DEVELOPING HRM STUDENTS’ MANAGERIAL POTENTIAL: UUM’S APPROACH TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

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International Conference on Knowledge Management 2005PWTC, Kuala Lumpur

DEVELOPING HRM STUDENTSMANAGERIAL POTENTIAL: UUMS APPROACH TO

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Dr Faridahwati Mohd ShamsudinTel.: 04-9283866; Fax: 04-9283663

e-mail: [email protected] Prof Dr Mohmad Yazam Sharif

Tel.: 04-9283871; Fax: 04-9283663e-mail: [email protected]

Abdullah OmarTel.: 04-9283858; Fax: 04-9283663

e-mail: [email protected] Resource Management Department

Faculty of Human & Social Development06010 Sintok, Kedah

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Developing HRM Students Managerial Potential:UUMs Approach to Knowledge Management

Dr Faridahwati Mohd. ShamsudinAssociate Professor Dr Mohmad Yazam Sharif

Abdullah OmarHuman Resource Management Department

Faculty of Human & Social DevelopmentUniversiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract

UUM has among the largest grouping of Human Resource Management (HRM)academics in Asia, if not the whole world. These academics are based in theHRM department of the Faculty of Human and Social Development, Universiti

Utara Malaysia (UUM). They comprise seasoned experts from the private andpublic sectors as well as pure academics that are homegrown products of UUMshuman resource development (HRD) programme since 1990. UUM has beendesignated by the government as a specialized management university. Thispaper aims to highlight some findings on how UUM has been able to assemblethis group of HRM academics and subsequently manage the knowledge of HRMto benefit UUMs customers the undergraduate, post-graduate students and thepublic. Developing graduates to meet the market needs has always been thefocus of the group since the early 1990s. As such, the students have beenexposed to various activities to ensure that they acquire specific skills that canhelp them in their job search or start businesses. Before the students could bedeveloped, UUMs top management had realized since the beginning that the

academics in HRM with the right experience or attitude need to be carefullyselected in order for them to play effective roles in developing future managerialpotentials, i.e. the students. These academics have contributed in teachingacademic courses using relevant techniques as well as acting as facilitators totwo of UUMs academic consulting centres Institute for EntrepreneurialDevelopment and Institute of Quality Management. In addition, they have alsoacted as valuable supervisors to UUMs undergraduate students who undergoindustrial training or practicum.

Keywords: human resource development (HRD), human resource management(HRM), knowledge management, practicum, UUM

INTRODUCTION

Our people are our biggest asset. This phrase underlies the thinking and

philosophy of many contemporary businesses (Jackson & Schuler, 2003; Mondy & Noe,

2005). It underscores the importance of proper and effective management and

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administration of human resources in business organizations since it influences the

survival or demise of a business organization. A business organization can hardly

survive on its products and services alone; it has to have energetic and enthusiastic

group of marketers and sales people to market the products and services. Similarly,

advanced technology adopted by the business organization categorically needs people

to handle and manage it. In short, regardless of the nature of business, the common

denominator for survival rests on its human resources.

Because human resources are an important asset to the organization, managers

need to learn and know how to manage this asset carefully and effectively, from the day

before they enter the organization until they day they retire from the organization. In

addition to these aspects of management, managers need also concern that the people

they hire are able to help the organization achieve its mission and objectives. All these

call for the need for managers (and human resource managers) to play a strategic role in

the organization (Mondy & Noe, 2005).

Theoretically the management and administration of human resource

management is the purview of human resource managers. Whilst this is theoretically

true, in strategic human resource management (SHRM), line managers are also

managing and administering their own people on the respective unit or department

(Mondy & Noe, 2005). In other words, they also act as human resource managers since

they are also involve in planning for their staff members, recruit them, suggest their

names for promotion (and demotion), development etc. Because all managers are

directly and/or indirectly involved in the functions of human resource management, it is

imperative that future managers are properly trained in this area. And this is where UUM

comes in.

