Women empowerment and job performance: Empirical evidence from academia

How women compare with men in terms of empowerment and work performance in an academic setting was the main objective of this descriptive-correlation study. The moderating effects of age, work experience, educational qualification, and family role were also examined. Respondents of the study included 263 randomly selected academic staff of a government university; two-thirds of whom were female and one-third were male. Findings showed that women had a "high" empowerment level while men had "moderate" empowerment. Significant differences in empowerment mean scores were noted in terms of age among women, and in terms of educational qualification among men. Educational qualification came out as a significant predictor of empowerment among women, while age and work experience were significant predictors for men. Work performance for both groups was "outstanding," but women had significantly higher mean score than their male counterparts. Likewise, significant differences in work performance were observed as regards educational qualification for both groups, and in addition, with regard to the role in the family for men. Significant predictors of work performance included educational qualification among the women, and age among the men. Empowerment and work performance were not statistically correlated

A data mining approach to profiling of MBA students

Data mining is the non-trivial discovery of meaningful, new correlations, patterns and trends, and the extraction of implicit, previously unknown, and potentially useful information from large amounts of data (Berry & Linoff, 2000).This paper explored the strategic application of data mining in higher education, more specifically in the MBA programme of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM).The database known as Graduate Academic Information System (GAIS) was the main data source used for mining 847 usable out of 1,758 available data sets utilising E-miner.Analyses showed that age when enrolled for the programme and years of working experience were significantly important for segmenting the MBA students.It was also found that centre of study and entrance qualification were statistically significant in differentiating MBA students who are likely to complete their study successfully.Moreover, ethnic group (Chinese), mode of study (full-time), CGPA (3.13), marital status (married), and centre of study (UUM) were significant predictors linked to successful completion of MBA.The researchers recommend, among others, careful consideration of significant variables that had statistical bearing on programme completion

Human resource development (HRD): Technology and ICT adoption in industrial sector, Malaysia

The roles of information and communication technology (ICT) in boosting productivity and in promoting human resource development cannot be underestimated. Small and medium enterprises, in particular, have to grapple with the technological innovations that challenge operations, efficiency, and productivity vis-à-vis human resource capabilities.As in many countries, Malaysia has adopted ICT in various sectors such as manufacturing, banking, finance, and telecommunication, to name a few.These sectors utilize knowledge workers that have technological and ICT skills for competitive advantage.In line with the 9th Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), it was reported that investment from the technology and ICT sector are expected to be the main driver for the manufacturing sector’s overall growth, which in turn, could contribute to greater export and create more employment opportunities.This research assessed the development of human resources based on the application of ICT in the industrial sector in Malaysia.This was a field study in the form of a survey research using a random sample of organizations representing the industrial and government sectors in Malaysia. A total of 706 firms were selected in which questionnaires were sent and 120 usable returns were received representing a 17% response.The distribution of the sample suggests a high concentration of the ICT industry and high technology industry in the central and northern regions of Malaysia.Results of the study showed a moderate number of employees using IT were present in the organizations with more than half of the sample reported having employees with IT skills.There was also a low degree of technology and IT adoption among the sample with only half invested in technology and/or IT. Finally, the findings indicated that ICT adoption had a strong significant impact on the company’s productivity and quality of services