Sustainable Strategies for Innovative Cooperation in Human Resources Training between the Business Sector and Universities through Internship Programs from the Pre- to Post-COVID-19 Period

Abstract

Internships can foster educational alliances between industry (business environment) and academic institutions, which can facilitate both flexibility and accelerated innovation. The purpose of this research is to search for the factors that determine HRT through the implementation of the internship program among the students at the Democritus University of Thrace and reveal the correlation between the factors. Also, this paper investigated the impact of the COVID-19 Eras on human resource training (HRT) factors and, finally, investigated the correlation between the two variables “Recruitment in the specialization” and “COVID Eras”. The sample of the research consisted of 1398 students at the DUTh who implemented internships during the academic years from 2015–2016 to 2021–2022. A questionnaire with 60 variables was created for data collection. A random sampling method was applied to collect the sample. From the results of the survey, ten factors were extracted for human resource training that explained 75.512% of the total variance, and for each one, Cronbach’s Alpha reliability was tested, which was high. In detail, the factors revealed were Learning Outcomes, Efficacy, Emotional Commitment, Satisfaction, Participation, Empowerment, Role Ambiguity, Role Conflict, Supervisor, and Collaboration. From the results of the study, it was evident that HR training is a multidimensional concept and is a necessary condition for the competitiveness of the firms. Training can help to improve the flexibility of the firm, but also to motivate the staff by implementing multidisciplinary training programs. Overall, internship programs are beneficial for students to develop a wide range of skills, as the hands-on experience obtained enhances and supplements the theoretical learning from educational institutions.