic approaches Take responsibility for contributing to professional knowledge and practice and/or for reviewing the strategic performance of teams
6 Postgraduate studies (candidate of technical sciences or PhD)
(Master of Business Administration) 7 (Master of Business Administration)
8
8 Knowledge in a field of learning on the highest level. (PhD) 9 Postdoctoral research (Doctor of technical sciences) Postgraduate studies (candidate of technical sciences or PhD) The most advanced and specialized skills and techniques, including synthesis and evaluation, required to solve critical problems in research and/or innovation and to extend and redefine existing knowledge or professional practice Demonstrate substantial authority, innovation, autonomy, scholarly and professional integrity and sustained commitment to the development of new ideas or processes at the forefront of work or study contexts including research
10
11
Sources: State Duma (2012); Ec.europa.eu (2015).
The hierarchical levels of education, including the 1-5 levels (Table 2), can be easily corresponded with an organizational different hierarchical management level (Wünsche et al., 2014).
Table 2
Descriptors defining levels in the European Qualifications Framework.
Level Qualification (in the EQR called knowledge) Skills Competence
1 Good grounding in general knowledge, basis qualification Basic skills required to carry out simple tasks Working or learning under direct supervision
2 Knowledge in a special field of learning (certificate of secondary education) Basic cognitive and practical skills required to use relevant information in order to carry out tasks and to solve routine problems using simple rules and tools Work or study under supervision with some autonomy
3 In addition to level 2, knowledge of methods and principles (general certificate of secondary education) A range of cognitive and practical skills required to accomplish tasks and solve problems by selecting and applying basic methods, tools, materials and information Take responsibility for completion of tasks in work or study Adapt own behaviour to circumstances in solving problems
4 Wide spectrum of knowledge in a field of learning (advanced technical college entrance qualification) A range of cognitive and practical skills required to generate solutions to specific problems in a field of work or study Exercise self-management within the guidelines of work or study contexts that are usually predictable, but are subject to change. Supervise the routine work of others, taking some responsibility for the evaluation and improvement of work or study activities
5 Extensive knowledge in a field of learning. The person knows the limits of its knowledge (university entrance diploma) A comprehensive range of cognitive and practical skills required to develop creative solutions to abstract problems Exercise management and supervision in contexts of work or study activities where there is unpredictable change
Source: Ec.europa.eu (2015).
A set of qualifications, skills and competencies described in Tables 1,2 could stand behind for each management level. The European Qualifications Framework assists in allocating specific skills and competencies to a position on a particular management level (Wünsche et al., 2014). For example, the EFQ-level 8 and partly 7 are associated with positions on a top-management-level, since the top-management level decisions require insights and specialized knowledge in different areas, as well as authority and accountability. Therefore, the highest top-management level is represented by top managers who are responsible for making critical strategic decisions that determine the development of the entire company (Figure 1).
Fig. 1. Allocation of hierarchy levels to the education levels based on EQF.
Source: Wünsche et al. (2014).
Normally, the activities of top managers are not divided into functions, such as manufacturing, finance, because managers run the company as a whole, with responsibility for all its activities, determining its fate. More frequently, the highest posts of the top-management levels are performed by chairman of the board of directors, president, vice president, and the positions also called as the C-managers (CEO, CIO, CFO, etc.). In the university, these positions are represented by the rector, president of the university, and vice-rectors.
The upper-management-level contains head executives of major business units (i.e. departments, divisions). They are responsible for the practical implementation of the strategic plans developed by top-management level. Upper-management forms tactical plans and manages the implementation of tactical decisions on the scale of its divisions or business functions by coordination and supervision of the work of lower managers. They also prepare information for the decisions made by top-management-level, and then transmit these decisions into concrete tasks for the lower leaders. The role of upper-management level in the development of the companies is extremely high. Typical posts of upper managers are directors of major departments, at the plant
- department heads, in commercial networks - the director of stores, in hospitals
- deputy chief of the physician. In the university, deans could be partly considers as the representatives of upper-management level, despite the fact that officially they are related to the teaching staff (Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, 2011).
The lower management level contains division managers. Their main responsibility is to implement the corporate policy of the organization within their areas. For this reason, they are also often referred to as operations manager. Their flexibility in decision-making is limited compared to higher hierarchy levels. Authority and accountability are important, but not to the same extent compared to higher management levels. Meanwhile, the information and
relationships at this level are complicated due to decisions and instructions imposed by higher-level management. The managers of this level exercise control over the execution of production and other tasks, keep responsibility for the efficient use of allocated resources, such as materials, equipment, as well as working time. That is why the levels 6 or 7 EQF-profile are linked to the lower-management-level (Figure 1). Typically, the posts at this level are, for example, in the factory - the senior master, the store - senior sales, in the out-patient department - the head nurse. In the university, the lower management level could be associated with the head of the department, provided that officially the head of the department is related to the teaching staff (Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, 2011). A particular characteristic of this level of management is that managers are themselves often perform a variety of production tasks, combining the functions of managers and executives.
