Effects of social network activities on training transfer and goal setting among Malay women business owners DR HJH NORLINA MOHAMED NOOR, MUHAMMAD OMAR, PAULINE ACHAN, SUSANA WILIAM JALIL UiTM CAWANGAN SARAWAK, KOTA SAMARAHAN

OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ANALYSIS AND RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION Training has become an essential element that contributes towards organizational success as it emphasizes the enhancement of skills and knowledge development among employees that ultimately raises the productivity of the workers (Au, Altman, & Roussel, 2008) Further efforts were carried out in the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011) where skills training was given “special emphasis in developing human capital in order to meet industry requirements and drive productivity improvements to move up the value chain.” It is already known among human resource practitioners that training effectiveness is measured through positive training transfer whereby the trainees are able to generalize and maintain the skills, knowledge or behavior from the training setting into their work environment for a certain period of time until new skills or knowledge emerge (Baldwin & Ford, 1988).

INTRODUCTION---continue However, since the process of evaluating the training programs to detect the existence of training transfer is quite complex and dynamic (Blume, Ford, & Baldwin, 2010) not many employers or organizations are willing to do so. Several antecedents were shown to influence training transfer such as trainer’s competency, training design, training delivery and opportunity to use, as highlighted in the training transfer model (Baldwin & Ford, 1988) According to Bossche and Segers (2013) there are three roles played by social networks in facilitating training transfer. The structure of the social networks that relate to the size, the relational features such as the depth and the frequency of interactions that take place in the network and the people outside the networks, will influence the training transfer process.

Methodology Longitudinal study Respondents Hierarchical regression Instrument Hypotheses Data was collected immediately after training and four months after training participants attending training programs organized by INSKEN, MARA AND JPW Wilayah Persekutuan (September-December 2010) was used to investigate the moderating effect of social network before training on training transfer and goal setting of Malay women business owners Questionnaire based on two models: Training Transfer Model (Baldwin and Ford,1988)and Model of Excellence (McLagan and Bedrick, 1983 Four hypotheses were developed: Interaction of social network before training moderates the relationship between: Training content and goal setting Training delivery and goal setting Trainer competency and goal setting Opportunity to use and goal setting among Malay women business owner

Social network before training Conceptual framework Training content Training delivery Goal setting Trainer competency Social network before training Opportunity to use INDEPENDENT VARIABLES *The framework was based on Training Transfer Model (Baldwin and Ford, 1988) and Model of Excellence, McLagan and Bedrick 1983) DEPENDENT VARIABLE MODERATING VARIABLE

Analysis and results 2ND PHASE NUMBER/FREQUENCY 1ST PHASE NUMBER/FREQUENCY Number of questionnaires distributed 331 Number of questionnaires returned 231 Number of usable questionnaires 133 Effective Response rate 57.6% 2ND PHASE NUMBER/FREQUENCY Number of respondents involved 133 Number of respondents called for interview 100 Number of successful interview 66 Effective Response rate 66%

Analysis and result Factors Frequencies (N) Percentage (%) Age   Below 30 years 24 25.2 30 to 40 Years 58 39.8 41 to 50 years 43 28.5 More than 50 Years 8 6.5 Education SRP 5 6.9 SPM 77 55.3 STPM 19 12.6 Diploma 17 13.0 Degree/Masters 7.3 Others 7 2.8 Having Family with Own Business Yes 57.9 No 56 42.1

Analysis and result   Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Std β Control variables: Respondents having family with business backgrounds -0.019 0.026 0.027 0.023 Model Variables: Training content 0.397 0.395 0.374 Training delivery 0.270 0.267 0.241 Trainer competency 0.157 0.192 Opportunity to use 0.098 0.093 0.081 Moderating variable: Interaction of social networks before training 0.030 Interaction terms: Training content*Before Training -0.035 Training delivery*Before Training -0.092 Trainer competency*Before Training 0.140 Opportunity to use *Before Training 0.062 R2 0.000 0.521 0.522 0.540 Adjusted R2 -0.007 0.502 0.499 0.503 R2 Change 0.001 0.018 F Change 0.049 34.517 0.217 1.227 Significance F Change 0.825 0.642 0.303 Durbin Watson 1.890 Note: *significant at p< 0.05 level, ** significance at p< .001 level

Discussion The findings of this research concluded that interactions or social networking before training does not moderate the relationship between the training transfer determinants and goal setting of the respondents. This is due to the fact that the majority of them attended the training based on the invitation of close friends, or online information from the organizer’s websites. Only active trainees had contacted the organizers and enquired about the training program. Before training, the trainees only knew the name the location of the training programs and basic information on the content of the training.

Conclusion The stakeholders, especially the organizers, need to encourage interactions with future trainees in order to ensure that the training provided achieves its objectives Discussion with future trainees is neccessary to ensure that only the needed training programs are offered and that they can fully benefit from such programs. Providing interactive activities on the website can help trainees to interact with the stakeholders. As highlighted by several studies on networking, social networks are very important especially for business owners and corporations in order to obtain the latest information, advice, guidance and opportunities for their business success (Senik, Scott-Ladd, Entrekin, & Adham, 2011), to improve business performance and growth (Bruderl & Preisedorfer, 1998; Elfring & Hulsink, 2003; Kristiansen, 2004; Miller, Besser, & Malshe, 2007; Ostgaard & Birley, 1996) and to remain sustainable (Prasad, Tata, & Guo, 2012).