ENTREPRENEURIAL INCLINATION AMONG CHINESE
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: IN RELATION TO DEMOGRAPHICS,
MOTIVATING FACTORS, AND SKILLS
Lim Yet Mee
Low Chin Kian
Faculty of Accountancy and Management
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR)
Lot PT 21144, Jln Sungai Long
Bandar Sungai Long, Cheras
43000 Kajang, Selangor
Tel: (03)90194722, fax: (03)90197062
[email protected]; [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Researchers have well recognized that students are a potential source of entrepreneurs,
and they have widely studied students in relation to their career aspiration in
entrepreneurship. In line with this stream of research, the present authors attempts to
examine university students of Chinese in origin with respect to their entrepreneurial
inclination. Some major findings include (1) birth order and family influence have no
impact on students’ entrepreneurial inclination, (2) female students are consistently
exhibit a lower entrepreneurial inclination than the male students, and (3) financial
rewards and personal achievement are the motivators for students to start a new business.
The roles of institutes of higher education in promoting entrepreneurship among studnets
are discussed.
Key Words: entrepreneurship inclination, entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial
characteristics.
INTRODUCTION
The importance of entrepreneurship has been well recognized by the government, the
academic community, and the researchers. Business creation and the cultivation of an
entrepreneurial culture within the country have been the fundamental topics of discussion
among the politicians, economists, and academics. This interest is based on the argument
that new businesses contribute to job creation, economic development, and political and
social stability (Kuratko & Hodgetts, 2004; Postigo, Iacobucci, & Tamborini, 2003;
Wennekers & Thurik, 1999).
Governments have a major interest in encouraging enterprises. They are well aware of the
importance, both economic and political, of small new firms in an economy. The
government understands the crucial roles played by entrepreneurial firms in contributing
to the economic performance of the country. As reported by Koh (1996), “the
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Government of Singapore has identified entrepreneurship as one of the most significant
factors (if not the most significant) in the process of growth and development of its
national economy” (p. 12). Entrepreneurial firms play a key role in innovations that lead
to technological change and productivity growth. They are also the main mechanism by
which many enter the economic mainstream of the society by setting up new companies
in every sector of the economy. New businesses bring innovation to the market and create
millions of new jobs (Kuratko & Hodgetts, 2004; Wickham, 2004). As a result,
governments are willing to provide ample support to new start-ups either financially or
non-financially. In addition to capital grants and tax breaks, new firms are often given a
head-start through consulting services and training. Examples are the Small Business
Administration in the USA, and the Training and Enterprise Councils in the UK (Kuratko
& Hodgetts, 2004; Wickham, 2004).
In sum, “governments aim to support
entrepreneurial businesses because they have an interest in their success. Entrepreneurs
bring economic prosperity, provide social stability and generate tax revenue” (Wickham,
2004, p. 193).
In academic community, there has been a marked increase in entrepreneurship education.
Many universities have recognized the significance of entrepreneurship and have
designed curricula specifically for entrepreneurial learning. Education in
entrepreneurship is a fast growing area in the United States and throughout the world
(Hisrich, Peters, & Shepherd, 2005; Koh, 1996). During the 1970s, very few schools
offered entrepreneurial courses in the US. But today, more than 600 schools offer such
courses and they are reporting an increase in student enrollment in this area (Kuratko &
Hodgetts, 2004). Other scholars such as Gorman and Hanlon (1997) and Vesper and
Gartner (1997) have also reported an increase in the number and importance of
entrepreneurship programs over the past 25 years.
Many universities have established centers for entrepreneurship and they organize annual
conferences in this theme. Most of these centers provide education programs in
entrepreneurship, engage in entrepreneurial research, and conduct outreach activities with
entrepreneurs. They also develop programs, in conjunction with the government, to
promote entrepreneurship and to serve as incubators of dynamic new entrepreneurs
(Kuratko & Hodgetts, 2004; Postigo, et al., 2003). An example will be Universiti Tunku
Abdul Razak (Unitar), a private university in Malaysia. It has recently announced its
vision to become a boutique university focusing on managerial leadership and
entrepreneurship. The university has just launched a school of entrepreneurship (the Bank
Rakyat School of Entrepreneurship) with the aim of producing entrepreneurs and
corporate intrapreneurs in Malaysia (“Boutique University,” 2008). In this undertaking,
the university has teamed up with the following three parties:
(1) Babson College, a leading American university in entrepreneurship, to develop
relevant academic modules for the school.
