Best Practices in Finishing School Programs for the Global Services Industry

The global services industry shows steady growth and a very dynamic pathcharacterized by unprecedented fast movements towards higher value services, constant changes in business as well as in service delivery models, and an increasing number of emerging outsourcing locations. In this context, the skills demand not only increases in amount and quality, but also constantly changes. This has led many countries to develop finishing school programs as an effective tool to face this challenge and take advantage of this growing industry that seems to have room for many players, aiming at bridging the gap between formal education and industry requirements. In this paper, we review this phenomenon and summarize its best practices.