Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews eISSN: 2395-6518, Vol 7, No 1, 2019, pp 228-238 https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.7127 228 |www.hssr.in © Fakhrorazi et al. THE OUTCOMES OF INDIVIDUAL ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AMONG ACADEMICIANS IN MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES A. Fakhrorazi, H. Hartini, Rabiul Islam School of International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Malaysia fakhrorazi@uum.edu.my, h.hartini@uum.edu.my, rabiul@uum.edu.my Article History: Received on 02 nd January, Revised on 30 th March, Published on 20 th April 2019 Abstract Purpose of the Study: This paper investigates the ability of Malaysian public universities to achieve high academic standing within the top 100 world ranking universities depending on prolific and multitalented academicians who own multi-skills to support the universities’ academic excellences. Methodology: A total of 800 questionnaires were distributed to all public universities in Malaysia for the purpose of data collection and a total of 342 questionnaires were returned representing a response rate of 42.75 percent. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results: This study has contributed to the nations by highlighting the current capabilities of academic workforce that will either influence or hinder the growth of their knowledge acquisition and innovative behavior that will influence the future of Malaysian academic excellences. Implications: Academicians are under pressure to be prolific and versatile to achieve their universities’ goals in addition to their multitasking jobs including teaching, publication, consultation, research, and social welfare. Owing to that matter, the study on individual absorptive capacity, which refers to the ability of Malaysian academicians to absorb knowledge that determines their level of learning capabilities and leads to fulfilling universities’ and national agenda, is worth studying. Keywords: Individual Absorptive Capacity, Malaysian Public Universities, Malaysian Academician, Teaching, Education ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We would like to express our gratitude to the Malaysian government, specifically the Ministry of Higher Education (KPT), for funding this research. This research would not have been possible without their support. The funding was through the RAGS research scheme with S/O code 13293. Additionally, University Utara of Malaysia also played a significant role in assisting us to complete this study and we express our gratitude to them. INTRODUCTION Universities are organizations that perform a key role within contemporary societies by generating knowledge and educating large proportions of the population (Perkmann et al., 2013) . Governments in the past funded universities for their research and teaching activities to ensure that universities transfer knowledge to economic agents (Rossi & Rosli, 2013) . Additionally, academicians in Malaysian public universities had the ability to be highly-skilled and then make them innovative and creative. This area is largely focused on the learning capabilities of academicians to absorb knowledge and then apply it. Academicians need to have sufficient learning capabilities to absorb the transferred knowledge. However, there has not been an empirical investigation into the intensity of academicians’ absorptive capacity. There is limited research into the issue of academicians’ ability to advance their skills up to the level of highly- skilled labor. Based on the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 stated by Ministry of Education Malaysia (2015) and U21 Ranking of National Higher Education System (2014), it was mentioned that according to the Universities 21 (U21) report, Malaysia was ranked 28th out of 50 countries, while Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia and Hong Kong were ranked 10th, 42nd, 48th, 15th, and 21st, respectively. The U21 report compares higher education systems in 50 selected countries through four different dimensions: resources, environment, connectivity, and output. According to the report, Malaysia was ranked 12th in the aspect of resources investment and was ranked at 44th in the production of outputs. The outputs were evaluated from research output, institutions ranking, enrolment, and graduate employability of a particular country. The results of U21 report imply that the amount of funds being invested in the Malaysian higher education sector does not match with the level of outputs being produced and therefore concern about the efficiency of public universities in Malaysia were raised. As Malaysia effortlessly strives to be internationally visible in terms of