Social capital and the learning organization: Transformation in Malaysian public sector

Wan Sulaiman, Wan Idros; Mahbob, Maizatul Haizan; Sannusi, Shahrul Nazmi

doi:10.1075/japc.25.2.04wan

Article published In: Media and communication as antecedents to the transformation agenda in Malaysia: Challenges and realities
Edited by Ali Salman
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 25:2] 2015
► pp. 208–219

Get fulltext from our e-platform

Download PDF

Social capital and the learning organization

Transformation in Malaysian public sector

Wan Idros Wan Sulaiman | Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Maizatul Haizan Mahbob

Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi

Published online: 11 December 2015

https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.25.2.04wan

Department of Information of Malaysia is one of the public organizations directly involved in the provision of information to the public. To ensure that all services rendered acceptable, organizational communication in the Department of Information should be given serious consideration so that each activity can be transformed properly. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess organizational communication in a learning organization in order to see the extent to which employees have a description of social capital and support to the organization of learning activities. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship that is formed through the social interactions between workers and management by integrating the four aspects of social capital, namely social trust, institutional trust, social norms and networking. For this purpose, a total of 190 respondents from the Information Department headquarters staff in Putrajaya was selected for this study. The study uses questionnaires as research tool and analyses key findings using the Pearson correlation test to examine relationships between various aspects. The study also applied social capital theory as the basis of research framework the when analyzing findings. The results showed that staff describe positive social capital within the organization and consider organizational learning as a strategy to improve the performance of the department in the future.

Keywords: social trust, learning organization, Social capital, networking, social norms, institutional trust

References (16)

Adler, P.S., & Kwon, S. (2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept. Academy of Management Review, 27(1), 17–40.

Cohen, D., & Prusak, L. (2001). In good company: How social capital makes organizations work. New York: Harvard Business Press.

Coleman, J.S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 941, S95–S120.

. (1990). Foundations of social theory. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Evangelinos, K.I., & Jones, N. (2009). An analysis of social capital and environmental management of higher education institutions. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 10(4), 334–342.

Hwee, H.T., & Tan, S.F. (2000). Toward the differentiation of trust in supervisor and trust in organization. Genetic, Sosial and Pshicology Monograph, 126(2), 241–260.

Inkpen, A.C., & Tsang, E.W.K. (2005). Social capital, networks and knowledge transfer. Academy of Management Review, 30(1), 146–165.

Kember, D. (2009). Nurturing generic capabilities through a teaching and learning environment which provides practice in their use. Higher Education, 571, 37–55.

Mohd. Majid Konting. (2009). Kaedah Penyelidikan Pendidikan. Edisi ke-8. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Mueller, B.H., & Lee, J. (2002). Leader-member exchange and organizational communication satisfaction in multiple contexts. Journal of Business Communication, 39(2), 220–244.

Park, W., & Kim, S. (2012). The need of leader–subordinate reciprocal dyadic trust to build the subordinate’s trust in the organization: The case of korean air pilots. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 22(2), 97–119.

Ramirez, M. (2006). Sustainability in the education of industrial designers: The case of australia. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 7(2), 189–202.

Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday.

Silvia, N., Brunetto, Y., Farr-Wharton, R., & Ramsay, S. (2007). Organisational effectiveness of australian fast growing small to medium-sized enterprises (Smes). Management Decision, 45(7), 1143–1162.

Subramaniam, N., Steward, J., Ng, C., & Shulman, A. (2013). Understanding corporate governance in the australian public sector:a social capital approach. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 26(6), 946–977.

Worley, J.M., & Doolen, T.L. (2006). The role of communication and management support in a lean manufacturing implementation. Management Decision, 44(2), 228–245.

Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Kaur, Prabhjot, Tanuja Sharma & Arup Varma

2024. An Evidence-Based Blueprint for Architecting Social Capital in Organizations. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 46:3 ► pp. 97 ff.

Kaur, Prabhjot & Tanuja Sharma

2022. Decoding 4Ps of Social Capital: How Organizations Survive, Thrive Inclusively in Uncertain Times. In Responsible Leadership for Sustainability in Uncertain Times [Responsible Leadership and Sustainable Management, ], ► pp. 105 ff.

Tynjälä, Päivi

2022. Workplace Learning from the Organizational Point of View. In Research Approaches on Workplace Learning [Professional and Practice-based Learning, 31], ► pp. 429 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.