1e-Developing a Marketable

8/3/2019 1e-Developing a Marketable

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Persidangan Pembangunan Pelajar Peringkat Kebangsaan 2008

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 22- 23 Oktober 2008

Developing A Marketable Human Capital

Zamzuri Abdul Majid

Multimedia University, Senior Director of Student Affairs Division

013-6802004; Fax no: 06-2317166

[email protected]

Abstract

The principal objective of this paper is to elaborate more about the approaches that should be implemented in

developing a marketable human capital. Nowadays, it is very crucial for us to produce a graduate that could serve

the needs in the market. We do not want to have a graduate that only has a paper qualification, but a graduate that is

all-rounded in which he or she could change the world or bring benefits to others.The other perspective of this paper

is about the collaboration that MMU has with the industry as well as the curriculum that MMU has designed for the

students. Not only that, MMU also has one center that has been established in assisting the MMU students tobecome the entrepreneur. Besides, the other topic that will be discussed in this paper is about the roles of Student

Affairs Division in assisting the graduates to prepare and market themselves after graduation.Generally, students are

products of a particular university. The philosophy of a university mould the mind of the students, shapes their

attitude and crystalize their thought. Hence, one of the aim of a university is that its students turn out to be

competent professionals, well grounded in religion possess multitasking and leadership skills as well as other

positive charisma.Today, it is important for universities to teach their students to think beyond the knowledge gain

in class, as the degree is only a tool for future career. In the K (Knowledge ) Era, competitions for employment are

very stiff. Thousands of graduates are produced each year from local and overseas higher institutions. And yet,

graduates compete for only a relatively small number of jobs offered in the market.Prof Dr Khoo Kay Khim, in an

interview says,If you have 100 students and 70% get all As in an exam, they cannot be the best of the best.This

implies that getting straight As is no longer a measurement for todays employers to scan for suitable candidates in

fulfilling vacant positions. In todays stiff economic competition, employers not only look for academic ability but

also the ability to perform a job. As such, employers often ask for experience from fresh grads. How can these

experiences being acquired? One of the ways is for student to take part in organisations on campus. During their

graduate life, student have the opportunity to take on responsibility for example being a treasurer for career fair,

committee member for convocation day and so forth. By taking part in campus activities, students are able to learn

teamwork, leadership, people, financial and management skills. It also shows to employers that you are a person

who knows how to manage your time, besides acquiring so many skills when organising activities.

1. Introduction

The Student Development Concept apply by

Student Affairs Division (STAD) is divide into

three (3) aspects which is spiritual, physical and

mental. In spiritual, we try our best to inject the

moral values among our students and among thevalues that would be concentrated are the

integrity, responsibility, tolerant and independent.

Meanwhile, for physical, STAD would

ensure that our graduates are physically fit to

carry out their responsibilities. At the last aspect,

mental, STAD would equip the graduates and

trained them to be more creative and proactive.

Not only that, the graduates also would be

groomed to learn how to develop excellent

thinking skills as well intellectual.

2. MMU Student Culture

In producing a marketable human capital,

STAD has cultivated the cultures among the MMU

students in which each of the students has to

understand the culture and need to try their very best

in comply with those cultures.


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There ten (10) cultures that we want to

cultivate within our students and the cultures are pro-

active, innovative, global, integration,

entrepreneurship, leadership, responsible, IT-based,

moral values as well as highly resilient.

3. Student Development

3.1 Student Development Model

Dr Eddie K.W. Ho (1980 ) in his findings

proposed the following model of student

development:

Figure 1. Student Development Model

a. There are four major domains: cognitive,

affective, psychomotor and spiritual.

b. Target populations here refer to the programmes

implemented at individuals, groups or

community level.

c. The intervention competencies refer to remedial

programs in nature and also change of strategies

if needed after assessment based on goal setting.

d. Evaluation is where the whole plan of action is

evaluated for the purpose of improvement.

3.2 Three dimensional model of personality

development.