(2) Skali Group, a specialist in e-business, to provide real industry experience.
(3) The Bank Rakyat, a government financial institute, to provide the necessary
funding.
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With regard to research in entrepreneurship, researchers have widely studied such subject
areas as entrepreneurial personality traits, demographic characteristics of entrepreneurs,
entrepreneurial skills, motivating factors and obstacles for setting up new business, and
entrepreneurial inclination. A brief description for each of these subject areas of research
is given below:
(1) Entrepreneurial personality traits. Many psychological characteristics are deemed
to be associated with entrepreneurs. Examples are need for achievement, locus of
control, risk taking, tolerance of ambiguity, self-confidence, and innovation.
(2) Demographic characteristics of entrepreneurs. The demographic variables
examined in relation to entrepreneurship include birth order, marital status, age,
education level, race, gender, and occupation of parents.
(3) Entrepreneurial skills. The skills perceived to be important for starting a business
include communication, organization, managing change, planning, problem
solving, finance, people management, negotiation, and team-working.
(4) Motivating factors and obstacles for setting up new business. Motivating factors
for starting new ventures include “being one’s own boss” and “to make money.”
Barriers to starting up new business include “do not have the qualities,” “not a
risk-taker,” “want a family life,” “no capital to invest,” and “it involves too much
work.”
(5) Entrepreneurial inclination. Entrepreneurial inclination refers to someone’s
tendency of becoming an entrepreneur at some point of time in the future. It is
one’s judgment about the intention or the likelihood of starting a new business in
the future.
Researchers are well aware that students are a potential source of entrepreneurs, and
hence many of the studies in entrepreneurship were done using students as the sample
(Franke & Lüthje, 2004; Koh, 1996; Postigo, et al., 2003; Scott & Twomey, 1988).
Researchers such as Postigo et al. (2003), Scott and Twomey (1988), and Uslay, Teach,
and Schwartz (2002) have argued that (1) students are both a major force and a talent
pool for entrepreneurs, (2) students play a critical role in the emergence of new firms and
contribution to the economy, and (3) they are the long-term supply of entrepreneurs. In
addition, Uslay et al. (2002) reported that entrepreneurial students are not significantly
different from entrepreneurs and managers on certain characteristics such as energy level,
risk-taking, and change. Hence, student population continues to be worthwhile and
appropriate to examine in entrepreneurship research.
Given the importance of entrepreneurship in the economy of a country and the students as
an important source of entrepreneurs, much research is still needed to be done on students
in relation to entrepreneurship. The purpose of the present study is to further examine
entrepreneurial inclination among students in the Malaysian context. Specifically, the
present study aims to examine whether there are differences between entrepreneurial
inclined and non-entrepreneurial inclined students with respect to their demographic
background, entrepreneurial characteristics, motivating factors for business creation, and
competency in entrepreneurial skills. A brief review of each of these four areas and the
respective research questions are given below.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Demographics Approach to Entrepreneurship
The demographic approach to the identification of entrepreneurs assumes that people
with similar backgrounds posses similar underlying stable characteristics. If this
assumption holds, it will be able possible to predict entrepreneurship in unknown
populations by identifying demographic characteristics of known entrepreneurs
(Robinson, Stimpson, Huefner, & Hunt, 1991). The demographic variables examined in
this type of research include birth order, role models, marital status, age, education level,
race, gender, occupation of parents, and the number of siblings (Crant, 1996; Hornaday &
Aboud, 1971; Koh, 1996; Postigo et al., 2003; Robinson et al., 1991).
Postigo et al. (2003) found that the percentage of students seriously thinking of setting up
a new firm was significantly higher for those whose parents were entrepreneurs or
executives, compared with those whose parents were manual or office employees. There
are also some contradictory results regarding the relationships between demographics and
entrepreneurial intentions. Crant (1996) found that entrepreneurial intentions were related
with gender, education level, and whether a parent is an entrepreneur (entrepreneurial
family). However, Koh (199) found no relationships between entrepreneurial intentions
and gender, age, marital status, the number of siblings, birth order, and family influence.
