Measuring Communication Styles in the Malaysian Workplace: Instrument Development and Validation

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to access communication style in the Malaysian workplace through the development and validation of a communication scale appropriate to the Malaysian workplace. The analysis involved data from 200 state development employees, and construct and criterion-related validation using data from 510 employees, representing three organizations in Malaysia. The results provided support for the use of language (pekerti) and communication and interaction (bicara) as crucial communication dimensions for the Malaysian workplace, which are identified from the item-generation procedure.

Keywords:

• Communication
• Cultural Context
• Workplace
• Organization Citizenship Behaviour
• Workgroup

Acknowledgments

A previous version of this article was presented at the 64th International Communication Association Annual Conference. The authors would like to thank Professor Stephen Croucher and the reviewers of this article for their many helpful comments.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hassan Abu Bakar

Hassan Abu Bakar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, School of Multimedia Technology and Communication, and Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia. Currently he is a Visiting Scholar at Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University.

Timothy Walters

Timothy Walters is a Visiting Lecturer at Department of Communication, School of Multimedia Technology and Communication, College of Arts and Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia. He has been an associate dean, department head and a media center education director and journal editor.

Haslina Halim

Haslina Halim is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication, School of Multimedia Technology and Communication, College of Arts and Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia.