1238 Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 6(8): 1238-1244, 2012 ISSN 1995-0772 This is a refereed journal and all articles are professionally screened and reviewed ORIGINAL ARTICLE Corresponding Author: Dr. Norzaidi Mohd Daud, Faculty of Business Management University Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Malaysia. E-mail: zaidiuitm2000@yahoo.com Determining the Moderating Impact of Lecturer Support on the Relationship Between Students’ Absorptive Capacity, Motivation and Knowledge Transfer 1 Mohammad Nazri Mohd Nor, 2 Dr. Norzanah Mat Nor, 3 Dr. Norzaidi Mohd Daud, 4 Dr. Badrul Hisham Kamaruddin 1 Faculty of Business and Accountancy 55100 University of Malaya, Malaysia. 2,3,4 Faculty of Business Management Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Malaysia. Mohammad Nazri Mohd Nor, Dr. Norzanah Mat Nor, Dr. Norzaidi Mohd Daud, Dr. Badrul Hisham Kamaruddin; Determining the Moderating Impact of Lecturer Support on the Relationship Between Students’ Absorptive Capacity, Motivation and Knowledge Transfer ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to examine the moderating impact of lecturer support on the relationship between students’ absorptive capacity and motivation, and knowledge transfer effectiveness involving academic underprepared students in community colleges. A total of 387 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to these students. The findings suggested that the independent variables have significant relationships with the dependent variable. However, lecturer support showed no statistically significant moderating impact on each of the relationship involving students’ absorptive capacity and motivation. This study has provided insights into improving knowledge transfer effectiveness, one of it being the importance of right intervention. Finally, the implications of the findings on both theory and current practices are also discussed. Key words: Knowledge transfer effectiveness, Students’ absorptive capacity, Students’ motivation, Lecturer support, Academic underprepared students, Community colleges. Introduction Knowledge transfer effectiveness is important as it enables one, regardless of his or her academic background, to have a fair share of the opportunity in getting involved with economic activities for good income generation of the country. As it stands, sufficient knowledge is important for future employability of students (Rydon, Rolleston, and Mackie, 2008). In relation to this, one of the important ways for effective diffusion of knowledge is via higher learning educations. In this regard, the introduction of community colleges in 2001 has paved the way for a better diffusion of knowledge via higher education; hence lifting the burden of the under privileged students. Moreover, the community colleges which are mostly located in the rural areas would be able to provide cheap and equal education opportunity to these students. Additionally, its existence would also provide more opportunities for students with lower previous academic achievements in furthering their studies. On the other face of the coin, those easy access for students’ admission might result in the institutions having more enrollment of academically underprepared students enrollment, than the universities (Fike and Fike, 2008). Statistics is also revealing that those colleges are having the lowest level of students’ unemployment, and this has led to negative perceptions about the quality of the community colleges. Consequently, the ranking has also plummeted to the lowest level among other public higher institutions of learning in Malaysia. In an attempt to arrest this unwanted situation, this study posits that knowledge be transferred more effectively in those learning institutions. For that purpose, this study purports to have two predictor variables, namely students’ absorptive capacity and students’ motivation. This study is also hypothesizing on the role of lecturer support in moderating the relationship between students’ absorptive capacity / motivation and knowledge transfer effectiveness. Literature Review: Knowledge Transfer Effectiveness: Knowledge transfer involves a flow of knowledge transmitted among people. Hence, there is a process here about how people learn through this transmission of knowledge (Nonaka, Takeuchi, and Umemoto, 1996).