Research Question 1: Do entrepreneurial-inclined students differ from those who are not
with respect to their demographics background?
Entrepreneurial Characteristics
Within the area of research in entrepreneurship, studies involving characteristics of
entrepreneurs have been conducted most frequently (Herron & Robinson, 1993; Koh,
1996). This personality or trait approach to entrepreneurship attempts to identify a set of
psychological characteristics that would distinguish entrepreneurs from nonentrepreneurs. A review of the literature shows that many psychological characteristics
are deemed to be associated with entrepreneurs—need for achievement, locus of control,
risk taking, tolerance of ambiguity, self-confidence, innovation, personal control, selfesteem, problem-solving, need for independence, hard workers, work ethic (working
hard), pursuit of excellence, mastery, dominance, taking ownership and accountability,
ability to capture opportunities, persistence and determination, self-starting, goal-setting,
resilience, receptive to new ideas and change, assertiveness, eager to learn, commitment
to others, hope of success and fear of failure, energy and mobility, and effective
leadership (Entrepreneur’s Handbook, 1981; Franke & Lüthje, 2004; Hisrisch, et al.,
2005; Hornaday & Aboud, 1971; Johnson, 2001; Koh, 1996; Kuratko & Hodgetts, 2004;
Littunen, 2000; Mamat & Raya, 1990; Robinson et al., 1991; Wickham, 2004). Of these
characteristics, need for achievement and locus of control, have received the most
attention in the studies of entrepreneurship to date (Koh, 1996).
Using MBA students as the sample, Koh (1996) has attempted to investigate whether
those who are entrepreneurial inclined are different from those who are not in terms of
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six psychological characteristics—need for achievement, locus of control, propensity to
take risk, tolerance of ambiguity, self-confidence, and innovativeness. The results show
that those who are entrepreneurial inclined are more willing to take risk, more able to
tolerate ambiguity, and more innovative. Gürol and Atsan (2006) conducted a similar
study to explore the entrepreneurial profile of Turkish students using the same six
psychological characteristics. The authors found that entrepreneurial inclined students are
significantly higher from non-entrepreneurial inclined students on four of the
characteristics, namely higher need for achievement, internal locus of control, higher
propensity to risk, and higher innovativeness. It seems that there are inconclusive results
on the differences in entrepreneurial characteristics.
Research Question 2: Is there a difference in entrepreneurial characteristics between
entrepreneurial-inclined and non- entrepreneurial inclined students?
Motivating Factors for Business Creation
In making the decision of becoming entrepreneurs, individuals are influenced by various
factors such as work experience, motivation, personality, family environment, and
societal norms (Watson, Hogarth-Scott, & Wilson, 1998). These influencing factors
include individual or psychological components, social, and economic features
(Henderson & Robertson, 2000). Several studies have examined empirically the
motivating factors and barriers for business start-ups. For example, Watson et al. (1998)
identified four types of factors in motivations for start-up—entrepreneurial factors,
personal-opportunistic factors, market-opportunistic factors, and financial needs factors.
Specific factors under each of these four types are listed below:
Entrepreneurial Factors:
Be independent/own boss
Use own creative skills
Do enjoyable work
Frustrated with previous jobs
Personal-Opportunistic Factors:
Able to work from home
Make a lot of money
Further career objectives
Market-Opportunistic Factors:
Meet a service or need
Exploit a market opportunity
Financial Needs Factors
Earn a reasonable earning
Get off the dole
In their study of young adults’ attitudes to entrepreneurship as a career, Henderson and
Robertson (2000) found that the primary reasons for considering a business start-up were
“being one’s own boss” and “to make money.” However, the study by Postigo et al.
(2003) indicated that earning money was not the major reason for becoming an
entrepreneur. The student respondents in the study indicated personal (non-economic)
reasons as the most important for setting up their own firms. The top three reasons given
by the respondents were “to put into practice own ideas,” “personal independence,” “to
create something of one’s own.” These research findings prompted further examination
of the type of motivating factors for starting up new business.
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Research Question 3: What are the important motivating factors for starting up a
business as perceived by the entrepreneurial-inclined students?