This paper seeks to discuss the role of UUM in developing future HR managers,

using knowledge management approach. It also attempts to answer the major question:

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How does UUM acquire and develop its knowledge, and how it uses this knowledge to

develop its students potential?

To answer this question, a combination of a case-study and historical analysis

techniques are used. In essence, by using this method, readers are shown the

trajectory of development UUM has undergone in achieving students HRM potential. In

other words, the method will help readers appreciate how UUM uses the knowledge and

also understand the importance of human resource management in developing students

managerial potential in this area.

THE CONCEPT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

`Before discussing UUMs efforts in developing HRM academics, it is only

appropriate to elaborate further the meaning of knowledge management as it is the

foundation of UUMs strategic approach. It is acknowledged by many that future

managers (including HR managers) should be groomed while they are still

undergraduates (Connor & Pollard, 1996; Hawkins & Winter, 1996; Jameson & Holden,

2000). To this end, competent HRM academics are required to impart relevant

knowledge and exposure to potential HR managers.

Consequently competent HR managers would play effective roles in managing

organizational employees. Over time as employees are seen to be the most important

assets of organizations by many employers, the need to manage the knowledge (or

knowledge management) of people management becomes important (Evans, 2003). It

is thus argued that knowledge management should be on the human resource agenda.

Several researchers (Davenport, 1997; Housel & Bell, 2001) have tried to explain the

meaning of knowledge management. Sayed and Cheng (2004), for example, define

knowledge management as a series of processes that manage the creation,

dissemination and utilization of knowledge as well as measurement of performance.

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They add that the aim of knowledge management is to put together and organize

knowledge to create a substance of value in knowledge. Bukowitz and Williams (1999)

further add that knowledge management is the process by which the organization

generates wealth from its intellectual or knowledge-based assets. Both definitions bring

forward the contention that managing people is the foundation of managing a business.

Efforts put on finding out the best ways of managing people would further develop the

business.

Authors had agreed that knowledge management comprised at least six

components: knowledge management concept, knowledge acquisition, knowledge

codification, knowledge dissemination, knowledge sharing and knowledge application

(Davenport, 1997; Evans, 2003; Housel & Bell, 2001). The concept of knowledge

management has been interpreted in two ways the managerial perspective and the

technical perspective (Horibe, 1999). The first perspective interprets knowledge

management as the task undertaken by managers (especially human resource

professionals) to manage some useful knowledge for the benefit of their organizations

while the second perspective interprets knowledge management as the process of using

technical or information communication technology (ICT) tools to manage knowledge of

something.

Next is knowledge acquisition. This is an important part of knowledge

management process. Any useful knowledge to an organization has been to be acquired

mainly by sending employees for external training or purchasing technology from

external source. Following that is knowledge codification. In this phase, the acquired

knowledge is codified so that others within the organization can have access to the data.

After the knowledge has been codified, the organization can publicize the

availability of the knowledge concerned to all levels of employees who are in need of it to

perform their duties. The next phase is knowledge sharing. Those who are well-versed

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with the knowledge which has been codified and practised can share the knowledge with

those who are lagging behind.

Lastly is knowledge application. Initially, the codified knowledge may just be used

in certain limited functions. For instance, in employee training. In this phase, the codified

knowledge is applied to other functions within specific department or across departments

in an organization.

UNIVERSITI UTARA MALAYSIA (UUM)

UUMs Administration: Then and Now

UUM was established on 16th February 1984 and was located temporarily in Jitra,

Kedah, until it moved to its permanent campus in Sintok, a town on the Malaysian - Thai

border in late 1990 (www.uum.edu.my). Initially, the academic affairs in UUM were run

using a school system. Under this system, each school that is established would be

interdependent and would service each others needs. One of the bigger schools was

the School of Management through which many business-related degree programmes

were offered such the Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) and the Bachelors of

Human Resource Management (BHRM). However with effect from November 2003,

UUMs management decided to adopt the faculty system in place of the school

system. Some departments were relocated into the new faculties. For example, the

Human Resource Management Department, which was previously located in the School

of Management, was shifted to the Faculty of Human and Social Development.

