Development of Situational Judgment Test (SJT) Instrument to Measure the Employability Skills of Graduates

Globalization makes graduate recruitment for an organization more complex. Employers believe that a competitive workforce is the key to success of an organization. Currently, although graduates are said to have good specific skills, they still have problems with employability skills, and these problems affect the quality of their work. A good level of employability skills is essential in order to ensure that graduates are ready before entering the work market. Therefore, their level of employability skills should be evaluated. In this study, an instrument of employability skills for Universiti Utara Malaysia graduates across various fields was developed by using the assessment approach of situational judgment test (SJT). Twelve (12) items were developed measuring communication skill, professional ethics and morality, entrepreneurial skill, critical thinking in problem solving and personal quality. Instrument's validity was achieved through expert opinion and the reliability (in terms of stability) was based on the Chi-Square for homogeneity test and Mann-Whitney U test. Next, the validated instrument was used to obtain norm scores for each tested skill using the Bias-Corrected and Accelerated (BCA) bootstrap. The norm scores indicated that the respondents possessed a high level of professional ethics and morality; and a moderate level for other tested skills. Based on the findings, the instrument produced can be used by graduates, university, employers, government agencies and career development agencies when evaluating the level of employability skills

Instrumen kebolehpasaran graduan

Masalah pengangguran dikalangan graduan di Malaysia berada pada tahap yang tidak memuaskan dan perlu diatasi dengan segera.Pelbagai langkah telah diambil oleh kerajaan untuk mengatasi masalah ini termasuklah melaksanakan penilaian kemahiran kebolehpasaran terhadap pelajar IPT melalui instrumen My3S. Langkah ini dilihat sebagai antara langkah yang baik. Bagaimana pun, berdasarkan kaedah penilaian yang dijalankan, kajian ini berpendapat bahawa hasil yang diperolehi tidak akan dapat menilai dengan tepat kemahiran kebolehpasaran yang dimiliki oleh pelajar mahu pun graduan IPT.Kekurangan tersebut cuba diatasi oleh kajian ini melalui pembangunan instrumen yang lebih bersifat“realistik” menggunakan kaedah SJT.Bagaimana pun, sebelum instrumen dibangunkan, perbincangan dilakukan terlebih dahulu berkenaan instrumen kebolehpasaran graduan yang telah wujud di Malaysia.Kemudian, perbincangan dan perbandingan turut dilakukan kepada kemahiran kebolehpasaran yang dikatakan perlu kepada graduan serta kaedah pengukuran instrumen yang kebanyakannya digunakan untuk membuat penilaian.Hal ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan kemahiran kebolehpasaran yang perlu diuji oleh kajian ini dan bagi membuktikan kelebihan kaedah SJT berbanding kaedah yang lain. Apabila telah dibuktikan, Bab Tiga dibangunkan untuk SJT supaya penerangan yang lebih terperinci dapat diberikan berkenaan kaedah tersebut.Penerangan yang diberikan terdiri daripada lima bahagian iaitu definisi, sejarah SJT, ciri, prosedur pembangunan dan kekuatan SJT. Seterusnya, Instrumen Kebolehpasaran Graduan dibangunkan melalui proses pembangunan instrumen yang disarankan oleh Merten (2005).Bagaimana pun, oleh kerana kaedah SJT terlibat, proses pembangunan instrumen turut merujuk kepada kajian Motowildo et al. (1990) dan Weekley et al. (2006). Seterusnya, instrumen ini dilaksanakan kepada seribu dua ratus orang responden yang terdiri daripada pelajar tempatan tahun akhir UUM dari pelbagai program pengajian. Data yang telah diperolehi dianalisis terlebih dahulu menggunakan kaedah EDA. Kemudian, pemarkahan dilakukan dan analisis diteruskan dengan ujian hipotesis. Berikutnya skor norma dibangunkan melalui kaedah Simulasi Persampelan BCA Bootstrap.Hasil kajian berjaya menunjukkan tahap kemahiran kebolehpasaran yang dimiliki oleh pelajar tempatan tahun akhir UUM.Daripada hasil kajian tersebut, separuh daripada responden dilihat memiliki kemahiran di tahap yang baik dan memuaskan.Bagaimana pun, hasil bagi Kemahiran Keusahawanan menunjukkan terdapat hanya tiga puluh peratus responden sahaja yang memiliki kemahiran tersebut di tahap yang baik dan memuaskan.Secara tidak langsung, keputusan ini dapat memberi gambaran awal kepada pihak UUM untuk memberi fokus untuk meningkatkan Kemahiran Keusahawan pelajar pada masa hadapan.Seterusnya, nilai skor norma juga berjaya diperolehi.Nilai ini boleh digunakan oleh pihak UUM bagi membuat penilaian dan perbandingan kemahiran kebolehpasaran yang dimiliki oleh pelajar tempatan tahun akhir UUM pada masa hadapan

A study of decision making process in crude palm oil trading: TH Plantations Berhad / Mohd Hafiz Zakaria

The purpose of this study is to determine the decisions making process that should be followed by the members of marketing department in TH Plantations Berhad in order to improve the sales transaction process between buyer and sellers. In addition, this study also will help to gain a better knowledge and understanding decisions making on choosing a buyer. The decision process will help the marketers to identify the step and actions should they need to perform before making purchase decision. In order to complete this study, several methods of research methodology is used to finalize and make conclusion on the findings of the result. The research methodology consists of data collection method, data presentation and work schedule were deeply discussed in the latter chapters. As for this study, it expected that the THP decision making on selecting a buyer could be derive based on the decisions making process analysis. The study will compare the current marketing strategy being implied by marketing staff of THP based on decision making process with the actual technique suggested by scholars. Besides that, the result of this study will prove that there are flaws on strategy implied by marketers of THP