Entrepreneurial Skills
Scholars have attempted to identify and assess the important entrepreneurial skills which
enhance entrepreneurial performance. Many types of skills have been deemed to be
important for entrepreneurs. Wickham (2004) stated that entrepreneurs require two sorts
of skills to run a business venture effectively—general management business skills and
people management skills. General management business skills include strategy skills,
planning skills, marketing skills, financial skills, project management skills, and time
management skills. People management skills include skills in leadership, motivation,
delegation, communication, and negotiation. Hisrich et al. (2005) divided the skills
needed by entrepreneurs into three main areas—technical skills, business management
skills, and personal entrepreneurial skills. Technical skills are “know-hows” such as oral
and written communication, technical know-how, ability to organize, network building,
and coaching. Business management skills involve planning, goal setting, decision
making, control, negotiation, and skills in the basic functional areas such as marketing
and finance. Those are the skills needed to start, develop, and manage a business venture.
Personal entrepreneurial skills refer to those skills that differentiate entrepreneurs from
managers. They include inner control, risk taking, innovativeness, persistence, leadership
and change orientation. In addition, Galloway, Anderson, Brown, and Wilson (2005)
examined students’ perceptions of the skills required for entrepreneurship. The skills
students perceived to be important for starting a business or becoming self-employed are
communication, organization, initiative, problem solving, creativity, finance, people
management, negotiation, confidence, team-working, and perseverance.
The importance of equipping our students with enterprise skills has been highlighted by
Galloway, et al. (2005). According to the authors, on one hand, educators have the
obligation to develop skills and competencies for enterprise among the students. On the
other hand, students expect to learn the necessary knowledge and skills which enable
them to start their own business or which are helpful for their career. However, it remains
a challenge for the business schools to develop entrepreneurial skills, attributes, and
behaviors in the students. With regard to this issue, it would be interesting to find out
how equipped our students are (based on their perception) in relation to entrepreneurial
skills. This leads to the following two research questions:
Research Question 4: How competent are our students in terms of entrepreneurial skills?
Research Question 5: Is there a difference in the level of skill competency between
entrepreneurial-inclined and non- entrepreneurial inclined students?
METHOD
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Two studies have been conducted to answer the five research questions mentioned above.
Both studies used business students from the same university as the sample and collected
similar data about a year apart. Although Malaysian student population comprises of
mainly three races—Malay, Chinese, and Indians—the focus of the both studies was on
the Chinese student group only. The sample characteristics and measurement scales for
both studies are presented below.
Sample of Study 1
The data for Study 1 were collected from 219 final-year Chinese students pursuing a
bachelor degree in business at a private university in Malaysia. Two-hundred and sixtyfive survey questionnaires were personally distributed to the students majoring in
Business Administration and in Accounting; 219 usable questionnaires were collected,
yielding a response rate of 83%. Eighty-eight (60%) of them were in Business
Administration major, and 131 (40%) were in Accounting. The sample consisted of more
females (72%) than males (28%) with an average age of about 22 years (age ranged from
20 to 25 years old).
Sample of Study 2
The data for this study were collected from 200 final-year Chinese students pursuing a
bachelor degree in business at a private university in Malaysia. Survey questionnaires
were personally distributed and collected from 100 students majoring in Business
Administration and another 100 students majoring in Accounting, yielding a response
rate of 100%. This sample also consisted of more females (80%) than males (20%) with
an average age of 22 years (age ranged from 21 to 27 years old). The sample of being
consisting more female students is considered representative of the target population,
where about two-thirds of the students in the university are females.
Measures
Entrepreneurial Characteristics. Five commonly cited entrepreneurial characteristics
were included in both studies 1 and 2 to assess the presence of entrepreneurial traits in the
students. They are innovation (4 items), internal locus of control (5 items), need for
achievement (4 items), risk taking (4 items), and self-confidence (4 items). The items
used to measure each of these psychological characteristics were taken from the
Entrepreneur Self Diagnosis Questionnaire by Mike McLoughlin. Two sample items for
each characteristic were given in the table below. Respondents were asked how often
they behave, feel, or believe with respect to each item using the scale ranged from 1 =
never to 4 = always. The Cronbach-alpha coefficients for the scales ranged from 0.52 to
0.65.