UUMs Development of HRM Academics: The History and Vision

Since the mid 1980s, UUM was designated as a management university. Thus

the development of management-based programmes was high on the list of UUMs

management especially in early 1990s. This focus had inadvertently pushed the School

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of Management to the forefront as the centre of UUMs future expansion plans. The

School was ordered by UUMs top management to develop deeper specialisations within

the BBA such as HRM, international business, tourism, marketing, finance, banking,

production/operations management and law. Later these specialisations were to be

upgraded to full-fledged individual degrees. These were continuously to be reviewed so

as to be relevant with the times.

But rapid changes were and are occurring in the environment within Malaysia as

well as outside Malaysia. As a management-based university, UUM also took cognisant

of the changes that were taking place in Malaysia and worldwide and incorporated

changes to the various degree structures over tiime. Over time, students were given

opportunities to specialise in specific areas of business, such as marketing, finance, and

human resource management. It should be noted here that the early plans for

expanding and developing a full-fledged HRM bachelors degree was made entirely in

the School of Management by academic staff members who had general management-

related background and those with human resource management (then personnel

management) related experience and skill. In its earnest, perhaps it is appropriate to say

that these people were the so-called champions in the HRM academic developmental

efforts.

To recap, as a management university, UUM management realises that it has an

important role to play in furnishing the country with talented and qualified managers,

including human resource managers, since it is generally acknowledged by the state that

effective administration of the economy requires that good managers are produced. To

help achieve this national objective, UUMs top management understands that relevant

academic programmes (such as the Bachelors of HRM) need to be developed to

produce the required graduates for the job market. It is within this realisation that it

needs to be staffed with qualified knowledge workers, i.e. academics. What follows next

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is discussion on how UUM managed to acquire such knowledge workers that are able to

help realise UUMs objective of developing its students managerial potential.

ACQUIRING THE KNOWLEDGE

According to systems theory, in order to produce the necessary outputs, proper inputs

should be put in place (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 1995). Knowing that developing

students HRM managerial potential is important, UUM had planned and considered the

necessary inputs that need to be put in. In the context of UUM, the main concern was

acquiring the soft type of inputs. The soft input involves developing proper skills,

knowledge and competencies of the people (i.e. academics) who will deliver the

educational and teaching materials to potential (HRM) managers (i.e. students). But, in

addition to the soft/knowledge input, it was realised that future expansion required

proper space. It is within this understanding that a proposal was put forward to UUMs

top management to establish a new school called the School of Human Resource

Development. We call the latter input as the hard input, which is to be discussed first,

before we move on to deliberate on the knowledge/soft input.

The Hard Input

The plan to establish the School of Human Resource Development (SHRD) was

mooted in 1989 by UUMs Academic Affairs Department. It was to be one of the new

schools to be set up when UUM moved to Sintok campus. At the time it was anticipated

that more academic programmes relating to HRM would be developed over time. In

addition to the bachelors degree in HRM, post-graduate programmes were also

considered as part of UUMs future expansion plans. The plan for the new school also

signified the conviction and belief that the issue of human resources would continue to

be an important agenda in a business community in Malaysia, especially in the era of

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globalisation. Because of this, there were huge expansion possibilities for the HRM

academic studies. As a result, it was thought that a new school would be an appropriate

platform.

Unfortunately, the plan to establish the School of Human Resource Development

(HRD) did not materialise in the 1990s. A new proposal for the school was reactivated in

2002 and it was referred to a Board of Advisors on the establishment of the School for

comments. The Board which comprised representatives from the Public Service

Department, the Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management (MIHRM), the

Ministry of Human Resources, prominent firms and the deans of various public

universities business schools fully endorsed the proposal. However, UUMs new top

management at that time turned down the idea as it was seen as not cost-effective.

