Industry perspective workshop program: An instructional case used to integrate transferable skills in introductory accounting

The professional environment in which accountants operate has, in recent years, become increasingly complex, leading to significant changes within the profession. Intensifying the need for this change are the pressures associated with the recent global financial crisis, changes in information and communication technology, and the continuous introduction of new accounting standards. Employers are calling for the increased development of "non-technical" skills, such as critical thinking and the ability to communicate and engage with clients, within current graduates in order to meet the needs of the evolving and dynamic profession (Kavanagh and Drennan 2008; Hancock et al. 2010). In order for this to occur, real integration of non-technical skills' development into the accounting curriculum needs to take place. This instructional case tries to achieve this, providing students with an opportunity to apply theoretical accounting concepts to the creation of their own business, while actively developing their group processing skills. The primary objective of the case is to provide students with an opportunity to acquire technical accounting skills concurrently with group processing skills and other non-technical skills. A secondary objective of the case is to encourage students to engage with the technical learning material in the introductory accounting curriculum. This paper describes the design of an Industry Perspective Workshop Program that incorporates the comprehensive integration of group processing skills and accounting-related content within an introductory accounting decision-making course.