Introduction
Background of the study
Human resource management is a vital function performed in organisations that facilitates the most effective use of people to achieve organisational and individual goals. All of the enthusiasm, satisfaction, quality and the experience of the organisation’s employees as well as their sense of fair treatment can affect the firm’s productivity, customer service, reputation and long-term survival. It is the human resources that hold the organisation’s lifeblood. Hence, Human resource management must be finely tuned, properly implemented, and continuously monitored to achieve desired outcomes.
Tayeb (1997) claimed that everywhere in the Islamic world, stretching from West Africa to Lebanon, and Malaysia to Indonesia, Muslims have witnessed a “return” to Islamic traditions and the fundamentals of their faith as a way of asserting their identity, a mean to fight the unjust social and political oppression experienced in their societies, and an alternative to avert materialism and pressures of the twentieth century. Many Muslim countries have begun their efforts to re-institute their territories in their own indigenous way of running the social, educational and commercial
organisations.
Being a Muslim country, the government of Malaysia has been implementing an Islamization process in which its ultimate goal is to infuse Islamic values throughout the society at all levels, from individual to institutional. The Malaysian Prime Minister wants Malaysians to take pride in their cultural heritage and adopt values and attitudes, which reveal the best behaviour in them. A good Muslim businessman should be guided by God’s commandments and his conscience as a human being to execute legal actions towards others.
This paper attempts to investigate how the organisations in Malaysia have responded to the Prime Minister’s aim of adopting an Islamic way of management, particularly in human resources. This paper is significant because Muslims
represents the largest workforce in Malaysia. Every organisation in Malaysia employs Muslims in addition to members of other religious groups. There are many Western approaches in managing employees which are still prevalent in today’s
organisations, and most of non-Muslims’ organizational cultures share and incorporate many Islamic ethical values such as kindness, honesty, and hard work. Although non-Muslim cultures also share many of Islamic ethical values, Human resource management is more culture-specific. Tayeb (1997) argued that Human resource management practices in countries where Islam plays a dominant role in governing the peoples’ lives reflect Islamic values held by their people.
One of the most meaningful contributions of this paper is that it fills the gap in Islamic management literature. At present, the literature related to Islamic Human resource management is very limited. Higher learning institutions in Muslim countries which use English as a medium of instruction are lacking reference sources for learning and they rely heavily on the Western theories and models (Ali and Camp, 1995). Thus, this paper aims to fill this gap. Instead of discussing Islamic Human resource management in general, like most of the previous studies (Aghazadeh, 2003; Ali, 2005; Beekun, 1991; Tayeb, 1997) this paper examines every function of HRM and provides empirical evidence. Another important contribution is that this study provides guidelines to both Muslims and non-Muslim human resource practitioners for effectively managing their Muslim employees. Muslim employees would also benefit from this study as it highlights the appropriate and acceptable behaviour at workplace from an Islamic perspective. It is not surprising
to find that some Muslims are uninformed of Islamic Human resource management practices. This paper
provides useful insights for the policy makers in understanding how people embrace Islamization and what efforts are necessary to ensure the Islamization process succeeds in Muslim organisations.
Malaysia in brief
Malaysia is a federation of thirteen states and three federal territories in Southeast Asia, with a total landmass of 329,847 km2. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. Malaysia’s close neighbours consist of Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. The total population of Malaysia is 28.3 million consisting of 62 per cent Malays, 24 per cent Chinese, 8 per cent Indians, with other minorities and indigenous people. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic,multi-cultural and multilingual society (Malaysian Statistics Department, 2006).
The Malays, who form the largest community, are defined as Muslims in the Constitution of Malaysia. The Malays play a dominant role in politics and are included in a grouping identified as bumiputra. Their native language is Malay (Bahasa Melayu) which is the national language of the country. Native Malays are typically Muslims,and Islamic values and beliefs heavily influence their lifestyles and cultures. Malaysia is a democratic country that has undergone a tremendous growth and prosperity over the last two decades. After 50 years of independence from the British, Malaysia
is currently one of the most developed countries in Southeast Asia (Muhamad andIdris, 2005).
In Malaysia, it is interesting to observe that there are visible religious expressions in organisations, whether or not the organisations are Muslim-owned. It is common to find prayer rooms in Malaysian organisations, and employees are given time to perform their religious obligations. Endot (1995) found that organisations in Malaysia respect and place great emphasis on worship. He also found that in some organisations, prayers are made compulsory, mega-phones are used to call for prayers and religious sermons are held frequently while corporate cultures are used to inculcate Islamic
awareness among employees. In addition, in all the firms under his study, employees are urged to keep in mind that they are not only responsible to the organisation, but they are accountable to Almighty God for their every work and deeds, which are considered in Islam as a form of worship of God. In such organisations also, as men are required to dress appropriately at work, women are to wear clothes that conform to Islamic custom. Based on such findings, it is apparent that religious practices in Malaysian companies are valued highly so long as they do not harm the value of the
company; and instead add value to the lives of its employees.
Five years ago, the Malaysian government geared towards implementing the approach of Islam hadhari in the country, with aim of bringing Muslims back to basics, to return to primacy of values and principles as prescribed in the Qur’an and the Hadith, which form the foundation of Islamic civilization. Islam hadhari literally means civilisation Islam, or an approach towards a progressive Islamic civilization. It posits ten fundamental principles: faith and piety in God, a just and trustworthy Government, a free and independent people, a vigorous pursuit and mastery of knowledge, balanced and comprehensive economic development, a good quality of life for the people,protection of the rights of minority groups and women, cultural and moral integrity,safe guarding natural resources and the environment, and strong defence capabilities.(Malaysian Prime Minister Office, 2005).