Furthermore, the new management had decided to abolish the school system to make

way for a faculty system. The HRM academics were relocated into the Faculty of

Human and Social Development. The relocation exercise and the abandonment of the

School of Human Resource Development were both major hiccups in the future

academic development and expansion plans of HRM academics in UUM.

But despite this shortfall, earlier plans to develop HRM and HRM-related

postgraduate degrees are still intact. In fact, the HRM group members may be said to

be as aggressive as ever in coming up with new academic plans now that a Department

of Human Resource Management was finally formalised within the Faculty of Human

and Social Development. With such formalisation, the HRM group has more autonomy

in deciding its future developmental plans since all HRM academics are now based in

one single department. And since the HRM group comprises 37 academics, its

smallness may be considered a strength in itself because it creates solidarity and

cohesion amongst its members. According to Robbins (2005), cohesion is important for

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group effectiveness, and in the context of HRM group, cohesion is partly the factor that

makes the group more committed in moving forward in their future undertakings.

The Soft/Knowledge Input

To develop an HRM academic programme that could produce students with

marketable HRM skills and talents requires qualified and dedicated knowledge workers,

i.e. teaching manpower. But, as we shall see below, recruiting the qualified manpower

was initially not without problems. This prompted UUM to consider various ways in

developing its own knowledge workers. In general, two main sources of recruitment

were (and are) used by UUMs top management toward this end: its own talents, and

talents recruited from outside. The use of both recruitment sources is not perculiar to

UUM only. In fact, a study conducted by Munauwar Mustafa et al. (2001) amongst

manufacturing companies in Malaysia found that many companies in Malaysia used

various sources of recruitment to attract potential candidates.

Acquiring External Talents

Within the context of UUM, external talents here refer to potential candidates or

knowledge workers that are not currently employed by UUM, and they can be further

categorised into two groups: those with substantial working experience, and those who

have little or no working experience.

Hiring external talents with substantial working experience seems the best choice

to acquire the knowledge workers required. But solely depending on this particular

group of potential candidate was not practically effective since it is rather difficult to

persuade these people to join UUM. The main reason is due to UUMs location. By

comparison to the previous location of Jitra, Sintok is located farther up north. Its close

proximity to the Malaysian-Thailand border (Sintok is approximately 10-minute drive to

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the border) suggests the remoteness of its location. Unlike other universities, such as

UKM, UM or UPM, that are located within the reach of activities and facilities in city

towns, UUM is very much pale in comparison. Being located in the very north of the

country, UUM finds itself, at times, lacking behind other universities in terms of current

technology and facilities. Although UUMs location may be advantageous because it is

conducive for students learning, it is perhaps unattractive to potential academics with

urban lifestyles.

Because of this difficulty in hiring the required and talented knowledge workers,

an alternative plan was devised. Instead of relying fully on potential academics with

business-related experience, UUM management also considered hiring those with little

or no previous working experience provided they were committed. This alternative had

increased UUMs chances of getting potential candidates since it was then possible for

UUM to harness the talents of fresh graduates with related degree (e.g. business

administration or human resource development) from other universities to join UUM as

academic tutors. In UUM, the position of tutors is created to prepare the candidates to

pursue post-graduate degrees. Once hired, they have to secure a place in any state-

recognised university, whether local or abroad, to undergo their Masters degree, and

have to start their post-graduate degree programme within one year of employment,

failing which, their employment could be terminated.

From UUMs point of view, in comparing both sources of recruitment, hiring

external talents with appropriate talents is preferable to hiring fresh graduates. This is

because the former can immediately teach academic courses, since experienced

candidates accepted as lecturers should at least possess recognized Masters degrees.

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Acquiring Internal Talents

In addition to acquiring talented knowledge workers externally, UUM also

acquires talented potentials from its own institution. Its top graduating final year

students in business administration or human resource management are encouraged to

join the universitys tutorship (or fellowship) programme, a programme that prepares

these potential candidates to pursue postgraduate studies in HRM-related areas. It

should be noted that regardless of whether the fresh graduates were UUM trained or

trained by other universities, it is common practise for UUMs management to dictate the

area of specialisation in Human Resource Management that the tutors need to pursue.

