The Effect Of Entrepreneurship Education On Students’

Entrepreneurial Intentions

This study set out to examine the effect of entrepreneurship education on

the students‟ entrepreneurial intentions. The study makes it clear that
entrepreneurial characteristics of youth are diverse and their exposure to
entrepreneurship education for a period of four years is capable of provoking
the intention of becoming entrepreneurs. This is also an indication that they
have been equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills required for a
new venture start up. It is also deductive that entrepreneurship education is
a useful programme that will enable the respondents either to help their
future employers or manage their own business successfully. The essence of
introducing entrepreneurial educational programs to schools is to equip
students with the necessary skills and mindsets required for successful
entrepreneurship from their early years and also to instill in students across
all levels of education, the self confidence and assurance required for
launching business. Clearly, institution and social contexts play important
roles in determining the entrepreneurial inclination and action among
students. Education conveys the required knowledge and skills which is
capable of turning students‟ entrepreneurial intentions to entrepreneurial
activities. In implementing intention, students‟ attitude towards other
people’s resources and talents is important. Although participating in
entrepreneurial education may not necessarily lead to entrepreneurial
intentions, it has a way of motivating students in initiating entrepreneurial
venture. Also, there is tendency that not all the students who had the
intention to start entrepreneurial venture will end up as entrepreneurs.

Assessing Entrepreneurial Intentions Amongst

Students
This research shows that prior exposure to entrepreneurship education has a
positive effect on students’ attitudes toward a career in entrepreneurship
and on perceived behavioral control or entrepreneurial self-efficacy. At the
same time, individuals’ prior exposure to entrepreneurship in practice, both
direct and indirect through their family background in business, is
significantly linked to their attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral
control regarding entrepreneurship. More specifically, having a self-
employed father is significantly related to the student’s positive attitudes,
stronger norms, and greater self-efficacy with respect to entrepreneurship.
This supports the findings of Krueger (1993) and suggests that students with
self-employed fathers gain exposure to and tacit knowledge of
entrepreneurship from an early age, which in turn affects their attitudes and
perceptions of self-efficacy toward entrepreneurship. Prior experience of
starting a business or trying to start a business is significantly linked with a
positive attitude toward entrepreneurship and a greater degree of self-
efficacy but not significantly related to subjective norms. This implies that
students who have had direct experience of starting their own business have
a more favorable attitude toward an entrepreneurial career and are more
confident in their own ability to repeat that behavior. The finding regarding
subjective norms suggests that students who are more confident in their
ability based on practical experience are less influenced by perceived social
norms about entrepreneurship.

