Innovative Human Capital as a Core Strategy towards an Innovation-Led Economy

Abstract

For the past decade, Malaysia has transformed considerably in its landscape, politics, outlook, economics, and social progress. It has developed from a country that focused on mining and agriculture towards an industrialized country, particularly in the manufacturing and service sectors. According to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, as proliferated in the New Economic Model Agenda, moving towards this economy is fundamental especially in efforts to integrate the economy with the global economic network. Malaysia needs to continue to bring changes to the economy in order to move towards innovation-centred economy. The three main features are creativity, innovation value, and high skills. To achieve such a noble endeavour, Malaysia has no option but to nurture and configure the innovative human capital—simply put, Malaysia is in dire need of human capital that is innovative, creative, and proactive. In tandem with this scenario, the National Economic Advisory 2010 has outlined several strategic plans to transform Malaysia’s economy by focusing on strengthening and intensifying human capital development. Human capital needs to be equipped with necessary competencies and entrepreneurial activities to ensure that the private sector is the vanguard of economic development. Therefore, human capital approach could be leveraged by certain dimensions that could create new knowledge and information. Although human capital may be the origin of all knowledge, learning requires that individuals exchange and share insights and knowledge, which represent social embeddedness. Additionally, organisational architecture that is pro-innovativeness should be designed in promoting the development of human capital. The dimensions such as management support, work discretion, rewards, time availability, and risk taking could foster human capital to induce innovativeness. As such, it is imperative to understand the ingredients that could form and shape the innovative human capital by leveraging the social embeddedness and pro-innovativeness organisational architecture that lead to innovative performance and excellent organisational performance.