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Employability Competencies: Employer Expectations and Employer Satisfaction of Open University Malaysia's Graduates
Get PDFObjectives of the Study
The objectives of the study were to:
(1) Find out the level of importance attributed by employers to the various
employability competencies;
(2) Find out the extent to which the employers are satisfied with OUM graduates'
competencies;
(3) Examine the extent to which the level of employer satisfaction differs from the
level of importance attributed to the competencies; and
(4) Examine the strengths and opportunities for improvement of OUM graduates with
regard to employability competencies
Opportunities for adult learners through integrated e-learning
Get PDFThe distance learning environment has a major contribution to make to the educational
requirements of the 21st century by encouraging the acceptance of lifelong learning (LLL).
Keeping pace with changes in technology and meeting the increasing demands of the
knowledge based economy requires a highly skilled and educated workforce. The solution
would then have to be to foster educational opportunities which would invariably lead to
continuing education through the concept of LLL. Avenues would then point to integrated elearning
with its egalitarian environment of open access and greater opportunities for the
learners particularly the adult learners. The integrated e-learning opportunities would be
able to satisfy the students’ need for convenient offerings and at the same time maximize the
use of online teaching technologies, facilities and resources reducing presence in a
classroom environment. Arguably traditional classroom methods present an important
presence in the teaching-learning process but the use of technology presents the challenges
of the future. Technology has now integrated into higher education and this paper attempts
to explore the opportunities and challenges that online learning in general and Open
University Malaysia in particular face in implementing lifelong learning to cater to the
adult learners. (Abstract by author
A study of the impact of the empowerment on employee performance in the automative industry in Malaysia
Get PDFThis research aims to investigate the relationship between empowerment and
employee performance in the Malaysian automotive industry. It also aims to examine
the influence of empowerment on employee performance and to identify which of the
four (4) dimensions of empowerment has the greatest influence on employee
performance. The four dimensions of empowerment, namely meaning, competence,
self determination and impact, are the identified independent variables, with employee
performance as the dependent variable. Each of the dimensions of empowerment was
tested to determine its relationship with employee performance. Questions on
empowerment were adopted from Spreitzer (1995) 12-item questions on meaning,
competence, self determination and impact. The questions on performance were
adapted from Carly Webster’s (2006) empirical study on “An empirical analysis of
the relationships between the interactive use of performance measurement systems,
creativity and performance: the intervening role of psychological empowerment”.
The questionnaires were sent to 107 companies. A total of 89 respondents from 21
companies participated in the survey. The participating companies represented a
return rate of 19.6% of the invitations sent to 107 companies. Six (6) hypotheses
were developed and tested using Pearson Correlation and Regression Analysis. The
findings indicate that employees in the automotive industry find that empowerment
strongly influences employee performance. There is significant correlation between
the dimensions of empowerment and employee performance. They feel that when
they are empowered with autonomy, freedom and opportunities to influence decision
making in their jobs or organisation, their performance will improve significantly.
The implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research
are also identified and proposed. (Abstract by author
The Impact Of The Special Dividend Announcement On The Stock Return: The Case Of Malaysia.