The decision to innovate: Antecedents of opportunity exploitation in

high tech small firms
In this paper, researcher focused on high tech small business owners to
explore the antecedents of their decision to innovate, i.e. to exploit identified
opportunities for innovation that they had already identified. In doing so,
researcher hoped to contribute to the literature by giving more precise
explanations for individual differences in opportunity exploitation. Drawing
on social psychology (the theory of planned behavior), entrepreneurship and
organizational behavior literature, researcher hypothesized that the decision
to innovate is preceded by favorable attitudes toward identified
opportunities, favorable subjective norms of close ties, and perceived control
to actually exploit the opportunities.
STRENGTHENING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN MALAYSIA
Malaysia has a vibrant entrepreneurial base with a huge potential to become
a global player. Indeed, past and current policies to create a class of
entrepreneurs have succeeded in the sense that there are more Bumiputeras
involved in business and entrepreneurship now compared to before. Non-
Bumiputera (mainly Chinese) companies are spreading their reaches
overseas, proving that Malaysian companies can succeed in the global arena.
Nevertheless, as evidenced by the drastic decline in Bumiputera businesses
and corporate equity following the economic crisis, the quality and level of
competitiveness of the majority of Bumiputera companies could be improved
so that they are more resilient to the ups and downs of economic cycles.
Some would argue that the reason for their complacency is the over-reliance
on government contracts, funding and support. Recognizing this fact, there
have been some moves by the UMNO leadership to change the attitudes of
Bumiputeras so as to be less reliant on the government. Admittedly, much of
the debate has centered on the concept of meritocracy in education,
although the debate has the potential to spread to the idea of
entrepreneurship and meritocracy. Nevertheless, it is still too early to gauge
whether this will lead to actual changes in government policies on
entrepreneurship or is merely political rhetoric.
Entrepreneurial orientation and psychological traits: the moderating
influence of supportive environment
The entrepreneurial orientation dimension consisting of innovativeness, risk
taking Behavior, proactiveness represents a recent model of
conceptualization of entrepreneurial activities than have been employed in
prior studies. This research study revisits the question of whether
psychological traits –need for achievement, locus of control, and tolerance
for ambiguity-- are useful predictors by investigating their relationship to
entrepreneurial orientation; and whether supportive environments moderate
the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and psychological
traits. This research ventured to consider the dimension of entrepreneurial
orientation as the dependent variable and psychological traits as the
predictors. In addition, it provided significant insights into the influences of
supportive environment on the relationship between entrepreneurial
orientation and psychological traits. In essence, it lends support to the
criticisms advanced by Gartner (1988), Low and MacMillan (1988), Aldrich
and Zimmer (1986), those psychological traits alone are inadequate in
explaining entrepreneurial behavior. Again Gartner (1988) and Vesper (1980)
suggestion that the creation of an organization is a complex process and a
contextual event, the outcome of many influences. Finally, this is a more
robust model for predicting entrepreneurial behavior because it incorporates
variables from three different levels of analyses, including the individual
personality traits, the firm level of entrepreneurial behavior or orientation,
and the positive influence of supportive environment.
Combining technology and corporate strategy in small
high tech firms
From this research we may conclude that technology strategy and corporate
strategy are intimately linked within small high tech firms. During the early
stages of the firm’s life, both aspects will evolve from R&D activity, thereby
classifying the business as classically technology-driven. Strategy activities
are likely to be informal, and flexibility is the key concept in guiding R&D
effort within broadly defined objectives. As the firm grows and its technology
matures, marketing considerations play an increasing part in ensuring the
commercial success of innovation, and eventually the firm comes to be
principally marketdriven. In parallel, strategy activities become more
formalized, and technology strategy is determined within overall corporate
strategy. Perhaps in so improving its prospects for longevity, the small high
tech firm moves away from the source of its most important characteristic.
The Role of Human Capital in Technological
Entrepreneurship
In this article, researcher positions the special issue on human capital and
technology-based entrepreneurship within the literatures concerning
academic entrepreneurship, technology transfer and innovation, and
corporate spin-offs. The researcher conclude by offering some implications
for policy makers and practitioners that have emerged from the studies
comprising the current special issue as well as from other recent
investigations focusing on human capital and technological
entrepreneurship. First, it appears that there may be great benefits in
university programs that combine science and technology with business
management. An example would be a dual MBA and MS in engineering
program including a major in entrepreneurship that focuses on the process of
opportunity recognition and exploitation. Such programs can provide both
critical knowledge to nascent entrepreneurs as well as a platform for
connecting technologists with experienced managers.
The transformation from entrepreneurship to
technology entrepreneurship development in
Malaysia
The purpose of this paper is to discuss Malaysia’s industrial development
since achieving its independence in 1957 to 2007. This paper has briefly
provided an overview of the industrial development in Malaysia as a
background to the discussion on the transformation to technology
entrepreneurship development. The entrepreneurship development in
Malaysia in the 1950s and 1960s was basically in the form of trading. There
was not much involvement of technological component. As Malaysia’s
economic development moved towards industrial based, the entrepreneurial
activities simultaneously went in similar direction, emphasizing on the
industrial sectors that are technology oriented. The implementation of
various policies and heavy industrialization effort by the government had
fostered the development of technology-based entrepreneurial activities.
This study focused on the industrial development in Malaysia due to the
creation of large number of enterprises and entrepreneurs who served as
vendors or suppliers to the manufacturers, the utilization of technological
component more forcefully throughout the manufacturing value chain and
the contribution of the sector to the nation’s economic growth and societal
well-being.