Dr Hassan Langgulung (1990) suggested that thethree dimensional conceptualization of human

personality with the physical aspect,

psychological component and spiritual aspect

should be utilized as a model of personality

development, both individual as well as

collectively.

Figure 2. Psychological Dimension

SPIRITUAL

Moral values:

integrity

responsibility

tolerant

independent

MENTAL

to be creative and

proactive

to developexcellent thinking

skills

intellectual

M

M

U

G

R

A

D

U

AT

E

S

PHYSICAL

physically fit tocarry

out responsibilities

STUDENT

DEVELOPMENT

CONCEPT

Pro-activeHighly resilient

Moral values Innovative

IT-based

Responsible

Leadership

Integration

Global

Entrepreneurship


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The three dimensional model of personality

development of an individual.

University education should address student

development in four major domains:

a. Spiritual domain, which refers to the religious

feeling and belief, and also a persons moral

judgement and commitment to the society and

human beings.

b. Cognitive domain, which deals with problem-

solving, analyzing and synthesizing, abstract

thinking, comprehension, planning, creativity

and so forth. It is also known as mind or

intellect.

c. Affective domain, which refers to feeling,

personality, interpersonal, aesthetics, aspiration

and so forth. It is known also as emotion.

d. Psychomotor domain, which refers to the

physical dimension of a person or also known as

body and physique.

3.3 7 habits of highly effective people.

Steven R Covey suggested model of highly

effective people who are:

a. Pro- active

b. Possess a sharp vision (begin with the

end in mind)

c. Know how to plan (put first things first)

d.

Cooperative (think win/win)e. Have a clear mission (seek first to

understand, then to be understood)

f. Able to work together (synergies)

g. Optimistic (sharpen the saw)

3.4 Student Development: MMU experience.

Our development philosophy will be

focused on three inter related aspects which are the

mental, spiritual and physical aspects. When these

aspects are well developed, the graduates we hope to

produce will be well mannered and integrated

individuals, who at the same time are skillful in theirrespective fields. In addition to this, our students will

be rich in universally accepted moral values, and

placed high on the hierarchy where dynamics,

innovation and entrepreneurial mentality is concerned.

The skills and character that we emphasized

to be developed through student activities during

graduate life are:

i. Integration

ii. Management skills

iii. Interpersonal skills

iv. Leadership skills

v. Entrepreneurial skills

3.4.1 Integration, between spiritual, mental and

physical:

A balance combination of the three:

Spiritual

- Is for developing self endurance

- Inculcate moral values

- Instill religious consciousness through

moral activities

Physical

- Physically fit to carry out responsibilities

Mental

- Widen mental spectrum

- Be creative and pro-active

- Develop excellent thinking skills

- Intellectual

3.4.2 Management skills

Management skills show how good you are

in organising your daily life, your studies, your time,

personal relationship and so forth. Employers often

acquire this information through your resume at the

extra curricular activity column.

Management skills that you acquire enable you to:

i. Plan

ii. Organise

iii. Direct

iv. Control

Planning which is an important element in

management involves formulation of objective,

strategy, vision and mission.

Organising is how you move your available

resources such as human, financial etc to achieve the

objective that you have set.

Directing involves communication of orders

and directions to your manpower, staffs or committee

members, in the case of student activities.

Last but not least is controlling. Control will

be monitoring of results, follow-ups and assessment

on the overall management.


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If you excelled in your studies and still

found time to be actively involved in campus and

community life, you will have a clear advantage over

other candidates in job hunting. You will have the

opportunity to develop your confidence, courage,

composure, competence and conscience.

With confidence, you feel sure about your

abilities, qualities and ideas. Courage enables you to

do what you believe is right, while composure is your

ability to control your feelings. On the other hand,

you must also be competent enough to do something

well or effectively and have the conscience; your

sense on what is right or wrong.

Students must also realize that EQ

(Emotional Quotient) is as important as IQ

(Intelligence Quotient). An employer would assess

your EQ not only from the way you conduct yourself

in an interview, but also from your extra-curricular

activities at school and university.