This is important to ensure that the HRM group is composed of knowledge workers that

have expertise in various functional areas, such as in HR planning, recruitment, training

and development, occupational safety and health, human resource information systems,

industrial relations, performance appraisal, etc. Having a steady supply of knowledge

workers with these skills is also important for UUM to make further academic expansion

and development. Furthermore, in the long term, the variety of expertise is beneficial to

UUM in developing its own niche in the (educational) market. Although criticisms were

made on the grounds of inbreeding, such training programme was nonetheless useful in

providing UUM with sufficient academic manpower or human resources, who were

academically trained in specific field of study needed by the institution.

In addition to the training of fresh graduates, UUM also embarked on staff

upgrading exercise, which gives administrative staff the opportunities to develop

themselves academically. Once they have acquired the necessary academic

qualifications, they can apply for an academic job. Their previous experience as

administrators virtually gives them a certain advantage over the other fresh academics

since they possess knowledge about how the UUM systems work and thus could readily

apply this experience in their academic work.

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Todays Academics

The dual-recruitment strategies adopted by UUM have yielded fruits, as expected.

Academic experts in related areas of human resource management are able to be

gathered within a single department of human resource management. Today, the

Department of Human Resource Management, within the Faculty of Human and Social

Development, boasts to have a substantial number of qualified academic staff members

with expertise in various areas of human resource management, such as human

resource planning, recruitment, training and development, compensation and

remuneration, industrial relations, and human resource information systems, to name a

few. With 37 HRM academics, it is perhaps of no exaggeration to say that today UUM

has the biggest number of HRM academic staff ever assembled in a single department

at any single time. In terms of seniority, the breakdown of the HRM group can be seen

in Table 1.

Table 1

HRM Group of UUM by Seniority

Level of Seniority Frequency Percentage (%)

ProfessorAssociate ProfessorSenior LecturersLecturers

Total

243

28-----------

37

------------

5.410.88.1

76.0----------100.0

-----------

In terms of the level of academic training received by the HRM academic staff, readers

are to refer to Table 2. In terms of the first degree qualification, Table 2.0 indicates that

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the majority of the HRM group consists of academics who were not of UUM bred

(70.3%). This means that these academics received their first academic training in

either other local universities (apart from UUM) or were trained overseas. The rest of

the staff members (29.7%) were, however, locally trained by UUM. They either received

a bachelors degree in Human Resource Management or a bachelors degree in

Business Administration. Although it cannot be specified who amongst these academic

staff members were hired as tutors, it is able to highlight the diversity of basic degree

qualifications the HRM group members have. The diversity in academic background is

strength of the HRM group because of the various perspectives that these academics

bring in to their academic work.

As mentioned earlier, a minimum academic qualification required by UUM of

academics to be considered a lecturing post is a Masters degree. Table 2 shows that

the majority of the HRM group members received their Masters degree in other

universities (86.5%) as compared to a small percentage of those who received their

Masters degree offered by UUM (13.5%).

As can be seen in Table 2, the number of HRM group members who have a

doctoral degree is rather small. Out of 37 academics, only 6 have this qualification

(16.2%). Recognising that a doctoral degree is the degree that is desirable in this

profession as knowledge workers, UUM is actively encouraging its staff members to

pursue this degree. Scholarships either by UUM itself or by outside institutions are

available for academic staff members to receive the highest level of academic

qualification. It should also worthy of note to indicate that out of the remaining 29 HRM

group members without a PhD qualification, nine academic staff members (31%) are on

study leave toward this end. To make sure that sufficient number of HRM academics is

available in each semester to conduct classes, the Department of HRM has prepared a

schedule of who needs to take his/her study leave and when. It is anticipated that by the

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year 2013 every member of the HRM group will be equipped with this degree, assuming

that additional staff member is not taken in.

