Sales education in Italian universities: state of the art and future directions

Abstract

During the last 10 years, scholars focused their attention on how sales education has evolved and highlighted the relevant impact of teaching sales-related topics in tertiary education worldwide. However, in the universities, the number of programs, curricula, and courses is limited. This low number of sales programs can impact students’ “work readiness” and not respond to company needs generating a mismatching. This study aimed to understand the state of the art of sales education in the Italian context and to explore the future challenges for universities. The results confirm the low presence of sales-related courses but, at the same time, a relevant part of the selected program presents sales as a job opportunity or a competence. Internal and external challenges are also described and suggestions to better develop sales education programs within Italian universities are provided.