The administration-level follows the hierarchical lowest management level and links management and execution layers. Thus, a level 5 or 4 EQF-profile is connected to the administration's level. The upper execution and lower execution represent the base of the pyramid, which is responsible for planning, controlling, and monitoring of processes. There, mainly unskilled workers employees execute orders, while having no major power. Working procedures are more routine and often predictable. Their practical and cognitive skills of a specialized field of functions are required. The authority and accountability are required only within a special area, and interrelations are not restricted to an exclusive area within the job role. Consequently, a level 4 EQF-profile is closely related to the upper-execution level (Figure 1).
The employees of lower-execution level execute orders within a particular area within their job role. Only for some tasks, specialized knowledge is required. Information and relations are given and generally not very complex. Employees do not have authority over other employees and accountability for the execution of tasks. Thus, the lower execution level could be associated to EQF-levels 1-3.
3. Anticipated competencies from experts in the field of logistics
It should be noted that EQF provides the only general competencies related to the different levels of education. Meanwhile, the skills expected from professionals in different spheres of the economy can vary significantly. However, for example, in Russia, standards that define basic professional competence in the field of logistics have not yet been introduced. Meantime, the reform of education in Russia has already led to the accentuation of the requirements for the results of the development of basic educational training programs, regarding competencies. In this respect, the Russian experience can be contrasted with the experience of Belarus, where the teaching of logistics in
high school started later than in Russia for five years (2005), but already progressed so much. In 2013, the decision of the State Standard of the Republic of Belarus No. 61 approved and put into effect a standard 2345-2013. It is called 'Logistics activities. The requirements for the professional competence of the staff performers of logistics services and certification procedure', and was entered into force on 1 July, 2014 (Vernikovskaya, 2015). Since the professional standards for the employees of logistics area have yet to be enacted in Russia, the following research was conducted. To determine the expected generic competencies that are in demand in the Russian sphere of logistics, there were analyzed around 100 advertisements within the two most popular Russian sites for jobs seekers for the period of 1 month (HeadHunter.ru, 2015; Rabota.ru, 2015).
On the first phase, four broad categories of jobs in the field of logistics were identified. That is the top manager of logistics, logistics manager, dispatcher-logistician, assistant logistician. The results of this work revealed that the most popular post is the manager of logistics (56%). For this post requires higher education. The next popular post is the position of dispatcher-logistician (21%), which could qualify for a higher and secondary vocational education. For the post of the assistant logistician (14%), the incomplete higher or secondary vocational education can be sufficient. The latter, on the frequency of appearance in the advertisements, was the position of the top manager logistician (9%), for which one must have the mandatory higher professional education (Figure 2).
The top manager Logistics Dispatcher Assistant
on logistics manager
Fig. 2. The main job vacancies in logistics
In the second phase, the content of advertisements was analyzed. On the ground of this information, the following competencies expected from the logisticians have been outlined: knowledge of a foreign language, high level of oral and written language (ability to conduct business dialogue), basic computer knowledge, advanced knowledge in the field of computer information technology (CIT), professional experience, intercultural experience, flexibility, successful adaptation to changing working conditions, as well as high ability to learn the new process (Figure 3).
Fig. 3. Expected competence of logisticians.
According to Figure 3, the least popular competence is the intercultural experience (8%). Flexibility and knowledge of foreign language are averages (48% and 56%). The most popular expectation of the employers is the existence of professional experience (83%).
Based on the analysis of competencies for the allocation of professional groups in the field of logistics, the following conclusions can be made. Professional experience, basic computer knowledge, and knowledge of a foreign language are more important competencies for a qualified person (logistics manager). High learning ability and advanced knowledge in CIT were more common for the position of an assistant logistician. Dispatcher-logisticians need to, first of all, have basic compute knowledge and professional experience. The highest position, which is less popular, of top manager in logistics requires all of the competencies mentioned above (e.g., professional experience, advanced knowledge in CIT, knowledge of a foreign language), including the ability to conduct business negotiations and competently express the thoughts in oral and writing language.
Thus, the study showed that the most popular jobs positions required in the labor market are the logistics managers, while in non-management positions are dispatchers and assistant logisticians. Among the various competencies that from the point of view of companies, are crucial for employment logisticians is the acquisition of professional experience, while the least important competence for all jobs is the existence in cross-cultural experiences.