Table 1: Sample Items of the Five Entrepreneurial Characteristics
Entrepreneurial Characteristics
Sample Items
Innovation
1. I develop new ideas.
2. I believe there are always new and better
ways of dong things.
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Internal locus of control
Need for achievement
Risk taking and faith
Self- Confidence
1. It is I, not luck nor fate, which influence
the outcome of events in my life.
2. I cannot wait and watch things happen; I
prefer to make things happen.
1. I take pleasure in responding to challenges,
so competition makes me work harder.
2. I will work with anybody as long as get
things done and achieve my goal.
1. I am not afraid to take risk if I have a good
chance of succeeding.
2. I am willing to risk the loss of money to do
something I know to be right.
1. I believe I can overcome obstacles.
2. I know I can do what I set out to do.
Entrepreneurial Inclination. To measure entrepreneurial inclination, respondents were
asked to indicate their probability of starting a business upon the completion of their
study (either after their undergraduate or graduate study). Following the approach by Koh
(1996), respondents who indicated a high or very high probability of starting a business
were classified as entrepreneurially inclined; and those indicated a low or very low
probability were classified as non-entrepreneurial inclined.
Demographic Background. Demographic factors included in the studies were field of
study (Business Administration versus Accounting), birth order, and family influence.
The respondents were asked whether they are the first born (yes/no); whether any of their
family members or close relatives owned a business when they were growing up
(yes/no); and whether any of their family members or close relatives owns a business
now (yes/no). The last two questions were used to determine family influence or family
entrepreneurial inclination. This method of measuring family entrepreneurial inclination
was adapted from Koh (1996).
Entrepreneurial Skills. The competency of entrepreneurial skills among the respondents
was measured using the three categories of skills by Hisrich et al. (2005). They are
technical skills, personal entrepreneurial skills, and business management skills as
described above. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of competency in each
specific skill under the respective skill areas, using a scale ranging from 1 = very
incompetent to 6 = very competent.
Motivating Factors for Business Start-ups. Two sets of motivating factors were used in
the studies to identify the most important ones as perceived by the students.. All factors
(except “frustrated with previous jobs”) from Watson et al. (1998)’s study (see Literature
Review section) were used in Study 1. For Study 2, 12 items used to measure motivating
factors for starting a business were taken from Postigo et al.’s (2003) study. Sample
perceived factors for starting own business are “personal independence,” “to accumulate
a personal fortune,” “to earn more than an employee,” and “to be the head of an
8
organization.” Respondents were asked to pick five items for reasons starting a new
business and ranked the items according to the degree of importance. Only
entrepreneurial-inclined students were asked to answer this question.
RESULTS
Research Question 1: Do entrepreneurial-inclined students differ from those who are not
with respect to their demographics background? Specifically, is entrepreneurial
inclination associated with gender, major of study, birth order, and family influence?
Study 1
One hundred and thirty-one of the 200 respondents (61%) indicated that they have a high
or very high probability of starting a business upon completing of their studies. Eightysix respondents (39%) indicated a low likelihood of starting a new business upon
graduation. These results show that majority of the students (61%) are keen in setting up
a new venture or to be self-employed (based on their indication of a low probability of
starting a new business upon graduation.)
Chi-square tests were used to examine whether there is an association between
entrepreneurial inclination and gender, major of study, birth order, and family influence.
Results show that entrepreneurial inclination is associated with gender—male students
are more entrepreneurial inclined than female students. However, the test result may be
interpreted with caution due to the relatively small sample size of males (n = 62) in
relation to the number of females (n = 157) in this study. Nevertheless, the result is in line
with Chen, Greene, and Crick’s (1998) that male students expressed a higher intention to
become entrepreneurs than did female students. As for the major of study, there is also a
significant difference between major of study—Accounting students were found to be
more entrepreneurial inclined than Business Administration students. However,
entrepreneurial inclination was found not to be associated with birth order and whether
any family members or close relatives own a business before and now (family influence).
Study 2
Seventy-nine of the 200 respondents (40%) indicated that they have a high or very high
probability of starting a business upon completing of their studies. One hundred and
twenty-one respondents (60%) indicated a low likelihood of starting a new business upon
graduation. The results show that majority of the students (60%) are not keen in setting
up a new venture or to be self-employed (based on their indication of a low probability of
starting a new business upon graduation.)
