While the activist role of the Malaysian government reflected a determination to give more
emphasis to human resource development, it appears that the limited professional ability of
HR managers may impose some limitation on this ambition. Such a shortcoming may limit
the ability of the HR function to make a contribution in developing HPWS. Indeed, Juhary
and Saiyadain (1996) found that the HR function tends to occupy a low status in Malaysian
companies. This is also reflected in Hazman’s (1998) finding that Malaysian HR managers
tend to have little influence on the strategic management process