Table 2

HRM Group of UUM by Academic Background

Level of Education Frequency Percentage (%)

Bachelors DegreeUUM BHRMUUM Non-BHRMNon-UUM degree

Total

Masters DegreeUUM-trainedNon-UUM trained

Total

PhDUUM-trainedNon-UUM trained

Total

65

26--------

37

--------

532

----------37

----------

15

----------6

----------

16.213.570.3

---------100.0

---------

13.586.5

-----------100.0

-----------

16.783.3

----------100.0

-----------

As can be seen from Table 1 and Table 2 above, in short, it is perhaps not exaggeration

to suggest that the HRM group is made up of members who, by and large, are

academically sound and able in their knowledge and expertise of HRM functions. With

talented and knowledgeable members, it is not difficult to fall prey to complacency.

Therefore, as part of continuous learning programme, the HRM group members have

the responsibility in keeping up-to-date with current trends and practices, and in

developing important networks within the business community. To be able to do this,

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opportunities are available for them to present their ideas and research findings in

seminars and conferences, within or without Malaysia.

RESULTS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT:

USING AND APPLYING KNOWLEDGE

Once appropriate knowledge is acquired and developed, it needs to be used in

such as way that it produces beneficial results (Housel & Bell, 2001). Here, knowledge

needs to be disseminated, shared and applied in order for it to be useful. Once the

academic staff members have gained the necessary knowledge required, it is expected

of them to use the knowledge for the benefits of others. The following attempts to

highlight the manner in which UUM made efforts in disseminating, sharing and applying

the knowledge acquired and developed.

Students Development

There are various ways the HRM group members have used and are using their

knowledge for the benefits of other people. Since the main job of academics involves

teaching, the immediate beneficiary of their knowledge is the students, both at the

undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

At the undergraduate level, all HRM group members are involved in teaching

HRM-related courses using relevant techniques to students who are either taking a

business degree or who are taking an HRM degree. In addition to these students, the

HRM academics also teach HRM-related courses to other students taking other degrees

but who are interested in taking HRM subjects either as electives or part of their

specialisation. Approximately 1500 students sign up for a course in basic human

resource management every academic year. The large number of students signing up

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for this course alone may suggest that students attach the importance of this subject to

marketability of their degree.

One important component of any bachelors degree programme in UUM is

practical or industrial training. This training is normally taken up by students at the end

of their final semester and which normally lasts several weeks. This training is important

for students because it provides students with opportunities to learn firsthand the way

organisations are being run and managed. To make sure that students could gain the

necessary experience and knowledge, they are supervised by an academic staff of UUM

and by a field supervisor in the organisation. It is during supervisory visits that the

academic supervisors will check on the progress the students are making and will advice

them accordingly on how to behave and act accordingly. These supervisory

experiences in a way add to the strength of the faculty members as they are now able to

train better by applying the work-related experiences in their teaching duties.

At the postgraduate levels, the HRM group members are also involved in

teaching Masters courses for students undertaking a masters degree in Human

Resource Management (MHRM), or for those doing an MBA programme, or for those

undertaking Master of Science degree in Management (MSc. Management) in UUM. It

should also be pointed out that the HRM group members will also be appointed,

occasionally, to supervise a masters thesis, which is in partial fulfilment of a masters

degree. In addition to masters students, some of the HRM group members with

relevant academic experience and expertise are also engaged in supervising doctoral

students who register to undertake a PhD programme in Human Resource

Management.

In addition to teaching and academic supervising, the HRM group members are

also assigned additional responsibility of providing mentoring services to students.

Here, each member of the HRM group will be assigned a number of students, who are

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called mentees. The mentor-mentee programme, as it is called in UUM, is a programme

devised to help and support students academically. The mentor is to see and check the

progress of his/her mentee and provide necessary assistance and support when

required. This programme is useful especially for the students as it allows them an

authoritative channel for them to voice their legitimate concerns and anxieties about

academic and non-academic matters. Similarly, the mentor is also able to provide and

offer academic guidance and advice to students concerning academic and non-

academic matters. To some extent, this mentor-mentee programme enhances a

supportive and healthy relationship between academic staff members and students,

which is expected to enhance the latters academic enthusiasm.