Effect of Co3O4 doping and sintering temperature on optical energy band gap properties in Zn-Bi-Ti-O varistor ceramics

It is necessary to investigate the electronic states of ceramic based ZnO vasristor and effect of doped impurities at different concentration. Band gap (Eg) of the ceramic (99-x) mol% ZnO+0.5 mol% Bi2O3+0.5 mol% TiO2+ xCo3O4 where x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 mol%, were determined using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The samples were prepared via solid-state route and sintered at the sintering temperature at 1110, 1140 and 1170 °C for 45 and 90 min in open air. At no doping of Co3O4, the values of Eg are 2.991 ± 0.001, 2.989 ± 0.001 eV for 45 and 90 min sintering time; respectively. Eg was decreased to 2.368 ± 0.002 and 2.352 ± 0.001 eV at 0.8 mol% Co3O4 for 45 and 90 min sintering time; respectively. XRD analysis indicates that two main phases existed at all concentrations which are ZnO and secondary phases, Bi12TiO20, Zn2Ti3O8, ZnCo2O4 and Co3Ti3O. Relative density decreases with the addition of Co3O4 compared to that of undoped at all doping level. When Co3O4 is added in the ceramics, relative density increases with the increase of doping level at both 45 and 90 min sintering time. The variation of sintering temperatures and XRD findings of steepness factor are correlated with the UV-Vis spectrophotometer results of based ZnO varistor doped with Co3O4 due to the growth of interface states

The Extent Of Social Media Practices In Malaysian Sme: Migrating From Adoption To Measurement

Social media is leveraged by businesses at a discernible pace. Most often social media is used to instill brand awareness, to stimulate communication, to facilitate relationships, to spur information exchange and innovation, to track customers’ voice, and so forth. Despite the increasing imperative to the varieties of business routines, the measurement aspects of social media marketing initiatives are limitedly discussed. Furthermore, the literature has found the lack of firms’ sensitivity to measurement activities or success indicators for their social media marketing investments. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the extent of social media measurement practices in business from two contexts: first, in the prominent platform of social networking sites, and second, in the perspective of Malaysian SMEs. A preliminary investigation was conducted with 30 respondents from selected industry groups in services and manufacturing sectors to acquire the well-informed data in the SMEs of the southern region. The findings have shaped several themes of social media adoption and evaluation practices for Malaysian SMEs. Accordingly, the barriers and future directions of measurement efforts on social media platform are discussed

The linearity of optical tomography: sensor model and experimental verification

The aim of this paper is to show the linearization of optical sensor. Linearity of the sensor response is a must in optical tomography application, which affects the tomogram result. Two types of testing are used namely, testing using voltage parameter and testing with time unit parameter. For the former, the testing is by measuring the voltage when the obstacle is placed between transmitter and receiver. The obstacle diameters are between 0.5 until 3 mm. The latter is also the same testing but the obstacle is bigger than the former which is 59.24 mm and the testing purpose is to measure the time unit spend for the ball when it cut the area of sensing circuit. Both results show a linear relation that proves the optical sensors is suitable for process tomography application

Setting Strategies In Social Networking Sites: Community-Based Indicators For Small And Medium Industries In Malaysia

Theconstant growth of data on social media that deals with the business nature generated by online communities has inundated business owners and marketers with business-related conversations. The consideration, preference, and action stages about brands and products are easily influenced by the community members in social networking sites (SNS), making the flow of information become multidirectional, interconnected, and difficult to predict. Therefore, firms and brands are called upon to attract the attentionof these communities by focusing on building, enhancing and maintaining interactions through an effective and strategic approach to SNS marketing. This paper will gain insights on such valuable information by integrating findings from both perspectives ofsmall and medium enterprises (SMEs) and engaged brand communities in SNS. Two distinct questionnaire surveys are conducted upon 30 SMEs and 30 active SNS customers in order to obtain more clarity. As a result, a spectrum of coalesced data was obtained andconcluded that the firms, brands and the brand's community must always give each other's continual commitment so that the nurturing relationships provide satisfactory mutual benefits to all community participants in the interest of increasing the overall brand performance

Software project management

This module aims to equip students with software for project management using Microsoft Project. Students will learn how to use the top project management software tool in the industry. The module will teach students how to manage IT project management in general and interactive media project management

Mobile Phone Augmented Reality Postcard

The purpose for this project is to introduce and empower the technology of Mobile Phone Augmented Reality (AR) into the usage of everyday souvenirs for the tourism industry. AR technology these days have advanced into a mainstream technology that can easily be executed with modern day smartphones be it on the Android or iOS platform. The idea is to construct a 3D model of a historical monument which allows the tourist to obtain information and a 360 degree view of the monument itself. Therefore, this project is believed to be able to bring up the idea of using AR technology and its application on a souvenir. The type of souvenir that will be focused on would be the postcard as it is still one of the main purchased items by tourists while travelling. A pilot study based on 50 respondents around Melaka tourist hotspots will be conducted after the completion of this project to determine that by implementing AR into souvenirs, tourists are able to gain information interactivel