A similar study was carried out in Germany (Wünsche et al., 2014). The authors indicated that the professional experience and basic knowledge of computer are increasingly in demand for skilled workers in the field of logistics
rather than for specialist or expert, who, as a rule, are in a management position. In the professional group specialist, the most common competence was prescribed to the knowledge of a foreign language, which is significantly less important than for the other two occupational groups (expert and skilled workers). Meanwhile, mathematical abilities and intercultural experience are critical competencies for expert positions. A surprisingly low demand for foreign language skills in the other two categories (except and skilled worker) clearly do not reflect the trend towards globalization in the logistics industry (Wünsche et al., 2014). Also very limited demand for cross-cultural experience and the 'flexibility of experts lead to the conclusion of a very ethnocentric orientation of logistics companies, i.e., that is management strategies of transnational corporations, in which the overall management of the corporation is the most concentrated in the headquarters of the company at homeland.
The knowledge of a foreign language, according to the views of workers from the field of organization and management of transportation on the railways in Russia, is also considered as not so important among the other competencies. Their opinion was taken into account, since the role of rail logistics has extraordinary importance for Russia. The most important role of the railways in Russia is due to the scale of the country, which is on the first place in the world by the size of the territory and on the second by the length of railways after the United States (The World Bank, 2015). For this reason, it is not surprising that the company 'Russian Railways' generates almost 2% of GDP, 44.7 billion USD (Yakunin, 2011). A huge Russian rail industry (more than 1 million employees) accounts for about 1.5% of jobs in the Russian Federation. Due to this fact, railway engineers are educated in 10 transport universities (preferably, in railway sphere orientation), the oldest of which is the Petersburg State Transport University founded in 1809.
According to the responses of the representatives from the industry (about 50 people, receiving higher education in the PSTU), advanced computer knowledge and experience are the most important in the sphere of rail logistics (32 and 30 points, respectively). Further, in the order of importance (29 points), the presence of higher education and communication skills was determined. It is quite natural for the area of services. The need for foreign language proficiency has corresponded to 19 points.
Meantime, representatives of the recruiting agencies indicate that knowledge of foreign languages, as well as the ability to work in unusual situations, capacity to take responsibility and to make strategic decisions, should be developed so as to advance the careers in the major logistics companies (Potapova, 2012). To work in such a large holding company like JSC 'Russian Railways', the applicants additionally need to develop the habit of daily tensions creative work. In the responses of rail sphere representatives, the intensity of work and its inherent ability to handle stress was observed quite often (20 points).
In other research, authors identify that professionals in the field of logistics also need to navigate quickly in the current and future trends, including those relating to reducing emissions of C02, energy conservation, and optimization of transport processes in order to reduce congestion (Suttiwatnaruput et al., 2014). Availability of strategic planning skills, particularly in the light of the best domestic and international practices in the field of 'green' and 'sustainable' supply chain development can be relevant shortly in Russia likewise.
4. Conclusions
In order to reflect the professional competencies that are in demand in logistics, additional in-depth research is required, the relevance of which is determined by the presence of many complex tasks, including the high share of logistics costs in Russia's GDP that await urgent solutions from experts.
The current research represents that graduates with the qualification of logisticians are characterized by the high competitiveness of in the labor market, especially in St. Petersburg. The objective reason behind is the heightening importance of logistics in the globalization of the world economy. The most critical role in communications 'Russia-Europe-Asia' plays a transport and logistics environment of St. Petersburg that is the only metropolis in Russia, which encapsulates all modes of transportation. The presence in the Northwestern region of the largest port in the Baltic Sea, a well-developed network of railways and roads, air transport system, the Volga-Baltic waterway, and pipeline transport makes St. Petersburg a major transportation hub of the country. The continuing development of this transport center results in the increasing demand for the competent professionals in the field of logistics.
Moreover, the growth of interest in logistics as a 'tool' of business can be considered as a natural consequence of the development of the theoretical foundations of the logistics in high education in Russia, first and foremost, in St. Petersburg since 2000. The pioneering universities were St. Petersburg State Engineering and Economic University and St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. Nowadays, the growing need in the logisticians on the market demonstrates the success of these and others universities that provide education programs for the students in the field of logistics.
It should be noted that, by present time, the standards of education at the high school has changed considerably, bringing to the focus the competencies that determine the results of the development of basic educational training programs. However, in Russia, standards that define basic professional competence in the field of logistics have not yet been introduced. In this respect, the Russian experience can be contrasted with the experience of Belarus, where the teaching of logistics in high school started five years later than in Russia (2005), but already progressed so much. In 2013, the decision of the State
Standard of the Republic of Belarus No. 61 approved and put into effect a standard, which is called 'Logistics activities. The requirements for the professional competence of the staff performers of logistics services and certification procedure', and was entered into force on 1 July, 2014 (Vernikovskaya, 2015). Since the professional standards for the employees of logistics area have yet to be enacted in Russia, the current research was conducted.
The provided analysis of general competencies with regard to the levels of education and organizational hierarchical management levels, as well the revealed professional competencies required for the logisticians, including those who plan to work within the sphere of railway logistics, could help in the orientation and motivation of students for the proactive and creative approach in accumulation of their skills and knowledge.
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