In recent years, changes in business, new technology, and greater competitiveness and dynamism have all resulted in a need for new skills. This study focuses on soft skills in accounting education, exploring the viewpoints of both graduates and employers. Our main question is to better understand if there is a right match between graduates' perceptions and companies' expectations of the skills that are needed. 251 Italian graduates (Department of Management) and 74 Italian joint-stock companies completed a self-report questionnaire. Graduates attributed a higher level of importance to the following macro-areas of skills: task orientation, motivation, self-awareness, valorisation, and interpersonal relationships.

Using a large sample of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we investigate the effect of business cooperation realized through a "network contract" on the economic performance of network members. We find that establishing a formal business network has a positive effect on a firm's gross margin ratio and exports, but not on profits. The advantages of this type of networking are stronger in the cases of: smaller firms; firms operating in traditional markets; firms operating in turbulent markets; firms located in less developed areas; and firms not part of an industrial district. The characteristics of a network (such as its size, geographical dispersion and the sectorial diversity of its members), also have an impact on firm performance.

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This paper uses firm-level data and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods to investigate the effects of participation in formal networking activities and of female representation in leadership positions on firm's economic efficiency. Our findings show that firms belonging to a network have a higher level of technical efficiency (i.e., the position of network members is closer to the technical efficient frontier), while the presence of women in senior roles (CEO, president, or member of the board of directors) is associated to lower efficiency scores. However, the observed performance strongly increases when firms with women in top positions participate to networks, hinting at superior returns for female networking. This interaction effect is found to be stronger in female-intensive working environments and networks, as well as in innovative and digital intensive sectors.

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