Chi-square tests were used to examine whether there is an association between
entrepreneurial inclination and gender, major of study, birth order, and family influence.
Results show that entrepreneurial inclination is associated with gender—male students
are more entrepreneurial inclined than female students. Again, the test result may be
interpreted with caution due to the relatively small sample size of males (n = 40) in
relation to the number of females (n = 160) in this study. As for the major of study, there
9
is no significant difference between Accounting and Business Administration students in
entrepreneurial inclination. Similarly, entrepreneurial inclination was found not to be
associated with birth order and whether any family members or close relatives own a
business before and now (family influence).
Research Question 2: Is there a difference in entrepreneurial characteristics between
entrepreneurial-inclined and non- entrepreneurial inclined students?
T-test was performed to test the difference in each of the five entrepreneurial
characteristics with respect to entrepreneurial inclinations. The test results were presented
in Tables 2 and 3. The results show that
1. For Study 1, the entrepreneurial-inclined students were found to have a higher
internal locus of control than the non-entrepreneurial inclined students.
2. For Study 2, the entrepreneurial-inclined group was found to be more selfconfident than the non-entrepreneurial inclined group.
Table 2: Test of Difference in Characteristics Based on Entrepreneurial InclinationStudy 1
Mean of
Mean of NonEntrepreneurialentrepreneurial
Entrepreneurial
Inclined Group
Inclined Group
Significance
Characteristics
(n = 133)
(n = 86)
Level
Innovation
3.26
3.21
p < .333
Internal locus of control
2.96
3.05
p < .044*
Need for achievement
3.28
3.33
p < .379
Risk taking
3.29
3.22
p < .220
Self-confidence
3.25
3.20
p < .351
*Significant at p < .05.
Table 3: Test of Difference in Characteristics Based on Entrepreneurial InclinationStudy 2
Mean of
Mean of NonEntrepreneurialentrepreneurial
Entrepreneurial
Inclined Group
Inclined Group
Significance
Characteristics
(n = 79)
(n = 121)
Level
Innovation
2.60
2.47
p < .080
Internal locus of control
2.58
2.46
p < .071
Need for achievement
2.61
2.55
p < .361
Risk taking and faith
2.62
2.55
p < .305
Self-confidence
2.71
2.55
p < .021*
*Significant at p < .05.
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Research Question 3: What are the important motivating factors for starting up a
business as perceived by the entrepreneurial-inclined students?
The top five motivating factors for starting up a business are presented in Table 4. It can
be seen from the table that the top five reasons given for starting up a business are both
entrepreneurial (E)-and financial (F)-related (based on Watson et al.’s (1998)
classification), or both personal and economic related (based on Postigo, et al.’s (2003)
classification). For Study 1, economic attainment seems to be the most important factor;
but for Study 2, entrepreneurial factors seem to be the more important driving force than
the economic factors.
Table 4: The Top Five Motivating Factors and Barriers for Starting Up a Business
Ranking*
Study 1
Study 2
#1
To be financially independent To create something of one’s own (E)
(F)
#2
To make a lot of money (F)
Economic independence (F)
#3
To earn a reasonable living (F) Personal independence (E)
#4
To do enjoyable work (E)
To put into practice own ideas (E)
#5
To be own boss (E)
To earn more than an employee’s earning
(F)
*Based on the mean calculated from a 5-point scale, 1 being the most important, 2 being
the next in importance, and 5 being the least important.
Research Question 4: How competent are our students in terms of entrepreneurial skills?
Research questions 4 and 5 would be answered based on the results in Study 2 only.
Regrettably the examination of entrepreneurial skills was not included in Study 1, hence
comparison of results across batches of students was not able to make.
Table 5 below shows the means and standard deviations of the entrepreneurial skills
under the respective categories—technical skills, business management skills, and
personal entrepreneurial skills. The means of individual entrepreneurial skills range from
3.70 to 4.07. By looking at the individual means and the overall means of the three skill
categories, we can conclude that the respondents were only somewhat competent in
entrepreneurial skills.