IntroductionBackground of the studyHuman resource management is a vital function performed in organisations that facilitates the most effective use of people to achieve organisational and individual goals. All of the enthusiasm, satisfaction, quality and the experience of the organisation’s employees as well as their sense of fair treatment can affect the firm’s productivity, customer service, reputation and long-term survival. It is the human resources that hold the organisation’s lifeblood. Hence, Human resource management must be finely tuned, properly implemented, and continuously monitored to achieve desired outcomes.Tayeb (1997) claimed that everywhere in the Islamic world, stretching from West Africa to Lebanon, and Malaysia to Indonesia, Muslims have witnessed a “return” to Islamic traditions and the fundamentals of their faith as a way of asserting their identity, a mean to fight the unjust social and political oppression experienced in their societies, and an alternative to avert materialism and pressures of the twentieth century. Many Muslim countries have begun their efforts to re-institute their territories in their own indigenous way of running the social, educational and commercialorganisations. Being a Muslim country, the government of Malaysia has been implementing an Islamization process in which its ultimate goal is to infuse Islamic values throughout the society at all levels, from individual to institutional. The Malaysian Prime Minister wants Malaysians to take pride in their cultural heritage and adopt values and attitudes, which reveal the best behaviour in them. A good Muslim businessman should be guided by God’s commandments and his conscience as a human being to execute legal actions towards others.This paper attempts to investigate how the organisations in Malaysia have responded to the Prime Minister’s aim of adopting an Islamic way of management, particularly in human resources. This paper is significant because Muslimsrepresents the largest workforce in Malaysia. Every organisation in Malaysia employs Muslims in addition to members of other religious groups. There are many Western approaches in managing employees which are still prevalent in today’sorganisations, and most of non-Muslims’ organizational cultures share and incorporate many Islamic ethical values such as kindness, honesty, and hard work. Although non-Muslim cultures also share many of Islamic ethical values, Human resource management is more culture-specific. Tayeb (1997) argued that Human resource management practices in countries where Islam plays a dominant role in governing the peoples’ lives reflect Islamic values held by their people.One of the most meaningful contributions of this paper is that it fills the gap in Islamic management literature. At present, the literature related to Islamic Human resource management is very limited. Higher learning institutions in Muslim countries which use English as a medium of instruction are lacking reference sources for learning and they rely heavily on the Western theories and models (Ali and Camp, 1995). Thus, this paper aims to fill this gap. Instead of discussing Islamic Human resource management in general, like most of the previous studies (Aghazadeh, 2003; Ali, 2005; Beekun, 1991; Tayeb, 1997) this paper examines every function of HRM and provides empirical evidence. Another important contribution is that this study provides guidelines to both Muslims and non-Muslim human resource practitioners for effectively managing their Muslim employees. Muslim employees would also benefit from this study as it highlights the appropriate and acceptable behaviour at workplace from an Islamic perspective. It is not surprisingto find that some Muslims are uninformed of Islamic Human resource management practices. This paperprovides useful insights for the policy makers in understanding how people embrace Islamization and what efforts are necessary to ensure the Islamization process succeeds in Muslim organisations.Malaysia in briefMalaysia is a federation of thirteen states and three federal territories in Southeast Asia, with a total landmass of 329,847 km2. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. Malaysia’s close neighbours consist of Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. The total population of Malaysia is 28.3 million consisting of 62 per cent Malays, 24 per cent Chinese, 8 per cent Indians, with other minorities and indigenous people. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic,multi-cultural and multilingual society (Malaysian Statistics Department, 2006).The Malays, who form the largest community, are defined as Muslims in the Constitution of Malaysia. The Malays play a dominant role in politics and are included in a grouping identified as bumiputra. Their native language is Malay (Bahasa Melayu) which is the national language of the country. Native Malays are typically Muslims,and Islamic values and beliefs heavily influence their lifestyles and cultures. Malaysia is a democratic country that has undergone a tremendous growth and prosperity over the last two decades. After 50 years of independence from the British, Malaysiais currently one of the most developed countries in Southeast Asia (Muhamad andIdris, 2005).In Malaysia, it is interesting to observe that there are visible religious expressions in organisations, whether or not the organisations are Muslim-owned. It is common to find prayer rooms in Malaysian organisations, and employees are given time to perform their religious obligations. Endot (1995) found that organisations in Malaysia respect and place great emphasis on worship. He also found that in some organisations, prayers are made compulsory, mega-phones are used to call for prayers and religious sermons are held frequently while corporate cultures are used to inculcate Islamicawareness among employees. In addition, in all the firms under his study, employees are urged to keep in mind that they are not only responsible to the organisation, but they are accountable to Almighty God for their every work and deeds, which are considered in Islam as a form of worship of God. In such organisations also, as men are required to dress appropriately at work, women are to wear clothes that conform to Islamic custom. Based on such findings, it is apparent that religious practices in Malaysian companies are valued highly so long as they do not harm the value of thecompany; and instead add value to the lives of its employees.Five years ago, the Malaysian government geared towards implementing the approach of Islam hadhari in the country, with aim of bringing Muslims back to basics, to return to primacy of values and principles as prescribed in the Qur’an and the Hadith, which form the foundation of Islamic civilization. Islam hadhari literally means civilisation Islam, or an approach towards a progressive Islamic civilization. It posits ten fundamental principles: faith and piety in God, a just and trustworthy Government, a free and independent people, a vigorous pursuit and mastery of knowledge, balanced and comprehensive economic development, a good quality of life for the people,protection of the rights of minority groups and women, cultural and moral integrity,safe guarding natural resources and the environment, and strong defence capabilities.(Malaysian Prime Minister Office, 2005).
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