1. Introduction
As society and the workplace continually evolve, higher education institutions are under pressure to adapt to new expectations. Undergraduates must be prepared for future professions; future workers must be taught how to fulfil job duties; and, ideally, new ideas that lead to innovation must be generated. People’s jobs and lifestyles have evolved as a result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. Students in higher education must set a higher standard for creativity to solve these problems because they are future employees and an organisation’s major success is built on innovative people. Because technological advancements have led to substantial labour market shifts, the technology that emerges in Industrial 4.0 has the potential to replace staff functions. As a result, it is vital to encourage students to engage in innovative behaviour.
Education institutions in particular can be seen as a microcosm of the trend of global industrialisation [
1]. Every educational establishment is responsible for ensuring that its students are prepared and capable enough to compete in the workforce. A business must innovate in education if it wants to produce qualified human resources [
2]. Businesses must innovate if they want to maintain a competitive advantage in the modern market. Afsar et al. [
3] states that businesses can employ innovation to gain a competitive advantage and succeed as an organisation. Student creativity is linked to economic performance and is viewed as a crucial ability for the twenty-first century [
4].
In business, industry, entrepreneurship, and higher education, innovative behaviour has been recognised as a critical factor in long-term success [
4,
5,
6]. However, in higher education, it is uncommon to hear certain students’ creative behaviour. Higher education institutions must generate a workforce that is both creative and prepared to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century [
7,
8]. Numerous studies show that, because of the importance of education in the development of human innovative skills, higher education institutions alone will not be able to achieve these expectations [
9]. According to a study, students’ ability to participate in novel activities is underappreciated [
10]. Particularly in higher education, educational systems have come under fire for failing to develop these professional knowledge requirements. As a result, developing new potential abilities is one of higher education’s main objectives, especially for students.
Even though innovative behaviour is one of the most essential techniques to achieving academic and professional goals, research among students in educational settings is still limited [
11]. According to Ailing et al. [
12], universities also lack the instruments necessary to create innovative undergraduate capabilities. Innovative characteristics, leadership abilities, and competency all play a role in innovative behaviour. This gap provides the framework for this study to examine innovative behaviour among students in higher learning institutions because graduates are the university’s output. There is a need to investigate innovative student behaviour in the Malaysian educational system.
The primary goal of this research is to look into the innovative behaviour of students at a public higher learning institution in Malaysia’s southern region. As a result, the specific research objective of this study is to see if there are any disparities in levels of innovative behaviour based on demographics. Secondly, the objective to investigate the impact of various elements on innovative behaviour (leadership skill and competency, cognitive development/critical analysis, and interpersonal skill).
2. Literature Review and Hypotheses
This section will cover the dependent variable of innovative behaviour, and independent variables of student leadership skills and competencies, interpersonal skills, and cognitive development or critical analysis. The ability and desire of students to be creative are related to their innovative behaviour in this study. Students who can adapt to unexpected situations and ideas, accept opposing viewpoints and mistakes, experiment freely and take measured risks, and be open to innovation exhibit creativity [
13]. Students can also apply what they have learnt to create fresh solutions and ideas. However, there is a dearth of studies on innovative behaviour and demographic traits. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a relationship between innovative behaviour and demographic traits. This statement leads to the following hypothesis.
Hypothesis 1. There are differences in innovative behaviour based on demographic factors.
For students to self-identify as prospective innovators in their field, Cusson [
14] contends that they must possess conceptual competency in innovative behaviour. In order to better understand how students from different backgrounds make decisions and seize chances, a number of studies involving students from such backgrounds have been conducted. According to Binnawas et al. [
15], students who participated in a club or organisation at school showed more confidence and drive; nevertheless, few studies on this group have looked at their innovative behaviour. The following hypothesis comes as a result of this statement.
Hypothesis 2. There is a significant influence between students’ leadership competency skills and innovative behaviour.
Many resources are required in higher education institutions, but human resources are a crucial resource for developing creative people. One action that can be taken with the aid of coaching, instruction, and training is interpersonal skills, which, according to Hogan and Warrenfelz, are competences and behaviours that entail direct communication, such as interacting with others and forming relationships [
16]. According to Mariepazh [
17], the range of interpersonal skills, which include a person’s ability to begin, create and maintain compassionate connections as well as fruitful ones also determines one’s capacity to do so. It is divided into four categories: “disclosing oneself and trusting others, accurately communicating with one another, resolving conflict and relationship issues in a healthy manner, and supporting and valuing variety”.
One of the elements that significantly influence a student’s innovative conduct in pursuing the goals of higher education is their interpersonal skills. According to the findings of research by Kanthasamy [
16], their analysis revealed a positive association between interpersonal skills and behaviour, and according to Mahmudi [
18], interpersonal skills, group integrity, and self-efficacy have direct beneficial influences on behaviour. This statement leads to the following hypothesis.
Hypothesis 3. There is a significant influence between students’ interpersonal skill influence and innovative behaviour.