Table 5: Means and Standard Deviations of Entrepreneurial Skills
Entrepreneurial Skills
Mean*
Standard Deviation
Technical Skills
1. Writing
3.71
1.09
2. Oral communication
3.91
1.09
3. Monitoring environment
3.80
1.05
4. Technical business management
3.70
1.03
5. Technology
3.70
1.04
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6. Interpersonal
4.04
1.00
7. Listening
4.02
0.93
8. Ability to organize
4.11
0.96
9. Network building
3.84
1.00
10. Management style
3.84
1.04
11. Coaching
3.79
1.01
12. Being a team player
3.97
1.05
Business Management Skills
1. Planning and goal setting
3.97
0.99
2. Decision making
3.95
1.07
3. Human relations
4.00
1.03
4. Marketing
4.07
1.03
5. Finance
3.84
1.04
6. Accounting
3.82
1.14
7. Management
4.07
0.97
8. Control
4.03
1.01
9. Negotiation
4.05
0.93
10. Venture launch
3.91
0.95
11. Managing growth
3.91
0.96
Personal
Entrepreneurial
Skills
1. Inner control/disciplined
4.04
1.02
2. Risk taker
3.75
1.11
3. Innovative
3.94
1.03
4. Change oriented
3.96
0.95
5. Persistent
3.87
1.07
6. Visionary leader
3.96
1.06
7. Ability to manage change
3.91
1.14
* On a 6-point scale: 1 = very much incompetent, 2 = much incompetent, 3 = somewhat
incompetent, 4 = somewhat competent, 5 = much competent, 6 = very much competent.
Research Question 5: Is there a difference in the level of skill competency between
entrepreneurial-inclined and non- entrepreneurial inclined students?
Out of the 30 entrepreneurial skills shown in Table 5 above, six were found to be
significantly different between entrepreneurial-inclined and non- entrepreneurial inclined
students. The entrepreneurial-inclined group perceived to be more competent in planning
and goal setting, human relations, managing growth, inner control/disciplined, visionary
leader, and the ability to manage change. The results of the T-tests are shown in Table 6
below.
Table 6: Test of Difference in Skill Based on Entrepreneurial Inclination-Study 2
Mean of
Mean of NonEntrepreneurialentrepreneurial
Entrepreneurial
Inclined Group
Inclined Group
Significance
12
Characteristics
(n = 79)
Planning and goal setting
4.23
Human relations
4.19
Managing growth
4.11
Inner control/disciplined
4.30
Visionary leader
4.23
Ability to manage change
4.21
*Significant at p < .05.
**Significant at p < .05.
(n = 121)
3.80
3.88
3.77
3.86
3.78
3.68
Level
p < .003**
p < .041*
p < .013*
p < .002**
p < .003**
P < .000**
Upon comparison of the results of both studies 1 and 2, the following research findings
are presented:
(1) There is inconclusive finding on the likelihood of starting a business in the future. In
Study 1, majority of them (61%) were keen in starting a business upon graduation,
but in Study 2, only 40% of the students had the intention to start a business in the
future.
(2) Male students seem to be more entrepreneurial inclined than female students
(consistent findings in both studies).
(3) Birth order and family background (whether any family members own a business
now and before) have no impact on students’ entrepreneurial inclination (consistent
findings in both studies).
(4) Finding on entrepreneurial inclination in relation to major of studies is inconclusive.
In Study 1, Accounting students were found to be more entrepreneurial inclined than
Business Administration students; but it was not significantly different between the
two majors in Study 2.
(5) The entrepreneurial-inclined students perceived themselves to have internal locus of
control (in Study 1) and to be more self-confident (in Study 2) than the nonentrepreneurial inclined students. Hence, inconclusive findings are found with regard
to entrepreneurial characteristics.
(6) Both financial rewards and personal achievement are the motivators for students to
start a new venture (consistent in both studies).
(7) Overall, business students find themselves to be somewhat competent in
entrepreneurial skills (based on the results of Study 2).
(8) Entrepreneurial-inclined and non-entrepreneurial inclined students are equally
competent in technical skill (based on the results of Study 2).
(9) However, entrepreneurial-inclined students perceive themselves to be more
competent in such skills as planning and goal setting, dealing with people, and
leadership.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
It has been widely recognized that students are an important source of entrepreneurs and
their career choice in entrepreneurship is a major concern to both the government and
educators. The present study provides some evidence that, generally, our business
students are not highly entrepreneur-oriented. Since family influence plays an
insignificant role in producing entrepreneurs among the young adults, entrepreneurship
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education should take up the task of shaping students’ entrepreneurial inclination and
behavior. As stated by Galloway and Brown (2002),
The key to improving perceptions and attitudes within society and within
HE lies in education. In addition to developing skills for business start-up
and ownership, entrepreneurship education in universities can represent a
positive influence in terms of general attitudes to entrepreneurship, and in
turn promote entrepreneurship as a useful and respectable career prospect
for graduates. (p. 399)
In the same line of argument, Kolvereid and Moen (1997) reported that “students at
Babson College who participated in entrepreneurship programmes were more likely to
start their own business than other students” (p. 155). The authors have provided
empirical evidence on the positive impacts of entrepreneurship education on enterprising
activities. They found that entrepreneurship graduates were more entrepreneurial inclined
(stronger entrepreneurial intentions) and more likely to form new firms than other
business graduates. Franke and Lüthje (2004) also reported that “Unlike entrepreneurship
programs, general business management education seems to have no significant
influence on entrepreneurial intentions” (p.6). According to Chen et al.’s (1998) study,
the number of management courses taken by the students has no effect on entrepreneurial
decision. Furthermore, students taking entrepreneurship classes scored significantly
higher in entrepreneurial self-efficacy than those taking non-entrepreneurship classes.
Rae (1999) also claims that (as cited in Galloway, et al., 2005) the skills traditionally
taught in business schools are not enough to make students successful entrepreneurs.
These arguments imply that the traditional curricular content and teaching method in
business schools are not adequate in promoting entrepreneurial spirit among the students.
The research findings of the present study have the following implications on the roles of
our business schools and government in cultivating entrepreneurial spirit among our
students:
1. Offering degree and master’s programs in entrepreneurship.
2. Introducing new enterprise or small business programs. Specialized programs
such as Britain’s New Enterprise Program (Birley, 1985) or Graduate Enterprise
Program (Brown, 1990) and enterprise schools such as the University of Salford
in U.K. and Babson College in USA (Davies, Hides, & Powell, 2002) may need
to be established to boost entrepreneurship learning and development.
In lieu of the discussion above, the present authors would like to make the following
recommendations:
1. Offer programs with specialization in entrepreneurship at both the degree and
master’s levels at the institutions of higher education in Malaysia.
2. Develop specialized programs such as Britain’s New Enterprise Program or
Graduate Enterprise Program to train students in business venture development.
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3. Establish enterprise schools to boost entrepreneurship learning and development.
Cultivate entrepreneurship spirit especially among the female students.
4. Provide students with first-hand information on government’s financial and nonfinancial assistance. Malaysian government has spent millions of ringgit on
entrepreneurial development. The government has organized career fairs,
seminars, training, and vocational courses on entrepreneurship. It has also set up
one-stop information center for youths to obtain resources to venture into
businesses. However, our students do not seem to be aware or are not taking
advantage of all these assistance from the government. Perhaps much
collaboration is needed between the government and the institutes of higher
education to disseminate the information to our students.
5. Employers or private organizations should work with universities to set up
business incubators to nurture our youths entrepreneurially.
As stated by Postigo et al. (2003), business creation by university graduates is especially
important in developing countries “because the industrial structure is based on traditional
firms with relatively low or moderate technological content. Such firms do not play a
significant role as ‘incubators’ for dynamic new entrepreneurs.” (p. 3) In discussing the
roles of universities in promoting entrepreneurship culture, the authors suggest that
universities should form partnerships with their students and the business community
with the aim of promoting self-employment as a career path.
However, the generalization of the findings of this study is limited to business students of
Chinese in origin. More studies are needed to examine entrepreneurial inclination of
business students of other races (as in Malaysian population) from both private and
public institutes of higher education. Future research may also examine entrepreneurial
inclination of students with non-business majors. More data are needed to provide
evidence to support the present research findings and for comparison purpose within the
student population. Research on the implementation of more entrepreneurial-specific
programs in universities and their effectiveness may also be needed in the future.
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