3.4.3 Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal communication is

communication that takes place between two persons

who have an established relationship; the people are

in some way connected. Interpersonal

communication would thus include what takes place

between a son and his father, an employer and

employee, a teacher and a student, boss and his

subordinate and so forth. Each person involves

formulates and sends messages and also perceives

and comprehends messages.

Therefore, in the case of fresh graduates,

interpersonal skill is crucial as a first impression

when attending interviews. Often, employers are

looking for graduates, who are able to convey and

present ideas, who have a good public relation (PR)

or communication skills.

3.4.4 Leadership skills

Some people have an extraordinary ability to

inspire others and bring forth loyalty. A person who

has such personality is said to have charisma.

Max Weber in his Theory of Social And

Economic Organisation define that the term charisma

applies to be treated as endowed with superhuman, or

at least exceptional, powers or qualities. In this sense,

charisma is a gift or power of leadership.

3.4.5 Entrepreneurial skills

Besides leadership skills, students must also

realize the importance of entrepreneurial skills as it

helps in times when it is difficult for you to find a job.

Entrepreneurial skills are learnt through your

participation in any fund raising or sales activities forexample convo carnival, food fair, book bazaar etc,

during your studies.

It motivates you to possess the characters of

successful entrepreneurs. Besides gaining experience,

student will have the chance to learn time

management and teamwork

Richard Cantillon (1934) defines

entrepreneurship as self-employment with uncertain

return.

3.4.6 Characteristics of entrepreneurs/

Entrepreneurial skills:

Passion for business: The entrepreneur must

have more than a casual interest in the business

because there will be many hurdles and obstacles

to be overcome.

Steven Jobs, co founder of Apple Computer

stated that Apple Computer succeeded not

because it was a good idea, but because it was

built from the heart.

Tenacity despite failure: Because of hurdlesand obstacles that must be overcome,

entrepreneur must be consistently persistent.

Walt Disney went bankrupt three times before

he made his first successful films.

Confidence: Entrepreneurs are confident in

their ability and business concept. Often, they

have in depth knowledge about the market and

industry.

Self-determination: Is a crucial sign of a

successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs believe

that their success or failure depends on their ownactions.

Management of risk: Often, entrepreneurs do

not put all of their resources and time into the

venture until it appears to be viable.

Seeing changes as opportunity: Entrepreneurs

see change as normal and necessary. They search


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for change, respond to it and exploit it as an

opportunity, which is the basis of innovation.

Tolerance for ambiguity: Entrepreneurs feel

comfortable with uncertainty. There is no

guarantee of success as uncontrollable factors

like economic, political, change in consumertaste often affect business.

Initiative and need for achievement:

Entrepreneurs are willing to act on their ideas

and these often distinguish them from general

public.

Detail orientation and perfectionism:

Attention to detail and the need for perfection

result in a quality product or services.

Perception of passing time: Entrepreneurs see

that time is passing quickly and theres always a

need for urgency.

Creativity: Entrepreneurs have imagination and

can envision alternative scenarios. They have

ability to recognize ability where other people

dont.

Ability to see the big picture: Entrepreneurs

often see things in a holistic sense, when others

see only the parts. They often do research to see

the entire business environment which helps to

formulate business activity.

Motivating factors: Besides money, other

factors are more important to be entrepreneursfor example: to gain control over his/her life, to

build something for the family, to use personal

skills/ability etc.

Self-efficiency: has been defined as a persons

belief in his capability to perform a task. A sense

of personal efficacy that is accurate and strong is

essential to the initiation and persistence

performance in all aspect of human development.

4. Students Societies and Activities

4.1 The objectives of students societies and

activities are:

To encourage students active participation

in co- curricular activities

To produce active students who will become

future leaders

To develop interpersonal skills

4.2Number of clubs and societies in Cyberjaya and

Melaka

Currently, we have 64 clubs and societies in

Cyberjaya campus and 67 clubs and societies in

Melaka campus.

