16.2.3 Identify and engage with local stakeholders
Community and Industry Engagement Policy
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) demonstrates a comprehensive, written policy framework for identifying and engaging with its external stakeholders through the Polisi Libat Sama Komuniti dan Industri (Community and Industry Engagement Policy). This policy, effective January 1, 2021 , is the University's formal commitment to strengthening the community and industry engagement ecosystem , ensuring all activities are conducted in an ethical, systematic, innovative, productive, and high-impact manner for mutual benefit.
Written Policy for Stakeholder Identification and Definition
The UTM policy establishes clear, formal definitions for its core external stakeholders, embedding a comprehensive identification process into its written governance.
- Industry is explicitly defined to encompass a wide range of external partners, including private companies such as Government Linked Companies (GLC), Multinational Companies (MNC), and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). This definition also covers privatized government agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). This broad scope ensures a systematic and inclusive approach to identifying potential collaborators across the economic spectrum.
- Community (Komuniti) is defined broadly as "groups of living beings that benefit from engagement activities," specifically mentioning humans, animals, and plants. This clear, ecosystem-focused definition demonstrates a commitment that extends beyond human-centric activities to include environmental and ecological impact, directly addressing the holistic nature of sustainability.
Furthermore, the policy defines Strategic Collaboration (Kerjasama Strategik) as formal cooperation between the University and the community, industry, and government agencies (domestic or foreign) with goals that provide benefits to all parties and target groups.
Written Procedures for Stakeholder Engagement
The Policy on Community and Industry Engagement serves as the mandatory written procedure, governing how all staff and students of the University are to initiate and manage external relationships.
- Mandatory Registration and Approval: The policy explicitly requires all staff and students to obtain University approval to carry out engagement activities with external stakeholders—including community, industry, government agencies, associations, and unions. Critically, all such activities and strategic collaborations must be registered in the University system. This systemic registration process ensures that engagement is tracked, monitored, and formally documented, providing an auditable procedure for every external partnership.
- Guiding Principles for Interaction: The policy mandates that all engagement activities must adhere to the principles of:
- Empowering activities by sharing expertise and existing resources for mutual benefit.
- Protecting the University's image and interests.
- Ensuring no conflict of interest that results in personal gain or financial loss to the University.
- Considering risk management in all activities.
By codifying these definitions and mandatory procedures, UTM establishes a robust, written framework that not only identifies its local and external stakeholders but also governs the systematic, ethical, and high-impact engagement required to achieve its strategic goal: "to drive and empower the development of the community and industry for national prosperity"
UTM’s policy document titled Polisi Libat Sama Komuniti dan Industri (No. UTM.J.02.01/10.12/2 (5)) was approved by the Senate and came into effect 1 January 2021, establishing a formal institutional framework for engaging with external stakeholders—namely communities, industries (including SMEs, MNCs, GLCs, NGOs), government agencies and other organisations—through structured collaboration in education, research and community service. The policy clearly defines “industry” and “community” and sets out the scope (applicable to all staff and students engaged in community/industry activities) and principles—such as leveraging expertise and resources in partnerships, ethical and systematic engagement, human capital development, and creating mutual benefit. Under its governance provisions, the policy mandates that all such external-engagement activities undergo University approval, be registered in the central system, avoid conflicts of interest, and ensure university assets and intellectual property are properly managed according to agreements. Moreover, the policy spells out the roles of all Units of Responsibility (PTJs), student and staff associations, and the relevant governance offices (Deputy-Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Registrar’s Office) in monitoring, reviewing and publishing the policy, with review cycles up to every five years. In short, this policy represents UTM’s commitment to identifying local stakeholders external to the university (communities, industry, NGOs, government) and engaging them via written policies and procedures that ensure registration of activities, approval oversight, risk management, and asset/IPP management—thereby institutionalising stakeholder engagement beyond ad-hoc efforts into a transparent, systematic framework.
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