In addition to the above duties, the HRM group members have also contributed in

acting as facilitators to two of UUMs academic consulting centres Institute for

Entrepreneurial Development and Institute of Quality Management for short courses

offered by these institutes. The invocation of HRM academics to facilitate courses like

these shows the recognition given by the university for the kinds of expertise and skills

possessed by the faculty members, and the kinds of contributions they are ready to

make.

The above discussion has shown how the knowledge gained by the HRM group

has been used (and is used) to contribute to develop students future potential. But

developing the students future potential does not tell the whole story; more importantly

is the issue of what does future potential mean to the students. It is when the students

potential is translated to marketability that the knowledge management approach

adopted by UUM can be considered a successful one. To this the discussion now turns.

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Marketability of Students Potential

Unemployment amongst graduates in Malaysia is nothing new. With the number

of unemployed graduates alarming, it is important for universities to offer academic

programmes that are marketable and attractive. If this is assumed to be the measure of

success for academic programmes offered by universities in Malaysia, then it seems that

UUM is making the right effort in developing its knowledge workers, i.e. its academic

members.

A study to trace marketability of graduates of a bachelors degree in Human

Resource Management (BHRM) was by Khulida Kirana Yahya and her colleagues in

2003. But the study was limited to graduates of 1998, 2001 and 2002, providing a

response of 213 graduates. It was shown in their study that out of 215, a majority of

70.2 percent of the respondents affirmed that they were employed. Of those claimed to

be employed, 60 percent were working in private organisations, 34.7 percent in public

agencies, while 5.3 percent were self-employed. When asked whether the courses they

took during their bachelors study were relevant and applicable to their present job,

majority of the respondents reported that almost all courses offered in the BHRM

programme were applicable to their job. In general, this study is able to demonstrate

that the BHRM degree offered by UUM was moderately marketable, suggesting that the

skills and knowledge imparted to these students were meeting the requirements of the

market.

Although more studies are needed to provide more validation to the above

findings since the study did not look at all BHRM graduates, the study by Khulida Kirana

Yahya et al. (2003) is nonetheless significant since it provides initial insight on the

marketability of the degree programme.

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CONCLUSION

This short paper does not claim to be exhaustive in its deliberations of the

milestones achieved by Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) as a designated management

university. Being a management university, its two-pronged mission is to produce

graduates who either can become entrepreneurs or corporate managers. This idea was

crystallized in 1990 when UUM shifted its campus from Jitra to Sintok, Kedah. One

important component of this grand plan was to develop a group of competent and skilful

Human Resource academics to assist UUM to produce knowledgeable and marketable

graduates (especially at the undergraduate level) in the field of human resource

management (HRM). To that end, UUMs management has made the right decision by

focussing on the development of HRM academics as they are seen to be the mentors to

the future HRM managers in the country.

Human resource managers or professionals of the future are expected to be

conversant in business, management, finance, accounting, information technology,

psychology, labour laws and economics apart from their own functional area. To achieve

that goal, these future professionals must be groomed by the right people with the right

skills and minds. UUM has been doing that for the last 15 years. It has been

accumulating and developing experienced HR academics. These academics are to play

important roles in the preparation of human resources for future market needs. In

Malaysia, the soon to be released 9th Malaysia Plan has given its utmost priority to the

development of human resources. At the organizational level whether in public or private

organizations, the core people in charge of people development (like recruitment,

training and compensation) are human resource professionals. Thus the ability to

manage the knowledge of these people is one of the key factors in achieving future

organizational and national success.

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Documents

DEVELOPING HRM STUDENTS’ MANAGERIAL POTENTIAL: UUM’S APPROACH TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT