Intrapreneurial Orientation As Mediator In The Relationship Of Human Capital And Job Performance Among Academicians In Malaysian Public Universities

Abstract

Globalization of the education system has become a nonnal phenomenon, especially in a developing country such as Malaysia. Thus, to compete in a globally competitive economy, the education system of a nation needs to be able to transform and fulfil the demands of the economic sector, in tenns of human capital that are knowledgeable and skil1ful. Therefore, the main objective of the Malaysian higher education transfonnation is to improve the perfonnance of higher education institutions and this demands for an emphasis on competitiveness, creativity, and innovations. To initiate this transfonnation process in the higher education, academicians play important roles and there seem to be a need for them to possess some intrapreneurial values and characteristics. Several studies show that intrapreneurship -a tenn coined to indicate that entrepreneurial competencies are valuable in any working context, is still a relatively new concept. This study applied the intrapreneurial orientation as mediator variable towards the human capital dimensions as independent variables and job performance as dependent variables. Thus, the objective of this research is to study the effect of intrapreneurial orientation as mediator in the relationship of human capital and job perfonnance among academicians in Malaysian Public Universities. The sample for this study consisted of academicians from twenty public universities situated in Malaysia. A total of four hundred and ten academicians were surveyed by using a quantitative study, specifically structured interview questionnaires. Then, the collected data was analyzed by using SPSS. Findings of the study indicated that academicians perceive that their human capital capabilities contribute to the intrapreneurial orientation and makes a highly positive contribution to their job performance. This study makes a significant contribution and it will be beneficial to academicians, universities leaders and the Ministry of Higher Education. The results of this research will provide guidelines to assist the stakeholders (i.e. university administrators, university boards, the academic community, Ministry of Higher Education, relevant agencies, and members of the public) to comprehend the importance of intrapreneurial.