5. Student Activities Performance System

5.1The objectives of Student Activities Performance

System:

To gauge students participation outside the

academic environment

To develop realistic and appropriate

performance standards

To identify an all-rounder and active student

sub- population within the whole studentcommunity

To encourage students active participation

in co- curriculum activities

6. Personality Traits of MMU Students

There are few dimensions of personality

traits that we want to produce within our students and

the dimensions are extrovert, enterprising, social and

moral value.

In extrovert, we want our students to beenergetic, happy, can socialize with others, like to

communicate and express him/ herself and do not

like to be alone.

Meanwhile, for enterprising, our students

should be eager to do something new and clever, a

risk taker, like to interact with others, able to

influence and direct people, managing other people

as well as be responsible for all actions taken by him/

her.

For social, MMU students should like and

comfortable in meeting and spending time with otherpeople, helpful, able to communicate with other and

caring.


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7. Curriculum Designed by Multimedia

University

In producing a graduate that can compete in

this challenging world, MMU does not let Student

Affairs and Sport Division to do it alone. Therefore,

because of the awareness on how importance of

MMU to produce a very competitive graduate, the

faculty also has to offer a subject to equip the

students with the suitable knowledge.

The subject offer by faculty namedCyberprenuership subject and it is a university

subject in which each of the graduates is compulsory

to take this subject before they graduated.

The objective of Cyberpreneurship subject is

to introduce basic cyberpreneurship concepts to

students.

Meanwhile, the learning outcomes are:

Comprehend the concepts of cyberpreneur and

cyberpreneurship

Apprehend the concepts of innovation and

creativity in cyberpreneurial setting

Describe and interpret the basics ofcyberpreneurial management, financing and

marketing

Comprehend the importance of business plan

Describe and interpret the business plan

components and design

Describe and interpret real life examples of

cyberpreneurs through case study analysis

Apply the concepts learned for an advance

course on cyberpreneurship

Employ the concepts learned in the real life

situations

8. Establishment of Technopreneur

Development Program (TDP)

Under Unitele Multimedia Sdn Bhd, there is one

program that has been established in order to assist

the MMU graduates to start their own.

8.1 There are two (2) facilities offer which are:

a. Fund maximum of 22 500 per project

b. Rooms/operation space-maintenance fee

maximum of RM 200 per month, including

electricity, water, internet connection

8.2 For any startup accepted, it will be put under

incubation period maximum of 2 years.

8.3Repayment of fund shall be made within 30

months after the period with 0% interest.

9. Conclusion

It is important for graduates today to prepare

for any uncertainties that might happen after their

graduation from the university. Uncontrollable

factors such as the economy, the political stability,

environment, can change without any prior signs as,

change is the only permanent thing.

As such, graduates must not only receive the

knowledge that is being delivered in the classroom

for examinations, but besides that, they are to ensure

that extra skills are obtained during theirundergraduate studies. It is not only for the purpose

of seeking for employment but can also be alternative

tools for unemployment.

Bibliography:

1. The Art of Leadership, George Manning & KentCurtis, McGraw Hill 2003.

2. Entrepreneurship, Peggy Lambing & CharlesKuehl, Prentice Hall 2003.

3. Kajian Separuh Penggal, Rancangan MalaysiaKelapan 2001-2005, Unit Perancang Ekonomi

Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Percetakan NasionalMalaysia Berhad 2003.

4. Masalah Pengangguran Di Kalangan Siswazah, Institut Penyelidikan Pengajian Tinggi Negara,

Monograf 2004.

5. Excellence Student Development Journal Vol 1,Student Affairs Division IIUM 1995.

6. The Interpersonal Communication Book , JosephA Devito, Harper Collins College 1995.

PPeerrssoonnaalliittyyTTrraaiittss ooff

MMMMUU SSttuuddeenntt

Enterprising

-eagerness to do something

new and clever

-risk taker

-like to interact with others

-able to influence people

and to direct them

-manage people

-responsible

Moral valueExtrovert

-energetic

-happy person-social-like to

communicate

-not comfortable tobe alone

Social

-like to meet and

spend time with

other people

-helpful

-able to

communicate with

people

-caring

Documents

1e-Developing a Marketable