Effect of economic vulnerability on entrepreneurial competencies among Malaysian micro-entrepreneurs

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the impact of economic vulnerability upon entrepreneurial competencies (i.e. commitment competency, conceptual competency, opportunity recognition competency, organizing competency, relationship competency and strategic competency) among respondents from varied development initiatives established by the eKasih program (National Poverty Data Bank) in Peninsular Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach - Upon adopting the cross-sectional design, data were randomly gathered from selected 300 micro-entrepreneurs from the list of development organizations available in the eKasih (National Poverty Data Bank), located at four states in Peninsular Malaysia. The quantitative data were gathered by performing structured interview sessions from September until November 2017. Findings - The outcomes of the study displayed that economic vulnerability has a significantly negative effect upon commitment, opportunity recognition, organizing and strategic competency. On the other hand, the results showcased that economi c vulnerability has a significantly positive effect on competency, but insignificantly positive impact upon conceptual competency. Originality/value - These study outcomes appear to extend the scope of the resource-based view, apart from enriching the existing entrepreneurial competency literature, particularly within the Malaysian context. Hence, it is recommended that the government of Malaysia and development organizations should focus on maximizing the level of competency among micro-entrepreneurs as a viable approach to decrease the effect of economic vulnerability

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCIES: A STUDY AMONG WOMEN MICRO- ENTREPRENEURS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract -Women entrepreneurship as one of the key contributors of economic development through a rapid development process reduces poverty, unemployment, and inequalities, and improves the overall well being of children. Social capital is the most under-rated influential factor, which may have a strong influence on entrepreneurial competencies and enterprise performance. This study aims to examine the effect of social capital (i.e., structural, cognitive, and relational) on entrepreneurial competencies (i.e., conceptual, commitment, and organizing) among women micro-entrepreneurs in Peninsular Malaysia. This study employs a cross-sectional approach and quantitative data are collected through structured interviews. It was found that social capital has a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial competencies. Development policies and programs in Malaysia should therefore focus on building social capital among micro-entrepreneurs to foster the national development process that reduces poverty, unemployment rate, and inequalities. JEL Classifications: C31, J16, L2

Innovation and firm’s performance among Malaysian manufacturing SME’s

SMEs commonly compete based on price and quality; however, these may not be enough to gain competitive advantages, sustainability, and superior performance in today’s competitive global business environment. As this book is interested in explaining the nature of innovation of manufacturing SMEs, their capacity to attain the perceived attributes of innovation (i.e., measure the economic profi tability, initial cost, decrease in discomfort, savings in time and eff ort, immediacy of reward, social benefi ts, and hazards removed, together with the alignment of existing setup, norms and values, abilities to deal with complex innovation, capacity to adopt innovation on a trial basis and the ability to observe the outcome of similar innovation adoption) is explored on, as they are important instruments for innovation adoption and the performance of manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia. It is also crucial that SMEs align their strategies through acquiring, disseminating, and responding to market information, building customer intelligence by examining customers’ needs and preference, and exploiting new opportunities, which is a part of the fi ndings in this book. It also highlights the positive role of prior condition, knowledge, and risk orientation, which implies that it is crucial for Malaysian manufacturing SMEs to accept new changes or new innovation, gather innovation related knowledge and build their risk-taking capabilities to accommodate innovation adoption. Besides confi rming the conceptual model and contributing to the theories, this book also off ers implications and tools for manufacturing SMEs and policy makers focused on providing a supportive system for innovationled SMEs for a sustainable economic development

Social capital : the neglected criterion of women entrepreneurs success

Entrepreneurship forms a crucial part of the economic system through out the globe. Moreover, it is the main key to economic growth and human development, for nations aiming and coping with competitiveness and globalisation. In between the fast paced world, more and more women take up responsibility and not-letting go of opportunities to venture the world of entrepreneurs. Despite the challenges of capital, skill and equal opportunity, women entrepreneurs make headlines every now and then. However, the challenges remain real for those who engage in small scale entrepreneurship activities in the form of financial capital, human capital and social capital. This book attempts to bring understanding on the importance of social capital, as it is the most underrated capital among the three capitals above mentioned. The structure and flow of the book is in such a way (step by step, research based structure) to make it clear on how the authors concluded that social capital creates competitive advantage which is an important factor for the success of women entrepreneurs