Awam Azlifah Abas* , Nor Azlina Kassim, Nor Aslamiah Ali, Farahaini Mohd Hanif, Ju Samsuddin Safian
Cooperative College of Malaysia
Education is important for developing human capital and intellectual strength, enhancing business knowledge and inculcating positive values. The main objective of this study is to identify training programmes that are appropriate for members of credit co-operatives. The findings from this study are important for Co-operative College of Malaysia (CCM) as a guideline in formulating training programmes suitable for all co-operatives in Malaysia.The respondents in this study comprise staff of 136 credit co-operatives from the medium and large clusters, selected randomly. Questionnaire forms were sent to these co-operatives but only 72 of them (52.9%) returned a total of 196 completed forms. The data were analysed using frequency tables, the chi-square test of association study and gap analysis of the respective mean scores. The results of the study show that the supervisors are satisfied with the skills of their staff in performing five tasks. However, the former are of the view that the skills exhibited by the staff in 12 other more challenging tasks are only at the moderate level. Based on the staff’s self-evaluation, they are found to be highly committed to their organisations and able to work in a team, but have some problems in fulfilling promises and lack the spirit of give and take. The study also examines the relationship between level of knowledge on the one hand, and the background of respondents on the other, vis-à-vis, length of service, age, gender, education level and cluster of the co-operatives.
It was found that only two factors are significantly related to the level of knowledge, namely, education level and the co-operative cluster. The findings are suitable for use by those involved in the development of co-operatives such as the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (MDTCC), the Malaysia Cooperative Societies Commission of Malaysian (MCSC), CCM and the co-operative movement itself. In particular, the findings of this study should be used as a guideline in identifying and formulating suitable training programmes for the staff of credit co-operatives to enhance their management performance.