THE INFLUENCE OF EMPLOYEE MINDSET TOWARDS COALITION BUILDING AMONG STAFF AT SELECTED GOVERNMENT-LINKED COMPANIES (GLCS) IN MALAYSIA
Narehan Hassan, Mohd Safwan Ramli , Nur Athirah Sumardi , Mazuin Mat Halif , Nooranizan Ariffin , Azwan Shah Aminuddin
Abstract
Employers tend to look at job candidates' abilities to communicate effectively and to assess their
talents to solve complex problems as a team player. The ability to work in teams also known as coalition
building, is regarded as one of the most important criteria before getting employment. The main goal of this
study was to examine the predictors of employee mindset (cosmopolitanism, cognitive complexity,
entrepreneurial mindset, boundary spanning, adaptability, creative thinking and work culture) towards employee
coalition building at government-link companies (GLCs). Employees from five government-link companies
namely Khazanah, Proton, Axiata, MAS, and EPF involved in this study. A correlational design was used and
data was collected using quota sampling. A set of four-sectioned questionnaires was used to collect information
from employees and was analyzed to ascertain its reliability, correlation and regression values. The findings
revealed that six out seven variables had significant and positive relationships with coalition building which are
cosmopolitanism, cognitive complexity, entrepreneurial mindset, boundary spanning, adaptability, and creative
thinking but one had negative, small but significant relationship which was work culture. It was also found that
Entrepreneurial Mindset, Cosmopolitanism and Boundary Spanning predicted positively towards coalition
building (β=0.752, p<0.01, β=0.059, p<0.01 and β=0.057, p<0.01) consecutively, while three other subvariables (Adaptability, Work Culture and Creative Thinking Skills) predicted negatively towards coalition
building. The researchers made a few recommendations on how to enhance employee mindset and coalition
building. Employers are encouraged to study their employees’ behavior by observing, encouraging and
rewarding employees who display innovative work culture and show great affiliation with colleagues. In
addition, the researchers suggest larger sample size for future research.