Malaysia Gen Y

Introduction

Malaysia’s unique mix of colonial heritage, coupled with the assimilation of three different groups of people, as well as the significant investments from Japan and the Western nations, has allowed the traditional model of leadership and management to evolve. The numerous amounts of joint ventures along with Malaysia’s push for superior levels of industrialization which have led to economic prosperity is closely linked with many practices that are common in management in the west. Despite this one must take in to consideration that certain cultural and religious values are very important to the beliefs of Malaysian managers and these values have created a unique blend of leadership styles in Malaysia in comparison to other regions (http://mgv.mim.edu.my/MMR/0012/001206.Htm).

Malaysia is a hierarchically oriented nation; therefore this is translated in the way managers approach their jobs, and linked to the preferred styles of management. To start with, as a nation with hierarchy at the pedestal, the manager at a firm is expected to be a person who can be viewed worthy of respect; this respect is based inertly on personal characteristics rather than the acquired skills that a successful manager should possess and display to his colleagues.

From this we see that one of the crucial characteristics in the Malaysian business culture would be respect, which can also be defined as having a distinct regard towards authority. Due to this characteristic and the existence of hierarchy, many of the managers assume a paternal role towards their workforce. Respect comes from two different criteria, one is age; the older and wiser you are the more respect you garner, and then second is when you ‘show face’ to your employees or subordinates. Being direct and or overtly aggressive in the work place is usually shunned, and at times it can be frowned upon. On the extreme side, this behavior is seen as being associated with the ‘uncultured’ or ‘unqualified’. Figures of authority are respected more often, not because of seniority but because of the skills they possess, wisdom they have acquired and the ability to create a harmonious atmosphere in the organization fostering cooperation. Articles written on business etiquette in Malaysia stress on the importance of demonstrating respect; they advise a senior member of a company to enter first in a business meeting. This also shows that the parties in question show their respect of hierarchy within the company.

They are many issues facing management and the manager in Malaysia, but to concentrate on all would be very tedious, therefore in this paper we will look at one distinct issue, the management issues one has with Generation Y’s and how to manage them; the Gen Y’s make up 40% of Malaysia’s population.

Generation Y’s

The Generation