No full textThe method of distributing excess cash among investors is determined by dividend policies taken by each company. Usually, there are three alternatives of the excess cash distribution; offering special dividend, initiating or increasing regular dividend and repurchase share. Special dividend that is a one-time payment rather than the permanent increase in cash payment conveys the good news that although the current financial situation of the firm might not be sustainable, but distribution of the special dividend reduces the free cash flow problems. Furthermore, distribution excess cash via a special dividend would suggest that managers believe that the current share price of company is not undervalued. This study investigates the impact of the special dividend announcement on the stock returns of the Malaysian stock market. Using the standard event study methodology, the findings indicate that, the special dividend announcement signals good news to investors in the overall market and when the analysis expanded to the sector level. That causes the stock returns to react positively and immediately when the news is announced. These findings are in line with the findings of previous studies carried out in US and Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR
Open Educational Resources
Get PDFThis PowerPoint presentation discussed on the concept and practice of Open Educational Resources (OER). Latest efforts on OER alse being presented
Analytical Proton Transfer Amplitude for Heavy Ion Induced Nuclear Reactions
No full textDirect reactions between heavy ions have been studied widely using semi-classical theories. The Distorted Wave Born Approximation or DWBA has been extensively applied to analyse transfer reaction processes. Initial attempts to gain insights into the simple semi-classical parametrisation starting from the DWBA had focused mainly on neutron transfer reactions. An analytical formula for the semi-classical amplitude for the transfer of a single neutron between bound classical orbits states in heavy ion collisions that agrees well with the DWBA calculations has been successfully derived. In this paper, we have successfully derived the corresponding analytical expression for the proton transfer amplitude by using a technique analogous to the transfer of a single neutron between bound states. Our result reduces to the well known expression for the neutron transfer amplitude in the limit that the nuclear charge tends to zero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR
The relationship between persistence, academic engagement, and academic achievement among postgraduates students of OUM
Get PDFSelf-managed learning is one of the pillars of lifelong learning. Learners’ stamina to sustain as selfdirected
learners is vital for their academic success. This paper examines the association between
persistence in studies, academic engagement, and academic performance among postgraduate students in
an Open and Distance Learning Institution. The logistic regression was used to model the relationship
while the Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) was used to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the
predictive model. In this cross-sectional research, a total of 339 students enrolled in various Master’s
degree programs at OUM answer a self-administered questionnaire. Academic performance was
compared with students’ perceived engagement in academic activities, and persistence in studies.
Among the significant predictors of academic performance are classroom behaviour and cognitive
emphasis (components of engagement), and academic integration, institutional commitment, academic
conscientiousness and degree commitment (components of persistence). Students with favourable ratings
on their academic engagement and persistence in studies tend to do better academically. The statistical
model predicting these relationships is 83.33% sensitive and 91.04% specific. This paper concludes that
by using student engagement and persistence as predictors of academic achievement would enable the
academic institutions to identify ‘at risk’ students much earlier compared to using CGPA. (Abstract by authors
A survey of primary students' concerns in the implementation of contemporary literature programme
Get PDFThe main objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the Contemporary Literature Programme in Keramat Zone of Selangor. 107 Year Six pupils are involved. Concern Based Adoption Model (CBAM) devised by Hall & Hord, 2001 is used through its instrument in Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SOC).These data are analysed using SPSS version 16. Descriptive statistics that are used include mean, standard deviation and percentage while T Test is used to test the hypotheses of the study. Overall, the research has found out that the extent of Year Six pupils' stages of concern is at SOC2 (Personal).This shows that Year Six pupils want to know more about the Contemporary Literature Programme. They are wondering whether the programme is similar or different to what they have learnt before during English period. The study too explores on the extent of Year Six pupils' stages of concern based on gender and attending English private tuition. It is proved that girls show significant differences compared to boys and are based at SOC2 (Personal). Girls are motivated to learn more on the ramifications of the programme and find out how the programme would affect them in upgrading their English competency and literacy. In attending private English tuition, all stages of concerns from SOC0 SOC6 do not show any significant differences. It means that pupils who attend or not, are not concern with Contemporary Literature Programme. The programme does not influence or affect them in attending or not attending private English tuition. (abstract by author
A Systems Approach in the Evaluation and Comparison of Engineering Services Applied in Facilities Management
No full textPurpose - This paper is a balance mixed management and engineering concepts which aims to fuse classical engineering methodologies into a systems engineering framework to systematically and comprehensively assess and compare services rendered by engineering systems.
Design/methodology/approach - An auditing framework is developed to assess the performance of engineering services in the context of engineering services found within a facility. As a result of system heterogeneity factor, an approach to remove such confounding issue has been developed to provide a different insight in engineering services performance.
Findings - The output of the audit exercise serves as an input to the second methodology, direct age-adjusted failure, which overcomes systems attributes confounding issues when comparison is made between different systems populations of the same class type. This method allows management to identify areas in which extra resources are needed to improve maintenance performance.
Research limitations/implications -
Practical implications - The proposed standardization technique, which can be applied to other system attributes other than age, overcomes the systems heterogeneity issue between localities. This research work is positioned in the context of building engineering services as they are the most important in terms of socio-economical impact. A case study based on an actual facilities assessment in Singapore is used to demonstrate the usefulness of such an integrated systems approach.
Originality/value - This paper has presented a qualitative-quantitative assessment framework that is consist of two major methodologies to help in identifying and prioritizing engineering system services in order to allocate limited resources to the appropriate engineering service so as to improve its performance.
(Authors' abstract