This paper discusses critical thinking as the fundamental cognitive skill. To make the most informed decisions possible about what to believe and what to do, critical thinking is a process that activates specific cognitive skills, such as conceptualising, applying, analysing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information that has been gathered from or generated by observation, experience, reflection, or communication [
19]. By fusing its connections to adolescent development and its contributions to adolescents’ learning, welfare, and positive development, Sun and Hui [
20] study cognitive competence as a construct for outstanding youth growth. It demonstrates how critical thinking may be transformed into self-regulated cognitive abilities that teenagers can master and use to accomplish tasks more effectively, come up with accurate answers to issues, and arrive at the best judgments. It is thought that developing critical thinking skills in children helps them learn for life and develop holistically, as well as preparing them to lead society in the future and address societal issues and advance humankind. This statement leads to the following hypothesis.
Hypothesis 4. There is a significant influence between students’ cognitive development/critical analysis and innovative behaviour.
The suggested conceptual framework for this inquiry is shown in
Figure 1. Based on a detailed analysis of prior research, a conceptual framework is provided to recognise the linkages, as illustrated in
Figure 1.
3. Research Design
In this exploratory investigation, data and information were gathered using a questionnaire as the survey instrument. This study also used cross-sectional analysis; a type of observational study that looks at data from a population or a representative sample during a specific time period.
3.1. Sampling and Data Collection
Simple random sampling was used in this study. Each person was chosen completely at random, with each population member had an equal chance of being chosen. This study was conducted at three (3) different UiTM campuses: Campus Johor, Campus Melaka, and Campus Negeri Sembilan. The only two branches that UiTM Campus Johor has were in Segamat and Pasir Gudang. UiTM Campus Melaka has three branches: Alor Gajah, Lendu, and Bandaraya Melaka. Furthermore, there were three (3) UiTM Campus Negeri Sembilan branches situated in Seremban, Rembau, and Kuala Pilah.
As the focus of this study is on college students who held a position in any club or group on campus, the total number of students from the three campuses was 2156. The size of the sample from each campus was calculated using G-Power software [
21], with a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error to calculate the precise number of respondents chosen. In detail, a total of 151 students from Johor Campuses answered the survey. Meanwhile, Melaka campuses stated 580 as the population and 232 as the sample; however, the total responses received were 264. The same scenario existed with Negeri Sembilan campuses, where the numbers were 1440 for the total of population and 304 for the sample; however, the actual responses were 316.
This survey had 731 individuals and the respondents were given three (3) weeks to answer the questions on the Google Form sheet. After receiving approval from the Ethics Committee, the Google Form sheet questionnaire was carefully designed, and the link to it was then shared with the responders on these three (3) campuses. A leader from each branch was chosen to oversee the responses and guarantee that the respondents provided reliable cooperation for this study.
3.2. Questionnaire Design
There were three (3) components to the questionnaire. The respondents’ profiles were discussed in Part A, which included seven (7) questions regarding the respondents’ campus, gender, age, education, cumulative grade point average (CGPA), race, and status in clubs or organisations. Part B, on the other hand, focused on the independent variable, which included three (3) components: interpersonal skills, cognitive growth/critical analysis, and leadership skills and competencies. Additionally, the dependent variable of innovative behaviour was the focus in Part C. The Likert scale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), was used in Parts B and C. The questionnaire utilised in this study was adapted by modifying the instrument to suit the study.
3.3. Data Analysis
This study used quantitative analysis to achieve the objectives. The data analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26 software (IBM Corp. Armonk, NY, USA). The descriptive statistics were analysed to summarise the information about the respondent. Next, a t-test and ANOVA test were carried out to compare the gender, campus, age, CGPA educational background, and position differences towards innovative behaviour. Multiple linear regression was implemented to explore the relationship between students’ leadership competency skills, cognitive development/critical analysis, interpersonal skills, and innovative behaviour.
5. Discussion
The current study demonstrates that interpersonal skills, student leadership competence skills, and cognitive factor development/critical analysis strongly predict students’ innovative behaviour. Students with strong interpersonal skills offer fresh perspectives on novel thoughts, opinions, and ideas to increase the potential for innovation. For students to adapt to the shifting demands of the labour market and to develop their leadership qualities, they must possess abilities such as teamwork, public speaking, problem-solving, decision-making, and other technical skills [
22].
Ali [
23] found that three personality traits of agreeableness, extraversion, and openness to experience are positively connected with phases of innovative behaviour in the formulation and advancement of ideas. The Big Five Personality result indicates that students with more competitive and positive interpersonal skills are welcomed in the job market. Although the majority of college students lack these skills, many businesses assert that interpersonal skills like oral communication are crucial when evaluating staff, especially potential new workers [
24].
According to this study, a student’s innovative behaviour differs depending on their gender, educational attainment, and position within a committee. The study’s findings support the notion that a student’s capacity for critical thought and factor development will have a favourable impact on their capacity for innovation. The influence of cognitive abilities in human learning activities will only be accurately portrayed in a learning environment by adding particular cognitive skills in the context of exploration, as learning activities entail a variety of unique abilities and operate together in unforeseen ways [
25].
Student interpersonal relationships is the factor that has the biggest impact on students’ innovative behaviour. The study’s findings show that having strong interpersonal trust has a good effect on a student’s innovative behaviour. More proactive and daring behaviour can be displayed by individuals (and organisations), which can encourage innovative behaviour [
26,
27].