Impact of Participative Decision Making and Demographic Characteristics on Job Performance of University Academic Staff: Evidence from Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract

Globalizations and rapid advancement of information and technology have created high uncertainty in educational environment. In response to these changes, higher education institutions continuously set higher goals and objectives to gain more competitive advantages. As a result, academic staffs as an important contributor in the university that is facing an increasing demand for higher job performance. Therefore, it is necessary for university management to implement a practice that can increase academic job performance and keep them motivated. Furthermore, university management should be able to recognize the diversity in their work environment. The purpose of this research is to examine the influence of participative decision making and demographic characteristics toward job performance of academic staff. In this regard, 100 academic staff members of Universiti Utara Malaysia were treated as sample of the research. Furthermore, by using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis as statistical tools, the research found that participative decision making; along with teaching experience and academic rank of academic staff have significant and positive impact on job performance of academic staff of university Utara Malaysia.

Keywords: Participative Decision Making, Demographic Characteristics, Job Performance, Organizational Behavior.