Lenovo Pest

Accounting Education: an international journal Vol. 20, No. 3, 275 – 294, June 2011

‘A distinguishing factor’: Oral Communication Skills in New Accountancy Graduates

F. ELIZABETH GRAY and NIKI MURRAY

Massey University, New Zealand

Received: August 2009 Revised: January 2011; May 2010; January 2011 Accepted: January 2011 Published online: March 2011

ABSTRACT This study into the perceived importance of oral communication skills in accountancy included the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from a national survey of New Zealand accountants, followed by a series of semi-structured interviews. Survey and interview data reveal agreement with existing literature: New Zealand accountancy employers find all oral communication skills somewhat important and a number of specific skills extremely important, but employers also report seldom finding the required level of oral communication proficiency in new university graduates. The study produced an inventory of 27 individual oral communication skills that will be useful to similar investigations in different national contexts. Additionally, the findings of this study may be useful to curricular development both in the New Zealand and international contexts.

KEY WORDS: Oral communication, workplace communication, listening, presentation skills, telephone skills

1. Introduction

Academics and practitioners do not always concur but, in the case of communication skills in accountancy graduates, these two sets of stakeholders are in firm agreement: both written and oral communication skills are extremely important in the accountancy work- place (Albin and Crockett, 1991; Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Borzi and Mills, 2001; Hock, 1994; Johnson and Johnson, 1995; LaFrancois, 1992; McDonald, 2007; Morgan, 1997). This agreement extends across international boundaries, as a number of studies around

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